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-----Garrison then looks over at Sol and smiles. “Ready to set the pace once more?” he asks the Gorian.
-----Sol nods mutely at Garrison's question as he eyes the two hunters and the woodsman wistfully. "Take care o' yerselves, an' I'll see ye all soon enough." He whispers to all three, his soft tone sounding almost harsh. To the others he jerks his head in the direction they're about to leave and tells them, "A'right, we're supposed to come in from th' road, so let's head there, an' then mount an’ move towards th' gates. When we get t'th' road, I'll take th' lead wi' Jyan just t'my right an' slightly behind. Jeilin an' Lovan, slightly further back an' just t'my left. Strolum, Dilton an' Pil, walk in rank a good fifteen feet behind them."
-----Taking Thunder's reins, the warrior turns and begins to lead the stallion parallel to Ku as he makes his way to the road.
-----After leaving Sol and the others, Raven leads Rinda and Garrison through the brush almost following the way Whisper had shown them a few nights ago. The vegetation sways gently in the breeze and in the distance they can see the fires that light various parts of the captured village.
-----Moments later, they turn more toward the south and soon find themselves moving through ruined crop fields and gardens. As they cross what they think is the last field before setting foot yards away into the village proper, they sink down to observe what they can see.
-----Here they see the strong and busy activity of the hobgoblin force that Whisper observed earlier.
-----Suddenly, growling and cruel voices alert Raven. Off to the left comes a patrol of about twelve soldiers patrolling the perimeter of the village!
-----Quickly all three hunters get down on their bellies hoping not to be spotted. The patrol continues on past them, passing within just a few yards of their position. The three lay quiet letting the hobgoblins make some distance from them before rising up off the ground.
-----“We could of taken them,” Raven says, getting up, “but it would have been a noisy battle and we wanted to get to the Inn.”
-----“Looks like the coast is clear!” Garrison says looking around.
-----The hunters then dash off toward the dark side of one of the perimeter buildings. The going is slow as several times they duck for the cover of the ground as they near the road where many soldiers are afoot.
-----Suddenly as they lay in a depression not far from the shadows of the nearest building, they hear heavy booted feet moving in their direction. “There!” says a fierce cruel voice, “I saw something move!”
-----Rising up, Raven can see seven hobgoblin soldiers heading straight for them!
-----“Damn!” Garrison cursed as he realized they had been spotted, but Raven was already in motion. Leaping up, the Hunter drew his short swords and flew at the guards. Two dropped dead to the ground while a third guard avoided Raven’s attack. This one immediately lightly scratched Raven across his left arm with its weapon. Growling, Raven parried the attack of another soldier.
-----Rinda ducked under a sword and met her attacker with her club. The Huntress’s weapon thudded into the hobgoblin’s midsection hurting it.
-----Garrison threw off his foe’s sword and stabbed in with his own. Even though the woodsman preferred the use of a battleaxe, he nevertheless had his opponent down with a critical wound.
-----Just then the last soldier who was not fighting one of the hunters gave a loud yell into the darkness.
-----With a savage grunt, Rinda delivered a fierce blow to her opponent, striking the hobgoblin in the head. The club shattered the humanoid’s skull and it quickly fell. Rinda then charged the yelling soldier.
-----At the same time, Garrison decided to leave the hobgoblin he faced and also charge the one who could be alerting the village. He swung his weapon at the humanoid and even though he failed to strike it, the hobgoblin focused now on its attackers.
-----The two who faced Raven appeared unnerved as one of them totally lost its balance as the Hunter moved around them. Before they had a chance to recover, Raven quickly killed them both.
-----Rinda and Garrison now faced the last unharmed soldier. Both swung in, but their attacks were parried. Just as the hobgoblin looked as if it might run off, it fell to Raven’s short sword.
-----Very quickly, Garrison ran back to the hobgoblin he fought and killed it.
-----Now huddling down in the darkness, the three hunters listened for noises in the night. Off to their right, they could hear the sounds of another patrolling group hurrying toward their position.
-----“Damn!” Garrison cursed again, “They heard the commotion, though I don’t suppose they know exactly where we are yet.” Looking at Raven, he asks, pointing at the bodies of the dead hobgoblins, “What do we do? Do we try to hide these or move on out?”
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