Today had the potential to be the first time Silandra could really enjoy traveling. She was a little weak from nearly being killed but for the most part, it seemed her body was getting used to walking all day. But Jaheira had insisted they all wear their cloaks with the hoods up so that it would be difficult for the assassin to pick out his target if he was following them. Silandra thought it wouldn't be difficult since only she and Imoen were of comparable height, but she didn't have the energy to spend arguing with Jaheira today.
Imoen was taking the lead, scouting for any threats on the road ahead, while Garrick and Ajantis brought up the rear and were supposed to be keeping an eye and ear out for any sign of the assassin. Silandra was walking between Khalid and Jaheira for her own safety, an arrangement she found made the journey incredibly dull. She found herself almost hoping the assassin would attack because at least then she would not be so bored.
"How long until we reach Nashkel?" she asked.
"A couple of days, perhaps," said Jaheira. "We are heading into the foot of the Cloud Peak Mountains and the terrain will grow rough."
"Aren't there a lot of wolves in the mountains?" Silandra asked, though she didn't think she really had to worry about them with the group she had now.
"Oh yes," said Jaheira. "I do not expect them to bother us, however."
The druid did not appear to be in the mood for further conversation, and Silandra was trying to think of something to get Khalid talking when Imoen dashed back towards them.
"Ogres ahead!" she said in a low voice, looking excited.
Silandra did not share her enthusiasm. Yes, she had wanted something to happen but not ogres! She still vividly remembered those who had accompanied the armored man. Gorion had killed them before his death, but he was much stronger than she was—probably stronger than her whole group together.
"Can we avoid them?" she asked.
"They're kinda in the middle of the road," said Imoen. "We can take 'em!"
"We have no choice," said Jaheira. At least she did not seem worried. "Taking a detour into the wilderness around here may be too dangerous. How many?"
"Only two!" Imoen said. She already had her bow ready with an arrow nocked.
"Ogres?" Garrick said weakly, though he drew his crossbow in preparation.
Ajantis moved to the front, sword and shield ready, and he and Khalid led the group further up the road. Silandra found herself flanked by Jaheira and Imoen, but she didn't mind now that she knew they were about to run into a pair of ogres. She prepared her mind for a sleep spell, thinking it would be easy to fight anything if it were asleep.
The road twisted through trees and shrubs here, which was just as well since it had probably made it easier for Imoen to see the ogres before they saw her. When the creatures came into view Silandra found herself breathing a sigh of relief. These were not the ten-foot-tall monstrosities that had ambushed her and Gorion; they were merely half-breeds, a ghastly mix of ogre and orc known as ogrillons. They were perhaps only a foot taller than Ajantis, who stepped forward to face them with Khalid.
She noticed as they drew closer that the ogrillons had already found a victim today; at their feet lay the corpse of a halfling, though it was evidently a fresh kill and they hadn't got around to eating him yet. Silandra grimaced at the thought. Sometimes she wished she hadn't read quite so much, and then maybe the idea would never have entered her mind.
"I'll immobilize them," Jaheira said in a low voice.
She cast a spell that caused green vines to sprout from the ground, tangling themselves around the ogrillons' feet only a moment after they had noticed they were no longer alone. Silandra was impressed and changed tactics—instead of putting the monsters to sleep she hit the furthest one with a magic missile, which Imoen and Garrick were already attempting to pepper with missiles. Ajantis and Khalid engaged the other, somehow able to avoid getting twisted in Jaheira's vines themselves—or perhaps that was just an example of the druid's control over nature. They took turns attacking the ogrillon, making it flail wildly about as it was assaulted from both sides. It was slower than them and used its fists as its weapon, though they made an effective one, Silandra thought, as she saw Ajantis misjudge his footing and take a punch to the chest. Thankfully he seemed alright, but now the ogrillon was focusing on him. Khalid took the opportunity to ram his sword through the monster's chest.
The other creature was beginning to look like a pincushion, but the arrows and bolts only seemed to aggravate him. The burns from Silandra's magic missiles appeared to hurt him more, and he finally fell after she hit him again. Jaheira sent her vines back into the earth and approached Ajantis.
"Ajantis, do you need healing?" she asked.
"Thank you, but I can take care of it this time," he said. He lay a hand over his chest, and a faint blue glow emanated and settled around him. He seemed to move easier after that.
Imoen darted forward eagerly to loot the ogrillons' pockets, a job she now got to do all by herself since Montaron wasn't around anymore. She did lose some of the spring in her step when she knelt beside the dead halfling, however.
"Poor sod, takin' the dirt nap so soon," she said. "He's pretty young. A messenger I think, look."
She held out a satchel, opening it to reveal a few rolled up pieces of parchment. Silandra pulled one out and read it.
"A letter to someone named Mirianne," she said, and began glancing through the other scrolls.
"Oh, she lives in Beregost," Garrick said. "I did a few performances on the side before we were scheduled to play at Feldepost's. I remember her because she was so sad. She tipped well, said I brought light to her dark days."
"That's sweet," Silandra said. "Perhaps she's missing this Roe. That's who the letter is from. These others are letters too, not all for Beregost. We should go back and turn them in."
"And waste a day's travel?" said Jaheira. "I'm sure these people can wait for their letters. We will return to Beregost after we conclude our business in Nashkel."
"Can't messages be sent with magic?" Silandra asked. Of course, she already knew the answer, but was hoping Jaheira might be able to tell her something about how it was done.
"Yes, though it is far too advanced for you," said Jaheira. "Let us continue; we should begin looking for a place to camp for the night."
They fell back into their previous formation, much to Silandra's displeasure. At least they were stopping soon. Her body was not protesting as much as it had on her first day of traveling, but she was getting tired all the same. It looked like it would be a clear night and she was looking forward to camping under the stars.
They reached a spot which Jaheira said would be suitable for setting up their camp, a short distance off the road and sheltered by a few trees. Silandra took a look at the area, noting the features that made it appropriate for camping in case this decision ever fell to her in the future. The ground was soft so it was easy to set up the tents, and the trees not only provided a sense of security but they had littered the ground with plenty of kindling for the fire so Khalid did not have to stray far to accumulate what he needed. They were also at the bottom of a slight incline, which made it less likely anyone would see them from the road through the shrubs.
She and Imoen had just finished setting up their tent (with only a little help from Ajantis this time) when she saw Khalid bringing out his tinder box. She had a stroke of inspiration.
"Let me light it," she said. "Stand back a little."
She issued a rather large gout of flame from her fingers and lit the campfire nicely, though it was lucky Khalid had followed her instructions for he would surely have been burned if he had remained where he was.
"S-Silandra!" he said. "That was d-d-dangerous!"
"No it wasn't," Silandra protested. "I just wanted to help, and look, I did. You don't have to fiddle with lighting the fire the regular way anymore."
"Yes, at the cost of risking being burned to death," Jaheira said.
Silandra rolled her eyes, unable to help it. "Gorion did stuff like this all the time."
"He learned the cantrips properly, of course," said Jaheira. "Sorcery is hard to tame and you must remember that."
Silandra remained silent, her good mood spoiled. How was she supposed to 'tame' her abilities when she wasn't allowed to use them? Besides, she always tried to be careful!
Imoen brought out some of the food they had purchased in Beregost and proceeded to melt cheese onto slices of bread. She had taken it upon herself to take charge of their meals when on the road and she had been doing a good job of it so far.
"This is delicious!" Garrick exclaimed.
"I used to live in an inn," Imoen said, looking pleased. "'Course, Sil did too, but she spent most of her time studying while I had to help out with the cooking an' cleaning an' such. I learned a few tricks, one bein' that cheese melted on anything makes it better."
There had been little fresh produce available despite all the farms in the area—those who had fruit and vegetables stored wanted to keep them in case they became scarce what with all the bandit activity in the area. Jaheira was optimistic about being able to forage something, though she had decided they needed to make sure the assassin was not tailing them before the group split up.
"Khalid and I will take first watch," Jaheira said. "Ajantis and Garrick next."
"And then Imoen and I, right?" Silandra asked, ignoring the look Imoen gave her.
"You will both be sleeping," said Jaheira. "You are still not used to this life."
"I can take a watch just like everyone else," Silandra said. "Besides, that way everyone gets to sleep for longer."
"Not tonight," Jaheira said. "Get some sleep."
"I'm not tired yet," Silandra said, pulling out her spellbook.
"Maybe Garrick could give us a song," said Imoen hopefully.
Garrick was already reaching for his lute, but Jaheira held up her hand.
"No, we will not be creating any more noise than necessary," she said. "Besides, we need to keep an ear out for danger. Perhaps another time."
Garrick and Imoen both looked disappointed, and although Silandra had been intending to study for a little while she had to admit she was too.
"You're no fun," said Imoen. "Hey, what about a game? We can play 'I Spy'!"
Silandra resisted the urge to roll her eyes. How Imoen had not yet grown out of that, she did not know.
"Oh, that sounds fun!" Garrick said.
No one else professed interest, and Silandra decided she would get some studying in after all. She had been learning a few spells before leaving Candlekeep and really wanted to try and learn them properly so that she could be a little more useful. She was pleased enough with how she had handled the ogrillon encounter, but she thought it would be useful to learn something aside from magic missiles and sleep. Grease, identify, armor… now that might be useful. She tried to drown out the noise of Imoen and Garrick spying Ajantis' shield and a small nocturnal animal that the bard insisted had never been there, but it was difficult. She found herself looking at Ajantis, who was cleaning his sword, something he seemed to do every evening before retiring for the night. He still looked just as alert as Khalid and Jaheira even though he wasn't the one on watch.
"You can relax you know," she said, sidling up to him.
"I was taught to always be vigilant," he replied, taking in her proximity with what appeared to be discomfort.
"Taught by who?" Silandra pretended not to notice and settled down with her book still open.
"Keldorn Firecam, one of the greatest paladins of our order."
"Is he also a Helmite?"
"He follows Torm, though both our gods share similar ideals. My lady, if you don't mind me asking, which god do you favor?"
Silandra wished she had picked another line of conversation. This never went well and she could only imagine how much worse it was going to be with a paladin, but if he was going to be traveling with her for a while then he would find out eventually.
"I don't follow any god," she said reluctantly.
"You are godless?" Ajantis cried, looking horrified. "But how can that be?"
Silandra sighed heavily, seeing that Ajantis' outburst had been loud enough to draw everyone's attention.
"I admire and respect many gods, but none have called to me," she said quietly.
"This is not a good time to be without faith," Jaheira said. "Were your studies really so lacking in Candlekeep?"
"Gorion made sure I studied everything, including the gods," Silandra said firmly. "None resonate with me. That is all. I would rather not speak of this."
Thankfully, Ajantis and Jaheira let it rest, at least for the moment. She had the feeling this conversation was not really over. She decided that perhaps she was tired after all, and bid her companions a brief goodnight before heading into the tent she was sharing with Imoen. She did her best to ignore Imoen and Garrick's game (which was getting more ridiculous as they ran out of things to 'spy') and eventually drifted off.
She was woken some time before dawn by a loud noise, followed quickly by yells from outside her tent. Intense heat and light surrounded her and she realized with horror that the tent was on fire. If she had been thinking clearly she might have tried to put the flames out, but as it was she was half-asleep and all she could do was panic. She coughed as smoke began filling her lungs, and finally roused herself enough to see that Imoen was there too, looking as bewildered as she felt. She grabbed her hand, knowing that Imoen never woke as easily as she did, and prepared to push through the burning entrance. Almost immediately she was doused in a torrent of cold water.
She looked around in confusion, trying to make out what was happening through the sudden downpour. Their campsite was in ruins—it looked like a fireball had torn through it and the tents were still smoldering despite the rain. She saw that Garrick and Ajantis must have been on watch. The paladin was kneeling over Garrick, who was lying on the ground. Khalid was fighting a short figure a few feet away while Jaheira was staring at the sky with her arms raised and her eyes glowing softly. The druid blinked a few times and relaxed, and the rain stopped almost as quickly as it had begun. She turned to Khalid and rushed to join him.
Silandra saw that Ajantis was healing Garrick; he'd probably be okay, so she followed Jaheira, still pulling along Imoen.
"Hey, I'm awake, I'm awake!" Imoen cried.
Silandra let her go and the two drew closer to the fighting. Khalid was holding his own, but barely—the dwarf he was fighting was evidently much stronger than he and fully armored whereas Khalid was only wearing a simple tunic and trousers. Jaheira's bullets didn't seem to be able to penetrate the thick chain, and even Khalid's sword barely seemed to injure the dwarf himself. Silandra let lose a magic missile when there was an opening, but the dwarf shrugged it off, ignoring her and focusing on Khalid.
Ajantis and Garrick came over but didn't join the fight. Silandra had only a moment of confusion before she realized—they couldn't see in the dark, not like she and the half-elves could. She created a small mage light, a simple enough spell which lit up the area well enough for humans to see, or so she hoped. Ajantis nodded to her in thanks and ran towards the dwarf, who was beginning to back Khalid against a tree.
It was Garrick who finally succeeded in bringing the dwarf down—a lucky hit, right in the neck where the armor ended. It was fitting, Silandra thought, for she was sure this was the same assassin who had so very nearly murdered her with a crossbow. The dwarf grabbed at his neck but the blood was coming too fast; he was dead in moments.
"So much for keeping him alive," said Jaheira. "Probably better we didn't; he was more dangerous than I expected."
"What happened?" Silandra asked, looking around at their campsite in dismay. Their tents were ruined, though the contents might be salvageable due to Jaheira's quick thinking. She was pretty impressed by that spell, and wondered how long it took to learn how to call a thunderstorm.
"He threw something into the camp," said Ajantis. He looked upset, despondent even, though Silandra wasn't sure why. They had all survived, hadn't they? "We didn't see him. One moment the night was peaceful and then everything was on fire."
"A potion of explosions perhaps," said Jaheira, examining some fragments on the ground. "We were lucky to survive. Garrick, are you alright?"
The bard's tunic was scorched beyond repair, but otherwise he seemed well enough, if not a little shaken. "Ajantis healed me," he said, nodding.
"I think th-this was the impact p-p-point," said Khalid, indicating a badly charred spot near the campfire—closest to Silandra and Imoen's tent, but thankfully not near enough to hit them directly.
"It is fortunate that he did not have better aim," Jaheira said. "Let us pick up what we can and move. It will be dawn in an hour and there is no point in lingering here."
Naturally, Imoen went over to the dwarf's body to relieve him of his valuables. Silandra approached their ruined tent and was glad to find that both their packs and bedrolls were more or less intact—the tent had taken the brunt of the flames.
"Another bounty notice!" Imoen said, holding up a roll of parchment.
Of course. Silandra sighed. "What does this one say?"
"Same thing," said Imoen. "Oh, but now you're worth more!"
Silandra actually found she was glad Montaron and Xzar were no longer around. She had to admit, at least to herself, that a rising bounty on her head may have proven too tempting for them. If not this time, perhaps the next. She realized she was taking it for granted that there would be more attempts. This particular assassin had been tough too and she could only expect them to get stronger. She hoped her small group would be enough.
They left the remains of their tents, which made for lighter loads, but Silandra knew there would be at least another night spent outside before arriving in Nashkel and she hoped the weather held. Sleeping under the stars could be nice, given the right circumstances.
This time she wasn't hemmed in by the two half-elves and, since she figured the danger was probably past for now, she left her hood down. She didn't particularly like the feel of it around her face.
"My lady, I'm sorry," said Ajantis, falling into step beside her. "I failed you again."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I should have seen that man coming, or at least sensed him. You or the others could have been hurt or… or worse."
"But I wasn't. And I don't think even Khalid or Jaheira could have predicted he'd firebomb out camp. Ajantis, you cannot blame yourself every time someone nearly kills me. I expect it will be happening a lot in future."
He frowned. "A lady like you should be able to live in peace," he said. "If these assassins were not after you, what would you be doing instead?"
Silandra thought about that for a moment. "If the assassins were the reason Gorion took me away from Candlekeep then I suppose that, without them, I would still be there. I'd be doing my lessons and chores, being bored but safe I suppose. Though I always did have an interest in adventuring, you know. Maybe Imoen and I would have snuck out some day. We used to talk about it."
"But it is so dangerous on the road, especially in times like these," Ajantis said.
"Yes, more so than I realized. But I used to love reading stories of heroes and… I suppose I wanted to become one myself."
Ajantis nodded. "A noble goal. I am glad you feel that way, my lady, although… never mind."
"What is it?" Silandra asked, peering at him curiously.
He looked uncomfortable all of a sudden. "I should be paying attention to our surroundings. There may be more assassins out there. Excuse me, my lady."
She watched, confused, as he hurried towards the front of the group. She sighed and focused on walking. It was another nice day at least, and she entertained herself by watching the squirrels running up and down the nearby trees. She knew some powerful mages had familiars and wondered what it would take to have one of her own. Though maybe, considering her circumstances, she should think about getting something a little more formidable than a squirrel.
They encountered a group of hobgoblins that afternoon. The terrain was hilly now and the road twisted around large rocks so that visibility was low, but Imoen was able to give the group sufficient warning due to her sneaking skills. She wasn't actually able to identify the creatures properly, calling them 'big orc things'.
Like the other monsters they had encountered so far, Silandra recognized them from all the reading she used to do back in Candlekeep, though it was always different seeing creatures in the flesh. They were only about six feet tall, so not that big, though they were thickly muscled. They had skin ranging in color from a mottled orange to sickly yellow and wore crude leather armor.
The first ones they encountered had swords which were showing signs of rust, whether due to the current iron situation or neglect it was hard to tell. They were dispatched easily enough, but then a few arrows whizzed towards them from the shelter of some nearby trees. Ajantis blocked one that would have hit Silandra with his shield before charging towards the source. She almost ran after that near miss, but she made herself stay put. She hated how exposed she felt, standing there in the open with no way of defending herself. She couldn't even see the attackers to fire magic missiles or darts at them, and a sleep spell was dangerous when she could not see her targets—there was no guarantee she would not affect her companions instead. She inched forward with Imoen while the others charged in with melee weapons. She was surprised that Garrick didn't hang back after how timid he had seemed so far, but he had his short sword out and was joining the fight. She supposed hobgoblins were not quite as intimidating as ogrillons.
She saw now that they had stumbled upon the hobgoblins' campsite, consisting of a firepit and a few crude tents. She wondered what they were doing camped out here in the middle of the afternoon, in plain sight of the main road. She supposed she would never know—by the time she and Imoen reached the hobgoblin archers they were all dead. Khalid and Ajantis had taken the brunt of the onslaught, but most of the arrows had gone into their shields and the ones that had hit them were stopped from doing too much damage by their armor. Jaheira healed them both, since Ajantis could only use the healing power Helm had granted him once a day and he had healed Garrick that morning.
"Maybe we could take their tents," Imoen suggested.
Silandra wrinkled her nose at the idea. If they smelled anything like the hobgoblins she'd rather do without.
Thankfully, Jaheira agreed. "I am not sure that would be wise," she said. "Hobgoblins are not the most sanitary of creatures. We will look for anything of value and then walk another hour or so before setting our own camp."
They scrounged around the hobgoblins' tents, most of them covering their noses, but for the most part all they found were bits of food and it was not the kind any of them wanted to try eating. Imoen typically made a beeline for the biggest tent, probably thinking it would be the most likely to have treasure. If she found any, she didn't say, but she was holding a scroll when she emerged.
"This is some letter… or at least I think it is," she said. "I can't read it, if it's a real language."
"Goblin, probably," said Jaheira. "Give it to Khalid."
Khalid looked uncomfortable at the attention he was suddenly receiving as he took the parchment and began to read. "I'm not f-fluent," he said. "B-but it appears these h-h-hobgoblins were on their way to join a mercenary g-group. The Ch-chill?"
"I think I've heard of them before. A bandit group made of creatures like these," Jaheira said, frowning slightly. "Anything else?"
"N-not that I can m-make out," Khalid said. "This is b-badly written, even for a h-hobgoblin."
"Could this have anything to do with the bandit activity in the region?" Ajantis asked. "Perhaps the Chill are the ones responsible!"
"Possibly, but… I am not sure they would be so willing to work with humans," said Jaheira. "Most of the reported attacks were by humans, including the one on us. It is not something we can ignore, however. For now we must continue to Nashkel, but afterwards we can seek more information about these Chill hobgoblins."
They continued along the road for a while longer before settling down for the night. There was not exactly a lot to set up this time since their tents were gone, but they laid their bedrolls out and Khalid gathered wood for the fire as usual.
"Please, let me light it again," said Silandra. "I'll never get better if I can't practice."
Jaheira pursed her lips a moment, and finally nodded. "Very well. Everyone stand back."
Silandra was a little miffed at the excessively wide berth her companions gave her. Her flame last night had only been a little bigger than necessary. She forced her mind to calm and concentrated harder this time, and only a trickle of fire issued from her fingertips—just enough to gently light the kindling. She looked at Jaheira, feeling very pleased with herself, but got indifference in return. Well, maybe one day Jaheira would come to appreciate her skills.