"Tayos?" Deathbane stood calmly over the frost-covered woman, curious about something.
"Yeah? What seems to be the problem now?" Tayos, in turn, was looking cautiously over the edge that the Summit dwarf had fallen from, wondering how far the sheer drop lasted before terminating.
"I'm just wondering what temperature human blood freezes at." Deathbane pulled the heavy woolen blanket from his pack as he spoke, and began to wrap it around the unconscious ranger.
"Low enough to be fatal. Why?" Tayos turned away from the precipice, giving up on the chance of seeing down to the base of the drop, especially as the blizzard kicked up another gust of wind, sending snow flying everywhere.
"Because, from what I can see, most of it is frozen to her armour." Deathbane finished wrapping the ranger, cocooning her in the thick fabric before slowly picking her up, cradling the unconscious woman much like a parent would hold an infant. Almost instantly, blood oozed out of the blanket, causing Deathbane to curse quietly, put the woman down, and fold the blanket down so he could see the source of the bleeding.
Within a minute, he found the source; a massive gouge in her left shoulder, well over eight inches long, and deep. The gash was steadily oozing blood, though nowhere near the rate Deathbane expected to see. Upon closer inspection of the injury, he noticed that the woman had packed snow into the deep wound, which was both good and bad. Good, because it acted as a bandage, slowing bleeding. Bad, because if the surrounding flesh became too chilled, frostbite would set in, and eventually turn into gangrene.
Tayos crouched next to the woman, looked at the wound for a few seconds, and shook his head. "I can't do a thing about it right now; the bleeding should slow down some more with direct pressure, but, until we get to some sort of shelter, there's virtually no way any of my healing prayers will have any positive effect on her."
Deathbane nodded, but, as he wrapped the woman back up with the blanket, he stiffened for a moment. A second later, his sword was out of its scabbard, and pointing at a newcomer, who had just stumbled into sight from around a ten foot high snowdrift. Deathbane acted first, however, standing and literally shoulder-checking the unknown person right into the snowdrift in one swift and economical move.
The person, climbing out of the snowdrift with the assistance of several choice imprecations towards the big warrior's recent ancestry, was swiftly revealed to be another young woman, though this one, instead of being incapacitated, however, was quite alert, angry, and wearing not much more than some leather straps and steel plates to cover her decency. Slung across her back, a massive warhammer rested, waiting for the opportunity to destroy whatever seemed to be an opportune target.
Deathbane looked at the woman, shrugged, and sheathed his blade before turning and picking up the unconscious ranger. Then, as quietly as he could, he began walking south. Tayos followed, and, as he was unburdened by any other living beings, he quickly pulled into the point position, while the female warrior, warhammer now held easily in both hands, brought up the rear of the group.
The small group moved quickly southwards, until Tayos stopped suddenly. Deathbane, alert to any surprise movements, also stopped instantly. The woman at the rear of the short column, however, was walking backwards, so she didn't notice the sudden cessation of movement until she literally walked into Deeathbane's back. Slightly miffed, she turned, only to pause and stare at the immense warrior's broad back as he carefully and silently checked on the woman he was carrying. A few seconds later, the immense warrior stood up, joints creaking slightly in the freezing air.
Walking over to Tayos, the aging warrior waited silently for the monk to finish his prayer of guidance, then let one of his gauntleted hands land solidly on the monk's shoulder. "She's not doing too well. Any luck asking for Dwayna's guidance?"
Tayos nodded, then pointed in the same direction they were heading. "Yeah. About a hundred yards ahead, there's some sort of old shelter. We'll be able to rest there, and try to heal our new friend."
"Good. Let's go. It should take us a minute to get there." Deathbane moved quickly for someone of his size and bulk, almost completely disappearing into the blizzard before Tayos and the warrior woman could even begin to follow. The two managed to keep the big warrior in sight though, as they walked along the path made though the now foot-deep snow.
The woman spoke first. "So, what's up? I didn't know anyone was stupid enough to go out in the middle of a blizzard, at night, for any reason."
"The woman my friend is carrying is the reason. I think she escaped from the Furnace itself; she's badly wounded though, and likely won't survive the night without shelter. So, why are you out and about?"
"I was knocking heads together in the forest those stumpy bastards destroyed and decided to head back to the camp right before the storm rolled in. Saw you guys leaving just as the gates shut, so I decided to follow you. Wish I had brought some warmer clothing though. I feel like they could cut glass, they're so stiff."
Tayos blushed so deeply that he nearly turned purple. Averting his attention, he looked out to the path Deathbane had created, hurrying along it quickly, as if his haste could help him regain his composure. Shortly afterwards, Tayos found himself standing in front of a partially collapsed opening in the stone wall of the crater.
Deathbane was already there, examining the debris-filled entrance. Almost instantly after Tayos arrived, with the last member of the party arriving a few seconds later, Deathbane looked at the monk and handed over the unconscious ranger. A simple exchange of glances was enough, as the two men knew what they were doing.
Tayos started to examine the serious wound in the ranger's back, first requesting Dwayna's aid with a simple orison that often revitalized a person for a short period of time. The bleeding had slowed to not much more than a tiny trickle, and, with the professional ministrations, the massive gouge slowly shrunk, no longer bleeding, even though the wound was still there, and likely would tear open under any major strain.
Deathbane, with the other woman's help, had cleared the entryway to the small cave, which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be not much more than an abandoned bear's den. The immense warrior entered the small den first, poking ahead of him with his sword. Almost instantly, he hit his head on a low spot, cursing under his breath as he ducked. The den bottomed out about ten feet in, though it was wide enough, and tall enough for everyone to shelter inside, away from the cutting winds.
Tayos was exhausted; Having started his day almost thirty miles to the east, with less than an hour's rest in the War Camp itself, had taken its toll on the young man. Having acted as a conduit for divine energies themselves also tends to take a lot out of anybody, and the young monk had spent several minutes requesting those powers to save the life of someone he did not even know.
Slowly pulling the ranger to the deepest part of the den, Tayos slumped down beside the unconscious woman, bowing his head for a minute before removing her bow from across his shoulders and placing it against the wall beside him. Deathbane, also tired, slowly slumped to the ground as well, though he laid has scabbarded sword across his thighs, the hilt never straying far from his hand. The woman, also sitting down across from Deathbane, did the same with her hammer, though she rested the head of the immense weapon on the ground, while the haft laid across her legs.
Tayos moved first, quietly unwrapping the ranger as the two warriors turned away, conversing quietly amongst themselves as the young Monk examined the unconscious woman's body for any other injuries that could be considered serious. A few minor orisons helped seal several rather deep gouges in the ranger's chest, though Tayos noticed something odd when he pressed his thumb to the woman's carotid artery. Lifting her mask to look at the slim neck didn't help much, but his sense of touch told him all he needed to know. An inch-wide scar ran from the centre of her neck, through several very vital blood vessels, and ended less than half an inch from her spine.
The scar was recent, as it still had some stretchable tissue in it. Tayos looked over his shoulder, to see Deathbane sitting beside the girl, his thick fingers gently probing her arms for any broken bones. As the warrior had some training with the Monks of Ashford before the searing, Tayos nodded his appreciation of the assistance. Less than a minute later, Deathbane grunted in mild surprise. Raising the woman's left arm slightly, Deathbane muttered to himself for a few moments. "Tayos. Can you tell me what this mark on the inside of her wrist is? I'm not sure, but it feels like one of the marks of ascension."
Tayos turned, and ran his fingers over the location Deathbane had asked about. The raised bumps of a tattoo were easy to find, and, though the shape was unfamiliar to Tayos, the vaguely ill feeling he got in the pit of his stomach was an instant giveaway. "She's a necromancer. A powerful one too, judging by the feeling I just got. I think she's actually capable of consuming the souls of her foes in order to heal wounds. There's a scar running along her neck that looks like someone had tried to take her head off."
Deathbane ran his hand along the side of the woman's neck, then touched the armour just below the healed wound. His hand came away tacky, and smelled of rust. Blood tended to do that after freezing, then being thawed by a warm blanket. In response, Deathbane grunted once, sounding either disappointed or indifferent. The other woman though, she seemed to be interested in what the two men were doing, up until she saw Tayos dig two fingers underneath the ranger's armoured leggings, sliding across the unconscious woman's hip.
Almost instantly, his hand was grabbed, just behind the wrist, and removed from its current resting place. A single vial clinked out onto the ground instantly afterwards, which Tayos picked up, trying to examine it in the extremely dim light. The other two stopped, looking at the vial as it seemed to glimmer for a second, right before Tayos opened it and sniffed at the contents. The gagging cough he produced was more than enough for him to slam the cork back in place, followed shortly by carefully placing the vial down.
"Purified and distilled Troll's blood. I don't know how they can just knock it back like it's water. From the smell, I'd guess that this is some of the more potent versions out there." Tayos looked over at Deathbane, who had turned away, looking out at the thick snowflakes that were being blown almost horizontal across the entrance of the den.
The ranger suddenly moved, trying to roll away from Tayos' presence like it was poisonous. Deathbane moved the fastest, reaching over and planting his hand across her midriff, preventing her from moving. Tayos tried to move close enough to see if her eyes were open, but just then, she struck. A cobra would have been slower, but no less painful. A ranger's hands, toughened from years of practice (and abuse), were much like solid pieces of steel. Having one move at lightning speed and proceed to hit a rather sensitive area of male anatomy would be catastrophic for most people.
Tayos took the solid blow with some degree of aplomb. All the air rushed out of his lungs, he proceeded to clutch his injured parties, and he collapsed to the side like a ton of bricks. Just then, the ranger's eyes opened up. They were solid red, and very, very, angry.