Chapter 23: Fire Arrows and Smoking Rocks!
The Fifth of Solentide, D.Y. 500
-----"You are alone," the girl says with a great degree of certainty in her voice. Even though she is young for a woman, her eyes reveal an intelligence that is impressive for her age. Especially considering that she was the one who cast the spell that had nearly reeled Whisper.
-----Her clothing beneath her hooded cloak seems simple yet very suitable for travel, or perhaps . . . hiding on the run. Pouches are situated on her belt and she carries a quarterstaff in one hand. Whisper figures that on her back she carries a pack beneath her cloak from the way the garment bulges.
-----She faces him now with a straight and strong posture even though physically she would not appear to be threatening.
-----"If you are 'scouting' for an army that opposes Lord Sintor, we could be of help to you," she says, meeting Whisper's eyes.
-----"Aye, that we could," the dwarf says with the most positive tone that Whisper has heard him utter yet. Though not the strongest dwarf the wood elf had ever seen, this young dwarf with his dark hair and beard exhibited a deftness that would certainly be useful. Under his cloak, the dwarf wore very fine dark leather armor and Whisper could see the hilts of a dagger and a long sword. The hand crossbow was still in his hand though it was not raised in defiance.
-----"If ye don't mind me saying so, you look like someone who would hate the orcs around here as much as we do. If you want to even head for one of these towns, we might even find some connections if you need information."
-----They pause and watch Whisper for his reaction.
-----He stopped leaning against the worktable, and rolled his shoulders. After a few more moments, he gave a very slight nod.
-----With that, he secreted the twine in his belt-pouch, and motioned them out.
-----Whisper leads them to the shop with rolled bundles of cloth pictured on the sign. The door to this small building is closed.
-----"Careful now," the dwarf growls, "this one we haven't checked."
-----Whisper tries the door and finds it unlocked. As he pushes it open, he finds inside the workshop four large rolls of cloth, but they look as if they have been ruined and soiled. The rest of the shop looks as though it has been rummaged through and nothing more of interest is here.
-----Whisper then heads for the shop whose sign was a hanging piece of fur. Its door stands slightly ajar.
-----"This place we have been in," the girl says quietly as she sees Whisper approach it. "It really is as empty as this last place we saw."
-----Whisper shrugged philosophically. Then he returned to where he had left the spears he had acquired, and shouldered the burden once more.
-----He spent a few moments adjusting the positioning of his gear, and resettling his leather armour. A few deft gestures ensured that his hood was properly raised, and that the scarf covered the lower half of his face. From within his hood, his eyes flitted to his two new companions.
-----"Keep up." And then he began striding smoothly from this thorp.
-----Off to the east, the sun just rose behind the clouds. The thick cloud layer, however, kept the morning very dim. The air felt very warm and muggy and there was no wind to bring relief. This day the temperatures were going to be hot!
-----As Whisper and his new companions left the swampy thorp, they transversed across a mile wide plain following the road as it lead more to the southeast. To the south, they could see the walls of a small castle keep just about a mile away from the road. They kept low and moved cautiously in the growing gray morning light.
-----At the eastern end of the plain, the road leads into a forested area. Once again, this forest like some of the others Whisper had visited here in Ravenhold seemed almost too quiet. Hardly anything stirred within except for small quick hurryings in the underbrush. The woods seemed to reflect the gloominess and quiet of the day. The girl and the dwarf did a pretty good job of keeping up although the dwarf particularly kept Whisper from gaining as much ground as he liked.
-----As they exited the forest, the land opened up to flat plains to the east. As they cleared the trees, Whisper could see the buildings of a village, about the size of Kulendra, about a half mile south of the forest. After watching it for a few moments, it was apparent that the village was emptied of its people. Whisper reasoned that this village would also be located about a mile to the east of the castle they saw before they entered the forest.