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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 197915" data-attributes="member: 143">And now, for today's new post:* * * * * Book IV, Part 21Cal broke some of the twigs he held in his hands and fed them onto their fire.  The flames were more of a gesture than anything else, the small blaze adding little in the way of heat to their shelter.  At least we have hot tea, he thought, grabbing at even the smallest positive to brighten the hard realities of their situation.They were in a narrow cave that penetrated some twenty feet into one of the thousands of hillsides that layered the region.  Outside, the omnipresent cold wind continued to blow, but at least the narrow cave mouth, partially shielded by a huge boulder, kept most of its force outside.  One particularly stubborn gust managed to sweep into the cave, causing the tiny fire to flicker and dance.  With a frown, Cal turned to check the moorings on the blanket that they’d hung over the entrance to block out some of the cold air.  That task done, he headed deeper into the cave.  His gnomish eyes had little difficulty seeing in the poor light.  The fact that the ogres lacked good night vision was one of the reasons they were still alive, he thought to himself as he regarded his companions.  Dana stirred in her sleep, murmuring something that the gnome couldn’t clearly make out.  It was clear that the young woman had suffered more than physical wounds in the confrontation with the ogres and their orc allies.  The physical wounds were all healed now, a day and a half after that battle, but Cal knew that the others would take longer to heal.  Dana had proven her mettle, however, and Cal knew that she would be there beside them when it was time for the next confrontation.  He looked over at Delem, sleeping peacefully by comparison, but Cal knew that the young sorcerer had his own demons that haunted him.  The gnome was a little troubled by Delem’s behavior during the battle.  Delem had done his part—more than that, as his spells had devastated the enemy and turned the tide in their favor—but his actions had been accompanied by an attitude that was somehow… well, different, for Delem at least.  Cal’s gaze traveled to Jerral, lying motionless in the rear of the cave.  For a moment an irrational fear set in, and he crept closer until he could make out the reassuring rise and fall of her chest.  Cal understood better than the ranger could know what she must be feeling now.  Like him she had been called back from death, the power of the dwarven rune-stone restoring life to her broken body.   While grateful that her new companions had used the stone to bring her back to life, Jerral had been quiet and moody since her resurrection. Cal understood, and gave her the space she needed to come to grips with what had happened. He turned as he heard Lok push aside the curtain and enter the cave.  “Anything?” Cal asked, softly so as not to wake the others.  Lok shook his head as he poured himself a cup of lukewarm tea.  After a testing sip, he laid the metal cup carefully on the stones right on the edge of their fire.  “Benzan’s coming back also,” the genasi said.  “It looks like we’ve shaken any pursuit, for now.”“We inflicted quite a blow on them,” Cal noted.  His brow furrowed again as his thoughts traveled once more to their adversaries and what might lie ahead for them.They were still fixed on the same goal of traveling to the iron mine, and investigating whether they could rescue whatever slaves the ogres were keeping there to mine the iron ore for their weapons and armor.  Their enemy knew of their presence, now, and would not be caught unawares again, but Cal still held onto hopes that they could bypass the main bodies of the orc and ogre tribes and succeed in their mission.  The orc captive they’d interrogated said that both the orc and ogre forces were dispersed, with fairly large groups established days’ travel apart throughout the region.  That was logical, Cal thought, considering what they’d already seen of the barren nature of the mountains in winter.  With too many numbers crammed together into too small an area, starvation would likely do their work for them in thinning out the enemy strength.  Still, Cal knew that what lay ahead would be difficult, another trial for the companions.  He glanced back at the others sleeping in the rear of the cave, and he hoped that they would be up to the challenge.The curtain opened again to reveal Benzan, who stepped into the now crowded confines of the cave.  The tiefling sported a new vest of white fur, courtesy of one of the winter wolves that they’d slain.  The mystery of what had happened to the second wolf that Dana had spotted on her flying scout had been solved when they’d examined the trail leading down the rear face of the bluff.  The second wolf had been halfway down the winding trail, one of the heavy stones that Dana had rolled off of the cliff resting solidly atop its crushed brainpan.  Maybe Ruath’s watching over us still, sending us a little luck, Cal thought to himself.  “There’s no sign of any living creature within at least a few miles of here,” Benzan reported, gratefully accepting the heated mug of tea that Lok handed him.  “That latest storm pretty much blew away all the signs of our travel from the bluff.  Looks like we’ll have more snow again tomorrow, as well.”“It’ll cover our tracks, and make it harder for patrols to spot us,” Cal observed.  They turned as a sound from the back of the cave indicated that the others were stirring.  Jerral was the first to join them, running a hand through her unkempt hair.  “How are you feeling?” Cal asked.  “Alive.  Mostly,” the ranger said.  “Is that more tea?”“Here, let me heat it up a bit,” Cal said, casting a minor cantrip to warm the contents of the small metal pot.  He filled a small cup for Jerral, and two more for Dana and Delem as the two shook the sleep from their heads and joined the group around the small fire.  For a long moment, nobody said anything, the six of them just standing their in shared silence.  Then, finally, Jerral said, “So.  We’re still going to do this, then?”Cal nodded.  “I know we’ve suffered a setback…”“Funny, that’s not the word I would have chosen, to describe being killed and all.”“Well, my ma always used to say, death is just another part of life,” Benzan said. Jerral rounded on him.  “You seem to treat this all rather lightly,” she said, her emotions creeping into her voice as she spoke.  “This is serious, you know that, don’t you?”It was Lok who finally spoke, his deep voice filling the confines of the cave with the genasi’s calm tones.  “We all understand, believe me.  Levity is the shield that lets us deal with the horrors that people in our position must face every day.  We’ve stared into the darkness, each one of us.  We just choose to not let it become us, ranger.”Jerral just stood there, and it was clear that the building tension within her was draining at the genasi’s words.  Finally, she said, “There’s a lot more to you than a strong arm and a sharp axe, warrior.”Cal put his hand on the ranger’s arm.  “If we’re to go on, we’ll need your guidance, Jerral, and your strength.  Only you know these mountains well enough to find our way through the enemies that will be out there, trying to destroy us.”Jerral’s gaze traveled over them all, and at each pause she found only determination, even from Dana and Delem.  She took a deep breath, and nodded.</blockquote>

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