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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 4739721" data-attributes="member: 3285">Serpentine Path: Part 3c – So, We Meet Again…“Venomous scale ss’ressen!” shouted Calactyte.  He charged forward, Vlad and Beldin flanking him.  “Keep your shields up!”They didn’t have to ask why.  Seconds later, streams of acid spiraled through the air, splashing against both their shields.  Calactyte was struck by a gout of acid, but if it hurt he didn’t show it.  Then they were upon them, three on three, claw against blade.  Sebastian pointed at the ssanu, and magical bolts of blue and black energy were exchanged.“I’ve had just about enough of this,” muttered Kham.  He took aim and fired both pistols.  The ssanu fell to the ground, its corpse smoking from the impact.The remaining ss’ressen started, as if slapped.  Calactyte took the opportunity to tear one of them apart, hacking and even biting his opponent’s throat.  Vlad and Beldin made short work of the other two ss’ressen.They scoured the camp, looking for any sign of Dril.“We found only this.” Beldin offered up a twisted piece of metal, bent in half.  It was Dril’s rifle.Vlad took it reverently.  “He would want it to be buried at his grave.”Bijoux glided over to the ssanu’s body. A small viper had unwrapped itself from the ssanu’s arm and was slowly sliterhing away.“Careful,” said Ilmarė.  “You don’t know what that can do.”The snake moved no more than a foot, before it stiffened and burned into a darkly shaded piece of wood.  Bijoux picked it up and examined it closely.With lightning speed, it transformed back into a snake and sunk its teeth into Bijoux’s wrist.  She shrieked, but it was too late.  The snake snapped itself around her arm and then transformed once more into wood.  “Are you all right?” asked Beldin.Bijoux nodded.  “It…it feels good, actually. I think it heals them.”“The goods from the wagon are scattered everywhere,” said Sebastian. “Including some of Master Elabac’s blades,” Beldin said sadly.“And the remains of a Shining Patrol dispatch pouch.”  Vlad shook his head.  “Dril wasn’t telling us the whole story.”“He belonged to the Shining Patrol, what did you expect?” snapped Kham.  “What I want to know is where the ss’ressen got all that blastpowder from.”“What a waste,” said Ilmarė.  “We walk away from this empty-handed.”“Not quite.”  Beldin was gathering up weapons and armor.  “We’ll make sure this delivery reaches Klos Ka’Ra. Master Elabac’s blades deserve that much.”“Dril deserves that much,” Vlad said darkly.Sebastian returned with Calactyte. “Perhaps it wasn’t a complete waste. We discovered tracks that led back to their camp.”Calactyte loped over to drop a chest covered in dirt before them.  “We found this.”Ilmarė opened the lid and looked inside.  She pulled out a sheaf of papers.  “Maps of the area, a manifest of Dril’s cargo…and a list. In Ssethregoran, I’m guessing.”She handed it to Calactyte, who stared at it curiously.  “Uh…”“He can’t even read his own language.”  Kham snatched the paper away from Calactyte. His val blood allowed him to read all tongues.  “It’s a list of all of our names.  This was an inside job.”Sebastian sighed. “Well, now we know how they got the blastpowder.”“How?” asked Bijoux.Sebastian held up a piece of clothing.  It was a green tabard bearing a four-fingered claw insignia.  “We gave it to them.”</blockquote>

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