Lazybones
Adventurer
Chapter 262
The sun had already dipped behind the crest of the jungle canopy when the companions returned to the beach, so it was in deepening twilight that they explored a scene of destruction.
The fires that they had spotted from the Syvalian ruin had burned out, leaving just smoldering wreckage where the camp had been. Bredan walked through the debris, his sword resting on his shoulder, kicking over bits of charred wood that were half-buried in the sand.
“There was an explosion here,” he said. “And look at these gaps… someone took some of the supplies with them.”
“Magic-users?” Quellan asked. Bredan just shook his head; he had no way of knowing.
“There’s some blood, but not enough if the crew were all killed,” Glori said. “No bodies. It’s like Sond and her crew just… disappeared.”
“We know where they went,” Kalasien said. They all looked over to where Rodan was scouting along the forest’s edge. The tracks were obvious enough that all of them could see them, a channel cut through the sand and soft earth that connected the beachside camp with the forest beyond. Xeeta was with the scout, her rod at the ready as she covered him.
Kosk bent down and pulled up an object that had been buried in the sand. It was one of the crew’s crossbows. It had been roughly shattered. “It doesn’t look like they put up much of a fight,” he said.
They all gathered again as Rodan returned to present his report. “Who did this?” Glori asked. “The cat-men?”
“I don’t think so,” the tiefling said. “They were definitely humanoid, and big, larger even than Quellan. Their footprints were odd, three toes, taloned. A little bit like lizardfolk tracks, but not like the ones we have back in Voralis.”
“First cat-men, now lizard-men,” Kosk said. “Great.”
“How many?” Bredan asked.
“I’d say no more than two dozen,” Rodan said.
“So they didn’t outnumber the crew,” Kosk said.
“Most of them weren’t warriors,” Quellan pointed out.
“After the skirmish with the cat-men, they should have been expecting trouble,” the dwarf persisted.
“From the tracks, it looks like they approached along a broad arc of jungle, surrounding the camp before they moved in,” Rodan said.
“Is there any way of knowing how many of the crew survived?” Glori asked.
“I can’t be sure from the tracks, but based on the bloodstains I’d say they gave up fairly quickly,” Rodan said.
“Elias wouldn’t have yielded without a fight,” Glori said, glancing over at Kalasien. The agent was staring into the jungle as if he could penetrate its secrets through the sheer intensity of his gaze. “And Sond’s magic is fairly powerful.”
“They may have been taken by surprise,” Quellan said. “Or maybe the attackers were so overpowering that they had no choice but to surrender.”
“We won’t learn the answer standing here,” Kosk said.
“We do know that whoever took them, they’re dangerous,” Xeeta said.
“We can’t just leave Elias and the ship’s crew,” Glori said.
“I share your sentiment,” Xeeta said. “But they might be more than we can handle. For all we know there’s a whole city of these things somewhere in that jungle.”
“We don’t have a lot of options,” Glori pointed out. “There’s not much left of our supplies, and it’s hardly safe just to stay here.”
“Which way did they go?” Bredan asked.
“Northwest,” Rodan said. “They may have gone anywhere once they were in the jungle, of course, but they went northwest from here.”
“So we could possibly avoid them if we return to the south,” Kalasien said. “We have the bronze plaque, but there may be other clues about the Syvalian expedition and where they went.”
“Elias might be alive, Sond might be alive,” Quellan said. “Not to mention the rest of the crew. We owe it to them to help, if we can.”
Kalasien looked like he was going to say something, but Rodan cut him off with a raised hand. “Do you hear that?” he said.
They all were silent, and after a moment they did hear something over the sound of the surf rolling up into the cove. It was faint but distinct, a sound of footfalls scraping over bare rock.
They turned together toward the exposed rock of the promontory, weapons and spells at the ready. But the figure that came into view was too bedraggled and pathetic to be a threat. It was Kavek, the sailor from Sond’s crew who had narrowly escaped being killed by the giant crocodiles on the island where they’d put in for repairs.
On seeing their raised weapons, the sailor threw up his hands. “Don’t shoot! It’s just me!”
“That guy has too much luck for his own good,” Kosk said as the sailor scrambled down over the last stretch of rocks and made his way over to where the companions were gathered.
“Thank the gods!” Kavek said. “I was starting to think that maybe they’d gotten you too.”
“Who did this?” Glori said.
“Dragon-men. Really and true! They were huge, seven feet tall at least, very strong. They were everywhere… dozens of them.”
“How did you manage to escape?” Kalasien asked.
Kavek blinked at the Arreshian agent. “I ran away. I was… I wasn’t at the camp when they attacked. I was over in the rocks, looking for food. I heard this huge ruckus… I came over the rocks and saw those things everywhere! The others were already throwing down their arms, there was nothing I could do.”
“Did you see Sond, or Elias?” Glori asked.
Kavek shook his head. “I didn’t get a chance to get a good look. One of them saw me, and I had to run for my life. I hid in one of the deeper pools, they didn’t think to look there. When I came out, they were gone. They took most of the supplies and burned the rest.”
“Did you see where they went?” Xeeta asked.
“No. Back into the jungle. I saw tracks, but I wasn’t going to go in there alone!”
“So they didn’t leave anyone behind to keep an eye out,” Kosk said.
“Not that I saw,” Kavek said.
“If they did, they could be fifty feet away and we’d never see them,” Rodan said. “The jungle’s just too thick, and there are too many places to hide.”
The others turned their gazes toward that dark green expanse, which had taken on a suddenly malevolent air.
“At least now we know what we’re up against,” Kalasien said. “The question still remains, what do we do next?”
“Either way, we’re not going to get there tonight,” Kosk said. “Even I’m not crazy enough to try to follow those things at night, and we all need rest, especially the spell-casters.”
“Are you sure it’s safe to camp here?” Xeeta asked.
“I don’t think anyplace is safe here,” Rodan said. “But there are some places up in the rocks where we can shelter for the night. If Kavek could hide there, so can we. If anyone, lizards or cats or something even worse shows up, we can make it hard for them at least.”
“And in the morning?” Kosk asked.
Bredan lowered his hand, letting his sword blink back to wherever it went when he wasn’t using it. He’d spoken with Quellan about it, but still didn’t have a very clear idea of how it or his other abilities functioned. But the power was clear in his voice as he said, “We don’t leave our people behind.”
The sun had already dipped behind the crest of the jungle canopy when the companions returned to the beach, so it was in deepening twilight that they explored a scene of destruction.
The fires that they had spotted from the Syvalian ruin had burned out, leaving just smoldering wreckage where the camp had been. Bredan walked through the debris, his sword resting on his shoulder, kicking over bits of charred wood that were half-buried in the sand.
“There was an explosion here,” he said. “And look at these gaps… someone took some of the supplies with them.”
“Magic-users?” Quellan asked. Bredan just shook his head; he had no way of knowing.
“There’s some blood, but not enough if the crew were all killed,” Glori said. “No bodies. It’s like Sond and her crew just… disappeared.”
“We know where they went,” Kalasien said. They all looked over to where Rodan was scouting along the forest’s edge. The tracks were obvious enough that all of them could see them, a channel cut through the sand and soft earth that connected the beachside camp with the forest beyond. Xeeta was with the scout, her rod at the ready as she covered him.
Kosk bent down and pulled up an object that had been buried in the sand. It was one of the crew’s crossbows. It had been roughly shattered. “It doesn’t look like they put up much of a fight,” he said.
They all gathered again as Rodan returned to present his report. “Who did this?” Glori asked. “The cat-men?”
“I don’t think so,” the tiefling said. “They were definitely humanoid, and big, larger even than Quellan. Their footprints were odd, three toes, taloned. A little bit like lizardfolk tracks, but not like the ones we have back in Voralis.”
“First cat-men, now lizard-men,” Kosk said. “Great.”
“How many?” Bredan asked.
“I’d say no more than two dozen,” Rodan said.
“So they didn’t outnumber the crew,” Kosk said.
“Most of them weren’t warriors,” Quellan pointed out.
“After the skirmish with the cat-men, they should have been expecting trouble,” the dwarf persisted.
“From the tracks, it looks like they approached along a broad arc of jungle, surrounding the camp before they moved in,” Rodan said.
“Is there any way of knowing how many of the crew survived?” Glori asked.
“I can’t be sure from the tracks, but based on the bloodstains I’d say they gave up fairly quickly,” Rodan said.
“Elias wouldn’t have yielded without a fight,” Glori said, glancing over at Kalasien. The agent was staring into the jungle as if he could penetrate its secrets through the sheer intensity of his gaze. “And Sond’s magic is fairly powerful.”
“They may have been taken by surprise,” Quellan said. “Or maybe the attackers were so overpowering that they had no choice but to surrender.”
“We won’t learn the answer standing here,” Kosk said.
“We do know that whoever took them, they’re dangerous,” Xeeta said.
“We can’t just leave Elias and the ship’s crew,” Glori said.
“I share your sentiment,” Xeeta said. “But they might be more than we can handle. For all we know there’s a whole city of these things somewhere in that jungle.”
“We don’t have a lot of options,” Glori pointed out. “There’s not much left of our supplies, and it’s hardly safe just to stay here.”
“Which way did they go?” Bredan asked.
“Northwest,” Rodan said. “They may have gone anywhere once they were in the jungle, of course, but they went northwest from here.”
“So we could possibly avoid them if we return to the south,” Kalasien said. “We have the bronze plaque, but there may be other clues about the Syvalian expedition and where they went.”
“Elias might be alive, Sond might be alive,” Quellan said. “Not to mention the rest of the crew. We owe it to them to help, if we can.”
Kalasien looked like he was going to say something, but Rodan cut him off with a raised hand. “Do you hear that?” he said.
They all were silent, and after a moment they did hear something over the sound of the surf rolling up into the cove. It was faint but distinct, a sound of footfalls scraping over bare rock.
They turned together toward the exposed rock of the promontory, weapons and spells at the ready. But the figure that came into view was too bedraggled and pathetic to be a threat. It was Kavek, the sailor from Sond’s crew who had narrowly escaped being killed by the giant crocodiles on the island where they’d put in for repairs.
On seeing their raised weapons, the sailor threw up his hands. “Don’t shoot! It’s just me!”
“That guy has too much luck for his own good,” Kosk said as the sailor scrambled down over the last stretch of rocks and made his way over to where the companions were gathered.
“Thank the gods!” Kavek said. “I was starting to think that maybe they’d gotten you too.”
“Who did this?” Glori said.
“Dragon-men. Really and true! They were huge, seven feet tall at least, very strong. They were everywhere… dozens of them.”
“How did you manage to escape?” Kalasien asked.
Kavek blinked at the Arreshian agent. “I ran away. I was… I wasn’t at the camp when they attacked. I was over in the rocks, looking for food. I heard this huge ruckus… I came over the rocks and saw those things everywhere! The others were already throwing down their arms, there was nothing I could do.”
“Did you see Sond, or Elias?” Glori asked.
Kavek shook his head. “I didn’t get a chance to get a good look. One of them saw me, and I had to run for my life. I hid in one of the deeper pools, they didn’t think to look there. When I came out, they were gone. They took most of the supplies and burned the rest.”
“Did you see where they went?” Xeeta asked.
“No. Back into the jungle. I saw tracks, but I wasn’t going to go in there alone!”
“So they didn’t leave anyone behind to keep an eye out,” Kosk said.
“Not that I saw,” Kavek said.
“If they did, they could be fifty feet away and we’d never see them,” Rodan said. “The jungle’s just too thick, and there are too many places to hide.”
The others turned their gazes toward that dark green expanse, which had taken on a suddenly malevolent air.
“At least now we know what we’re up against,” Kalasien said. “The question still remains, what do we do next?”
“Either way, we’re not going to get there tonight,” Kosk said. “Even I’m not crazy enough to try to follow those things at night, and we all need rest, especially the spell-casters.”
“Are you sure it’s safe to camp here?” Xeeta asked.
“I don’t think anyplace is safe here,” Rodan said. “But there are some places up in the rocks where we can shelter for the night. If Kavek could hide there, so can we. If anyone, lizards or cats or something even worse shows up, we can make it hard for them at least.”
“And in the morning?” Kosk asked.
Bredan lowered his hand, letting his sword blink back to wherever it went when he wasn’t using it. He’d spoken with Quellan about it, but still didn’t have a very clear idea of how it or his other abilities functioned. But the power was clear in his voice as he said, “We don’t leave our people behind.”