<div align="center">(https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ky5YI1_hsjY/VGQ0BpspooI/AAAAAAAACVs/H8p4omIfJVs/s1600/153castle.jpg)</div><br/>"I don't know if I should be grateful for their restraint, or worried that we're dealing with clever orcs," Jay said. "It's not much farther." Atop her pony, she pressed on along the orcs' trail.<br/><br/>The woods grew deeper and deeper, until all at once the trees and ended, and the forest opened to a large clearing dominated by a ruined stone keep. This was the once-proud stronghold of the Blue Talons. A fortified wall surrounded this place long ago, but only the eastern and western sections remained intact. The entire upper level of the keep had collapsed. Two towers, one in the northwest, the other in the southeast, acted as lookouts once; now only the northwest tower remained intact. Time had ravaged this place. The underbrush was clear for sixty feet surrounding the ruin, with lit torches placed every forty to fifty feet. The walls of the keep were as bare as the ground, not overgrown with choking vines.<br/><br/>Jay sighed. "Bloody hell... Clever orcs," she whispered.