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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 192322" data-attributes="member: 143">Book IV, Part 14They left the bodies of the slain to the predators of the mountains.  There was some debate over what to do with the two prisoners, but ultimately only one course of action presented itself.  Cal admitted that his charm would not last very long, and none of them wanted to see the ogres warned about their presence in the area.  Neither he nor Lok were comfortable with the idea of killing helpless prisoners, but in the end they had to give in to the hard realities of their situation.  Jerral did it, ending it quickly.  The woman had an edge to her, that much was certain.  They camped as many miles from the ambush site as they could push themselves before exhaustion and the advancing hour forced them to seek rest for the night.  The night was quiet, but for those on watch it went particularly slowly, as each shifting shadow and strange sound that broke the night became a creeping orc or looming ogre in their imaginations.  The next day began miserably for the tired companions.  The air that blew down on the morning wind was from the south.  That meant it was a tad warmer, but only just warm enough to ensure that the storm that hit during breakfast dropped cold, icy rain rather than snow upon the companions.  Soaked and miserable, they pressed on nonetheless, knowing that the elements would not hinder their adversaries and so it must not hinder them either.  Even with their magical protections, they were all chilled to the bone by midmorning, only the plodding action of moving one foot after the other keeping their bodies warm enough to continue. The rain turned the snow on the ground to mush, and soon that became a mire of mud and debris that seemed fixed on trying to drag them down with each step.  Spills were common occurrences, even for the sure-footed among them, and soon they all looked like walking mudslides.   But that was the better part of the day, before things got really nasty.* * * * * “Damn, I—aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh… UMPH!”“Delem!” Dana yelled, spinning at the young man’s sudden cry just in time to see the sorcerer shooting down the slope they’d just spent the last half-hour negotiating.  “Delem, are you all right?” she shouted again, already moving at an almost reckless pace down the muddy hillside, the others falling behind as they negotiated the difficult slope.  The sorcerer’s track was easy to follow, as his slide had left a wide trail in the mud that ran straight down the hillside.  “Ow,” came a voice from below, barely audible over the wind.  Dana could just make out Delem’s muddy form, wedged against a protruding wedge of stone about fifty feet below her.  Even as she watched he tried to rise, but quickly slumped back, clearly injured by his misadventure.The agile monk quickly covered the distance, although she herself nearly slipped on the last treacherous strip of mud.  He looked up as she reached him, and the pain was evident on his face. “How is it?” she asked, as she crouched beside him.“I… I think I broke something.  My side… it’s like it’s on fire…”“It’ll be all right in just a second,” she said, drawing his eyes to hers and locking them in a joined stare.  She cleared her mind of all of the distractions around her, drawing upon the power of Selûne as she cast her most powerful healing spell.  The familiar blue glow surrounded her hands and passed into his body, and his labored breathing eased as the positive energy worked its restorative magic upon the injured young man.   “Thanks,” he said, as he reluctantly broke the stare and started to rise.  She helped him, careful not to slip on the mud that surrounded them. “Delem, are you okay?” came a concerned voice as the others reached them.  Delem looked up at the one who’d spoken—Benzan.  “Yeah, I’m all right, thanks to Dana.”  He looked past them back up the hill, which now loomed its full height over them again.  “Sorry for being such a klutz—now we’ll have to climb that again.”“There’s always another hill,” Cal said.  “But keeping everyone alive and intact… well, that’s more important.”“Hey, looks like you got a little mud on you there, chief,” Benzan said.  Delem looked down at his body—which was literally caked with mud, front and back.  The sorcerer then looked over at Benzan, who was only slightly less dirty himself.  Finally, both of them laughed.  It was the only thing they could do, really, in that situation, and the others joined in.  The levity was short-lived, however.   “What a day,” Cal said, wiping some water from his eyes.  He opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off by Jerral’s warning cry.“Ogres!”They turned to see several ogres, the first of a group numbering a full ten, appeared over a low rise in the terrain barely sixty feet away from where they stood.</blockquote>

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