The Journal of Calamar Eldanil:

Chapter 7: Giving Counsel and Becoming a Raider

14th Goldfields 591

This morning I was finishing the packing I was doing for the first mission the group was about to participate in. We would take most of the elves and some of the humans out against the invaders to see what could be gained and, as Narion and Rackhe said, “Seize opportunities as we arise.” We would be leaving the rest of the human militia behind, along with their elven militia. I had confidence that Cae would do quite well in cooperation with Larsil, the Wardlow militiaman who was also the de facto leader of the small garrison. I was disturbed by a small cough from the entryway. It was the priestess of the Great Archer. She stood against the lintel of the door, appearing mildly nervous.

I smiled, “Hello, Sister Cae. Have you come to help me pack?”

The elvish priestess of Solonor Thelandira glanced at me and smiled shyly. “No, Brother I... I was just … hoping I could ask your counsel before you departed.” She pushed a small lump of dust aside with the toe of her boot and reached to brush a light brown lock of hair off her brow, tucking it behind one finely pointed ear. “I … I’m unsure about what will happen now.”

I turned and sat on the cot, my hand brushing across the blanket, still warm from being shared with my lover the previous night. Kiri was probably off and about seeing to her final preparations - most likely her weapons, or ‘rations.’ A small smile played across my lips as I turned to my fellow priestess of the Seldarine. “I’m not sure I understand. I think it is fairly obvious. We find ourselves in the middle of a war.”

“I understand that,” said the priestess as she crossed to the cot and sat down beside me, “I am just unsure of what role we will play. Or, more specifically, what role I will play.”

I chuckled. “But Sister, you have trained more in the field of martial endeavour than I. I am a simple tender of the flock, a servant and comfort to our people. These are the choices we make. Mine, to tend the community. Yours, to follow the path of the Keen-Eyed One, the arrow that strikes our enemies.”

“I know, Brother,” Cae sighed. “But I am still unsure. I have a flock of merely ten – untried, unsure, and uneasy. How am I to know how to guide them in the troubles to come?”

“You will trust to the Seldarine to guide you in this,” said I as I placed a calming hand over hers, cradled in her lap. “It is not my lot, nor that of my friends, to lead these people in the times to come. That will fall to you and others like you. Sillana, Larsil, and even the priest of Xerbo – oh my, it seems I’ve forgotten his name. You will do fine I am sure. Or our councils would never have put these ten in your charge.”

“But what do I do when I need to make a decision? How will I know which path to take?”

“That will be up to you. You will make the choice.”

“But how do I know which is the right path?”

“You won’t. ‘Within chaos there lies a higher order’.”

Cae looked at me. “How can you be so confident? You, untrained for war, are about to face unknown danger with your companions … and you are so calm, almost serene. How do you do it?”

I looked at her straight in the eyes. “I do it by knowing my friends will carry me through. I trust them. I trust to the Seldarine. I will be fine.” A small grin flashed for just a second.

Cae looked at me, startled. “But … Do you feel I have the ability to lead?”

I stood and picked up my bag from the bed. “You have all the ability you need. The Great Archer saw to guide you in the development of your focus, and the Coronal of Arvandor saw fit to grant you the sense of commitment to our people. You will be fine. This is the choice you’ve made, and I see it as a good one.” The priestess straightened, squaring her shoulders. Somehow, the calm words of a little community priest gave her a sense of pride in herself and her people. I turned to go.

“But why do you go to war, to lead our warriors, when you are so oriented to peace and protection?”

I stopped at the threshold and turned slightly. “I don’t go to war. I definitely do not go to lead. Sillana, Quillaqui, and you, as well as the human leaders can more than well handle that task, far better than I ever could. I go to accompany my companions. I go to provide spiritual support to Narion, who has lost many comrades before to the blades of our foes. I go to provide counsel in the elven ways to Rackhe, follower of Kord, who does not know his elfblood side. I go to be beside my dearheart one in these times of trouble, and feel each breath of life that I can while I’m with her. And I go to provide the best protection I can to our people by trying to remove a threat.”

I turned to leave, stepping to the doorway before I turned once more and smiled at the priestess. “Life is a series of choices, Sister. And this is the choice that I have made.”

And with that, I turned and stepped off down the corridor, leaving Cae with a new sense of commitment to be the best leader to her people that she could be.

*~*~*~*~*

Rackhe took Brendie and another human scout about five minutes ahead of our main party. The late afternoon found us some four or five miles from the road after riding north from the hold and turning northeast toward the coast. Our scouts spotted a group of people, approximately a half dozen riders, travelling north to south paralleling the road. We closed up on the scouts and after a brief discussion decided that a larger force would be behind them on the road. I suggested that the main body would be stopping soon for the end of day meal and rest. Perhaps.

Narion suggested that would be the time to attack. We should move forward and possibly hit their camp. Rackhe felt that we should attack the horsemen. “If we deprive them of their speed it will go far to hurting their cause,” he pointed out.

Narion replied that, “But foot troops have no mobility. So we should concentrate and forcing the enemy in upon himself so that he slows down even more.”

“But,” countered the Northman, “these are all hardy sailors. They will be a tough fight and, being well trained, could react very efficiently.”

Agreeing with Narion and feeling I wanted to add something to this discussion I mentioned, “The beauty of a duck is that, while it glides gracefully upon the water, once on land it can do naught but waddle.”

Everyone turned to look at me quizzically. “Well, the fact that they’re sailors wouldn’t help them on land so much. Right?” My party just stared at me a moment more and then carried on the discussion as if I hadn’t opened my mouth.

I guess I just did not understand the gravity or tenor of the war councils.

*~*~*~*~*

It was decided not to trifle with the scout riders but to see if anything could be done about the main party. Rackhe could see the bay far off in the distance, dotted with sails of quite a few ships. About a half mile from the road west from the coast, he noticed a camp and could see supplies being brought out of the Timberseed Wood. Narion’s estimate is that the camp would be the size necessary for about five hundred men.

“We should hit the supplies collected in the camp,” suggested Rackhe.

Narion agreed and suggested, “We could use the forest as cover to our approach.”

The camp was ringed with small troops of soldiers, and each seemed to have smaller piquets thrown out to cover the approaches to the camp. Our advance would have to be stealthy and sure to get us where we needed to be. And we needed to be prepared for anything. We decided that just we four, my companions and I, would scout out the camp, leaving Sillana and the rest here as a base to return to once we were done. We cast some preparatory spells and made for the near edge of the Wood.

As we made our way through the trees, Narion stepped a little too hard on a twig, and a soft snap could be heard in the night. We all paused. Rackhe heard some voices a ways off to our left and, after warning Narion, Kiri, and I, quickly and quietly set off into the dark to reconnoitre the area. He spotted a sentry post of half a dozen men a bit more than a hundred feet away. They were crouched behind some cover, peering into the night gloom of the trees.

Rackhe returned to us and informed us of what was there. We decided to withdraw but, turning to go I slipped on a pebble and reached out to grab a branch to stop my fall. The branch gave way with a loud snap and I crashed to the ground in a clanking noise of mail and leaves. Immediately a hail of arrows fell all around us.

Stifling a small curse at failing my friends in such a manner, I cast a silence spell upon the branch in my hand and turned to run in the direction Rackhe had indicated the sentry post was. My friends followed at a rapid pace.

We burst from the trees in front of the startled sentries who managed to loose half a dozen or so arrows at us before we got close. One stood up and turned to run and warn the camp. Our wild charge carried us into their midst and I struck one with my sword. Narion immediately skewered him on the end of his spear and spun sharply to drop another beside him. Rackhe went after the sentry about to run and warn the main camp. Another turned to confront the spearman and two more turned to flee. Magic flashes of energy erupted from Kiri’s hand as her arcane missiles leapt forth and impacted on the soldier about to strike Narion. Both Rackhe and I sprang after the one set to warn the camp, between the two of us we cut him down. Narion turned to the last sentry and stabbed him in the chest, felling him in one blow.

As we caught our breath, we saw torches advancing in our direction and heard voices coming this way. Rackhe got the idea to disguise himself as one of the sentries with an enchanted ring he wore. He altered his appearance and set off towards the torchlight. Kiri, Narion, and I silently debated the situation and then I drew my bow and began preparing for the “Rackhe Manoeuvre,” planting five arrows in the ground ready to shoot the enemy that Rackhe would bring down upon us. My two friends did the same.

Rackhe tried to bluff his way and found that the guards approaching weren’t archers but foot troops numbering about twenty. A Sergeant Ahmin in charge of the archers was called up. “The idiots were shooting at a fox,” explained the altered Rackhe. But they all still wanted to take a look.

The sergeant of the foot soldiers started to twig to the ruse and began to fan out his men. At this sign that the plan was unravelling, Rackhe turned and struck Ahmin beside him with his scimitars but failed to lay him out. The foot soldiers were ordered to charge and they came at our position wildly. Some closed on Rackhe, who withdrew off to a flank to avoid a huge battle on his own.

I called for a blessing from the Seldarine upon us and Kiri cast a spell that seemed to fill her with a killer instinct, her eyes taking on a blood red glow. Narion drew back his bowstring and let fly a shaft, dropping one of the charging men. Most of the troops came at us while a handful seemed to go after Rackhe to one flank. Our ranger ducked into the darkness and hid as best he could. I prayed for our safe conduct through this battle and drew my sword. Kiri fired and dropped another soldier. Narion wounded another.

Then they were upon us.

Narion drew out his spear and killed the sergeant in a smooth almost dance-like motion and with two quick thrusts with the weapon. I called upon my faith to fill me with divine power and felt Corellon’s power coursing through my body. My lady drew her sword and slew one in a quick motion of her wrist.

More men closed on us.

In a brief and furious flurry of blades, we slew all the soldiers around us. However, Rackhe had been unsuccessful at stopping the archers from warning the camp and the alarm was raised. Kiri suggested that we find a sergeant to take prisoner to see if we could find more information about the enemy. Rackhe pointed out the sergeant and I tended to him so that he would be fit enough to travel. Kiri pointed out that it would be best to leave as we noticed commotion in the main camp and so, with Rackhe leading and me tending the prisoner as best as possible so that we could move him, we withdrew.

Narion had hung back to retrieve his spear and to cover our retreat. He also wanted to see what was coming after us. What he saw was maybe a hundred or so soldiers moving about the area warily. He could detect no obvious spellcasters in their midst. He cast a spell to allow him to conduct an expeditious retreat and loosed an arrow at one of the searchers, landing it at his feet but definitely getting his attention.

He then shouted out a challenge, “Be gone! Or the vengeance of the elves will kill you all!” and then ran after us into the wood.

*~*~*~*~*

15th Goldfields 591

Later that night, we had made it back to camp and filled the others in on what had happened. Narion, once he joined us, let us know that the enemy was making a concerted effort to find us, him seeing torchlight moving about the area providing light for the search parties. Rackhe advised Sillana to begin conducting hit and run tactics on their supply lines. Sillana and Brendie would be in charge. As we mounted up to return to the hold with the prisoner, I turned and offered a blessing to keep our raiders from harm and see them safely through this endeavour.

During the ride back to the stronghold, which the troops were now calling Blackhollow Fortress (which was apparently its name under the dwarves that built it) I was in charge of the prisoner as he was still not in top health.

In the morning, after a brief rest on the trail, just as we approached the hold I received a sending from Calandir in the Highland Forest. He reported that the town of Nordfold had been sacked but that Baron Arlen had not approached close to the boundaries of the forest. I replied with my thanks and let him know that we had hit Lord Tees in his supply camp, but I held onto Calandir’s news until we would be out of earshot of the prisoner.

We arrived at Blackhollow Fortress in the late afternoon, having blindfolded the enemy sergeant for the last part of the trip. There was some small activity outside the fortress, what with people exercising horses and setting out to change the sentries. Upon entering the fort we arranged for the captive sergeant to be held and readied for interrogation. Two of Larsil’s band took him off to a separate cell from our other three hapless prisoners.

We then sat down with Larsil, Dorlan, and Cae (Badek was seeing to the further repair of the collapsed ceiling in the one corridor) and Rackhe informed them of the activities of our raiding party. I then revealed to my friends the content of the sending I had received that morning. It gave us some good news that the forest was not in immediate danger but we were concerned as to what Arlen One-Eye’s next move would be. Cae was more than a little concerned that he would turn his attention to her home.

Larsil reported that the main activity of late had been to locate alternate routes to approach the hold, and also to determine any possible escape routes, should they become necessary. It was discovered that a small tunnel in the fortress exited on the far side of the hill which the hold had been built into. Dorlan was mostly looking after finishing the necessary repairs to the fort. Off duty humans pitching in for added labour were helping his team in this. Cae was beginning to look a bit more comfortable in her position, although there was still some aspect of anxiety that showed in some of her small actions or words at this time.

“We had some news late yesterday,” said Larsil. “A couple of refugee parties from the area of Angel Lake passed near one of the hold outposts and told us rumours of somebody moving through the hilly area west of the Foxwood. In their words these were parties of ‘large giants throwing thunderbolts.’ I doubt the veracity of that but they could be giants that have moved down from the mountains.”

This was not good news.

“There have also been reports of orc raiders, at least a band or two, causing troubles further south.”

This was not any better news.

We needed rest. I needed at least to get out of my armour and bathe; as Kiri said she had to as well, once it was mentioned. Narion also expressed a need to recuperate his power and study his magic. While we were unwinding, the gnomes prepared a meal for us. It was quite tasty! And of course, there was a sufficient supply of very good Birzoon beer. This was even as Kiri herself shocked us all by agreeing that she saw the logic in rationing the beer, so she only partook of a flagon or two.

After we had a bite to eat, we turned our attention to the captive sergeant. Narion would once again question him with us to assist him if it was necessary. This man turned out to be a grumpy and grizzled veteran of some forty summers, scarred, and was missing two teeth. He also had a broken nose. Indeed, he was no trifling trooper to deal with.

I cast forth a spell to discern if the fellow was lying and Narion began the interrogation. Kiri pulled out her charm person wand and he said, “Oh crap! A spellcaster. Well, this ain’t the first time I’ve been captured. Probably won’t be the last.” He then turned to look at Rackhe in a funny manner. “You looked different the other night.”

He told us his name was Bendor, born in the Lordship of the Isles, he was 42 years old, from a peasant family, and served onboard ship.

“Perhaps we could skip ahead a bit,” said Narion, and so proceeded into the matters he wanted to learn more of. It was somewhat humorous when Bendor was questioned on whether they had siege engines with them or not.

“There were supposed to be some waiting for us but they’s been destroyed in a raid.” My two militaristic companions seemed immensely pleased at this comment, they and Kiri having burned the engines that they’d discovered waiting for the invasion. We all took heart in the comment that the invaders had been forced to dispatch parties to deal with “large numbers” of elven raiders against their supply lines. “The northern force was supposed to be taking care of the elves.” He said he had no idea what their orders were regarding handling of the elves in the Highland Forest. He simply called them “a bunch of bastards” and spat his disrespect of his northern compatriots.

Of personal satisfaction to me was his comment of, “The horse scouts didn’t do too well on their first assignment securing the ford.” I smiled inwardly at this.

When asked of what we could expect from Lord Tees he added, “If he has his way he’ll treat his prisoners well. The wizard-prince Ingerstaadi was also sent along. He’s a nice enough man but … wizards – I’ve never trusted them.”

Food was brought in and I tended his wounds. While I was caring for him I engaged him in a conversation to try and discover why he does what he does, his motivations, etc. I sometimes have a hard time understanding humans. Couple this with my lack of understanding of warlike matters and I was a most confused elf these days.

After the interrogation, we all discussed what we were to do next. The plan was to take a day or so and see if we could identify the magic items we had recovered, as well as to rest up a bit before tackling our next task. We had a multitude of options. We could address the raiders near the Foxwood; see if we could tackle the wizard Ingerstaadi with main body. Or we could head back to the supply dump. Or head north and harass the Arlen’s men threatening our fellows in the Highland Forest.

Indeed, there was much to think on.

16th Goldfields 591

After identifying the ‘loot’ from our latest endeavours, we had discovered that we now had a number of new weapons in our arsenal. Two wands, one enchanted with a spell of Shocking Grasp, which went to Narion, and one a spell of Cat’s Grace, which was claimed by my lady, were sure to come in handy. A vial containing the Oil of Darkness was awarded to Rackhe and I was granted a potion to aid in the delaying of poisonous effects in a wound. Rackhe claimed an enchanted chain shirt to better protect him when scouting and such. Kiri also “convinced” me – she can be very persuasive when she wants to be – to accept the use of a magical heavy shield that would fortify me against the critical strikes of my opponents. She was “only seeing after my safety,” she reiterated.

Of course, I was certainly pleased to accept this, even if only to assuage her concern.

I also laid claim to the masterwork bow that we had recovered, as all my companions had better quality bows already. And I took the finely crafted longsword we had liberated and presented it to Cae, as she had done such fine sterling work in the efforts of leading her team. I also gave over to her all my finely elven-crafted arrows, directing her to distribute them as she saw fit. To my surprise, all of my companions did the same and we added some two hundred arrows, master crafted by the fletchers of the Lordship of the Isles, to her ammunition supply. The young priestess was a little flabbergasted, but I assured her that I had faith in her and her ability to lead her elves ably and well.

We left the rest of the equipment and items with Larsil for use by the garrison as he saw fit to allot.

Later in the day Larsil and Cae came to us with a message from one of the elven warriors, Therier, an elf ranger of Sillana’s band. The report was thus, “Am having a fun time leading two or three companies on a wild goose chase through the hills, Sillana.” In light of this message, we informed the two leaders that we would be heading north as they had things well in hand here.

And, thankfully, we spent a quiet evening, not knowing how long it would be before we did so again.

17th Goldfields 591

The next morning we set off to cross the river north of the ford. I was garbed in my travelling vestments and true to his nature Rackhe was ready and grumbling by just a few hours past dawn. I really would think that these followers of the Brawler, Kord, would not be so surly … but then I don’t pretend to understand their way of thinking. I have begun to understand how my halfblooded friend finds the teachings of the Seldarine to be unpalatable. He indeed has difficulty understanding that life is for living, not always as an obstacle to be overcome or struggled with. I think our time apart had provided him with outside influences that were causing him to question his elf-blood side.

We were finally ready to depart a couple of hours before midday when down the trail came Antiqué and a pair of the human militia escorting her in. She had returned from her mission to warn Wardlow.

“What news from Wardlow?” we asked.

“Much,” was her tired and terse reply. She dismounted and splashed some water from a handy water bucket to her face. I dismounted and began to stroll back into the fortress with her, chatting about her adventure, when both Kiri and Rackhe reminded me that we WERE in a bit of a hurry to leave. My friends! Very adventurous. So we all five chatted while Larsil and Cae were fetched. Then Antiqué launched into her report.

“Wardlow is a busy hive of activity. Many outlying settlers are taking refuge in Wardlow and the enemy army can be seen rounding Wardlow Bay. I expect that they will be surrounding the town within a day or so. I couldn’t see any use in me being bottled up in the town, so I left.

 “It is rumoured that a couple of the towns south of Dullstrand have been burned but this force has been stopped by the Dullstrand military forces. A dwarf and a gnome contingent hit the flank of the orc force surging up from the hills in the south. And our brethren in the Brightwood have made the impression on the goblinoids that the forest is not a good place to be. There are more stories of raiding bands between Wardlow and Dullstrand rampaging about the countryside.

“Wardlow is already blockaded by the sea but the local captains are keeping the bay free by patrolling the entrance to the bay … oh! And Mayor Castle sends his best wishes.”

Narion asked her, “What about our friends of the White Swan, the tavern by the East Gate?”

“The White Swan people are doing fine. They are taking in refugees, and helping in the preparation of healing potions and such.”

I was perfectly willing to continue chatting with her but I was brought up short by a small huff from Narion.

“Kord tests a man’s strength in many ways, good Narion,” Rackhe assured our soldier-companion, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Sometime my northern halfblooded friend could be quite wise in his statements. It gave me pause to smile. We all had a good laugh when he added, “Even by placing friendly little priests who love conversing more than fighting in his way.”

*~*~*~*~*

We mounted up and, taking our two packhorses in tow, set out northward. We aimed to cross the Exploits River at a point a couple of miles from the fork where the Old River met up with it. Hopefully we would make it to the river in one day.

We were about halfway to our destination when Rackhe spotted a hint of movement in the hills to the east of us. He set off to reconnoitre and we planned to provide him some cover. After about a quarter mile further, we stopped and prepared for the “Rackhe Manoeuvre,” fully expecting our friend to draw whatever he encountered back upon our position. Rackhe dismounted to scout further, not spotting anything for a while. We three moved up to a small ridge so that we could keep him in sight and Kiri dispatched her raven, Nym, to get an aerial perspective.

Suddenly our scout was surrounded by archers, close to a dozen of them loosing arrows at our friend. A shout of “Get him!” rang out and another twenty or so charged over the hill at the Northman. We all watched this from our ridge some few hundred yards away. I turned to my two companions and said rather matter-of-factly, “I think he found them.” They both smiled a little, but Kiri playfully punched me on my shoulder.

Rackhe fired off an arrow at the leader of this force and then turned to run. Narion leapt up and, mounting swiftly, grabbed the reins of our friend’s horse and took off towards our embattled Rackhe. Kiri and I stood to offer what assistance we could when I noticed a small glint of sunlight off metal from a ridge off to Rackhe’s flank. “Over there,” I pointed to Kiri, as it was obvious that neither Rackhe nor Narion had spotted this flanking force yet. We both managed to make out a small cloaked or robed figure beside the well-armoured leader of the flankers and, with the comment of “Let’s help,” Kiri gave me a quick kiss and then I called forth a protective ward around my love in anticipation of her putting herself in harm’s way. I knew what could happen when she got that certain sparkle in her eye.

The spellcaster threw out a blazing ball of fire at the two of us on the ridge, but we managed to dodge the brunt of the fiery missile. Kiri in turn launched a ball of fire at the two figures. Even at this distance, we could see that this gave them pause for thought, so powerful it was. The enemy wizard withdrew a scroll from his robes and cast forth another fireball, this time targeted at Rackhe and Narion who were now mounted and withdrawing from the area posthaste. The blast spooked Rackhe’s horse, which bolted, taking the ranger with it away from the action at breakneck speed. Rackhe was able to hold on for dear life and we broke away from the enemy, making towards the hills to the west.

We rode swiftly away being chased by the mass of enemy on foot, trusting in Rackhe to get us away safely. After easily outdistancing the foot troops, we headed west for some time. Our scout, knowing Nym’s capabilities, checked the sky for any sign of opposing aerial beasts. We continued riding and Rackhe dismounted to try and cover our tracks while we turned north with the remounts. Hearing the sounds of distant pursuit, he decided to catch up to us after a hasty attempt at hiding our trail. We continued heading north and by mid-afternoon, we found ourselves about five miles from the river. We slowed down a bit to approach the river with some caution, hoping to camp at the river itself and cross in the morning.

We reached the river some small distance between the Hero River and the Wild Rapids but just as the sun was starting to set, Rackhe noticed a group to the east moving along the river toward where we were heading. Being about half a mile more to the river we decided to hunker down and watch them. I held our horses and kept an eye out on our back trail in case we were flanked again or followed somehow. The air was thick with tension. Finding ourselves between two sizable parties of the enemy was a feeling I neither enjoyed nor would care to experience again.

Rackhe and Narion saw that they were advancing in good order, scouting as they approached. The enemy was indeed getting smarter. Rackhe sensed that there were two or three scouts in advance parties set out around their line of advance. The three of my companions drank healing potions in preparation of imminent danger. Kiri also used her wand of Cat’s Grace on the three of them.

It was at this point that our northern friend Rackhe made a startling announcement to the two of them. They returned from the crest to the horses and the first instance that I knew that something was amiss was Kiri’s remark, “What do you mean you’re not going north with us?”

“My destiny lies on a different path,” replied the Ratiker.

I was perplexed. “What do you mean your destiny lies on a different path? Did we not decide to go and help our fellows in the Highland Forest not but a short time ago?”

“Yes,” Rackhe said, “but this has been weighing heavily upon me for some time now. I feel disquiet about leaving the people of Wardlow to face this war alone.”

Narion spoke up. “But we’ve installed a combined force of humans and elves – and a few dwarves and gnomes – in the enemy’s rear to disrupt their supply lines. This was in fact your original plan, was it not?”

The Ratiker looked somewhat sheepishly at the ground. “Yes. However I have since begun having doubts.”

“Doubts?” I asked. “What kind of ‘doubts’?”

He looked at me with a pained expression. “These people took me in and did not hold my half-blood against me. I have never felt that welcome, that warmth. Having formed some bond with many of them I would feel disloyal in leaving them in their time of crisis.”

Kiri looked at me. I asked Rackhe, “What about our people of the Brightwood? Did they not take you in and welcome you?”

“True,” he replied.

“Well then?”

Rackhe shifted slightly uncomfortably on his horse. “The elves of the Brightwood can hold their own against the oncoming horde. They are well prepared and equipped to deal with the threat. Besides, forewarned is forearmed. The same goes for those elves of the Highland Forest. The people of Wardlow have no such state of readiness to rely on. Narion and I had to train some of their militia for pity’s sake.”

I stroked my chin. “So you are bound to leave us; to break the companionship up for the sake of some human villagers?”

He looked a little downcast, taking my tone as an admonition. “Yes. I feel it is my obligation to help them.”

Narion frowned at the bladesman from his horse. Then he turned and looked at me a brief moment. “Then we shall go with you, my friend.”

“Surely,” Kiri piped up. “We shall go along. It shall be a grand adventure!”

Rackhe looked up at us startled. “I don’t understand. What about your plans to help those in the Highland Forest? I do not want to be responsible for making you choose a path that doesn’t lie with your heart.”

“You’ve made a good argument that they don’t really need one more spear,” said the elven soldier. “I, for one, feel my heart lies with my spear and my companions. No plan survives contact with the enemy anyway.”

Kiri smiled warmly at Rackhe. “We are companions for a reason. We will remain companions for the same reason. Our bond is our strength.”

I clasped Kiri’s hand quickly in mine and then mounted my horse. “Besides … haven’t I told you,” I said with a gentle smile to my Ratiker friend, “that in chaos there lays a higher order? Plans were made to be changed.” We three then spurred our mounts away from the river and back into the hill country. Rackhe paused only a moment to wonder at our sudden change of temperament and then kicked his horse to a gallop to catch up to us.

We started for Wardlow by moving east, trying to avoid the scouting parties. As this was upon Narion and Rackhe’s advice I commented that, “It seems that occasionally the military make wise choices … Occasionally,” which drew a wink from Kiri but failed to bring Rackhe out of his mood.

Rackhe lead us south a bit and then east towards the road. Kiri suddenly announced, “I think we have a problem.” Nym had discovered a circling raven … most likely a wizard’s familiar … that seemed to be circling the area, looking for us. Rackhe searched for a place to hide that would provide cover and we hid and readied our bows. But the bird spotted us. I called forth the power of the Seldarine to grant blessed assistance to the aim of my friends and Kiri fired off two arrows at the winged scout, hitting it soundly and dropping it from the sky. We then mounted up and rode east. After about an hour we found our campsite, a small tucked away nook that allowed us some measure of defensibility. It was a cold camp that night, but we felt secure that we had avoided the enemy scouts.

*~*~*~*~*

TO BE CONTINUED...