For the next hour I struggled to keep myself focussed while the points of light on top of the wall moved about seemingly at random.

I had an ache in my ribs and a chill in my bones demanding my attention, when I needed to concentrate.  For sure, listening to my body and drifting off to sleep was the easiest option, but also the quickest route to the very worst possible outcomes.

To keep myself focussed, I assigned species and names to the light points below and kept up a running commentary on what they were up to.  The accuracy of the assignments wasn’t important, it was just a way to focus my attention on the guards.

For instance, I doubted that ‘Karl’ was really a centaur with a drinking problem.  There was probably a better explanation for his erratic path.  He probably didn’t have a perpetually unbuttoned shirt showing off his super hairy chest either, but these were the details that made this light unique and easier to track.

After an hour or so of watching my new friends move and interact, I thought I had it figured out.  Karl was probably a higher ranked guard who was moving from side to side checking on something while the others either patrolled or stood watch.

The breakthrough came when I realised that I shouldn’t be trying to predict where the lights would be.  I wasn’t interested in the lights and, by extension, the guards, hairy or not.  Instead, I spent my time looking at the patches of darkness.  That meant empty space and an opportunity for a bold traveller to attempt a crossing.  Eventually a pattern emerged from the chaos.

There were areas of the wall that the guards were avoiding, but those areas were moving.  Moving with a predictable pattern

I was heading straight for one of the patches of darkness