Olly hurdled over a large fallen tree, the branches brushing past her feet as she swept them clean, careful not to break anything crucial as she sprinted through the forests, following the Trade Way path's direction towards Triboar. The Trollclaws were active in the night, Olly hearing all manner of wildlife coming through the woods as she traversed through it stealthy. She wasn't so afraid of the monsters and beasts of the forests, but more of the anger that Peren would have when he discovered her not in the tavern room and half their supplies gone.

Oh yes, he would be angry, and he would curse at the ground and spit at her name. And all the while she would be so far ahead he couldn't possibly catch up. She hadn't mentioned where she was headed, and the thought of being totally alone thrilled her and scared her at the same time. Now she was ass deep in the darkness of the forest with no clue what her next move was when she finally made it to Triboar. She would have to send out a inquiry within her mother's druid circle, feel out some potential leads, but first, she had to get away fast.

If only she had done this years ago. It felt so good to be rid of a weight she couldn't describe. Was this the freedom that she wanted? Maybe not to it's fullest, but it was a start. Breathing the night air it filled her lungs, a coolness that made her shiver and realize she had done something she had never done before. She had done exactly what she wanted to do.

She hadn't hesitated, hadn't pondered or slept on the idea of leaving. It was the moment her heart had cooled from the hatred of Peren, and the realization that she was not what he thought she was. She was far more, and that in itself had sparked some fire within her that had grown and grown until she had slammed the bedroom door and screamed out into the air. After that, her steel heart vowed never again, never would she open herself up to become so controlled and soft. She vowed she would find Nole, and prove Peren wrong. She vowed to herself that she would never fall again, never be so involved with someone she would lose herself. She would never love again, she would never want to love again, it seemed like a adventure she would never be able to explore, for lack of the person or the feeling within herself.

In the darkness of the forest she sealed herself off from ever knowing love, or the meaning of it. Peren had always said that love was a weakness most fell afflicted to, and maybe that was the one thing he had been right about her. She loved things deeply, and felt things deeply, and it would be her downfall...

But no more.

Ed had walked out into the night air, breathing it deeply and steadying himself enough to get ready to speak to Olly. He was going to try not to make a big show of offering his assistance, he would just simply ask and then if she refused he would politely back off. Simple as that. But now as the Cleric stood in front of the stable doors he felt a sense of dread when he saw Olly's horse still tethered up. A young boy passed by him as his mind started trying to turn to understand how Olly wasn't there but her horse was when he finally shook himself awake and turned to the child.

"Boy! Wait boy!" he said as the young lad turned and stared up at the Cleric "Did you see the woman that owns that horse?" he said pointed to the mare.

"My lady gave me some coin to watch over the horse while she goes away, she said would return in a month sir" the boy spoke plainly, not mentioning the coin happened to be gold.

"Where did she go?" Ed asked looking towards the darkness of the forests that the Trade Way led into.

"She took off on foot sir" the boy said "Although I know not why. It's not safe sir, and she only had a bow on her that I could see. I fear for the lady priest, these woods ought not to be explored in the night, but my lady was determined. She left with very little food too sir, but I could not spare none of my own. "

"That's alright" Ed said patting the young lad on the shoulder "Thank you, and my lady will thank you for your service. Here is just a little extra, a gift from Pelor himself" Ed said giving the boy an additional five silver falcons.

"Thank you sir!" the boy said with wide eyes, not used to this kind if kindness from travelers.

"Now go get yourself a pint and sleep well" Ed said thanking the boy again before turning towards the forest path, thinking what he would do if he were trying to sneak away. The boy took off for the tavern, happy to get a big meal and drink to sleep soundly in the stable. Unfortunately, Ed wasn't about going straight into the forest he had never traveled through before, so his best bet he decided would be to follow the Trade Way road and if he heard anything he would follow the lead.

To be honest, Edric felt like a complete fool trying to track the daughter of the greatest Ranger in the Sword Coast, but he had to try his best. For what would Pelor think of him if he would slack in the difficult parts of his journey?

Ed decided to get his heart rate running and to speed up his chance of catching Olly by starting to jog and going into a full run down the road. He passed by late night travelers on horseback, who stared at the strange white haired Cleric that went sprinting by them with a smile and wave. It would have been strange, but then again the Trollclaws had seen many strange things besides a young human running down the road as fast as a Tiefling racer.

Olly wasn't one to easily catch though as she sprinted and ducked her way through the brush of the forest. The Trollclaws were naturally a rocky mountain terrain, which Olly's feet had known since she had first learned to walk on them. She could remember having competitions with her father and Atticus on who could climb the fastest or track the quickest meal. It had been a game for so long, but Weylyn knew what he was doing when he trained his children. While they thought it nothing but a good time and a little fun sport, Weylyn saw his children mastering the art of walking the way of the Ranger. They moved quick, thought fast, were able to make a split decision faster than him sometimes. Olly remembered the few times she had bested her father at Hide and Sneak. Sometimes she was so quiet in the dead of night through the trees, not one branch snapped under her footing.

Now though, she didn't much care how quiet she was, just careful enough not to attract any big attention. She could easily be mistaken for a wild animal trumping through the brush, not a young woman alone in the night in a troll infested forest. Gods, it sounded insane when she thought about it, but the thrill of leaving Peren finally had still not worn off, and it wasn't long until Olly began getting reckless in her movements through the forest. She could feel the wet rocks from the mountains mist with her hands as she climbed over a steep embankment, but her boots continually refused to cooperate and kept slipping every time she tried to find a grip. It was a bit scary, she wasn't going to lie to herself, but being scared didn't make Olly panic, it made her focus.

With gritting teeth she pulled herself up over the hill and let herself take a quick rest, her body laying down on the cool moss of the hillside, her glowing white eyes staring up at the vacant dark sky above. She let her eyes close, feeling the cool wind of mist coming off of the Trollclaw mountains. She listened, hearing birds and insects around her, still active and alive. It was only when things got quiet should she worry, nature had a way of letting you know something was up if you only payed attention.

Olly could make out different species by the twirls and calls from the birds, trying to name them in her head as she breathed deeply, her body starting to complain from how long she had been running. Who knows how far she had gotten, the clouds above making it difficult to navigate. She was just running in the darkness, fast as she could just to get away.

"Dawn will be here soon" she thought to herself taking another deep sigh "I'll just climb up high and take a look around to get my bearings. Then I'll head for Triboar. I have enough food to last, and if not what good is my bow if I don't use it?"

Olly began to smile to herself until she heard the distinct sound of a drawstring being pulled back tight.

Quickly she was up, diving down the other side of the hill, her body rolling as she heard the whoosh of a arrow, three shots zipping by her as she dived, her body hitting the ground hard with a thud. With a grunt she got up, keeping her head down as she bolted through the forest, unsure of whether the arrow was from Peren or from another enemy.

She dove down into a grove that had formed along the roots of a giant tree, just enough cover to be able to draw her own weapon, her arrow glowing white hot with energy as Olly concentrated. She closed her eyes, listening in the darkness, but no other sounds came.

"What the hell?" she breathed thinking she might have lost them. Maybe it had been some rouge Firbolgs and she had accidentally stepped in their territory? The race was known to be a bit touchy to anyone that tramped through their coveted lands, but Olly couldn't remember a tribe being found around this area.

Then, the stench came. That undeniable stench and grunt that made Olly want to puke, her body standing straight up, petrified as a large mass of a creature moved behind her. It's long, trunk like legs blended into the darkness of the tree line, masking itself with it's actually body way high in the air, it's stench like rotten eggs and fish all at once. The one in the cave had been smelly, but dear Gods Olly visibly gagged as this Troll passed by her in the dark.

"Fucking Nine Hells" Olly screamed in her head, terrified that she was alone with this large monster that was actively sniffing the air now. Her stomach twisted and her mouth grew dry as she dared look up at the tops of the trees, her eyes making out a troll with not one head, but three.

"Fuck" she cursed to herself, pressing against the cove a little tighter as it's heads dipped down to sniff near the ground. One head meant the Troll was young, and young Trolls were easy to trick or subdue, but a Troll with three heads meant this fucker had been around long enough to evolve itself, what her father used to call a O.A.O., a Old Angry One. This one knew where to look, how to be quiet and catch it's prey just stealthy enough to sneak back into the mountainside without notice. These ones were big, and tough to penetrate even with the best flame she could conjure. There was no way she could take this thing alone right now, not with her body still a little weak from using her gift just a few short hours ago.

She needed to use her swords if she thought she might have a chance of at least getting away, the Troll now next to her tree and scraping near the top, the bits of evergreen tree branches falling around her. Olly remained still though, concentrating on her breathing to not give it away where she was. If she remained still enough, hopefully it would lead the O.A.O away long enough for her to get the DD's. Her two short swords had been gifts, blessed by the best sword dancers in Faerun the Dueling Dragons. Her one sword, Findex was blessed with the enchantment Flame Tounge, and was known to cut through Mithril armor if it got hot enough. Her second short sword was called Fax, the enchantment Frost Brand blessed into the steel so that anything struck by the blade would instantly freeze, a easy way to break off large chunks of a beast like the thing now sniffing right by Olly's head.

"Stay still" she could hear her voice tell her, a memory of Atticus popping suddenly in her head. He had said the exact same words to her one year, the two of them trapped in a dark cave, a Basilisk roaming around blindly, trying to find the two while their father had gotten lost trying to track it Instead, the creature had found the children, and Atticus had told Olly not to open her eyes and to not move, for if she looked it would turn her to stone. Basilisks though, were even more blind then Trolls, using their ears and nose more than sight.

Steady as steel, Olly pressed herself against the dark earth under the hanging tree roots of the rocks that made the cove, and sure as she thought, the Troll began losing interest and moved away, standing back up tall into the trees and moving carefully through the forest, disguising itself once again. Olly slung her bow and unsheathed both her swords, keeping the tips close to her thighs to stop the blades from hitting twigs and brush, lessening her noise. The Troll was now crunching on something high above, probably a poor animal that had made a nest up there. Who knows if it would follow her if she just took off, but Olly wasn't about to test the theory until she was far enough away to make normal sounds. As she moved backwards in the forest, her eyes keeping watch on the Troll's legs, she heard that pullback again from an arrow being knocked and froze on the spot.

If she ran now, she would be followed by whoever was targeting her and the Troll, but if this idiot decided to fire on her with the Troll right next to her, then she would take them out first and deal with the Troll afterward. Standing in the dark and surrounded by the trees, Olly saw dark figures comes out from the brush, the whispers and grunt not in the Common language.

"Oh great" Olly cursed in her head "Bandits."

They must have been tracking her when she got lost in her thoughts, and being in the middle of the night, they were easy to conceal themselves while they followed her. She had a few valuable items on her, Beads of Nourishment, a Bag of Holding with all manner of things she collected but didn't have space to take with her all the time, and her archery bracers and weapons were enough to get them a fine piece of coin at the next market.

She saw one of them lift it's hood, two yellow eyes staring at her from the darkness. Goblins, all of them probably. That green lumpy skin was even noticeable in the moonless night, Olly's eyes seeing just fine in the dark to make out about twelve of them surrounding her. Even with her swords, her bow, and a few cantrips up her sleeve, Olly was still outmatched. She didn't like these odds, feeling her pulse start to rise and her body begin tightening for a fight. She probably could take on one or the other, twelve goblins being nice target practice once they realized who they were dealing with, but the O.A.O. Troll was still close, close enough to hear a fight, then they all would be in trouble. She wished she knew Goblin, or at least some other form of Hobgoblin besides eastern slang, these boys (or girls? It was hard to tell still) were Southerners, and she knew diddly squat about their language. If she did, she would be telling them to stop coming at her and snapping so many damned twigs as they approached.

"Uhhh" she said under her breath trying to figure out something. How stupid could she be? She had wandered off into a forest she Did Not Know and had come across not only one enemy but now thirteen all at once. She didn't have her usually backup of Peren, who no doubt would have blasted the group without thinking, and her powers were still pretty restricted. She was so incredibly stupid, so so so stupid...

"Hying!" one of the goblins said hoarsely.

"Hying?" Olly thought. What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

"Hying! Hying!" the goblin said pointing to Olly's bag of holding.

She didn't dare speak, instead she gripped her two swords a little tighter and shook her head slowly back and forth in defiance. If the Troll came, it would only hear the goblins, giving her a smaller chance. And there was no way in the Nine Hells was she going to give the bandits her things. She had lost very few fights, and this wasn't going to be one of them.

"Hying?!" the goblin demanded once more, pointing at her.

"No" she gritted out softly.

The goblin jittered at the others, making out some words that Olly tried to pick up but it was too fast to decipher. She did hear the one word at the end though that she knew, a goblin and Hobgoblin phrase pretty known to most adventurer's.

"KHEREK-NOR!" the goblins shouted together.

Attack.

"Oh fuck" Olly cursed holding up her swords and lighting them both up dueling style. Findex's fire blazed hot in the night, illuminating the group as the tip of Fax's blade started to ice over, a chill hitting the ground as the tip of the sword touched it, ice glossing over the night moss. The goblins all halted for a moment, admiring the enchanted Dueling Dragon swords, their greedy eyes now more hungry than every for the gold they would get from the steal.

"Come on" Olly whispered, now ready for a fight come hell or high water. She was the daughter of Weylyn Duer, she had seen scarier things than a couple of goblin bandits in a forest, at least that's what she told herself, psyching her mind up to focus on the fight. She had three at her back, four at her left, three at her right, and the two in front of her, the leader and an archer holding her in place in the circle. She would swing Findex first, the blaze of fire knocking them group around her back, then she would throw Fax at the archer, hoping to freeze him in place long enough for Olly to roll over and take the sword back, dismantling the leader. From there, it was all work, she would rip and slash until it was done, and then she would move on and hopefully the Troll would not follow.

The archer pulled back on the bow string more, the arrow going loose in it's knock.

"Amateur" Olly smirked and then swung Findex around, making the goblins jump back like she planned. All of the goblins then lost any kind of sense about where they were and began loudly yelling at each other, enough noise for anyone in the area to hear them commotion. The Troll was definitely going to hear them now if they kept it up, if only she fucking knew the words for Stop and Quiet in Goblin...

"HEY-OH!" a voice called out from the night, Olly swinging around eyes wide at such an awful loud voice.

Then, like the sun coming up over the hills, Olly saw Edric Alphonse in the light of the fire coming full speed towards them.

"Ed?" Olly breathed out but it was too late. The Cleric was full sprinting towards them, his eyes alight with some type of fire in his soul as he looked at her with a wide smile. Then seeing the situation she was in, began to head straight for the leader of the goblin bandits.

"Ed wait NO!" Olly yelled out, forgetting herself to be quiet as she feared for the young man's life. She had no clue what kind of experience Ed really had, and she didn't need a someone interfering where they couldn't handle themselves. But Ed ignored her cries, continuing to run to the goblin leader and stand in front of him, the archer still drawing his bow and yelling in Goblin at their leader.

"Maal rens!" Ed said giving a wave and slap on his chest to the goblins. Like clockwork all of them lowered their weapons, hearing their mother tongue come out of a human.

"Long net aye? Sreths get dangerous ehn sep Trollclaws" Ed said with a full smile, confidence nearly radiating off of him as the goblins now fully forgot about Olly and clamored over to Ed, speaking giberish with him as he nodded his head listening.

"Dyel, dyel, ti awet" Ed said nodding and getting down to their level "Ti het sun news ten khal." Ed was around six feet high, and these goblins were about two feet below him like children. Olly watched perplexed as they happily felt his vestments, the sounds gleeful and approving as they continued to talk. Ed pointed in the direction of Trollclaw Ford, and made gestures with his hands that seemed to relay a mountain. The goblins all nodded in approval, but then turned to her.

"Sto about spet ahn?" the leader said looking at her and eyeing her up and down "Sat has sun stuff."

"Yea more than you could handle" Ed said smiling but then remembering he was speaking Common, Olly's head turning in confusion at him as he simply just shrugged at her.

"Come mei lan priest?" the leader asked " Kahl koe het sep wane as payment ten findtin lan ae home."

Ed shook his head "Nie, she's ek mine tam het."

The goblins all nodded in understanding, a few of them patting Ed on the shoulder as if to console him. Then Ed stood up and bid the Goblins farewell much like he had bid them hello, and the bandits who were one a threat now dismantled as quickly as they had formed in the shadows. Olly stood with both her enchanted swords a little dumbfounded, her energy now having nowhere to go since the fight was apparently over.

"What did you say to them?" Olly quietly said as she moved towards the Cleric.

"I told them about the empty cave near the Ford, they can set up a base there and maybe not be such a nuisance here in the forest" Ed said his voice now matching hers in level, unaware why they were whispering.

"Smart" Olly smiled "Goblins want a safe home more than anything. That was quick thinking, I was about to get into a fight I really didn't want to be in."

"Now I can't imagine you not being able to handle yourself" Ed said with a laugh which Olly shushed.

"You idiot! We are in the Trollclaws" Olly hissed "We've already made enough noise and I don't want to attract the-"

"The troll?" Ed said looking up towards the trees.

"Yes the Troll! This is the Trollclaws or did you forget that Cleric?" Olly started in until she heard what Ed heard, a crunching noise from above them, followed by an awful stench of a belch.

"That's it isn't it?" Olly said feeling so frustrated and over her solo adventure already.

"Yep" Ed said pulling his viking like shield from his back and holding it over them as a large chunk of dead animal fell from the sky.

"You feeling fast?" Olly said putting away Fax and getting her bow ready instead, Findex's fire still blazing hot in the night.

"More like feeling frisky" Ed said drawing out his morning star mace, the Dawnstar...

"Ed" Olly said looking down at the ancient relic "You sure you know how to use that?"

"My lady" he said looking down at Olly "This thing is my third arm."

Olly felt her face grow hot as Ed smiled down at her, her heart now racing for a different reason than before even though it was the most inopportune time for her to be feeling things.

As he lowered his shield Ed gave Olly it to hold, a symbol that it was now time for the Cleric to do some work.