[coronatiger]

Thoughts on June 1st (continued)

I hurriedly drew another arrow as heavy footsteps crashed towards the ridgeline in front of us. Ilzo and Leopold rushed to get back to Va’lyndra and me. The first giant just stared at us. Then two more showed their faces. I aimed at the largest one, although it wasn’t that much larger than the others.

Va’lyndra and I had taken cover behind some rocks on either side of the path, but she couldn’t have had a clear line of fire to the giants, for she stepped out of hiding. We released our arrows almost simultaneously, but when the giant dove to the ground to dodge, my arrow was the only one to strike its intended target. Va’lyndra’s zipped over the giant a fraction of a second later. Two more giants appeared, and one of them threw a rock at Ilzo, striking him in the back. He turned immediately, brandishing Surkalpi and howling with rage as he looked for the culprit. Leopold hurried past us.

I fired another icy arrow, courtesy of Va’lyndra’s spell, and brought down another giant. Va’lyndra put an arrow in my previous target, to stop him from getting back on his feet. Then she shouted “Get away!” and danced a spell dance. She must have done something wrong, for hail started pelting us, making it impossible to concentrate enough to aim accurately.

I stood up and shot at the closest giant, who was still outside the hailstorm, but he dodged the arrow. Ilzo ran forward, towards the giants; Leopold ran in the other direction. I also went forward to get out of the weather, but angled to the left, to maintain the distance between me and the giants.

Most of the giants had taken at least one arrow wound, and they turned to flee. Ilzo tried to engage one, but I plugged it with an arrow and told him that we had defeated them, he could let them run.

We regrouped and started back towards Olivia and the horses. Leopold commented on the poor communication in the group. Why didn’t we run when Ilzo told us to? I explained to him that the order had been for him, so that he and Ilzo could stay out of combat a while longer while Va’lyndra and I softened the giants from cover. I admitted that I thought that Va’lyndra’s retreat order before she made the hailstorm was stupid; couldn’t she see that the giants were on the verge to break? Va’lyndra corrected me and said that it was the sudden, unnatural hailstorm that had terrified the giants and caused them to flee.

I told Olivia what had happened while we continued south. Va’lyndra’s words made sense, but I still didn’t understand why the hail had struck us, and not the giants.

We emerged from the mountains and entered the lowlands again. The terrain was damp, and the insects annoying. We’re nearing the swamps.


Thoughts on June 2nd

Except for having to swat bugs constantly, travel was uneventful. Va’lyndra and Leopold claimed that we might reach the love temple tomorrow.


Thoughts on June 3rd

Va’lyndra spotted humanoid tracks crossing our path, and pointed out the deep claw marks in the soil. Digging through her knowledge of New World natives, she concluded that these must be “crocodile heads,” some kind of human/crocodile hybrid. Ilzo asked if they were strong. I asked if they were dangerous. Leopold asked if we could go say hello. I rolled my eyes when he got off his pony and started following the tracks. Ilzo hurried after him. “Well, I’m staying here,” I declared to their backs. Olivia asked if there was anything she could do, and I responded loudly that we’d wait here while the two idiots did their thing. Va’lyndra started to prepare herself to go after them, but decided that it would be wiser to remain with Olivia and me. Leopold needs to learn his lesson.

Leopold and Ilzo returned two hours later, spattered with blood. Leopold informed us that the crocodile heads didn’t want to speak with him. Ilzo had a gash from a spear that Va’lyndra bandaged, although it had already stopped bleeding. We rode on once she had gotten him to relax for a little while.

We didn’t reach the temple today, but we arrived at a river in the evening, and on the other side, half a mile downstream, we could see ruins. That could be the temple; we have to check it out tomorrow. The river smelled bad, so we retreated a short distance into the forest and made camp there.