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"Aye, Garmund, that is the way of it. Not scared?"
Garmund seemed to be thinking hard a moment, then shook his head in a determined "no".
"Well as you no doubt saw, Lefun and Ritun are plenty scared of folk like Thornden, but not of you or me. Ready to go on?"
"Yes," Garmund said, his face a mix of caution and eagerness. Falco smiled. They walked on, quietly.
"Lefun? Ritun?" whispered Falco presently. "It's me an' the boy. Hullo?"
All was quiet. They had stopped, straining their ears to hear anything over the quiet breeze.
"Here we be." The voice spoke from one side of the trail, behind the foliage, not two yards from before their very faces.
"Follow me, Garmund." Falco pushed some low stems to either side and stepped into the darkness of the underbrush. Garmund was right behind. Two more steps and they were in green shadow, the leaves whispering all about them. Falco stepped to one side, allowing Garmund room beside him. Garmund looked up and his mouth opened in awe, for before them were Lefun and Ritun, their shadowed faces watching the two carefully, the strain of caution not completely gone from the twin's rigid torsos, open curiosity in their faces. Now that Garmund had a chance for a better look, he could see that the two were a little taller than Nain the Dwarf, but shorter than his Pa. And their single pair of legs were thick as tree trunks.
"Lefun and Ritun we are," said the one on the right, quietly, who seemed, to Falco, to be the leader of the two. "How are you called, young one?"
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