Oathbreaker

XVI: New Clothes, New Weapons, and a New Scaly Friend

Ithrigard knelt in prayer in a wooded grove away from her camp as dawn broke over the trees. There, she communed with the Goddess of the Forest, Mielikki. The cleric sought guidance from the deity, hoping that Mielikki would be able to show the way to the paladin Ithrigard was tasked with aiding. As she prayed, a vision began to form in her mind. In this vision, she stood atop a great, snow covered mountain. In front of her, down a worn down trail that descended in elevation, stood a dire wolf with fur as white the snow that surrounded them. The beast had piercing green eyes and fresh blood dripped from its yellowed fangs. The wolf panted in exhaustion, its hackles were raised his its lips were curled up, bearing its grizzled maw. The beast snarled at Ithrigard, before turning and running back down the trail.

Ithrigard opened her eyes, her vision interrupted by a sound that pierced through the silence of the burgeoning morning. The sound that rang through the trees was a war horn, used by the goblins to alert of each other of something they might've found. Ithrigard stood and faced the direction of the horn, it was coming from where she had blasted the bugbear with her radiant beam. She crouched down, and began to sneak her way back through the brush toward her camp. When she stalked back into the campsite, both elves and Frena were awake, frantically looking around them in sheer terror. Master Lumin had been stirred from his meditation, and he also peered around the campsite, scanning for any dangers. The dwarf still slept, his snoring cutting through the relatively quiet morning. Hegasi stepped toward the dwarf and gave him a swift kick in the ribs. Donny caught his breath and moaned in pain, sitting up from the log he was sleeping on.

"What the hell was-" Donny began to hell before Hegasi held a finger to his lips, hushing the dwarf.

"A war horn blew a few moments ago." The elf whispered, Donny's face twisted in worry. Ithrigard crept to the others and helped them all stand.

"We must leave, quickly. Who knows how many there will be?" She ordered in a whisper. She gathered her things, quickly breaking down her tent and shoving it haphazardly into her pack. She drew up her hood and clasped the mask together, then stalked over to the edge of the camp. She waited until the five others joined her, and together they began to sneak through the forest. As the group approached a well worn foot trail, they heard several sets of feet clattering through the forest. Ithrigard held up a closed fist and stopped the group. She turned to the others and looked around at their worry stricken faces.

"Do any of you have darkvision? The cleric asked hurriedly. Donny nodded and stepped toward her. She led Donny to the edge of the tree line, and began to move her hands, summoning a spell.

"I'm going to cast this on you so you won't be heard or seen by them. Go up and see if you can count how many there are." Ithrigard whispered to the dwarf, knowing the morning was still too young for her human eyes to see. He turned to her and gave her a disgusted look.

"Keep your magic to yourself, cleric. I know how to sneak." Donny growled. She moved her hands back and watched in astonishment as Donny crept forward, scanning the ground and placing his bulbous feet where they would make the least amount of noise possible. Donny moved to the edge of the trail and looked in the direction he heard the footsteps travel. There, down the trail about 100 feet, was a goblin search party, at least twenty strong, with two bugbears leading them. Each goblin carried a torch and a horn, waiting for the opportunity to blast the horn through the trees as something they might have found. Donny retraced his steps and crept back to Ithrigard.

"Probably twenty or so goblins with torches, with two big bugbears." Donny whispered. Ithrigard nodded. She turned to the others, and picked up a rock off the ground.

"I'm going to throw this to draw their attention, then we're going to cross." Ithrigard said. She brought her arm back and hurled the rock toward the group. It flew over their heads and smacked a tree near the side of the trail. The search party reacted to the noise by swarming towards it, Ithrigard saw this and motioned for the group to cross. Donny led the group across, followed by Ithrigard, Frena, the elf twins, and Master Lumin bringing up the rear. As the old monk began to cross the trail, his foot hit an unseen rut in the dirt and he fell to the ground with a grunt. Ithrigard heard the sound the monk made as he landed, turned as saw him face down on the trail.