The leader of the gnolls stepped forward, the other five advancing behind him and pointing their spears forward in a tight-knit formation. Anomen and Minsc advanced rapidly between the stone outcroppings in a much less organized fashion.
Lidia moved in front of them, still facing forward. "Wait."
The white-marked gnoll crossed a patch of loose dust and activated a mechanism on Yoshimo's device with a click.
A long metal spike emerged from the earth, piercing his foot through. In his moment of surprise, an arrow flew downward through the air and into his neck. The gnoll stumbled to the ground, then lay still.
A small lizard crawled out of the pack on his back and leapt forward. With a shiver, the creature transformed into a pigeon in midair, speeding its way west over the twin rocky outcroppings and into the blue morning.
"Faithless curs!" snarled another gnoll, brandishing his spears. "You will pay for this!"
And so the day began with bloodshed. Aerie and Yoshimo fired spells and arrows from above, felling two more of the gnolls before they clashed with the Company. The two groups scattered into several duels, most making their way out of the narrow passageway between the two outcroppings.
Lidia chose her opponent and her opportunity - the largest gnoll left his guard open upon his left as he passed her in the road, turning to face her a moment too late. Lidia easily dodged his spear-strike, and he was left to swing at empty air. She rained a flurry of blows down upon the gnoll's head with her staff, keeping a safe distance from him. Finally he stumbled to the ground and lay still.
She stood over her fallen opponent, suddenly filled with regret. She should have been more peaceable and tried to talk to them, she thought; and yet this band had been spoiling for a fight the moment they'd met.
Suddenly, he changed before her eyes. As if a mist had lifted from her vision, she saw him as he truly was: a knight in full plate and carrying a sword, lying prone and staining the packed dirt with a faint stream of blood from inside his helmet. She turned him over. His breastplate bore the crossed heart of the Order.
Horrified, she wildly looked around to find anyone else. She called out, "Stop! Stop now!"
She heard a scream from above - Aerie's, by the sound of it - that descended into uncontrolled sobs.
About ten yards down the road, near the entrance of the twin outcroppings, Lidia spotted Minsc fighting one-on-one with the last of the gnolls. The huge Rashemi had taken several wounds, but seemed to be getting the best of his foe. He let out a cry of rage, enamored of the fight in the midst of his battle-fury, acknowledging nothing else.
Lidia ran forward. "Minsc! Stand down!"
Minsc showed no sign that he understood.
The gnoll paused fighting and turned towards Lidia, ferocity replaced by a sudden curious glance.
There Minsc found his opening.
With a mighty blow, he drove his sword's pommel against the gnoll's torso. The other lurched, and he struck a second blow to the same place with a sickening crunch. Lidia closed the remaining distance but held herself back from them. When Minsc got like this, he sometimes had trouble distinguishing between friend and foe.
Minsc let out another war cry that echoed over the hills, then ran towards a nearby stand of trees, pursuing the shifting shadows within.
The gnoll remained where he was, bleeding out. She knelt next to him, and her eyes cleared.
Where the gnoll was, another knight's still body lay before her. Large amounts of blood still ran from between the plates of his armor and into the tall, mostly-dead grass, staining the earth a lurid red where he lay, and where Minsc had struck him left visible dents in several places on his breastplate. In his left hand were the remains of a broken shield, the fragments painted green and gold.
She lifted the knight's visor. Beneath, Ajantis's pale, frozen face still held a shadow of wonderment, his dark brows still knit, as though he had spent his last moments seeking the answer to a question.
Jaheira slowly made her way from the campsite towards where Lidia knelt, heavily favoring one leg.
"I wonder," she said quietly, "what they saw as they faced us."
Lidia couldn't look up.
"There was little you could have done." She was silent for a moment, and in a space of a breath she recognized the dead man's face. She knelt next to Lidia and rested her hand on her shoulder.
Anomen emerged from around a corner, and bent over to catch a breath. "Helm's beard! What have we done? A most foul ruse has been played upon this company! Perhaps…" He surveyed the terrible wounds inflicted upon Ajantis's body. "There is…there is nothing more that can be done for him. For any of them...We have slain the innocent. The lifeblood of the Order stains the ground at my feet. What have we done?"
Yoshimo was helping Aerie descend down the footpath at his side, the young elf shaking and sobbing, while Minsc emerged from the woods.
"Boo tells me that fighting this time was not such a good idea." Minsc looked to where Lidia and Jaheira were kneeling. "That…that is Ajantis! A great butt-kicker for goodness has fallen this day! Somebody somewhere has played a joke, but Minsc isn't laughing!"
Of their own accord, and without a word of prompting, the Company began to pay their respects. Minsc carried the other bloodied corpses towards a spot near their camp, gently laying them down. Anomen hastily spoke a last rite over them. The others gathered around and listened, their heads bowed.
Lidia barely heard them, barely acknowledged them. She felt herself coming apart, tears filling her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. Blinking rapidly, she took Ajantis's sword, notched and cast aside, wrapped his lifeless fingers around it, and set them upon his chest. Her hands shaking and bloodied, she shut his eyes, bowing her head over his body.
But only for a moment. The others were looking to her, now, unsure of what to do next.
Lidia pulled herself off and got to her feet, straightening up. Assembling a sentence was a mighty effort. "We'll…" She felt unsteady on her feet, and the weight in her chest threatened to pull her to the ground. She reached out and leaned against the rocky outcropping. The cold stone, strong and persistent and unbreakable, chilled her fingertips and steadied her limbs.
She tried again, raising her voice. "We'll find those responsible." Her throat was hoarse, and the wind chilled the wet spots on her face. "They will answer."