The next morning the party left at daybreak, heading south on the Trade Way. Autumn had arrived and there was a refreshing briskness to the air. The sun showed brightly and, despite the anxiety about what awaited them at Xonthal's Tower, they were in a good mood. As they left Waterdeep, they saw several silver dragons patrolling the skies above the city.
As always on long overland trips, Mara assumed a giant eagle wildshape to scout ahead of the party and identify potential hazards. They noticed that the caravan traffic had begun to return to a more normal volume, now that the cult raids against the Sword Coast had ceased. Occasionally they spotted a chromatic dragon far off in the distance, but none of them came close to the coastal road.
Frostbite continued to practice carrying Talis on his back and strengthening his wings. Talis found these daily excursions exhilarating, viewing the world from above and feeling the wind blowing through her hair. Gradually, he was lengthening the distance he could carry her without tiring.
Every 2 or 3 days, Kellen delivered a report to Laeral Silverhand through the Sending spell. Talis used the Sending spell to keep up regular correspondence with Naomi, her mother, and related their progress. She longed for the day when she could see her mother again, but there were many tasks to be completed before that could happen. She also kept up telepathic communication with Ralazrad and other white dragons, keeping them up to date on the party's progress and getting updates on what was happening at the Well of Dragons. Ralazrad sensed that the summoning ritual could begin any day now.
The six days it took to get to Daggerford passed without incident. There they rested a full day and then resumed the trip. The first two days out of Daggerford were likewise uneventful. As they neared the Misty Forest, they could see bronze dragons patrolling the air above the elven homeland. On the afternoon of the third day, Mara spotted a group of armed thieves hiding in the trees and bushes along the side of the road. She flew back to the party.
Returning to half-elf form, she reported, "A couple of miles down the road I saw 5 marauders in hiding. It looked like they were armed with crossbows."
Neega said, "They probably have an ambush set up. When we get to the spot, I'll gallop into the area and try to flush them out. The rest of you should be ready to attack whoever reveals their position."
They cautiously approached the area where she had seen the ambushers hiding. Trees and bushes alongside the road provided many hiding places for ambushers. Talis cast Bless on Neega, Mara, Frostbite, Bree and Kellen so that they would have greater chances of hitting with their attacks and on avoiding the effects of spells. Neega took the lead into area, with the others following closely behind, all trying to act as if they were unaware of the danger.
After Neega rode about 50 ft into the stand of trees, several thieves burst out of hiding. One thief stepped out from cover in a nook between some trees about 30 ft in front of and off to Neega's right. It fired a crossbow at Neega, but her armor deflected the bolt. Neega went into a Barbarian rage and ran up to the thief. Cursing in orcish, she hit with one of her attacks and injured it, as well as damaging its crossbow. The thief dropped its crossbow, equipping a longsword in one hand and a shortsword in the other. It attacked Neega and hit with one longsword blow and its shortsword. However, the injury was minor due to Neega's Barbarian damage resistance. Neega, in turn, hit her opponent with both blows from Hazirawn. She sliced right through its armor and left a gaping wound in its chest. The thief fell to the ground, senseless. Hazirawn giggled in glee.
Similarly, another thief stepped out from cover in a nook between some trees a little behind Neega. It aimed its crossbow at Frostbite, but Frostbite's tough dragonhide prevented the bolt from piercing him. Bree with her shortbow and Kellen with his crossbow let loose their respective missiles at the thief. Their aims were true. An arrow punctured its shoulder, while a bolt lodged in its thigh. Frostbite then roared and blew his cold breath at the thief. Loss of blood from the missiles and severe frostbite took the thief down. While this was happening. Talis positioned herself in the middle of the party and cast Aid on Mara, Borovik and Preston to give them a little additional heath.
A third thief stepped out from behind a couple of bushes just to Mara's left. It tried to hit her with a crossbow shot, but the shot went wide. Mara assumed the polar bear wildshape, then ran up to the thief and attacked it. Hitting with teeth and claws she bloodied it across the face and on one arm. Borovik cast Scorching Ray at the thief. Two of the flaming missiles hit, and the thief yelped from the severe burns.
Preston came up next to Borovik in order to cast Shatter on the thief whom Borovik had just burned. He positioned the center of the spell area to avoid hitting Mara and made the cast. A blast of thunder knocked the thief unconscious and also destroyed a bush the thief was standing beside. Preston then saw a thief hiding behind the destroyed bush and realized he had hit a second thief with his spell.
A final thief stepped out from a bush further down the road to Mara's left. This one fired a crossbow at Mara, and was the only one to hit anything, although it did little injury. The thief then ran closer to the battle and took a crossbow shot at Neega, but this time it couldn't get past her armor. Kellen played his harp and gave Bardic Inspiration to Borovik, giving him additional luck on a future attack. He played his harp again and focused magical energy from the music to direct a Hold Monster spell at the thief, paralyzing it. Borovik next hit it with a Phantasmal Killer spell. The thief's entire body jerked as it was hammered with psychic damage and fear filled its eyes. Frostbite's breath weapon didn't recharge, so he flew over and landed next to the paralyzed thief. He hit with teeth and claws, ripping off its armor and lacerating its torso. The thief could do nothing other than bleed and try to mentally shake off the paralysis, which it failed to do. Bree targeted the paralyzed thief with her shortbow and delivered the killing blow through its neck
One thief remained, the one blasted by Preston's Shatter spell. It dropped its crossbow, armed itself with a longsword in one hand and a shortsword in the other, and closed the gap to Mara. It hit her with 2 attacks from its longsword and one from its shortsword. Blood flowed from deep cuts to both front legs and to her neck, causing her to roar in fury. She cast a Combat Wildshape Heal on herself and removed more than half of her injuries. She then bit and clawed the thief's arms, and it nearly dropped its longsword. However, the thief recovered and again attacked Mara, hitting with both of its longsword attacks. Mara took some additional damage but wasn't in as much trouble as before. Preston pulled out his Wand of Magic Missiles and fired 3 darts of force at the thief, nearly knocking it off its feet. Mara finished off the thief by hitting it in the head with her paws and biting open its throat.
Wiping sweat from her face, Bree complained, "Sheesh! Didn't we have to battle a band of thieves last time we came this way?"
"Well, at least this bunch didn't have mages in their ranks!" shivered Kellen.
"Judging from the equipment they carried and their battle tactics, I would judge these marauders to be veterans," said Neega. "Perhaps retired military."
They looted the coin purses of the veterans and gathered 26gp, 23sp, 14cp, 2 tiger eyes and 5 lapis lazuli. The coins were divided up among the party, with Frostbite's portion going into a special pouch Talis carried for his share of the loot.
Mara resumed her half-elf form and they continued on their way without encountering anymore enemies. Around dark the following day they reached the Way Inn and the day after that rested for a full day. Feeling refreshed, they continued on toward Boareskyr Bridge.
The first day went without incident and the weather remained good. Late morning of the second day, Mara, in the giant eagle form, spotted 4 trolls several miles down the road. She flew back to the party to the party to report.
"Trolls!" glowered Neega. "How can there possibly be so many of them?"
"Maybe they spontaneously spring from the ground," Bree snickered.
"Well, I recommend we take our midday break a little early," Mara suggested. "After the short rest I will regain all my wildshape energy and can become a fire elemental."
The others nodded in agreement. They ate lunch, rested a short while and then cautiously proceeded down the road. Frostbite took to the air to scout and let them know when they were close to the trolls.
When Frostbite returned and told them they were within a couple hundred feet of the trolls, they looked for a stand of trees and hid the horses there to keep them safe from danger. They walked down the road with eyes and ears wide open.
At some point, Frostbite stopped and whispered, "Speak quietly, the trolls are just up ahead, hiding in that stand of trees."
"Perhaps we can make a lot of noise and get their attention," Neega said quietly. "If we get them to charge out of their cover, it will be easier to attack them."
The rest of the party agreed. Talis cast Bless on the entire rest of the group to give them additional luck in hitting targets and avoiding the effects of spells. They walked along the road next to the copse, making lots of noise and acting like they were unaware of the ambush. Neega and Frostbite walked one behind the other, closest to the trees. Mara came along about 10 ft. behind, to prevent anyone getting burned when she became a Fire Elemental. The others were on the other side of the frontmost 3, forming a second each prepared an action to take as soon as the trolls appeared.
The trolls took the bait. All at once 4 of them came charging out of the trees at the party. One troll ran up in front of Neega, but didn't have time to attack before Neega got her attacks in.
"Eat steel, filthy troll!" Neega bellowed as she went on the offensive.
Two blows from Hazirawn left the troll screaming in pain from slashing and necrotic damage. In addition, Hazirawn delivered a bleeding wound, which suspended the troll's regeneration capability for a time.
The second troll ran toward the party and Preston cast Fire Bolt at it, which burned it and temporarily suspended its health regeneration. The troll finished its dash, ending up between Mara and Frostbite. Mara used her action to assume the Fire Elemental form, and the troll squealed in shock and fear. It didn't have time to attack.
As the third troll was running toward the group Borovik repeated Preston's trick with Fire Bolt, and with the same result. The troll finished its dash and ended up right behind the second troll, which placed it within melee range of both Frostbite and of Mara. Frostbite took the opportunity to bite and claw the third troll, breaking one of its arms in the process.
Bree let fly with an arrow from her shortbow as the final troll began running at the party. The arrow lodged in the troll's chest. At the end of its dash, it ended up directly in front of Frostbite, Kellen played his harp and used the magical music energy to cast Hold Monster on the troll, paralyzing it.
Bree next switched her targeting to the troll standing between Mara and Frostbite. Her arrow grazed its arm and gave it a nasty cut. Preston unsuccessfully cast Chill Touch on the troll, attempting to give it necrotic damage and prolong the suspension of its health regeneration. Mara then did a fire touch attack this troll and the one behind it, who were both within her melee rang. She burned both of them and prolonged the suspension of their health regeneration. In addition, both trolls caught fire. Borovik cast Melf's Acid Arrow at the front-most of those 2 trolls and gave it a blast of acid damage. The troll bellowed and trembled as sizzling acid burns appeared on its back. Neega continued her assault on the enemy before her. Two mighty blows from Hazirawn cut its head right off. Because it wasn't able to regenerate its health, it died.
"More blood!" Hazirawn happily cried.
The 2 trolls who were on fire frantically tried to smother the fire on their hair and skin and were unable to attack. Both of them received another round of fire damage. Additionally, the front most of the 2 received another round of acid damage from Borovik's spell and it shuddered from the burns. Preston cast Chill Touch at the front most troll, and this time hit. It took necrotic damage, and the suspension of its regeneration was prolonged. Mara did a fire touch attack on the troll between her and Frostbite and its accumulated injuries were overwhelming. It fell unconscious and, because it could not regenerate health, it died. Frostbite did 2 more attacks on the rear most of the 2 trolls The combination of piercing, cold and slashing from his teeth and claws left it near death. Bree knocked that troll unconscious with another well-placed arrow. It wasn't able to regenerate and died.
The paralyzed troll right in front of Frostbite had not had its regeneration suspended, so it healed up all the injuries that Bree's arrow had given it. But, because of its paralysis, it couldn't make an attack. However, it focused its will and managed to throw off the paralysis spell. Seeing that the troll had thrown off the paralysis, Kellen successfully cast Vicious Mockery at it to give it psychic damage and make its attack movements slow and clumsy.
Neega moved to troll directly in front of Frostbite, whom had just been hit with Kellen's spell. She hit twice, delivering a laceration to its chest and one arm. The bleeding wounds suspended its regeneration. It panted heavily and was unsteady on its feet. Mara joined the fight against this troll and did a fire touch on it. She hit, burned it and set it on fire. Borovik cast Scorching Ray at the troll and 3 fiery missiles flew at it. One of them hit home and the troll was now totally scorched. The fire consuming it from Mara's touch also added to its burn damage.
Troll 4 couldn't regenerate its health. Plus, it was so busy trying to smother the fire burning its flesh that it couldn't attack. When it looked around and saw all of its companions dead, it decided to flee. This attracted an attack of opportunity from Mara, which finally killed it.
Mara returned to half-elf form. Talis smirked as she looked over the dead trolls.
"Hah!" she exclaimed. "You killed them all and not a one of you took even a little damage!"
"We're just so good!" smiled Bree knowingly.
The trolls had no coin purses, so there was nothing to loot. They retrieved their horses and continued their journey. Mara had used up all her energy available for wildshapes, so couldn't become a giant eagle until the next day. Frostbite took over the job of being scout for the rest of the day.
As they got further south on their journey it became a little warmer, but still pleasant. The worst weather they encountered was a little drizzling rain. After 4 more days of traveling, they set up a camp for a full day's rest. Kellen played and sang for them around the campfire. Mara put her head on Talis' shoulder and her arm around Talis' waist as they listened to a beautiful love song Kellen was singing. Briefly, they were able to put aside the enormity of what lay ahead and just enjoy the time together.
They set off again after a day's rest and Mara scouted as a giant eagle. After about an hour of scouting, she spotted 3 wereboars scrounging around in the grassy fields next to the road. She returned to the group, returned to half-elf form and informed them that there was a small pack of wereboars several miles ahead. They weren't hiding in ambush, just seemed to be hunting for any small game they could catch out in the field.
The party proceeded, not taking any special precautions, hoping the wereboars would go back into the forest by the time they got to the area where they were sighted. Mara once again became a giant eagle and flew overhead to spot how far they were from the wereboars. As they got close, Mare resumed half-elf form and they quietly came around a bend to see if the wereboars were still there.
The wereboars had not returned to the forest. They were sniffing the ground next to the road, 60 or 70 ft. in front of the party. Mara, Frostbite and Neega queued up into a front line, shoulder to shoulder. Bree and Kellen formed the second line. Borovik, Preston and Talis followed up at the rear. They hoped the wereboars would refrain from attacking them but prepared their actions in case the wereboars did.
"Use silver or magic weapons on the wereboars," Borovik told them. "They're immune to slashing, piercing and bludgeoning damage from non-magical weapons."
"And don't let them stab you with their tusks or you'll be cursed with lycanthropy," warned Mara.
The breeze shifted slightly and carried their scent to the wereboars. The wereboars let out loud snorts and ran as fast as they could toward the party. One wereboar ended up about 20 ft. in front of Mara. Another ended up about 10 ft in front of Neega and the 3rd ended up in front of Frostbite, within melee range. None of the wereboars had time to do attacks.
Talis cast Bless on the entire party, giving them increased chances of hitting enemies and of dodging spell attacks. Preston cast a Shatter spell on the wereboars and positioned it to pick up all 3 of them. Two of the wereboars dodged a little and avoided full thunder damage, but the one 10 ft. in front of Neega took the full amount.
Borovik cast Scorching Ray at the wereboar directly in front of Frostbite. All 3 of the fiery rays hit and the wereboar was left with serious burns, missing large patches of fur. Bree fired an arrow at the wereboar 20 ft. in front of Mara, hitting and adding to its misery.
Kellen successfully cast Blindness on the wereboar 10 ft. in front of Neega, making it difficult for it to hit enemies or dodge attacks. Neega closed the distance between her and the wereboar and got in 2 mighty blows. The wereboar cried piteously and sank to one knee.
Mara cast Ice Storm at the wereboars but frowned when only the cold damage affected them. She had forgotten they were immune to the bludgeoning damage of the falling ice. Despite this, the blind wereboar in front of Neega collapsed from the accumulation of thunder, slashing, necrotic and cold damage.
Frostbite decided to use his cold breath weapon on the 2 remaining wereboars, and both took full damage. The wereboar directly in front of him froze to death and the final wereboar squealed in pain from severe frostbite. It was barely alive. Preston put it out of its misery with a Fire Bolt spell. With the last enemy down, the wereboars were defeated.
"I haven't tasted the blood of wereboars in a good long while," Hazirawn said happily. "I wonder what gourmet treats await me further down the road?"
The party looted their coin purses and collected. 8sp, 45cp. The loot was divided up and Talis put Frostbite's share into his special pouch.
They went on their way and no more enemies were seen that day. On the evening of third day after that they arrived at Boareskyr Bridge, with no more fights. They made camp at the Boareskyr Bridge settlement.
Mara went out that night to pray to Mother Moon and Talis accompanied her. After Mara's prayer they danced in the moonlight to honor Mother Moon. They lay down on the ground. Mara kissed Talis and Talis ran her hands through Mara's hair. Mara felt her desire rise and rolled over on top of Talis. Talis responded with a moan of anticipation and let her hands stray down Mara's back to her bottom. Their emotions ran high as they sought a temporary relief from the tension and anxiety of the job ahead of them, as well as the battles they had just fought. They made love in the moonlight, surrendering to passion as if it were their last night on earth. After both had been satisfied, they lay back in exhaustion, holding hands.
Talis turned to Mara and worriedly asked, "Honey, are you scared of what's coming? We may find ourselves battling Tiamat herself."
"Yeah, I am," Mara responded. "We and a lot of others might die trying to stop the this disaster. Will even the combined forces of the metallic dragons and the Council of Waterdeep be sufficient to defeat a deity?"
"I don't know. I try to keep my courage up by just concentrating on each quest as it comes. My hope is that we can prevent Tiamat from actually being summoned. Then we only have to deal with the Cult of the Dragon."
"I agree with you. The cult by itself is a much more manageable problem."
They lay together gazing at the stars for a while, trying to still their fears. Then they arose and headed back to the Leomund's Tiny Hut Kellen had cast.
The party rested the entire next day at the Boareskyr Bridge. Restored, they saddled up the horses and headed NE to continue their trip toward the Serpent Hills. After a day or 2, they found themselves traveling a narrow road, hemmed in by the scrubby grassland of the High Moors on the left, and the dark Forest of Wyrms on the right. On their previous trip here, they had been in too much of a hurry to pay attention to the surrounding land. But now they shivered at the starkness and potential dangers of the deserted land they traversed. On the third day out, they relaxed a little as they left the Forest of Wyrms behind. They sat down at noon for a short rest. Before they knew what was happening, a large lizardfolk hunting party from the nearby moor jumped out of hiding and attacked them.
Eleven lizardfolk suddenly rushed out of some brush and ran toward them. The party was so surprised they didn't have time to prepare any actions. One lizardfolk ran forward about 30 ft. and stopped 25 ft. from Preston, throwing its javelin. He hit and injured Preston a little. A second ran forward, stopped abut 25 ft. in front of Neega, and pitched a javelin at her. It also hit but did little damage. A third stopped about 30 ft from Kellen, pitching its javelin, but missed. A fourth ran to within 40 ft of Bree, but it was far enough away that its aim was off a little and it missed. A fifth ran to within 40 ft. of Mara and threw its javelin. It also was too far away to aim precisely and missed.
The other lizard folk ran as fast as they could to get close to the party, even though it left them no time to make attacks. One lizardfolk got within about 15 ft. of Mara. Another ran forward but was at the rear of the pack and not really close to any party members. One of them ended up between Preston and Kellen, within melee range of both. A 4th got right in front of Neega. Another got within melee range of Kellen, on his opposite side from the one between himself and Preston. A final lizardfolk ended up right in front of Preston.
The party recovered from their surprise and jumped to their feet. Talis cast Bless on the entire party. Borovik cast Fireball, positioning it to get as many of the enemy as he could. Since Preston and Kellen were within the area of the spell's effect, he used his spell sculpting ability to carve out pockets of safety to prevent burning them. Eight of the lizardfolk were within the blast radius and 5 of the lizardfolk took full damage from the fire. Those 5 fell unconscious, including the one between Preston and Kellen, the one who had thrown a javelin at Preston, the one who had thrown a javelin at Kellen, the one at Kellen's left shoulder and the one at the rear of the lizardfolk pack. The other 3 suffered heavy burns, including the one who had thrown a javelin at Neega, the one who had thrown a javelin at Bree and the one who now stood directly in front of Preston.
The 3 lizardfolk menacing Kellen were down, so he made an attack on the lizardfolk currently facing Preston. He successfully cast Vicious Mockery on the lizardfolk, dealing it enough psychic damage to nearly kill it and making its attack motions clumsy.
Mara had used up some of her wildshape energy to become a giant eagle to scout during the morning, so she didn't have enough to become an elemental. She chose to become a polar bear, instead. She moved forward to the lizardfolk that had ended up closet to her and attacked. She hit with her claws and slashed its snout.
Neega went into a rage then attacked the lizardfolk who was right in front of her. One blow from Hazirawn slit its throat and laid it low. She then took a few steps to the lizardfolk in front of Preston and attacked it, knocking it unconscious. Now that the lizardfolk menacing him had been dealt with, Preston targeted a couple of lizardfolk who were a little in front of Mara and Neega. He cast Shatter, using additional magical energy to do greater damage. Both lizardfolk dodged and avoided the full effect, bur both still suffered thunder damage.
Bree aimed her shortbow at the lizardfolk who had tried to hit her with its javelin. She hit, and the piercing damage she did with her arrow, combined with the burn damage from Borovik's spell caused it to fall.
Three lizardfolk were still standing. The lizardfolk directly in front of Mara attacked her. It hit with both its club and spiked shield and injured her. It was then joined by the lizardfolk who had previously thrown a javelin at her. This lizardfolk also hit with both blows and Mara's injuries were beginning to pile up. Frostbite took to the air and flew over Mara's head, landing on the other side of the 2 lizardfolk attacking her. He bit the arm of one of them and clawed its head, causing it to fall unconscious. Talis then ran up to Mara and cast Cure Wounds on her, using enough additional magical energy to return Mara to full health.
The lizardfolk who had thrown a javelin at Neega closed the gap to her and attacked. It hit with both blows, but Neega's resistance reduced the damage to a small amount. Borovik saw that the lizardfolk attacking Neega was on its last legs, so he hit it with Magic Missiles. This was enough to knock it out.
One lizardfolk remained and Mara attacked it. She hit it with teeth and claws and injured its weapon arm badly enough that it dropped its club. Neega ran over and finished it off with Hazirawn. The last enemy was down.
Mara resumed half-elf form and Talis cast Cure Wounds to heal up Neega and Preston, the only other party member who still had injuries. They collected 22ep, 34sp and 112cp from the coin purses on the lizardfolk. The loot was divided up and Talis put Frostbite's share into his special pouch.
They finished their lunch and took a long enough rest for Mara's wildshape energy to restore. She took a giant eagle form and scouted for them again. As they progressed further toward the Serpent Hills, they realized that not only was the temperature climbing, but the air and ground were becoming drier. They looked nervously at their water-skins, worried that they would run about of water before reaching the Serpent's Tail Stream. Talis reassured them that she could cast Create Food and Water if they used up what they had.
The day after the battle with the lizardfolk, Mara scouted ahead as the party traveled on after lunch. She came back and informed the party that there was a herd of antelope some miles ahead.
"Do you think they'll attack us?" asked Bree nervously.
"I don't think so," answered Mara. "Herds of herbivores tend to run way, rather than attack. But we should be prepared, just in case."
They saw the herd from afar and decided to give it a wide berth so as not to antagonize it. When they got within about 200 ft of it, one of the antelopes raised its head and looked at them. It gave a grunting call and the entire herd ran off.
"Well!" exclaimed Neega. "At least one group of creatures had no interest in killing us!"
"But I didn't get any antelope blood!" griped Hazirawn.
The end of the next day they finally reached the edge of the Serpent Hills. They set up camp next to the Serpent's Tail Stream and prepared to eat, glad for the day of rest they would take on the morrow. Sometime after eating, they camp was approached by a group of 4 air elementals. They stopped about 50 ft. from the camp, watching but making no attempt to attack. They made whistling sounds, and Mara realized they were trying to talk to the party in Auran.
"I'll become an air elemental so I can ask them want they want." Mara said. "The time we have rested since making camp has allowed my wildshape energy to renew and I can assume an elemental shape. Borovik, can you cast Comprehend Languages on yourself so you can understand the conversation I have with them and translate it for the others?"
"Certainly," said Borovik.
Mara assumed the air elemental shape and flew out to the group that hovered near the camp.
"Why are you here? What do you want" she asked them in Auran.
One of the elementals responded, "We sense that there are magic workers in your midst, and we request your help."
"What do you need us to do?"
"We want to return to our home plane, the Elemental Plane of Air. Long ago we were summoned by a lizardfolk shaman and bound in slavery to him. Eventually he died without ever sending us back to our home. The only way to get us back to our plane is either to kill us or cast some sort of spell."
"We really don't want to kill you if you don't intend to harm us, so we would like to use magic. The spell we would need to use is Banishment. There may be one or more of us who can cast that spell."
By this time Borovik had cast the Comprehend Languages spell and he, along with the rest of the party, came out to join Mara with the air elementals. Mara explained to him what the elementals wanted and Borovik translated to the rest of the party.
"Wizards can cast Banishment if they have learned the spell," said Borovik. "But I don't yet know it."
"Clerics can cast it, as well," said Talis, sadly. "But Bahumut, the deity I worship, has not yet given me permission to use the spell."
Mara explained in Auran to the air elementals what the party said. They whistled dejectedly and said to Mara, "Then we suppose you'll have to kill us for us to return to our home plane."
When Talis heard the translation of what they said, she offered, "I will pray to my god and ask for permission to allow me to use the spell for a brief time, just long enough to send you back to the Elemental Plane of Air."
Upon hearing this, the air elementals looked hopeful. Talis went off by herself to talk to Bahamut.
Holding her holy symbol to her lips, she prayed, "Mighty Bahamut, I ask that you grant me permission to use the Banishment spell briefly tomorrow morning to send these formerly enslaved air elementals back to their home plane."
A warm feeling in her chest let her know that Bahamut had given his permission.
She went back to the party and told them that she had permission use the spell for as long as it took to return the elementals home, but she would have to wait until morning to prepare the spell. Mara explained this to the air elementals and they whistled in excitement. They promised Mara they would stay by the camp during the night and help defend them against any dangers that approached.
The next morning Talis prepared the spell. Mara assumed the air elemental wildshape and accompanied Talis out to the elementals. Talis explained to Mara and Mara translated to the air elementals in Auran that she would have to cast the spell twice, sending 2 of them back home at a time. She would also have to wait for a short period of time before casting it a second time, because if she cast it too soon it would interfere with the first casting and bring the first pair back to the material plane. The air elementals told Mara they understood.
Talis scooped a handful of sand from the ground, knowing that something distasteful to the air elementals had to be present to cast the spell. The air elementals winced at the sight of the dirt. She then cast the spell once. There was a faint popping sound and two of the elementals vanished. She cast it once again after about a minute and the other 2 vanished.
Mara returned to half-elf form and embraced Talis.
"Baby! You did it! You sent them home!" she exclaimed. "Let's go back to camp and spend the day celebrating."