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-----Hearing the voice of Raven, Sol starts sprinting as fast as he's able, in the direction of the noise caused by others also partaking in this particular leg exercise.
-----Suddenly Zentil’s voice yells off to the left. "I'm being shot at!" he yells back to the others. "There's at least one more up there!"
-----Thalog and Rand move out in this direction.
-----Sol runs in the direction of the noise and sees Raven and two other men on an incline among some trees and bushes. Raven, on one knee, plunges his sword into one of the men and the man falls dead. The other cloaked man quickly turns and runs back up the hill.
-----Raven picks up his bow and yells to the man, "Stop now and I won't kill you. Don't make me hunt you down!"
-----The man continues running, so Raven takes aim with his bow. His arrow flies straight and true and impales itself in the man’s throat. He falls and his body lies still on the ground. Everything remains quiet on the wooded hill.
-----"You greedy sod," Sol remarks to Raven with a wide grin. He starts jogging off in the direction Zentil went, saying, "Suppose we should check on the others."
-----Meanwhile, Rand and Thalog move in the direction of Zentil’s voice. They see among the trees a cloaked man with a bow kneeling on the incline of the hill. An arrow protrudes from his left leg. They follow his line of sight and see Zentil kneeling between some bushes.
-----Rand quickly grabs his bow.
-----The man smiles evilly down at Zentil with a face covered with bumps and pockmarks. He begins to draw his weapon, but suddenly a quivering arrow appears impaled in his left breast. The man jerks backwards and falls over on his back motionless.
-----Turning, Zentil sees Rand and Thalog moving toward him. The priest carries a bow in his hand. Rand moves quickly beside Zentil with concern on his face, "Zentil, are you all right?"
-----"Aye, it's just a scratch", says Zentil. He begins moving toward the body of the fallen foe, staying low to avoid detection and stray missiles.
-----Sol and Raven make their way over to the left side of the hill where the others are gathered. Among the trees and bushes there, they find Rand, Thalog and Zentil standing over the body of a cloaked man. Two arrows pierce the body, one in the leg and the other in the chest area.
-----"Ah, you’ve decided to join us," Thalog says stiffly to the two men. Rand interrupts, "What’s our next move? I get the feeling, they weren’t the only ones up there." The young cleric looks up the hill among the trees.
-----Raven walks over to the dead man. "Nice shot there, Zentil." He then looks over to Rand, "I think you're right, there will be more of 'em up there. We could try to disguise ourselves as these three dead men that have two prisoners. Or Sol, Rand and Thalog could disguise themselves and Zentil and I could hide in the woods and get the drop on 'em. You guys think about it or do you have another plan?" Raven pauses and looks down at the dead man again, "Well, I'm going to go back and hide those two other bodies. Zentil, you might want to do the same."
-----With that Raven slips back into the dense woods. "Back in a few." They hear Raven say as the forest seems to swallow him up.
-----"I'm all for the hide in the trees and ambush tactic", says Zentil as he watches Raven disappear into the woods. He then turns to the dead body at his feet and begins to search him.
-----After hiding the body in the underbrush, the party sees Raven returning.
-----Rand nods thoughtfully, "It is possible, with the blessings of Great Solarius, that if I could get close enough to one of them, I might be able to subdue him without striking at him." He then turns to Thalog, "How about the magical ability you used to enspell the vile orcs at the Gorian ruins? Can you accomplish that again?"
-----The mage turns his head, his eyes staring off into the woods, "If the situation calls for it. Yes, that may be the tactic to take. Which brings up another point?" and here Thalog looks at Raven and Sol, "Do you have any idea how many others may be up there?" He listens for their response.
-----Rand turns to Sol, "Pray, what be your opinion? Shall we disguise ourselves?"
-----Raven opens his mouth and then closes it. Raven rubs his chin. "I have no idea how many men are up there. Zentil and I could scout ahead and gather more information." Raven turns to Zentil, "You game friend?"
-----Sol turns to answer Rand, "Yeah, disguising could be fun. Almost as much as a full frontal assault." An eager grin lights up his face.
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