-----Lovan then looks at Sarah. "Best you keep a watch on their boat, girl. We don't know how long they're going to ride this river."
-----Sol ignores all attempts to get him off the oars and truthfully his rowing action is still steady and strong and he seems no different than when he first started rowing. "Keep us in time, Lovan!" He calls to the priest.
-----Feeling the fatigue in her arms rather quickly, Sarah reflects that it has been quite a while since she did anything that required physical strength. Shaking her curls contemptuously she slowly stood up from the oars. "You're right Lovan." She said quietly, and moved to the front of the boat, glaring at the keel ahead. "Keep it up baby." She muttered under her breath. "Forty yards..." She called back..."That's all I need...get me forty yards closer."
-----"Aye, that I'll do, though mark my words," Lovan says in reply to the young Gorian, "the four of you should rotate shifts at the oars." The storm priest points at Sol, Raven, Romney and Garrison. "Each of you will need a rest if just to stretch momentarily. The first time that boat goes to land, you're going to feel it in your arms the moment you draw your weapons!"
-----The Rager's priest, though still bleeding from wounds, smiles at his place at the tiller. As most of the adventurers' eyes are now adjusted to the dark, they can see Lovan's chest fill as if the excitement has long ago strengthened him. "Go! Go! Go! . ." he begins barking at the rowers.
-----"Speaking of which," Garrison growls, thinking out loud, "I wonder where Krondor's heading? In this direction, he could be heading for Goldren, . . . or Silvergard."
-----As time wears on and the rowers are forced to take rests, Rinda stands in the bow of the boat with Sarah. "I envy you," the huntress says to the young mage, "You share a bond with your owl. Is it because of that, you are able to see what the dark hides?" Rinda stares into the dark waters in front of the boat.
-----Soon a soft glow is detected above the trees on the eastern horizon. "There!" Rinda suddenly says, pointing out on the water in front of them. "The Hunter is with us! The moon is rising!"
-----Now with the yellowish glow of the moon on the river, a dark craft with a small sail is seen ahead following the steady flow of the river. It still glides further than the sixty yards Sarah would like.
-----With a thoughtful look on her face, Rinda then looks at Sarah and asks, "If we follow them for a while, you should rest. Could you not learn more of your spells?"
-----"Rinda, if ye can make out th' boat, start on them wi' yer bow. In this light ye may not hit much, but ye might convince them t'land. Especially if ye hit someone important." Sol advises excitedly before adding, "Sarah, can ye make out someone who might be Krondor?"
-----"No, I can't." Sarah says with more than a hint of frustration in her voice. "Rinda, I could, but that would require me resting. I don't want to wait that long." Sarah states flatly. "Raven, maybe you should take some shots too if you have the chance...if we can take out the oarsmen we have a much better chance of catching up." Sarah says, agreeing with Sol wholeheartedly.
-----Raven looks off towards Krondor's boat, "Sarah, at this range we'd be wasting arrows that we'll need later. If we had longbows, maybe..."
-----Raven pauses as he rows, "Why don't you rest? I think Krondor has a long chase in mind for us. We'll need you to be rested and at your full power when we catch Krondor." Raven turns to Lovan and Rinda, "That goes for you two also."
-----Sarah almost snarls with fury. "If I fall asleep and wake up to find that he got away..." She shakes her head trying to clear her thoughts. "You're right, I guess. But I want to catch him NOW!" Sarah slams her fist into the side of the boat, and exhales fiercely.
-----"Okay...sleep..." She curls up near the front of the boat. "Come back baby..." She mutters under her breath, and soon Chessie flies back and lands on his friend's shoulder. Sarah and Chessie both close their eyes and start to doze off.
-----"I wonder," Rinda says drawing forth her own long bow. The huntress shoots two arrows but both missiles fall way short of the target doing little more than causing small ripples on the water. She then turns toward Raven and smiles sheepishly while shrugging.
-----Rinda then applies her last bit of healing spells to the storm priest before giving Raven a kiss. The huntress then reclines close to the ranger. Before she closes her eyes, she says a silent prayer looking into the rising half phase of the moon.
-----Seemingly energized more, Lovan then robustly lectures the other four men on steering the tiller. With that, the storm priest lies down where he can while Sol and Raven divide up the watches and the rowing.
-----"Erm, how about we rotate every hour. Gi' us all a chance t'flex our shoulders. Start wi' you, then me, Romney, then Garrison." Sol suggests to Raven, "Whoever's on watch at th' time needs t'watch out fer logs an' th' like, while keeping his ears open in case those in' th' boat ahead do something odd. An' steer..."
-----Raven nods, "Agreed."
-----Remarkably, the night passes without incident. The four men rotate their duties as the young mage, the huntress and the storm priest rest. The distant boat continues steadily ahead of them as the moon continues to climb to the high point of the sky.
-----Sol, Raven, Garrison and Romney catch what rest they can when their rotation frees them. As the night wears on, the boat continues to glide through the water with the river gently lapping at the sides of the craft.