Chapter 5
Tanwen and Einar talked quietly, while sitting around their campfire, the night was dark and moonless with hardly a sound to disturb the night. Tanwen looked around then turned back and continued to wax her taught bowstring, Einar looked up from cleaning his dagger and looked Tanwen in the eyes "girl I haven't seen you this jumpy since you came from the underdark." He said worriedly. She silently laughed and said, "I'm fine it's just too quiet we're in a camp of little over a half a legion of human and dwarven solders, and the only sound is the occasional bird song." she laid the bow down beside her, slipped the wax back into her belt pouch, then bent over and rubbed the dog curled up at her feet. She reached over the dog and grabbed her quiver and began checking the fletching of the arrows. Einar slipped the dagger back into it's sheath whispering quietly " aww, Tanwen you're just nervous just get up and walk about a bit it'll help you calm down" She sat down her quiver while saying " sounds good, any chance that you'd be wanting to come with me? We'll go check on the guards then come back here and get some sleep" "why not I've nothing else to do." The two stood and checked their weapons before walking off into the night, talking quietly. When they reached the edge of the camp they turned and looked up at the dark moonless sky, as they turned back around to walk back to their fire they began to hear a strangely haunting melody being played on played on a flute. Tanwen and Einar spun to face the noise weapons at the ready searching for the origin of the hauntingly beautiful music, immediately Tanwen fond the source of the music and as she found the flute a voice raised in time with the haunting song. As the song progressed from the insubstantial mist two forms began to emerge taking shape of two beautiful women with ivory skin and raven black hair shrouded in the black mist. The music and the beings were coming closer as the song progressed. Einar elbowed Tanwen asking her " what in the nine bloody hells are those things?" " Crypt chanters Einar, wake up the men, it doesn't matter how we're gonna need help with this." Einar began to rouse the nearest fighters telling them to ready themselves and for battle and to be quick and quiet about it. Meanwhile Tanwen fired three arrows in rapid succession into the closest crypt chanter. When the arrows passed cleanly through the mist shrouded figure Tanwen replaced her bow and called to Einar " Einar send someone to get Malachi" Einar turned to the closest solider and promptly began issuing orders. Tanwen continued " has anyone seen that blasted blink dog of mine, Sloan where are you, you blasted thing?!" Tanwen looked down at her knees to the blink dog resting its paws there. She looked down at Sloan who was methodically licking her paws clean, Tanwen said sadly " what an I goin got do with you, well that's for me to decide later but rite now I need you to do something for me ok?" Sloan stopped licking her paws then barked in reply, Tanwen continued giving Sloan instructions all the while pointing this way ad that the finally pointing to the steadily advancing crypt chanters " Sloan I need you to chase those things away form here ok? And be quick about it please before anybody can get hurt" Sloan barked then disappeared only to reappear a foot away from the crypt chanters, and then began to steadily bark and chase the two mist shrouded beings away. Einar ran over to Tanwen asking, " what is going on and why do the men have to stay silent, and why can't I understand those damn things, " he said pointing to the fleeing crypt chanters. Tanwen began to explain quickly seeing Malachi approaching fast " you cant understand them Einar because they are singing in abyssal and the men have to stay silent cause if they don't the spell Malachi and I are about to do wont work otherwise "Malachi are you ready?" Tanwen asked. " Of course I am, but you better get ready soon." Tanwen took off her bow and quiver and handed them to Einar, she continued to hand the rest of her weapons and clothing to him while explaining what was happening "Einar keep the men quiet and hold onto this for me" she handed him all of the clothing she had just had on and every weapon that had been hidden on her person. Einar began to object but Tanwen had already walked off with Malachi, who was dressed in only his small clothes, carrying a fiddle in one hand and the bow for it in the other hand. They headed off towards the felling crypt chanters and the blink dog chasing after them Tanwen called to Sloan and then had her go stand guard with Einar and to not let him come any closer to her than he already was. Once the crypt chanters realized that Sloan had given up the chase they began to advance back towards Tanwen and Malachi. Tanwen signaled to Malachi and he began to play his fiddle in a similar but at the same time different tune from the one that the crypt chanter was playing. At the same time Tanwen took up a song that was vaguely similar and haunting like the other song. "" When the crypt chanters began to hear Tanwens and Malachi's new song they began to play and sing louder than Tanwen and Malachi but eventually they realized that they couldn't win. Tanwen and Malachi continued finally drowning out the song of the crypt chanters and when the crypt chanters had dissolved back into the mist and the mist was no more Tanwen stopped dancing and singing and turned back to Malachi telling him that he could stop playing and go back and get dressed. " Thank you Malachi I couldn't have done it with out you." Malachi laughed saying " well, dark one I never coulda done it with out you either" she laughs and pushes him gently saying " you better get dressed, before you take a chill in your old bones." Malachi laughed and looked to Tanwen and said" you better go get dressed before all of the men start drooling" " oh I forgot that I didn't have on any clothes you know that I don't look at nudity the same way that you do" " Tanwen I know that your culture looks at nudity and how my culture reacts to nudity" he laughed and pointed to the men who were al starting and some were almost on the point of drooling. Tanwen quickly dropped her gear to the ground and began to put it all back on in a matter of minutes she was buckling on the belt that holds her (Sabers?), and adjusting her clothing so it was comfortable again. Malachi smiled at her saying well at least now the men have put their tongues back in their mouths, give the order and we'll be packing up and moving off" Tanwen raised her voice so that all of the assembled soldiers could hear the orders she was announcing " alright men lets pack camp no stragglers pack camp and be ready to leave in an hour, I want twenty good strong men to go help pack up the women and children's camp and I want them on every availed horse so they don't have to walk." She finished and looked around at the men and dwarves just standing there staring like they had no idea what to do " move ye slack jawed idiots those things are gonna come back and if ye don't get to movin no move!" bellowed Einar. The men looked around as if they had just awaken from a heavy sleep and then they realized what was going on and began to comply to the orders the Tanwen and Malachi had issued. Tanwen looked to Malachi and said, " Well I guess that we might need to get packing up too? Nobody is going to do it for us." Malachi laughed and said " you're right about that dark one we best be taking care of our own packing, but ill get someone to saddle a horse for you since you cant do it for you're self." They both laughed at the long-standing joke and then headed of their separate ways to pack up and be ready to leave the camp.