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-----With a furious glance around at the others, Rinda then looks at Sol and says, "Damn this waiting! Something’s wrong!" With that, she slaps the reins and charges her horse forward around the high brush.
-----Seth looks up at Sol to see what he will do but in his heart he knows they have to move forward. Rather than remounting, Seth begins to trot along after Rinda still leading his horse and The Dread Pirate's Horse. Seth knows at this moment he could not control both horses if he was mounted and he is not keen on attempting a spell from horseback. He announces to any that want to listen, "I think those that wait in ambush may only be in leather armor."
-----"That's our cue," Kazel says upon hearing the yell. She takes a second to steady herself, then kicks off her horse after Rinda and the sounds of mayhem, bracing herself with both hands as it gallops along.
-----Sarah hears the cries of the 'Dread Pirate' and decides he needs some help. She coaxes Marlexana to follow Rinda and Kazel.
-----"YAH!" Sol barks, and spurs his horse into a gallop, heading towards the sound of the Dread Pirate's yell. He slowly draws his longsword as his steed quickly covers ground.
-----Kazel hangs on while her horse gallops after Rinda. The high weeds and thick brush sometimes sweeps past her legs as her steed carries her forth.
-----Behind her, Sol catches up and begins to pass Sarah with his longsword drawn. Seth is still back quite a ways escorting the two horses. As they draw closer to the approaching line of trees, they all hear the unmistakable voice of the Dread Pirate yelling, "So! It be mutiny is it!?! I'll keelhaul all of ye! I'll wear yer guts fer garters, ye scurvy dogs!"
-----Suddenly as they round the last patch of huge tangled brush, they pull their horses to a stop. There, Rinda has pulled her horse to a stop and is taking aim at small figures in front of her. A few feet away, skirting around some tree trunks is about a half-dozen creatures each standing about three feet tall. Each of the creatures is dark brown in coloration with red beady eyes nearly squeezed closed in the daylight. Small horns protrude from their heads and rat-like tails extend out from their upright bodies. They wear leather armor that appears to be pieced together and carry wicker shields and spears.
-----With a twang from her weapon, Rinda shoots twice, each time felling one of the creatures. The others, trying to see their attacker in the bright day, sneer and begin to fall back in the shade of the trees.
-----Sol urges his horse forward, following them into the trees.
-----As the others prepare their weapons, Sarah yells, "Wait! Hold on a second, you freakin maniacs!" She raises one of her hands and snaps her fingers. Sand falls to the ground from her palm.
-----Instantly, the four retreating creatures stop momentarily and fall to the ground unconscious.
-----"But they have horns and red eyes. That means they must be evil." Kazel glances back briefly from her shooting, and it's hard to tell if she's joking or not. "A street bum told me that, anyway."
-----Sarah looks incredulously at Kazel. "You're a halfbreed. You must be the doom of civilization as we know it." She pauses. "A street bum told me that."
-----Seth yells, "You two stop it! I may not know Kazel's street bum, but he has been right every single time before. And personally a street bum I know told me humans were the Doom of Civilization."
-----Kazel only laughs. "You really should go out more often!"
-----Off through the bushes a few yards to the left can be heard the Dread Pirate’s voice shouting, "That'll teach ye to mutiny, ye aren't fit to scrape the barnacles off each other's bums! Nobody mutinies on my ship!"
-----Sol continues to ride Thunder forward, and sees a few more of the creatures peek from behind the trees. With a quick sweeping stroke, he arcs his blade downward in a circular motion. It cleaves one of the humanoid’s head off. The small head sails off to the right loudly smacking one of the trees.
-----Off to Sol’s left, he gains a glimpse of Raven’s back as he faces three of the creatures. The ranger’s voice is loudly heard saying, "Come on you little shits, let’s finish this!"
-----Seth lets go of the horses as he spies one of the small creatures up in one of the trees. The small humanoid squints around looking for someone to throw its spear at. Seth quickly winds up his sling and releases a sling bullet. The small missile loudly smacks as it hits just over the small one’s head. The humanoid is startled for the moment and retreats into a large hole next to the branch it stands on.
-----Kazel quickly takes her bow and aims her shots at these new and strange creatures before they can retreat behind the trees. Her arrow lodges itself in the trunk of a tree where it quivers close to one of the creatures.
-----Rinda quickly grabs her club and runs behind where Raven stands. As she moves closer to him, she yells, "I am here, my hunter!"
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