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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 9822292" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 33This time, the party was extra careful; they advanced along the road slowly, with Ravani frequently scouting ahead to check for ambushes. But there were no bandits or monsters waiting to attack them.“Maybe that jerk Pral finally learned his lesson,” Ravani said, after returning from the third such scouting mission.“Maybe,” Leana said. “But let’s keep traveling this way, just in case.”With those delays it was almost noon by the time that they emerged from the woods that shrouded the ravine that held the caves. The place looked unchanged, eternal, but they had learned too many hard lessons to take anything here at face value.“Looks quiet,” Greghan said.“I’d say, ‘Too quiet,’ but I abhor cliché,” Ravani said.“Which way, then?” Greghan asked.“There’s a bit more cover to the left,” Ravani said. “I suggest we give the goblin and ogre caves a wide berth, if we’re not going to visit our friend.” They had debated checking in with the kobolds or the ogre to see if they could gain any more intelligence about the cult, but had decided that delay only gave them more time to prepare. Despite not having spotted anyone watching their advance up the road, they had to operate as if the cult was aware of every step they took.Ravani started them forward, taking them on a course that would take them higher along the side of the ravine, close to the hobgoblins’ cave. But they’d only covered maybe fifty feet when the elf raised his hand.Greghan froze, looking for threats, but nothing stirred in the canyon. Finally Ravani came back to them. “What did you see?” Leana asked.“A flash of movement, near the far end of the ravine. I didn’t get a good look at it, but it looked like someone wearing red.”“A sentry?” Greghan asked. Ravani just shrugged; he looked like he’d taken a bite of something unpleasant.“Where did they go?” Leana asked.“Into one of the middle caves.”“Well, that’s fortuitous,” Folgar said.“Yeah, a little too fortuitous,” Ravani said. “It’s obviously a trap.”“Did you see where he came from?” Leana said.“No, but there’s easily a hundred places over there where someone could hide and have a complete view over the entire ravine.”“So it could just be a guard,” Greghan said. “You said earlier that they were watching our movements.”“It feels like a trap,” Ravani insisted.“You’re probably right,” Leana said. “But fortunately, we have the means to ferret out traps.” Greghan didn’t know what she meant, but she looked over at Folgar, and after a moment the dwarf nodded. “The cult has ambushed us a few times,” the halfling continued. “I think it’s about time that we returned the favor.”They made their way carefully around the rim of the ravine. They bypassed the hobgoblin cave, sealed again behind its door, and the abandoned shrine where they’d battled the gnolls. There was another cave above them to the left, almost to the summit, and another almost directly below the one that Ravani had seen the red-robed guard—assuming he’d been right in that brief glimpse—disappear. They held up while the elf crept forward and leaned into a gap between two boulders to examine the lower cave. He didn’t linger long, and quickly hurried back to report.“I like that one even less,” he said. “It looks like a natural cave. I could smell rot and damp, and heard something, an unsettling screech, movement.”“A monster?” Greghan asked.“Well, probably not cultists,” the elf admitted.“What about our destination?” Leana asked.“That one looks constructed. Gray bricks, looks old, crumbling, dark inside.”“You’re sure our guy went inside?” Greghan asked.“I saw him,” Ravani said, though the warrior couldn’t tell if he was actually certain or trying to convince himself.“Um, so what now?” Greghan asked. “How do we spring the trap without getting caught in it?”Leana nodded to Folgar, who led them forward. They advanced to the very edge of the cave entrance. Greghan couldn’t see much inside; the walls were a bit irregular and looked to be made of hard-packed dirt reinforced with crumbling pillars and brickwork. He could see the broken white bits of bones sticking up out of the dirt floor, and footprints that looked fresh that led inside. He turned to Ravani to ask a question, but the elf held a finger to his lips, silencing him.Folgar had pressed his hand against a patch of bare stone to the left of the entry and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and then another, letting the air out slowly. His brow furrowed, almost like it did when he cast spells, and Greghan could tell that he was concentrating intently on something. He remained thus for about twenty heartbeats, then opened his eyes.“I’m not certain, Leana,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s too much loose earth in there. I think I sensed the cultist, not far in, but I can’t be certain.”“Waiting for us?” Greghan asked. “Is he alone?”“I cannot say for sure,” Folgar said. “I’m sorry.”“It’s all right,” Leana said. “Stonecunning’s a useful talent, but I know it’s not an exact science.”“So do we go in, or try our luck somewhere else?” Ravani asked. “Somewhere other than that cave below us,” he amended. “We could go back to those hobgoblins and beat the truth out of them.”Leana considered a moment, then shook her head. “We’re here,” she said. “I say we check it out. Carefully, of course.”She looked at each of them in turn, awaiting pushback, but none of the men said anything. Greghan himself was beset by so much uncertainty about this situation he didn’t feel comfortable voicing and opinion, and in any case he trusted Leana. He only hoped for her sake that they weren’t biting off more than they could chew—again.Now that a decision had been made, the companions moved forward with deliberation, Ravani again taking the lead. Greghan followed behind Leana, with Folgar again bringing up the rear. Leana didn’t summon her light immediately, trying to give them a chance to catch whoever was in here unawares. To Greghan that seemed a lost cause; his new armor seemed to clink with every step he took.They couldn’t see much more in the entry than Greghan had from outside, but he knew that Ravani’s darksight would reveal much more than his own weaker human eyes. The interior seemed to be a maze, with multiple corridors branching off from the entrance. Thick pillars supported the ceiling, but he could see places where a few had collapsed, leaving uneven mounds of stone that further complicated the layout. He looked up at the ceiling warily as they advanced slowly, clinging to the left wall.They hadn’t gone very far in—Folgar was still standing in the entry—when the elf lifted a hand again. Greghan tensed, but there was nothing in the cave but darkness and silence. At least until a flickering light appeared, coming toward them. At first he thought it was someone holding a torch, but as it got closer it rose in the air and then plummeted downward; just before it hit the ground he realized what it was, but that was too late to react as the flask shattered and the burning wick turned its contents into a pool of bright flames.The companions recoiled from the burning oil, but other than a few flickering splashes they were not harmed. But a moment later the noise and the light and smoke were answered by the fluttering of wings from the next passage over, and as three familiar winged forms appeared, their beady eyes fixing on the intruders, Greghan realized that they had fallen into the trap after all.</blockquote>

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