BAND ON THE RUN
As the debate was being settled, Gailwind gasped aloud " Ah look! They are running around the fort!" The elf pointed to a faction of shadows moving about and ranting in a low, chanting pitch.
Teflar urged hard " Let's move then, into the forest. Let's escape their sight!" Erelis, without hesitation, stood up and followed the ranger into the dense foliage.
The wizard carefully plucked the bard's belongings from the mud and hastened after the pair as well. Gailwind stared in fear at the shapes moving clumsily across the scape.
Teflar plead one last time " Leah, would Salimen have wanted you dead? And when is surviving against greater forces to complete a mission, cowardice? Knowing when to run is as much a part of the art of war as knowing when and how to fight. At least if we flee and some do follow, we have a much better chance of killing them in small groups."
Oktavianus growled " We are grossly outnumbered. Salimen is beyond our ability to rescue him, but now we are certain of it." With a cold glance at the ranger, the dwarf patted Torynth on the back. " At least we have established where and how deep friendship lies. Teflar, lead the way."
The ranger grabbed Gailwind to urge him along and led Erelis, Aramil, and the others back along the trampled trail holding south to the line of dark forest.
Teflar stared down the depths of the path leading to Airrdale. Reaching out, he plucked a valipor blossom off a low branch. " We must backtrack to where Erelis claimed he saw the thieve's shard. There, I will study where the tracks went. I had never had a chance to read the grounds in this darkness. We will hold there until dawn."
Erelis lifted his head " The thieves had to have gone this way, right? The orcs had protected them fiercely and I don't figure they would have gone anywhere else. Not a small group with such a big item to protect."
2 AM: The group made it to the paved avenue and paused for a much-needed rest.
Aramil pulled his robes around him as the night chilled the surrounding grasses to a faint frost.
Gailwind sat crosslegged in the thruway and flipped though an elucidative index.
Torynth drank his mintyll elixir after wincing the entire backtrack in pain.
After several minutes of reading, the sage spoke eagerly " I have information about this keep we encountered. ¬ Noleratis, a mage of incredible creed, constructed a small castle deep within the Nalmiar Forest. The keep he occupied was of no mountain troll make, but rumored to be the origin of demons he held company. For a decade, the keep stood as a bastion to the outside world. Weird, deformed creatures were said to protect this castle against the unfortunates who sought to crack the mystery behind the dark abode. None ever came close enough to speak of it in any great detail. None, that is, until the bronze elves happened upon the lower woods on one their hunting travels a century ago. They decided to reside there after finding the timberland to their liking. Many laid paths that routed past all Noleratis's evil traps once discovering his occupancy. Secret paths from the south led many adventurers right on through to the castle although many still fell to the clutches of his twisted guardians. The bronze elves...."
Suddenly, snorts were heard west up the trampled path! The sage froze in mid-sentence staring at the forest in fear.
Oktavianus spun around at the ruckus
" They have come!"
Leah mumbled a few words of prayer as Starpoint Raven gathered together in a fight-or-flight situation.
" There are at least thirty carrying clubs!"
Horrid voices of rowdy orcs clamored through the night while Starpoint Raven picked their way east over the muddied grounds. After an hour, Gailwind called a halt to catch his breath
" Have we gone far enough yet?"
Panting, the lorist bent to one knee
" Are we going back to Bethlun or what? Maybe the scouts never made it."
The ranger responded " Perhaps, but unless we rid the menace of these orcs, we can't pick up any clues successfully."
" And how should we do that?" breathed Gailwind as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
Before the woodsman could answer, gutturals were heard to the west. The awful howls echoed in the forest's stillness.
" Move on then ranger!" barked the dwarf " They come upon us now!"
Pacing hard through the muck, the fellowship pressed east for the vertical mainroad once again.