Ormand, Pax, and Dram’s father were left with the horses back at the campsite. They had been given specific instructions to ride back to town if they heard the monstrous hissing come back. Everyone else trudged into the forest hoping for an easy find. After a few hundred yards the blob’s path opened into a clearing. Within was an old ruined estate with a muddy moat around it. It was covered in ivy and had no windows. Moreover, its only door was closed, but there was a rotted bridge that lead across the moat. Four towers had originally cornered the curtain wall, but all had fallen but one. Much of the outer wall looked ready to collapse too. The inner roofs poking up around the wall had many caved in portions as well. “It must have come from inside there,” said Pax pointing along the dirt path. Rose walked forward and saw how it ended at the edge of the muddy moat. Dram, Dalin, and Pax moved up to its edge with her. The thick, runny mud inside gave off the scent of death. The rest of the team hung back and looked at the small estate. It gave off an eerie, forbidding sense of doom.
As Rose inspected along the side of the moat she saw a kite shield trapped inside the muck. She asked the others to hold her as she tried to lean over and fish it out. The forward team heard the guttural ‘ribbit’ of some strange frog. The rear team was still staring at the empty edifice when they abruptly heard a strange whooshing noise. Ormand the Redd pointed out several arrows freshly stuck in the ground before them. Darius could see they were black with white fletchings. He was about to call everyone back when several dozen bizarre, humanoid faces peered over the walls of the estate. They were difficult to see in the moonlight, but Darius was within range to look through the shadows. Every one of the silent faces resembled Rose. Only the Fey behind the walls had very different coloring and clothing. Their skin and hair were alternating black and white. The clothes they wore were all black and pointed in a strange fashion. Many of them had what looked like miniature crossbows in hand.
Sensing something was amiss, Rose looked up. Very slowly she backed away from the moatside. Gesturing to Dram, Dalin, and Pax who were with her she whispered, “there is no treasure for us here. Quietly now, we must leave.” One by one Dram, Dalin, and Pax retreated. The rear team was already backing up into the surrounding woods upon Darius’s vehement urging. “This is not a spot for us to linger,” warned Rose when the team regrouped. In a strange language Rose called out to the black and white Fey. She apologized for her and her friend’s intrusion. Turning to the others, she asked them to pull out meat and leave it beside the path. They had to leave an offering or they would be hunted for sure. After this was done, they silently pressed back down path towards the campsite. Less than half way back, they broke into a run. While everyone caught their breaths at the campsite, Rose explained that her brothers and sisters did not appreciate being bothered. “Where are we going to go now?” asked Dram. “We can’t go back into town.”
Rose guessed that with the offering they should be safe for the night. What she did not mention was her wonder at what the blob could have been doing with her brethren. Gathering their belongings and the horses in close, the team built the fire high and set watch again. It was a long night for those on guard duty. They all expected another attack, but fortunately none came. When the sun rose the next morning, the team saddled up and took off at a brisk pace through the forest and towards the Keep.
And yet another word from our sponsors
