Chapter 5: The Search Inside the Keep!
The Twenty-Eighth of Greentide, D.Y. 500
-----The unicorn turns back into Sarah Night, who seems exhausted and very spent. "Who is injured?" She asks seemingly in a dazed. "I will bind your wounds."
-----Seeing the unicorn aside him return to the form of Sarah causes and creates a vacuum for all of Sol's rage. A sharp intake of breath heralds the Gorian's return to some sense of rationality. Quietly, as his eyes skirt over Sarah, seeing if she herself is all right, he places himself in between the battered group and the now fleeing orcs.
-----Rinda is suddenly there at Raven's side as the Hunter stands on the stairs. She immediately starts tending to the hurt ranger beginning with his injured side. Grimacing at the pile of bodies around them, the Huntress says, "We should leave this place. It is already smelling of orc."
-----"No, no!" Caranip squeaks as she rushes toward Garrison. The woodman struggles to his feet, but there is a lot of bleeding from his abdomen. Garrison starts to protest, but as he appears a bit woozy, he relaxes back on the floor. The gnome looks about helplessly for something to help him with.
-----"We should search this place," Lovan says intently as he stares about, "this many orcs and as finely armored as they are might have some treasure about."
-----"Not all of them are dead yet," Garrison grunts out, "there's still some that are probably hiding all over this castle."
-----Sarah is quickly at Garrison's side, and she uses all her knowledge to quickly help the big ranger. "You are both right. Why not make camp near the gateway tonight? We can heal our wounds and rest and keep all the orcs inside. After beating this many back I don't think whatever they have left can stand up to us, and then tomorrow we could clean it out." Sarah saw that the sun was in a position that indicated it was much later than she had thought it was. 'Have we been fighting for that long?' She wondered.
-----"We'll get no rest camping near th' stench o' this much death." Sol muses as he keeps an eye on the darkened recesses of the keep. "Besides, as ye say, if th' orcs aren't likely t'have much more t'throw at us, then we might as well finish this off now. Giving them more time could let them prepare some unwelcome surprises fer us."
-----He stops suddenly as he turns and looks around at his companions, "Where th' hell are th' other three?"
-----Raven smiles at Rinda and then motions for her to help Garrison. Raven takes a seat on the stairs and catches his breath. "My arms feel like they're made out of lead." Raven looks at the dark tunnels the orc went down. Raven then takes a long drink from his waterskin. Raven nods, "We finish 'em now. They might regroup and cause us more trouble." Raven turns to Sol, "Yea, where are they? How about you and I doing a quick search for 'em?"
-----"Damn," Garrison weakly curses as Sarah binds bandages around his middle. He forces a small smile and admits, "I'm as weak as a kitten." Watching Sol and Raven, he tells them, "I think Strolum was badly wounded outside in the fight with the minotaurs. The other two stayed behind with him to protect him."
-----Lovan huffs at the woodman's words. "Why worry about them?" he asks as he eyes the top of the stairs Raven sits on, "We should press on in this place."
-----Sol's face darkens as he replies, "It's not worry. I remember Strolum being injured . . . " Now the Gorian's face twists in anger, " . . . but they gave an oath! They'd better have good reason t'abandon that when I speak t'them."
-----Once last glare is thrown in the direction of the keep's exit, before he nods to Raven and Lovan, "Agreed. Let's clean this place an' now. But we're going t'need t'see t'do it. Anyone got a torch?" Sol himself starts inspecting the walls, looking for any old sconces that may still be usable.
-----"Wait, Rinda, what do you think? Can they handle any more fighting?" Sarah asks the priestess. She knows that Sol will never admit he is hurt, and Raven will never admit he is hurt if there are orcs to kill.
-----The Huntress quietly looks over Garrison as Sarah finishes up and nods her head. She then looks over at Sol and smiles. Replying to Sarah, she says, "I don't know if we could keep our friend Sol from charging off if we wanted to." She then adds, "He does look as if as he has seen less wounds than Raven, but we're all feeling exhausted."
-----She then continues, "Raven has been badly hurt, but I know I can't stop him if there are other orcs about. If he searches for them, I will go with him."
-----Rinda then casts an uneasy eye at Garrison still reclining on the floor. She whispers to the mage, "This is the one I am concerned about."
-----She then turns to watch Lovan flexing his arms as he scans the room. "Lovan," Rinda calls, "are you wounded?"