The Ranger, the Rouge, and The Bard: Order of the Dragons

Chapter 3: The Long Road

Silence overtook the clearing except for a distant rumbling thunder perhaps, the only sound being the soft splash of drops of blood as they drip into the blood below, on the ground the heroes just stare eyes wide with shock and bodies alert ready for another, but none comes it seems the shot has fulfilled its purpose in cutting a life short. After a lengthy period of silence Cole lets out a shaky sigh, "I think who ever took that shot's gone... the fuck just happened!" he says his voice but only a panicked whisper as his eyes is locked onto the dead man's expression one of shock and panic. Carla is not handling this well, having curled into the fetal position taking short quick breathes as her heart races panic overwhelming her, death seeming so close she's terrified. At the bar it felt like one of the fantastic novels she read but its so real so visceral she wants to run to hide its overwhelming. Jebidiah sits in calm silence "Seems someone didn't want him to spill any news but now the question is who silenced him, Dragon Order is against killing their own, even to a fault." Jebidiah says and Cole glares "I don't care let's just get out of here and get the money I don't really feel like being some wannabe adventurer chasing some crazy terrorists in fancy masks." Cole says stress and fear boiling up to anger at this day of panic and death as he stands there hearing the rumble as it grows louder.

Carla is silent, just not leaving her position as she feels safe here and if she does not look up, she does not have to acknowledge the body though the metallic smell of blood will not let her ignore it. She tries to imagine her happy place her family home but her... that thing makes her not want to imagine that either. But as she opens her eyes to try and look for something to focus on, like a flower or bird or even some clouds, something catches her eye and fear runs through her once more as that rumble hasn't been thunder, "We need to run now! Look!" She says pointing in terror as approaching from the area they came is an army massive, steam powered, walking artillery batteries march alongside hundreds of soldiers with modified tactical plague doctor masks, strange creatures fly overhead accompanied with yet stranger beasts of horror on the ground. It looks that this abandoned battlefield is not gonna be abandoned much longer as the Flock seems to be putting this passage back into use. "By the hells, we need to move now, or we are gonna be deader than a rattle snake in a rockslide!" says Jebidiah as he helps Carla to her feet while Cole keeps an eye on the oncoming army as memories of his time and service flash through his periphery. "Let's go before they reach us as I'd prefer not to talk my way out of dealing with an army!" Cole says motioning for the others to fallow as they sprint off through the thick forest dark forest that stretches far into the distance.

It felt like hours as they ran trying to put some distance between an army and them, finally coming to a sudden halt as they reached a dirt road where they all finally stopped to catch their breath. Cole surprisingly is the first to talk, "We'll that's shit, looks like we aren't getting paid, fuck. Waste of damn time!" he says groaning with annoyance kicking a tree in frustration as Carla bends over hands on her knees panting, "Yeah. But right now, I just want to lay down and forget about all this and just forget that image of the body, forget my miserable life, fuck, everything feels worth forgetting." She says with shaky breaths as her legs quake as her tail grabs a low branch of a tree to help support her. Jebidiah nods sitting down against a tree, "Finding a place to rest doesn't sound too bad partners. Then come sunrise we can sort this whole situation out, does that sound good to y'all?" he asks, wincing a bit as the still fresh wound flares up under his bandages leaking a bit of blood. Cole just gives a nod tired and exhausted from running and getting knocked around by that dragon-kin man earlier. As they catch their breath the clunking and clacking of wagon wheels against dirt and stone makes them jump as a old faded white carriage has seemed to have somehow snuck up on them. From on top a goblin man with slicked back brown hair in a garish lime green patched together suit coat calls down, "Travelers eh, need a ride? As I the Great Asvaldo give cheap ride, ridiculously cheap!" he says pointing to a small sign that says 'ASVALDO TRANSPORTATION 1 GOLD PER MILE' and sweeps his hand towards a door of a carriage like area but the door is barely hanging on its hinges white paint peeling off smiling with a mouth more gold than teeth.