By the third day of travel he had begun to enjoy himself. In his saddlebag were copious notes on the positions of villages where they could obtain supplies, the names of headmen to be offered gifts, and details of areas of likely danger. These were mostly in the mountainous areas close to Pelucid where bands of robbers were known to have hideouts. Diagoras had used his military training well. He had also gathered all known information on the man Shakusan Ironmask. This did not amount to much, though one piece of news interested Skilgannon. Three years before, when Ironmask had first appeared in Mellicane, he had fought a duel. According to the report he used curved swords, which were contained in a single scabbard. The report also said he was a man of prodigious strength, because one blow cut through a breastplate and the chain mail beneath. A second cut had beheaded the victim. The first day of travel had been taken at leisure. The horses Skilgannon had acquired were undernourished and, though of good stock, were weak.
