Chapter 21 – Found It – Day 53
"Well that has to be the place. And about time too, we have been walking for ages." Imoen pushed back a mass of sweat drenched pink hair and pointed to the west towards the late afternoon sun.
Jeral could hear the fatigue in her voice. Ten solid days in the forest, sleeping on the ground, wearing the same clothes; it was taking a toll on all of them. Well, all of them save Minsc. Somehow the large ranger seemed to gain energy the longer he was outdoors surrounded by nature. When fatigue crept into the bodies of the other four Minsc would merely shoulder their pack as well as his own and continue on, contentedly humming a northern marching song. The armor Minsc wore, a well made but non magical suit of full plate mail taken off one of the mercenary leaders in the bandit camp, was almost six stones of burden. Yet he wore his armor as if it was no more than a suit of light leathers. Jeral was continually amazed by the man's stamina, and appreciative beyond all measure that he could call the man an ally and hopefully a friend.
Jeral wearily looked out through the thinning trees and gazed upon a wooden palisade that surrounded a two story wooden building. The building was situated on a small island in the middle of a slow moving river. From their vantage point in the woods they could only see a portion of the structure, but from where they stood there was no visible entrance. Jeral set down his pack and motioned wearily to the others.
"Imoen is right, that clearly must be the Cloakwood mines mentioned in the documents we discovered back at the bandit camp. Stay here, I am going to take a closer look and see if I can find a way in."
Without a word of protest the other four dropped their packs and slumped to the ground. Minsc stretched and stepped off in the woods to ensure that no one surprised the group while they were at rest. Imoen pulled off her purple leather boots and peeled off her knee high socks wrinkling her nose at the smell that confronted her.
"Wow! That smells like that cheese Winthrop used to sell on special occasions." Imoen wrinkled her nose and tossed the socks away as she rubbed her tired feet.
Moving as quietly as he could Jeral slowly crept forward, his long bow grasped firmly in his left hand. Once he reached the edge of the tree line he started sliding to the right, careful to always stay hidden in the woods. As he continued moving he spotted a narrow wooden bridge that crossed the river and ended at an opening in the walls. Apparently the personnel at the mine did not seriously fear for their security as there was no gate or watch towers of any sort. The only visible security was two bored looking guards who leaned heavily against their spears as the stood at the far end of the bridge. Jeral eyed them and estimated that they were no more than 100 yards away. While hitting a moving target at that distance was challenging Jeral had no doubt that he could easily hit one of them from the cover of the trees if necessary. Jeral leaned back against a tree trunk and watched them for an hour to ensure there were no other guards or any real changes to the routine. Other than watching one of the guards piss into the river Jeral did not notice any alterations to their routine during the time they were under his watchful eye. Drawing back deeper into the woods Jeral quietly returned to his companions.
Four members of the party sat in a close circle discussing the best way to enter the mine while Minsc stayed on watch happily roaming the woods.
Imoen looked up from drawing in the dirt with a stick. "So what is the problem? We can take out the two guards without any problem. We just need to ensure neither of them can shout a warning. A hundred yards is probably a tough shot for me with my bow so I cannot help you there Jeral."
"Too true Imoen, I am sure I could take one guard out but the other would likely call for help before I could hit him too." Dynaheir, can any of your spells reach them from the edge of the tree line?"
Smiling grimly she shook her head. "I have nothing that will work for us Jeral. I could reach there with a fireball spell or a lightning bolt but I suspect you want something a little more subtle. And both spells also risk destroying the bridge as well. I do have an invisibility spell in case you wish to scout ahead as you did before the raid on the bandit camp."
"We should probably save that spell for later as we might need to use it to scout the mines. Hopefully we can find another way to take care of those two guards." Jeral suddenly sat bolt upright and started to smile. He turned his head and winked at Imoen. "Hey sis, you up for moonlight swim? This is a good time to see if all the lessons we took in that pool they built during summers at Candlekeep stuck."
Gorion was always insistent that Jeral was well rounded so he went to considerable expense to provide Jeral training in a wide range of different skills. Since Imoen was the only other child in Candlekeep she was often allowed to participate in the training with Jeral.
"You know me, never one to pass up a chance to ditch my clothes. Besides as bad as I smell I really need a bath anyway."
Ajantis dropped his water skin and spit out a mouthful of water as he lurched to his feet. "My lady, surely you jest. Why would you have to undress? That is not proper."
"Lighten up Ajantis. There is no other way we can swim this river. Clothes of any sort would only burden us and slow us down." Imoen then did her best imitation of a pious Helmite, "And we must never forget that we are doing all this in the service of Helm."
Jeral stood up and dusted off his breeches. "Ok we will take out the guards right before first light. Everyone get some sleep. I will take first watch."
Day 54
"By the Gods! This water is cold. Sure did wake me up though."
"I agree with both statements sis."
Forcing his eyes off Imoen's naked and shivering body he continued their discussion. "We had best swim as quickly and quietly as possible." The two siblings both started swimming the river naked as the day they were born; save for the bandoliers of throwing knives they both wore diagonally across their chests. The pair swam with strong powerful strokes across the slowly moving river. Jeral's foot occasionally touched the river bed; apparently the river was not very deep. The two made good progress swimming across the river. As they approached the far bank Jeral nodded to Imoen and quickly swam under the bridge. As Imoen watched him swim away she started counting slowly to one hundred.
One, two, three …
Imoen slowly swam up to the side of the bridge and rested her feet against the scaly piling under the water. She cautiously eyed the pair of guards leaning lazily against the wall next to the archway into the complex. They were about twenty feet away; Imoen smiled confidently and continued counting.
Eighty one, eighty two, eighty three….
Imoen pulled out a pair of throwing knives. She hefted each one to check the balance and picked her favorite, holding the second knife in her off hand. Grasping the blade she pulled her arm back and focused on her target. The first rays of morning light were peeking out behind in the eastern sky. She smiled as the sun warmed her shoulders pushing away the goose bumps.
Ninety nine…
Imoen tensed, held her breath, and threw her knife. She quickly moved the second knife to her right hand and prepared to throw again. Smiling grimly she smiled as she watched her target fall to the ground with her knife buried in his throat. His spear fell from his lifeless arm as he rolled over on his stomach and died under her watchful gaze, a pool of blood slowly spreading out under his body.
Jeral was only at ninety three when he watched the guard on the left fall to the ground with Imoen's knife in his throat. The second guard turned to the right and quickly leveled his spear as he scanned for the threat. Jeral smiled as he pulled back his arm to throw.
Imoen always counted too fast, I should have known. Although now I get an easier target since the guard is looking away.
Jeral hurled his knife towards the guard's back. Unfortunately for Jeral the guard spotted Imoen in the water and lurched towards her leveling his spear as he went. Instead of the knife striking a killing blow it merely grazed the guard and sliced through his padded armor leaving a shallow cut on his right side. The man spun around, spied Jeral in the water, and started shouting an alarm.
"Drasus! To me! You and your companions need to get here now! Your target is here, come kill him! We are under attack!" The man continued to shout as he moved towards Jeral spear held at the ready.
"Imoen, get back to the others. I will take care of this one."
Jeral lifted himself onto the bridge and hurled a knife and the advancing guard. The man flinched and the knife bounced harmlessly away. He had somehow managed to deflect it with his spear.
"I guess I really am lucky. Boy, me friends call me Lucky Recaro. If I gut you maybe I get the bounty on your head all for myself."
As the man quickly advanced Jeral watched as his eyes traveled down Jeral's body. The guard smirked and stared Jeral in the eye.
"I hope that is just due to really cold water boyo, otherwise that is just sad."
"It's just shrinkage!" Roaring in anger Jeral lowered his head and changed the guard. Ducking under the man's sloppy spear thrust Jeral barreled into him and the two of them plunged into the river. On the way in Jeral caught a fleeting view of Imoen sprinting back down the bridge towards their companions. His last thought was of the lovely view of Imoen's backside as he hit the water.
The cold water brought him back to the present as he felt the guard's hands scratching at his face. Jeral forced himself to focus as he wrapped his hands around the guard's neck and started to squeeze. Jeral levered his legs under the bridge and pushed out, driving the guard's body into the gravelly river bed. He focused all his energy into his hands and imagined that he could feel the man's life leaving him. Jeral held onto the man until well after he stopped struggling. Lungs bursting Jeral gave one final squeeze and then released the body to drift off downstream. Jeral surfaced and pulled himself up onto the bridge in one smooth movement.
He greedily sucked in air as he lay back on the bridge. He started to shiver uncontrollably in the cool morning air. He rolled his head back and looked into the complex. He saw four dangerous looking men standing around a table in the middle of the courtyard. The four men were obviously bounty hunters and had clearly been waiting for Jeral and his friends to arrive. Two large armored warriors were slowly walking towards Jeral trailed by a pair of men in mage robes. One warrior was armored in plate with a morning star and shield while the second was in chain mail holding a large battle axe. All four looked extremely dangerous and Jeral realized they would be a real threat to the group.
"Just want I need, more bounty hunters out for my head." Jeral mumbled to himself and he rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself to his feet. Jeral realized he was stark naked and down to two throwing knives as he stood only thirty yards away from the quartet of fast approaching men.
"Arachnia impedia!"
Jeral extended his hands and a small orb of pulsing white energy flew from his hands and landed right in front of the bounty hunters. Once the orb touched the ground a wall of webbing exploded out in all directions. Three of the bounty hunters were quickly entangled in the webbing and started struggling to free themselves. Jeral was stunned to see the fourth man, the warrior holding the battle axe, spring forward and quickly outrace the expanding ball of webbing.
How can he move that fast?
Jeral drew his remaining two throwing knives and hurled one, and then the other, at the fast approaching warrior. The man twisted and threw himself into a forward roll. His unnaturally fast moves meant that neither knife did anything more than scratch the large warrior. He came out of his forward roll in a ready crouch and slashed out with his battle axe. Jeral hopped up and the axe blade swung under his feet.
Jeral backpedaled and held his hands out for balance. Smiling the warrior growled at Jeral.
"No chance for another spell laddie, I am not gonna give you the opening." The fighter sneered and showed a mouth full of black cracked teeth. "Seems hardly sporting to kill an unarmed nekkid man but a bounty is a bounty. When I bring Reiltar your head I will receive a king's ransom in riches for Drasus always gets the job done."
"Sorta like my head where it is good looking. So let's agree to disagree on that." The bounty hunter slashed towards Jeral and he flung himself backwards. His reflexes ensured that a sure killing blow merely left a shallow slash across his chest. Jeral placed a hand on his chest and felt the blood trickling through his fingers. He eyed his opponent warily and prepared himself to dive back into the river. As he uncoiled his legs and hurled himself backwards he caught a glimpse of an arrow striking the warrior in the chest as he entered the water.
Way to go Imoen!
Jeral surfaced and watched as Minsc and Ajantis took on the axe wielding bounty hunter. Even outnumbered two to one the man gave ground reluctantly. He twirled his axe in an intricate pattern deflecting blows from both warriors. While the two warriors engaged Drasus Imoen fired arrows at the pair of mages ensnared in Jeral's webbing. Dynaheir quickly launched a fireball into the webbing and Jeral watched as the two mages were incinerated in the blast. The plate clad warrior was only slightly burned. Now free of the webbing he hefted his morning star and shield and charged towards the combat on the bridge. Jeral pulled himself up onto the bridge and ran over to Imoen. Reaching over to Imoen's side Jeral drew Imoen's short sword and ran forward to support Ajantis and Minsc.
Ajantis slid past the bounty hunter to engage the second fighter while Minsc continued to attack the chain clad fighter while he parried blow after blow with his axe. Jeral waited until the bounty hunter raised his axe high to block a downward slash from Minsc. Seeing his chance Jeral stabbed forward and Imoen's lightly enchanted blade slid smoothly through the man's chain shirt and buried deep in his stomach. Jeral felt the man's warm blood wash over his arm as he withdrew the blade and watched the man crumple at his feet. As soon as the man fell Minsc moved forward to support Ajantis. Jeral hung back and watched as the three plate clad warriors dueled. Jeral placed his hand on his chest and focused his mind on the wound and could feel the flesh knit back together under his touch.
Still not sure how I can do that, he mused, but right now I will take it.
Ajantis and Minsc fought well together. One would attack high while the other struck low. The remaining bounty hunter was totally on the defensive and steadily sliding backwards and he used every trick he knew to stay alive. Ajantis and Minsc wordlessly changed their pattern and they both attacked the man's legs. He blocked the Helmite's attack with his shield, however he was unable to respond to the attack from the large ranger and his blow sliced off the man's left leg at the knee. With a scream he dropped his shield and morning star and toppled to the ground and grasped his bloody leg in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. Ajantis, Minsc and Jeral stood over the man and watched him bleed.
Ajantis turned and locked eyes with Jeral. "We must aid this man."
"Ajantis, we do not have a cleric with us and we have no healing potions to spare." Jeral's tone implied that he was still bitter over Viconia's departure.
Ajantis knelt down and quickly removed the armored plates from the man's leg. The then ripped the man's tunic, and fashioned a quick tourniquet a few inches above the bloody stump of his left leg. The flow of blood slowed to a trickle and then stopped as Ajantis tightened the tourniquet and tied it off. Ajantis stood and wiped his blood stained hands on his tunic.
"There you go Jeral. We may have saved his life with no need for the accursed drow cleric or wasting a precious healing potion. And Jeral, your wound has closed. How did that happen?"
Before Jeral could form any sort of reply Imoen piped up behind them. "Well these fine folks were top flight bounty hunters hired by the head of the Iron Throne in Baldur's Gate. Some guy named Reiltar paid these four to kill Jeral and his companions." Imoen tossed a bounty notice to Jeral and contined to search the corpses for valuables.
"Oooooh this one has a purse full of platinum. And this one has a necklace that will be worth a lot. And a potion of some sort. Too bad the other two were roasted; all of their valuables were destroyed in the fire." Imoen dusted herself off and returned to the group.
"And Jeral, I would suggest that it is well past time for you to reclaim your clothes. Walking around naked in mixed company is not proper behavior." Dynaheir eyed him up and down and a small smile formed at the edges of her mouth. Blushing, Jeral excused himself, handed Imoen her sword, and ran back to the wood line to reclaim his clothes, armor and equipment. Jeral quickly dressed, put his chain mail back on and picked up his weapons. He added his pack to the pile of equipment that the party would not take into the mines and headed back to rejoin the party.
Pausing at the corpse of the chain clad fighter Jeral bent down and examined the man's boots. Smiling he pulled off the boots and carried them forward to his companions. Tossing them down in front of the others, Jeral smugly announced "enchanted boots to make the wearer move rapidly, who wants em?"
"Minsc can use such boots to more quickly reach evil to dispense badly needed justice." A shrill squeak from Boo had Minsc looking shamefaced as he continued. "Boo says it might not be wise to allow Minsc to run ahead of the others whenever he wished." Jeral chuckled, "Boo is very wise Minsc. It is best to listen to him."
"Jeral, I would be proud to wear such footwear. Since I am usually in the lead I can more quickly close with the enemy or retreat to a safer location."
"Ajantis, that makes sense to me. Perhaps Dynaheir can take the boots you have now. Some additional protection from missile weapons would be a good idea since she is our only mage and critical to our survival." Ajantis nodded his agreement and quickly removed his old boots and put on the new ones. The enchantments in the boots made them instantly adjust to the correct size. Ajantis dashed back to the far side of the bridge and then back faster that Jeral could believe. The increased speed from the boots was impressive and would come in very handy.
Dynaheir picked up the other set of enchanted boots and reluctantly placed them on her feet. Jeral watched as they shrunk down to fit her small feet. Dynaheir signed deeply and stared at her feet. "Well they are not much to look at but they are comfortable, so that is something."
"And they should help keep you alive so that probably counts for something as well."
Dynaheir smirked despite herself. "Thank you for your concern Jeral. That is indeed touching. I think we had best continue on and enter the mines for we have wasted enough time." Ajantis and Dynaheir led the way as the party cautiously walked deeper into the complex looking for the entrance to the mine itself.