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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 929322" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #224] Retreat![/PLAIN]"What?!" Ledare cried out a trifle too loud. Her voice echoed off the far wall and came back to her with all of its guilt and loss intact. She winced as the emotions came back at her, then turned her eyes to survey the cavern. "Are you sure?" she asked, already having spotted the fallen Archer. She moved toward him without waiting for an answer.She let go of her captive's chains and the werebat looked opportunistically from its manacles to the Grey Companions to the tunnel leading out and back again. On its second cycle through, Ruze caught its eye and said one word: "Sit." It complied without question, whimpering in fear all the while.The Battleguard quickly looked over Ixin's bandaged wounds, found them adequate and nodded at Draelond. "Good work, my large friend," the cleric said. "You likely saved the mage's life."Draelond grunted in reply, his eyes never leaving the darkness where the skaven leader might still be hiding. "I'm no healer," he told Ruze. "I did what they taught me at the Academy.""They taught you well," the Battleguard responded and clutched his holy symbol. He lay the other hand on Ixin's punctured chest. "My Queen, guide this one away from your sister's dark path." Moonlight swelled briefly beneath his hand and Ixin convulsed once, spit blood and her eyes flicked open, seeming almost to glow with intensity."Dead," she wheezed and Ruze shook his head, getting quickly to his feet."Not yet," he told her and then started after Ledare adding, "Get ready to move. We're in no shape to be questing after portals now."He had already moved out of earshot when Ixin croaked, "What Portals?"Ledare dug feverishly through Finian's satchel of herbs looking for belladonna... moss... garlic... Whatever it was that the ranger always used to bring them back among the living. None of the pouches within the medicine bag were labelled, and she knew nothing about herbs. Her training at the Janissary Academy had included basic triage, not herbalism, and even those classes had been entirely optional. As she madly pressed the contents of several herb pouches against the Archer's many terrible injuries, she wished now that she had paid more attention to Imlia's classes on herblore.Ruze reached the scene and quietly knelt beside Finian's head. He pressed two fingers against the Archer's throat, seeking a lifebeat. There was none, however and he quickly whispered a few words of benediction, his hands set in the symbol of the double crescents. The Janissary continued to press herbs against Finian's corpse and Ruze laid a hand over Ledare's, stilling her."He's gone, kitten," the cleric told her. "His soul has moved on to the end of its mortal path.""If we can just find the right herb..," she began but Ruze gripped her by the shoulder guards and forced her to look into his eyes."He's beyond my ability to heal, Ledare," he said, his voice full of compassion. "What can you hope to do with a few spices." Ledare hung her head at that a moment before quietly reaching out and closing Finian's eyes."We have to go," she said as if the idea had only just occurred to her. Her voice was barely audible, but it gained in volume as she went on. "I'll lead and you should carry Finian's body.""As you wish, kitten," the Battleguard said and hoisted the ranger across his shoulders with a grunt.Ledare was barking orders by the time she and Ruze had crossed the uneven floor to rejoin the others. "Ixin," she said, "We're going to retreat as quickly as possible. You bring up the rear and remain watchful for the leader. You know the one."Ixin nodded, but Draelond protested as he rose to his full, towering height. "I should take the rear. If the skaven does attack-""You'd be in no condition to do a damned thing about it," the Janissary concluded for him. "I don't know if you've looked at yourself recently, but you're in pretty rough shape. You should conserve your strength and be vigilant." Draelond lowered his eyes and nodded his acceptance. Ledare turned, grabbed the chain binding her prisoner's wrists and hauled it to its feet."You're in the front with me," she told the werebat, pressing her sword against its throat  even as she drew it in close with the chain. "You'd best tell us if you sense something, if you know what's good for you. I've very little patience right now.""Yes, mi'lady," it managed to squeak out before she shoved it forward up the dark tunnel.They encountered no opposition on the way out of the caves, and the trek through the forest, while it was slower without Finian to guide them, was never the less uneventful. The fact that it had stopped raining was a relief to everyone. When they reached the site of their previous battle with the exploding undead, they made ready to circumvent the area. The three zombies that had remained in the area, however, had been destroyed. There were signs of a great deal of combat in the clearing, and both of the creatures had ultimately exploded much as the others had when they first met Ixin. Arrows were lodged everywhere in the area, and there was fresh blood spilled on the ground as well as the noisome contents of the bloated undead. Withotu Finian's skill at tracking, more than that, they couldn't tell.They had left the forest behind, and were crossing the grassy field below Rherram's home when Martivir reported to Ixin that he had spotted a child moving through the grass to the northeast. It seemed likely that the child was heading for Rherram's as well and the Companions met up with him at the footpath leading up the bluff to Rherram's.He was young, probably no more than five or six with a wild mop of blonde hair that fell down over his dark eyes. His cheeks were ruddy as if from sunburn and two points of color marked his cheeks. He wore simple traveller's clothes and carried a pack on his back. He was calmly eating an apple when he stepped out of the tall grass and spotted the others. He cringed backward at the sight of them and fearfully stammered, "H-hello?""Hello, child," Ledare said. "We're on our way to see the healer.""Uh-huh," the child responded, staring nervously up at the shackled werebat, Ixin and Draelond. "This creature is our prisoner," the Janissary said in an effort to soothe the child's worry."Uh-huh," he gulped, still staring."What about you, kid?" Ruze asked startling the child out of its awestruck reverie."Oh!" he shouted and smiled broadly, revealing a mouthful of bright white teeth. "Me too! He asked me to pick up a few things for him and I'm just now bringing them back." He indicated the large backpack and took another bite of his apple."Well, lead on then," Ledare suggested and the child moved quickly up the path, sure-footed as a goat. At the top, they found him standing near the stable, surveying the ruined interior."Wheew," he whistled. "What happened to Rherram's barn?""It's a long story," Ruze grunted and lowered Finian's lifeless body onto a patch of grass near the front door."Is that guy dead?" the child asked, taking another bite of apple. His copper-colored eyes were wide with concern."Yes," Ixin told him and before she could elaborate, he trotted closer and pointed to the ranger's feet."Cool shoes!" he beamed. "Kinda girlie though. Where'd he get 'em?""That too is a long story, I'm sure," Ixin said with a sad smile that revealed her pointed teeth. The apple fell from the child's mouth and he screamed. It was a loud, full-throated scream most unlike a six-year-old child's."M-m-monster!" he yelled and ran for the front door of Rherram's home. The door opened an instant before he reached it and the old healer stepped out."What's going-?" he started to ask and then the "boy" slammed into him, rebounded and landed on his back in the muddy yard. His blonde wig fell off and landed a few feet behind him, revealing his pointed ears and light brown hair. It was clear now that he was wearing make-up to give his pale skin a sunny complexion.He waved up at Rherram. "Hiya," the halfling said merrily. "I got those things you wanted."The healer was doubled over, clutching his groin, his face a shade of red that bordered on purple. "Vade!?" he asked, wide-eyed, his jaw clenched against the pain. "Whay are you wearing a wig? And more importantly, where did you get that disguise in the first place?"Vade grabbed his wig and bounced to his feet. "Well, there was this group of travelling actors. And it was my birthday. And..," the halfling stopped talking. The expression on Rherram's face told him that he didn't believe a word of Vade's story. The diminutive creature produced another piece of fruit from his belt pouch and held it up to the healer. "Want an apple?" he asked, sheepishly.</blockquote>

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