[coronatiger]

Thoughts on August 5th

I was tumbling in the street as usual, and it was starting to get dark when Olivia signaled me. I bounded over and took a seat next to her. She told me not to look, and said that someone suspicious-looking just had knocked on Lord Karl’s door. I couldn’t help myself, and sneaked a peek anyway. I didn’t see anything differentiating this visitor from any other we had seen earlier, but I trusted Olivia’s foresight that something was wrong. She has shown time and time again that she can spot whenever something bad is going to happen, and has saved me from the shame of waking up in a strange bed more times than I care to remember.

Lord Karl appeared, and walked off with the visitor, and Olivia and I stalked behind. After seeing their general direction of movement, Olivia surmised that they were heading for the north gate. I ran back to the Red Mansion to pick up my backpack and weapon, and to gather the crew. We met Olivia at the gate, but she had lost sight of Lord Karl and his companion.

Kine and Va’lyndra soon found their tracks, though, and while Va’lyndra kept following, Kine returned to the gate to fetch us. Lady Karita asked Olivia if she was coming along. Olivia asked what her plan was, and Lady Karita said we were going to follow to the rendezvous with the kidnappers, and most likely make an ambush to liberate the captives. I didn’t want to risk getting Olivia caught up in a fight, so I sent her back to the inn with a good-night kiss. I had originally thought that we’d use stealth to sneak the hostages out, and would have brought my new armor and more healing potions than the one I always keep in my pouch if I knew Lady Karita was planning a fight. But at least Olivia would be safe.

Lady Karita, Kine and I moved out at a good pace, and it wasn’t long before Kine spotted a dark figure following Va’lyndra. Kine and I tried to sneak up on them, but Lady Karita lagged behind because she didn’t think she’d be able to move both quickly and silently.

Kine struck out with her whip, entangling the guy’s neck so he couldn’t cry out. I kicked him twice in rapid succession, and Va’lyndra, who had heard all three of us following her, hurled a dagger towards him. He had to throw himself to the ground to avoid getting hit, which made it easy for me to pummel him into submission. Lady Karita caught up with us and said she’d take care of him while the rest of us resumed the stalking.

We followed Lord Karl and his escort to the meeting place. Five men, clad in leather armor and armed with spears and bows waited there with Lord Karl’s wife and son. Preferring to fight five men with two captives rather than six men with three, we decided to find the tracks of the larger group and follow them for a while before setting up our ambush. We circled at a safe distance from the light of the lanterns, and found a path where Kine said she could see their tracks.

Lady Karita, Va’lyndra and I followed the path for a few minutes before we found a good place to ambush the kidnappers. Kine stayed to watch them and would come running when they started to move. She spotted us immediately, and we hurried to find better hiding places; Va’lyndra and I hid together behind some rocks, while Lady Karita and Kine stayed on the other side of the path.

When the five kidnappers arrived with Lord Karl’s wife and son in tow, their leader noticed Kine and Lady Karita, and ordered his men to stop. Va’lyndra and I both put an arrow in their forward archer, and he dropped to the ground. The three spear-wielding men rushed towards Lady Karita and Kine, and their second archer prepared to shoot. Va’lyndra, drawing another arrow with incredible speed, managed to take him down before he could fire at us.

Kine relieved the leader of his spear using her whip, and Lady Karita hurled a throwing star at him, but he dropped beneath its trajectory. His two followers tried to run their spears into my friends, but missed. Lady Karita shouted “Run!” and fled towards Va’lyndra and me with two of them on her heels; Kine led the third guy off in the other direction.

I took a step to the side to shoot past Lady Karita, but failed miserably and hit her instead. My masterwork arrow penetrated her cloth armor easily, and down she went. Instead of gaining a four-against-two advantage, we now were three against three. Kine, who didn’t have time to ready her whip again, tried to claw at one of the spearmen. Our two other enemies were approaching Va’lyndra and me rapidly and would be upon us before I could draw another arrow. Every cloud has a silver lining, I guess, for as Lady Karita hit the ground, Va’lyndra had a clear shot at the spearman running for her.

The shot wounded the man badly, and while he didn’t pass out immediately, he never reached us. The leader, however, came at me with a large knife he had drawn after losing his spear and slashed at me. As I wanted to get close enough to punch him, I didn’t retreat far enough from the attack, and the knife cut deeply into my belly. I managed to stay on my feet, but the intense shock made me hesitant to attack, so instead I feinted. He stepped closer and tried to stab me, but Va’lyndra had conjured a shield to protect me, and it blocked the attack. My feint had worked, and he failed to parry my punch. He grunted in pain behind his leather armor. Va’lyndra had picked up her staff, and in a few seconds, he was dead. He never managed to land another hit.

Seeing no other enemy in my immediate vicinity, I drew another arrow while casting my eyes over the battlefield. In the dark, I couldn’t see Kine’s unmoving body on the ground, but I feared the worst as her opponent came charging towards us across the path. Va’lyndra intercepted him. Fighting staff against spear, the two of them stayed far enough apart that I had a clear line of fire to the last kidnapper, and after I had put an arrow in his chest, he yielded when Va’lyndra ordered him to surrender.

I gulped down a healing potion and felt a little lighter on my feet. Va’lyndra administered one to Lady Karita. I gave her my first aid kit, tied up the guard, and released the prisoners. I explained to the woman we were friends of her husband, and that we were going to take them back to town as soon as possible. I didn’t express my fear that it might take a while, but fortunately, both Lady Karita and Kine regained consciousness within a few minutes. I apologized profusely to my unintended target.

After that short rest, and having been bandaged by Va’lyndra, I felt fit to fight again, so I suggested to her that she and I should run to see if we could overtake Lord Karl and his escort. Leaving Lady Karita in charge of the battlefield, we dashed off. Va’lyndra, with chain mail, started panting heavily after a mile or so. We conferred briefly, and I stepped up the pace, leaving her behind. I wouldn’t try to engage the escort in combat en route to the city, but hoped to meet them at the gate, where the single guard wouldn’t dare anything as I approached them. My guess was he would slink off into the shadows.

Without Va’lyndra’s elven eyes, I soon veered off from the path. Luckily, whenever I crested one of the larger hills, I could see the dim lights of Garuk in the distance, so I didn’t get completely lost on my way back. Estimating that I’d reached the city before them, I stayed inside the north gate, waiting.

Lord Karl arrived alone, and I made contact after making sure he wasn’t followed. He told me his escort had found the corpse of the man who had spotted Va’lyndra tracking them earlier, and had run off. Lord Karl took off his blindfold and came back to Garuk. I explained to him that we had liberated his wife and son, and that Lady Karita and Kine would be bringing them back. He dragged me off to find some of his personal guards, planning to go out to meet the family. He said he’d rent a horse for me. I said I’d rather get my own horse, but he didn’t want me to leave. I’m still not sure whether it was for my own safety, or his, or if he didn’t trust me.

As we left the city, Lord Karl asked if I was able to backtrack towards the battlefield. I said no, so we just spread out to watch for Lady Karita and the others beyond sight of the city walls. Thinking I’d see farther from higher up, I stood on the saddle, staring into the night. I also figured Lady Karita and Kine would recognize me that way.

Lady Karita and Kine saw a rider, and Lady Karita crept closer. She was seen, and the alarm was raised. She stepped forward, showing no weapons. Lord Karl and I arrived before anything untoward happened.

While Lord Karl went to rouse the governor, the rest of us went to the Red Mansion, to entrench ourselves in Lady Karita’s suite. I woke Olivia, and took her down from the attic along with some supplies. One of Lord Karl’s men guarded the window, and we blocked the door with furniture. After she’d looked at my wound and realized there wasn’t anything else she could do for me, I told Olivia to try to get some sleep again while I watched over her. I could sleep later. Kine had found her healing potion supply, and was rejuvenated, but I ordered her to try to sleep. Morning wasn’t too far off.

I had forgotten I’d promised to meet Va’lyndra at the north gate, but she eventually found her way to the inn and knocked on the door. We let her in.

Lady Karita, having spent the last days familiarizing herself with the area outside the city, and Va’lyndra, being our best tracker, led Lord Karl and a platoon of the governor’s soldiers back to the battleground. The three kidnappers who had survived had managed to get free from their bonds, and had fled the site. Following the path, Va’lyndra eventually found the kidnappers’ camp, where most of their forces remained. A short battle ensued between the soldiers and the bandits, and many of the bandits were taken captive, but their leaders had disappeared.