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-----Within a half-hour, the adventurers are ready to leave the cottage atop the hill. In the fading light of the cloudy day, Raven lifts the last of the bound prisoners into the saddle of one of the horses. As he ties the hands of the wild-eyed girl onto the saddle, he tells her, "You will behave yourself. I’m tempted to leave you tied to this horse as I send it galloping off, but," he adds with a sneer on his face, "I hate to lose a good horse."
-----Sol sits atop his horse cradling Sarah in his arms as she soundly sleeps. Thalog adjusts the saddlebags containing the items he secured from the evil spellcaster. Rand mounts up and grabs the reins of the horse his brother is tied to. With a last look at the Darkness, Zentil climbs into his saddle.
-----The party then starts slowly off down the hill on its western side and into the trees on the forest floor. After a mile through the trees, the forest thins and they cross an area dominated by scrub. Up ahead in the distance, they see a large hill rising above the treetops and Raven leads them toward it.
-----They reach the top just as the sun sets somewhere behind the clouds. Rand quickly dismounts and finds a grassy spot protected by a few trees. Here he spreads some blankets and then helps Sol down with Sarah. They place the young sorceress on the cushioned ground to continue her rest. "Keep a watch on her, Sol," Rand says, "the wounds to her body have been healed. She’s having a hard time dealing with Gabe’s death. Perhaps it is good she is able to sleep."
-----Raven and Zentil quickly scour the area and soon they have a warm comfortable fire going by the small grove of trees. "I don’t think it will rain tonight, so the only thing we have to do is to watch our guests and the surrounding area," Raven says. The men then pick their times for the night watch.
-----Sol settles down against a tree next to Sarah's sleeping self. At first he has plenty of thoughts to keep him distracted. Sol seems to have taken Rand's directions as stay awake, so as Sol gets tired, he starts to mouth various tunes under his breath.
-----Sarah is having an uneasy sleep at first, she seems restless and mumbles things that cannot be understood. After awhile she calms down and sleeps soundly through the night.
-----The night passes uneventfully even though many in the party are on edge, ready for anything to happen. Heiros and the prisoner with the frizzy hair seem to have no trouble sleeping. The wild-eyed girl sits calmly staring with a blank look at the fire. She draws a snarl from Raven and Zentil as they pass the Dark Worshipper at different times.
-----Sometime after midnight, Rand gets up and goes over to Sol, who faithfully watches over Sarah. Looking over the sorceress as her sleep appears more peaceful, Rand whispers to Sol, "I’ll watch over her now, Sol. You get some sleep." As a wiry smile crosses his face, the cleric adds, "Besides, Raven said to stop the infernal humming, it is getting on his nerves."
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