-----"I wouldn't hold my breath," Garrison says to Raven lowly, "we may have gotten all we can from this bunch."
-----"I say we rid ourselves of them," says Lovan with anger and disgust in his voice.
-----Strolum, Dilton and Pil take positions surrounding the three guards and the younger officer. They quietly watch them as Raven's wolf sniffs and growls at the prisoners.
-----Rinda looks out across the land behind them. With a wary glance, she says, "We may soon want to move into the woods. I don't like being out in the open like this."
-----Time passes as the waiting continues and the sun reaches the high point of the sky. Caranip walks among the outer fringe of trees inspecting the ground and occasionally examining rocks she finds.
-----Moments later, Pil quietly waves at Raven and points as the cloaked man shows signs of stirring.
-----"Well, ye may as well give it a go Raven, wi' either him, or th' lesser officer. Th' sooner we're done here, th' sooner we can get somewhere more secure t'settle fer a while." Sol suggests as he begins to keep watch on the surrounding land, especially in the castle's direction.
-----Raven pulls the cloaked man to his feet, "Let's have a bit of a talk okay? I can tell you are just bursting to help us."
-----Raven grabs the man by the arm and pulls him towards a spot where they can talk alone and out of sight of the prisoners. The wolf follows them.
-----The cloaked man still looks groggy as Raven leads him away.
-----A few moments after, low angry words are heard followed by the sound of Raven's wolf attacking something.
-----After an hour Raven heads back to the group with the cloaked man in front of him.
-----Raven says so all can hear, "He was most helpful. It took a good amount of gold and promise to spare his life, but he talked. He also wants the rest of his group killed so word of his betrayal will not spread." Raven says to the cloaked man, "You be quiet now so your former comrades can have their say. I will not have you pull that 'No one talk' bullshit. What you told me about their crimes will be enough to hang 'em at the least." Raven looks to the burned officer, "For others, they will face a most painful death for their crimes." Raven says, "He said they came from a town called Black Bog. They're heading north to the border of Hearthorn to meet up with others of their kind. He also said the people of this village were not all killed, some were enslaved and brought to Ku to work by the river." Raven says to the other prisoners, "Is what he said true? He has told me enough to kill you all right here, no trial, no grave. Just your bloated bodies left out for the crows."
-----Raven crosses his arms in front of his chest, "Well? Are you going to let this man's words stand or do you want to tell your side?"
-----The young officer's jaw drops as if disbelieving what he hears.
-----"You bastard!" one of the guards says seething as he looks at the cloaked man. "You told us to shut up while you set us up to be killed."
-----Another of the guards drops to his knees. "Mercy! Mercy!" he pleads, looking at the Hunter.
-----The cloaked man surprisingly laughs, "You, . . . idiots! Can't you see . . . " But his words are cut short as Raven slugs him dropping him unconscious to the ground.
-----Sarah seems impatient. "Can we end this charade? We know what we need to do. The village of Ku is our target now. We must free the slaves." She says.
-----Raven says to the prisoners, "What can you tell us of Ku?"
-----The guard who fell to his knees glances quickly up at Sarah and then back to Raven. He quickly cries out, "It is a village to the southwest. It is rumored that they took the commoners there to mine the river for gold!"
-----"Little good it will do you," the younger officer says, this time without the forceful hatred in his voice. "Ku is held by two forces of humanoids."
-----Raven says to Sarah, "Well? Now what should we do? You seem to be unhappy on how I'm trying to gather information. If you have a better idea, be my guest."
-----"We go to Ku and free the slaves." Sarah says, wondering if she stuttered the first time she said that.
-----"But first ye all want t'heal an' get yer spells back, right? I mean, that's what ye've told me. I'm up fer doing this now, but it seems I'm almost on my own there." Sol mentions in a clarifying tone.
-----Raven smirks, "I hope you'll flesh your detailed plan before we head out. The prisoners are all yours. I'm done with 'em." Raven wonders why Sarah is being a pain in the ass.
-----"No, no one's on their own," Garrison says calmly in reply to Sol. "We're all in this together. I think there's a few things we need to think about first, but we can't talk here."