An Ambush
A loud and malevolent voice booms, "Welcome, fools - Welcome to your deaths!" followed by booming, fiendish laughter.
The diabolical laughter causes Kenku to squeak and puff out her feathers. She speedily backs down the hall away from the door, stopping when she bumps into someone. Which makes her let out a squawk.
Illayana crouches down and puts her arms around the kenku, holding and comforting her sister. She makes shushing sounds and says, "There, there little one. You're safe with me."
The little kenku snuggles into the older woman's protective embrace and makes soft cooing sounds.
Darvin also looks a bit shaken but tries to laugh it off, "If they didn't know we were here before, they definitely do now. What's our next move?"
"They don't know we're in the hall right outside. Let's go back and hide in the two rooms down the hall," suggests Ned.
"That's a great idea, Ned!" Darvin says, "We can split up and ambush them from both sides."
"Kenku and I will slip into the library," the eladrin says.
"Great. The halfling and I can take the writing room. Why don't you join the two women in the library Darvin," says Ned.
Darvin replies, "I think I'd be better off with the two of you since you only have Thamila's dagger."
Ned shrugs and says, "Do as you like."
The group slip into their respective rooms, just as the door at the end of the hall opens. Two men come out into the hall and look around. When they don't see anyone, they continue walking down the hall. And just after the first man passes the doors; Darvin, Thamila, and Illayana cast their spells.
Illayana's thorn whip lashes the man while he's simultaneously hit with crackling light blue energy from the halfling's spell. Their combined attacks bringing him to his knee from the pain of his injuries.
"Oops… Sorry," Ned says sheepishly after bumping Darvin while trying to look out the door at the fight. This causes Darvin's spell to go wide, missing his target and hitting the wall behind the man instead.
A second after the spells go off, the small kenku gracefully steps into the hall, scimitars in both hands and slashes at the man holding two short swords. The first attack hits its mark, but the second scimitar slashes through the air as the slaver moves out of the way.
The slaver returns the attacks. Kenku expecting the first sword thrust expertly jumps out of harm's way, but not enough to escape the second attack. From behind a scimitar blade swings just over the kenku's head. And then an arrow soars from the room at the end of the hall, piercing Kenku's armor and almost dropping her.
Darvin steps into the hall behind the man with the scimitar. Having the element of surprise, Darvin knocks the man to the ground with a thud, his opponent falling into the doorway of the library.
Illayana reaches out over the fallen foe and brushes her hand over Kenku's wounds. "Let Eldath's healing waters restore you," the druid says and mystical waters swirl around the wounds, magically healing them the best she can in the middle of a fight.
Then the eladrin says, "There you go my little darling. Now give them hell!"
Kenku, not missing a beat, swings her scimitars again at the assailant in front of her. The kenku's fierce attacks almost finish the slaver, but her injuries keep her from delivering the finishing blow.
Thamila peeks out the door and casts her spell down the hall at the woman with the bow. But the chaos of the fight causes the halfling to trip over Ned's foot. Her spell goes wild, sending splinters of wood flying from where it hit the doorframe.
Darvin swings his mace over the kenku's head to finish off the small woman's opponent. But in such tight quarters, he loses his grip on it when he connects with the doorframe next to him. The mace clatters to the floor, taking chunks of the door frame with it.
Thamila yelps and jumps back out of the way right into Ned.
Illayana yells, "Stay away from my sister!" and lashes out with her thorn-covered vine whip at the man attacking the kenku, dropping him to the ground.
The third assailant, after watching her companions fall, runs away leaving her broken bow behind. The group quickly follows the runaway into the room, only to see her slip through the secret passage in the floor as they come through the door.
"I suggest we let her go. Kenku's wounds need tending before we continue," says Illayana.
"I can bandage her up, but we can't stay still for too long. We need to get down those stairs and finish what we've started," Darvin says.
I know that the last chapter was pretty long and this one's a bit short. They were originally one chapter, but it was way too long, so I split it into two. However, it was difficult to find a good spot to make the split. And now I have a really long chapter followed by a really short chapter with no way of fixing it.