A/N: A belated thank you to Inconspicuous Acuity for his help with Elturel! Should have mentioned it last chapter, but better late than never:D
"I thought you wanted to go and look at that tower," remarked Cotirso conversationally. The group were leading their horses out of Elturel's gates, though none of them actually knew where they were heading to next. Embarl just scowled around darkly.
"I did," he mumbled almost inaudibly. "But my cunning plan seems to have been foiled."
No one showed any sign of having heard him; instead they paused at the side of a grassy meadow within a stone's throw of the city walls. All eyes turned to Graham -- even Embarl's, though he quickly chided himself and looked away, becoming deeply engrossed by a pattern in the mud underfoot.
"Where now?" asked Nara. She sounded quite happy, the thief noticed -- she was smiling to the ranger, her head tilted to one side as she did so. Embarl felt bad -- he should maybe have made sure that the sleeping arrangements for her were slightly better. She was the only girl in the group, after all, and to think she'd got a crick in her neck at night just showed how fragile she likely was. He'd have to try and look after her better, being their leader and all.
Except, right now, Graham was doing a magnificent job at pretending to be in charge.
"As I see it we have a few choices," remarked the beastmaster genially as the others listened intently. Embarl quietly thought hateful thoughts about each of them, quickly forgetting his concern over Nara's welfare. "To the southwest is the Wood of Sharp Teeth -- we'd have to cross the river to get there, though."
"What's in there?" asked Aefer. He was leaning on his staff, obviously trying to look butch. Embarl didn't think you could pull off the macho look with a weapon like that, though the former guard was very impressed with it. He'd got it cheap, as well -- Nara had identified an enchantment on it, and Aefer had somehow managed to barter down the tradesman to half the original asking price -- which in the thief's opinion, was already very low. He wasn't sure he trusted it, but super, wonderful Graham had thought it was a good buy, so who was he to disagree.
"Apart from our friend, here's, tower?" grinned Graham. Embarl thought he looked smug. He wanted to punch him. "There's rumoured to be the ruins of a city, once inhabited by werewolves. Many say the creatures still live in the forest, despite their old home having been destroyed."
Cotirso had straightened himself considerably. "Werewolves, eh?" he asked, staring southwards, obviously in the direction he assumed the forest to be in. Embarl wasn't quite as directionally challenged, and he knew the cleric should be looking a little more to his right. "That sounds like an evil worth smiting!"
Graham continued his smile and looked to the former Shadow Thief. Embarl resisted the urge to snarl and managed a curt reply of his own. "Any treasure there?"
"I'd imagine not," admitted Graham, almost apologetically. Embarl wondered if he could carry off a headbutt as well as Thomas the Thug had been able to, back at the guild. "So, that leaves us with west, to Baldur's Gate, south-ish back to Berdusk, or north through the Fields of the dead to Soubar. I'm guessing that east to Scornubel is still a no." Another flash of a brilliantly white smile. Embarl was quite sure his teeth hadn't been that dazzling before -- had he received some blessing from the Helmites for dental care?
"We should go and deal with Iztah," growled Aefer dangerously. Embarl was so preoccupied with glaring at Graham that he ended up patting the fighter's shoulder, causing him to receive a curious glance.
"Let's go to Baldur's Gate," said Nara suddenly. "I've heard so much about it... and we can get almost anywhere from there!"
Cotirso nodded his agreement. "Certainly, it would be a fine place to continue my spreading of the word," he mused, throwing a glance back at Elturel. "Better than some places, anyway."
"The Flaming Fist still have a number of men in Baldur's Gate," said Aefer with a shrug. "At least there I'll not be short on drinking companions." Nara rolled her eyes.
"Well, Embarl?" Graham beamed to the thief. Embarl grit his teeth.
"Sure, why not?" he muttered, jumping onto his horse and trotting off along the road. He only paused when Graham called out to him.
"Uh... we need to go this way..."
----------
They rode for several hours, the sun high in the sky making it a pleasant day. Embarl trailed behind the others, watching as Cotirso and Aefer discussed the medicinal uses of ales and beers while Graham gave Nara a highly informative -- but boring to the thief's ears -- lecture on the local plant life. Both groups were so dedicated to their discussions that Embarl almost felt himself missing Alice. Almost.
The road was fairly busy -- Hellriders would appear now and then, conversing amiably with Graham about the dangers on the road, and a few trading caravans would wind their way past. The thief could hardly stop himself from trying to peer into the wagons, determined to see if there were any other children having been ruthlessly torn from their families just so someone could make a profit. Graham noticed his actions and gently pointed out that any activities would be frowned upon in Elturel, and since they were technically within the boundaries of the city's lands, anyone seeking to smuggle slaves around would be wiser to give the area a wide berth.
Embarl really wanted to stick his knife into the sanctimonious busy-body's throat.
They camped by the banks of the River Chionthar, where the ranger estimated it'd take them about another two to three days to reach the city of Baldur's Gate -- slightly less if they left the road in the next leg and stuck closer to the river. Embarl shrugged indifferently when asked for his opinion -- he wasn't sure why anyone bothered consulting him any more, considering that the ranger was making every important decision for them, so he sulkily busied himself with erecting the tents, only to have Graham appear beside him, automatically taking over. Embarl took a deep breath.
"Are you alright?" asked Graham, seemingly genuinely concerned. Embarl looked up to him, ready to tell him exactly what he was thinking when his eyes caught sight of Nara. The young wizardess was tending the newly lit fire, carefully watching the scene with a worried face. Something about her slightly fearful expression hit Embarl heavily, and he closed his eyes, sighing deeply.
"I'm fine," he lied, opening his eyes and offering a very forced smile. "Just tired, you know. Will be good to get to a city again."
Graham nodded knowingly, expertly finishing off the pitching of one of the tents. "Well, if you decide to leave the paths tomorrow I can see what we can do to speed up the trip," he offered, frowning slightly as he went over the options. "But you might want us to stay on, or near to, the road for safety."
"We likely to run into trouble if we come off the road?"
The ranger shrugged. "Hard to tell -- I wouldn't imagine there'd be much to test us, but it's likely we'll meet the odd bandit or ogre, maybe a gnoll or two."
"We can deal with that though, can't we?"
"Don't see why not."
Embarl nodded. "Then we'll take the shortest route possible," he smiled -- genuinely this time. Graham nodded his acquiescence and wandered off, grabbing his bow as he passed on the way to collect their meal. Embarl returned to the others sitting around the fire -- Cotirso and Aefer had tended to the horses, and were now warming their hands on the heat, staving off the slight chill in the evening air.
"I'm glad Graham has come with us," ventured Nara, almost hesitantly. Her eyes flickered over Embarl as she spoke, but never rested overly long on his form. "He's very good at... things."
Aefer nodded his agreement. "He knows how to find good meat."
"And he always finds the way to wherever he needs to go," remarked Cotirso.
"He does, doesn't he," replied Nara dreamily, her eyes settled on he fire, and a small, coy smile playing at her lips. Embarl stared at her.
"Yes, well," said the thief quickly, "he's welcome to travel with us until we get to the Gate, then we'll see what happens."
"You're going to ask him to leave?" Nara was making big, doe eyes at him. He tried to ignore it, but it made him uncomfortable. He shifted slightly.
"Not as such, no, but he might decide he has other things to do," he explained hastily.
"Oh." The mage looked crestfallen. Embarl wondered why he was constantly being put into no-win situations. Thankfully for him, they were soon interrupted in their relaxation by the snapping of several twigs, and the low crash of something heavy travelling towards them.
"Ogre!" yelled Cotirso, leaping to his feat, pulling his flail free from his belt -- then retreating as fast as he possibly could, muttering the words of a prayer rapidly. A shimmering glow enveloped him as his call for sanctuary was answered. "I can heal you without fear, if you get hurt!" he called out helpfully.
Nara had also scrambled out of the way; the innocent, sad looking young girl was instantly replaced by the more familiar shouting, vicious woman as she shrieked at Embarl about earning a decent amount of coin so she could get proper spell components. As if to demonstrate her point, she shot some magic missiles towards the ogre. They tore into its flesh, causing it to stumble and look confused for a second, before it went lumbering on towards Aefer.
The former guard was brandishing his new staff eagerly, waiting for the creature to get close. Embarl took advantage of the situation, slipping away from the fire and into the shadows of the nearby trees until he was behind their attacker. Silently he leaned down and pulled his dagger free from his boot, then crept up behind the monster as it grunted in Aefer's direction. It swung its club towards the guardsman, who easily avoided it, using his staff to counter the attack and thump the beast on the head. It howled in annoyance, which rapidly became a horrific scream as Embarl's knife plunged between its shoulder blades, easily passing through its dirty tunic.
With amazing dexterity the ogre turned, swatting at the thief with its spare hand, and catching him firmly on the side of the head. Embarl fell to the side, going over his ankle as he tumbled to the ground. "Cleric!" he screamed, feeling a burning pain throb in the lower half of his leg. Cotirso began to make his way cautiously over.
Satisfied with the move, the ogre turned back to snarl at Aefer, who had begun to repeatedly beat at it with his staff. Blows were dodged by either party as the creature and the guard danced around ungracefully, each parrying and eluding hits. Then Aefer's weapon caught the creature squarely on the jaw, causing a crunching noise. The ogre fell back, dazed slightly, and a strange glow enveloped the area.
A flash of light poured from the staff and took the form of a young humanoid female in the blink of an eye. Aefer paused in his attacks, Cotirso forgot to finish his healing prayer, and Embarl failed to notice because his eyes were firmly fixed to the long haired, slender, tall... and very, very scantily clad girl, that had appeared... from Aefer's stave.
"Eh, hello," nodded the guard amiably, absent-mindedly thumping his staff down on the ogre's head and rendering it unconscious. The girl screamed at the blow.
"DO YOU MIND?! EVERY TIME YOU DO THAT IT HURTS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE STUCK IN THAT BLASTED PIECE OF WOOD?"
"Uh." Aefer looked over to Nara quickly. The wizard was regarding the newcomer with mystified wide-eyes.
"Well?" The girl crossed her arms together, covering a fair bit of her exposed chest. Embarl and Cotirso both sighed in unison and she shot them a poisonous look.
"I'm... sorry?" offered Aefer helplessly, staring at the staff in his hands. "Did you... come... from this?"
"Yes, I did!" she snorted, staring icily at him. "Ever since that blasted woodsman cut down my tree and made a staff from the wood, I've been bound to that wea-"
A small boom and another flash of light and she was gone. The group remained still for several moments, the silence of the night hanging around them. Aefer frowned slightly, then addressed his staff.
"Can you still hear me?"
Some crickets were chirping somewhere, and an owl hooted mysteriously in the background. Embarl wondered why owls always hooted when things were quiet at night, and people were listening carefully for something else.
"I don't think she can," remarked Nara, approaching the fighter and touching the staff. He snatched it away from her defensively despite her glare.
"Is this the enchantment you spoke about?" he asked curtly. "Because if so, it's not a very nice one."
"Oh, I don't know," murmured Cotirso quietly. Embarl found himself nodding in agreement.
"Well, she was quite pleasant to look at," admitted Aefer, his eyes turning hazy. Nara began to tap her foot.
"If she was about to say she's trapped in that staff, then I think we should find a way to free her," she said matter-of-factly. The three men gaped at her.
"Now, let's not be hasty," began Cotirso.
"You don't know she doesn't actually like it in there," said Embarl.
"It's my staff, and she's better off in there where I can protect her!" announced Aefer, stamping his foot slightly. Nara continued to glower at him, and their staring match was only interrupted by Graham's polite cough. They turned to see him standing with a brace of pheasants, looking down at the stirring ogre with curiosity.
"Aha!" exclaimed Aefer, leaping past Nara to get to the ogre, and walloping it repeatedly with his weapon. When it was fully bludgeoned, he looked at his staff with some disappointment. "Blast."
Graham looked quizzically at Embarl, and the thief was jostled back to reality. The pain in his leg came charging back at him, and he reached out to grab Cotirso, shrieking loudly. "Heal my flippin' ankle!"
The cleric jumped, startled by the aggressive move, and cursed the end of his spell of sanctuary. He cleared his throat and began mumbling the words to his healing prayers again while Nara explained what had happened to the bemused ranger.
"We were sitting talking, and then this ogre came charging at us, so Embarl managed to get round behind it to backstab it, and Aefer hit it with his staff, and it flashed, and this woman appeared, and they all stared at her because she didn't have much on in the way of clothes, and she screamed something about her tree being cut down and being bound, and then she disappeared again, and Aefer won't let me look at it, and then you came back."
Graham nodded slowly, trying to take in all the words she'd expelled without taking a breath. He regarded the rather mutilated corpse of the ogre somewhat critically for a while then carefully put his hunted game down beside the campfire.
"A woman, eh? Be interesting to see her." He nodded to the body. "Best be moving that," he said simply, moving over to it and lugging it away from their camp. Aefer gave him a hand, and they returned as Embarl was helped to his feet, somewhat shakily, by Cotirso. They all turned around to see Nara glaring at them as a group. They exchanged nervous glances.
"What?" asked Embarl eventually.
Nara snorted with annoyance. "Men!" she growled, turning away from them and storming off into the nearest tent, closing its flap behind her.
The men exchanged another confused look and then shrugged.
"I'll be cooking then," remarked Graham.