-----Still, he was glad that this group was showing more prudence and slightly more tactical acumen then before. Battles in daylight, whilst unavoidable, should not be sought actively in the Elf's opinion.
-----He snapped his fingers, pointing towards himself and the group that had scouted previously. Using his index and middle finger to point at his eyes, he then gestured off towards the river. Finally, he tapped the blade slung under his arm before slowly drawing his thumb across his throat, parallel to his own scar.
-----Inside him, something quailed at the callousness of that gesture. But only for a moment.
-----At the sharp sounds of the elf's fingers, Sol's gaze swung to Whisper. This time, no expression dawned on the warrior’s face in response to the silent one's gestures. He just looked to Raven and commented, “If ye want t'take one o' th' wagons that's already left, then we should get started."
-----Within a few moments, everyone mounts up and the adventurers ride off stealing away into the cover of night about them. To the southwest they now ride with two hills rising to the west of their position. As they continue to move, a soft glow begins to shine from behind them. Looking back toward the east, a large full moon begins to climb the sky; the glowing orb lifting above the distant trees.
-----Soon they slow their steeds as they ride between the two hills. There, many sensations fill their consciousnesses with alertness. To the west of the northern hill is the unfortunate village of East Bend; its vicinity still swollen with activity busy and sometimes harried. Luckily the hills hide the riders from the revealing light of the rising moon and the adventurers are able to spot soldiers who are taking up the nightly watch. The party is still at a far enough distance that they can move through the area undetected.
-----Just off to the south, the faint light reveals the river, now looking much like a silver road winding parallel with the riders’ direction.
-----The adventurers now ride close to the river bank and here the glow of the lights from East Bend appears bright in the distance. Across the river, another village is located on the far bank though its activity seems quiet compared to East Bend.
-----As the riders follow the river, the watercourse makes a curve that leads them to the northwest for two miles before turning straight west. It is here that the land becomes more of flat plains and the road leading west out of East Bend is spotted! There, about a half mile off, the trail road leaves the village and moves across a very long treeless plain. A caravan of slave wagons accompanied by a troop of regulars is moving along the road toward the west at a moderate pace, but there seems no place to hide near the road other than the tall grass.
-----Raven looks to Sol and Whisper, "Keeping following them until they stop?"
-----Sol nods his agreement to Raven's suggestion, as he quietly watches the wagons make their slow progress.
-----All at once, a distant howl is heard; the long mournful cry of a wolf or coyote. Soon it is joined by other howls; some closer, some further off.
-----Raven’s wolf raises its nose and sniffs the air. After a moment, the animal growls lowly as if annoyed by the night sounds. For a moment, some in the party hastily quiet their steeds as the horses nervously react.
-----As Garrison helps to quiet Lovan’s horse, the woodsman stares toward the far moving caravan. Hissing a curse under his breath, Garrison watches to see if the guards accompanying the wagons are aware of the adventurers. In the growing moonlight, it is apparent that some of the guards are tending to the frayed nerves of some of the horses pulling the wagons. For the moment, the party appears to be undetected.
-----As the caravan continues onward toward the west, the adventurers continue to follow them, riding parallel just to the south at least a hundred yards away. As they go, some of the heroes spot dark shapes lurking way behind the wagons. Quickly they are recognized as wolves trailing the caravan.
-----Across a distance of at least three miles they ride before, just to the west, small points of light are seen. Soon, in the moonlight the shapes of small buildings are seen. On the road in front of the caravan a small thorp lies made up of perhaps no more than eight homes.
-----The caravan begins to slow as it approaches the small buildings and it looks as if the caravan may be stopping for the night. Some of the guards begin watching the road they journeyed on, although they remain on horseback.
-----As for the wolves, they seem to vanish as their dark shapes move off toward the north.
-----Making sure Thunder wasn't overly worried of the wolves, Sol turned to Raven and asked softly, "What was all that about, Raven? Wolves don't usually bother folk..." The Gorian then went back to watching the movements of the slaves and their masters.