Ways of Power 1: Power Rises by R. M. Willis

and started to cut around the shoulders of the other.
    Rancoth watched for a moment, and then did the same, careful to follow the old man's lead. The creature bled more than he had expected, and his knife soon became slippery in his hand. After cutting away the soft downy fur, they split open the guts and pulled out the entrails. It was slimy business, but fascinating. Finally, Dorbin showed him how to skewer the corpses, and rigged up a spit out of sticks to roast them over the fire.
                  "Well, did you see wherre we arre?" Dorbin asked, now that the meal was roasting.
                  "Yeah, they brought us in exactly the opposite direction we had intended to go. We're very far north. If the sun hadn't been at its zenith so that the tower could reflect the full power of its light, I might not have seen it at all," Rancoth said, a look of concern and irritation on his face.
                  Distracted as they had been preparing something to eat, and discussing their circumstances, neither of them had noticed that their captives were now awake. "So, are we going to get some of that?" came a voice.
                  Rancoth and Dorbin turned to see that it was Hilbran who spoke, eyeing the rabbits. They were now turning a nice golden brown and oozing with juices, which dripped down and sizzled in the flames licking the liquefied fat midair. Both men were sitting up, their legs bound together in front of them at the knee and ankle. Their hands Rancoth had tied down at their sides, to keep them from picking at each other's knots. They were both disheveled, most likely from their encounter with Pordly.
                  While Hilbran's hungry dark blue glowing eyes focused on Rancoth and Dorbin's lunch, Rowley kept his pale brown ones firmly locked on his feet.
                  "So how far where you planning on leading us astray before pulling the wool from our eyes and abandoning us in the middle of nowhere?" Rancoth demanded.
                  Hilbran looked up, "Oh come on, we were just having a little fun. We had heard that you were headed out on some long trip, and we wanted to send you off with a laugh. That's all. You know, for old time's sake." Hilbran said, with a glint of mirth in his eye.
                  "Oh a joke was it? I see, Rran, it was just a joke." Dorbin laughed without any hint of sincerity.
                  "Yeah a joke!" Hilbran laughed, somewhat nervously, and now Rowley began to chortle too, believing that everything would be all right.
                  Dorbin, still chuckling approached the two men, and Hilbran leaned forward a little, so that Dorbin could more readily reach the knot tied behind his back.
    FAHWAPP
    Dorbin smacked the man hard upside the head, causing him to almost spill over his knees. "IT'S NOT FUNNY YA LITTLE BASTARRD!" Dorbin bellowed, any hint of mirth in his voice replaced with wrath.
    While what Hilbran and Rowley had done was not funny at all, seeing the diminutive man wallop them was. Rancoth started to laugh, holding his sides, as the tears rolled down his cheeks.
    "We've got shite to do, and we don't need any help frrom the likes o' you!" Dorbin, turned to Rancoth. "Well, lad, what shall we do with them? They'rre yourr torrmentorrs."
    "Seeing that was enough for me. They've already made us waste at least a day. I say we just cut them loose, so we can eat and be on our way. In the right direction this time," Rancoth said, still chuckling softly.
    Dorbin looked at Rancoth with disbelief, and then glared back down at the two men. "Well, if you think they didn't mean any rreal harrm," he said.
    "We weren't going to just leave you, honest! We were going to tell you where you were, and then we could have all laughed about it. We didn't mean any real harm," Hilbran pleaded with Dorbin. Rowley simply nodded his head earnestly.
    Dorbin growled fiercely before pulling