Oathbreaker

XVIII: The True Enemy

Deeky, the freed kobold slave, walked gingerly alongside Donny as the group followed the road west out of the town of Delta. Deeky seemed to really enjoy walking by the dwarf, being that they were of similar statures. Donny grumbled to himself as the kobold never stop talking. He regaled the group with the story of how he was taken by the half-orc smith and became Shopkeep, swearing up and down like a sailor, no doubt taught the harsh words by the half-orc back in the town. As they walked, his shrill voice cut through even the most tranquil of moments in the forest.

Master Lumin walked near the rear of the group, alongside Frena. The two had just wrapped up a lengthy conversation, when Lumin quickened his walking pace to catch up with Ithrigard, who was leading the group down the road. As he approached the cleric, he reached his hand forward and gripped the back of her right arm. Ithrigard turned and saw the old monk, and leaned in closer to him, he whispered to her.

"I believe we are being followed." Master Lumin whispered. Ithrigard raised her eyebrows and looked back down the road, but she saw nothing but forest and road behind them. She looked back toward the monk, whose eyes showed a distinct flash of worry.

"How many?" She asked.

"Three, if my ears are to be believed. I've heard three distinct female voices, but I haven't laid eyes on any of them. They speak in a language I do not recognize." Master Lumin replied. Ithrigard nodded, turning back toward the road where they were walking. Donny and the kobold had gone quite aways ahead of the group, with the wood elf twins not too far behind them. Despite them being so far ahead, Ithrigard could still hear Deeky talking, filling his new dwarven friend's ear with tales from his life, most of them being stories he'd actually heard from story books. Ithrigard noticed the elves whispering to each other and glancing around the forest, as if they also knew they were being followed. Frena matched the speed of the cleric and Master Lumin, but seemed oblivious to the danger. Ithrigard looked up to the sky that was visible through the forest canopy. The sky was slowly beginning to change as the sun crept toward the western mountains. Soon it would pass below their horizon and the forest would be plunged in the great range's shadow. Ithrigard put her thumb and middle fingers just inside her lips and blew a loud, ear splitting whistle. Donny, Deeky and the elves whipped around ahead of them, and Ithrigard motioned for them to come back to the rest of the group.

"What is it, lass?" Donny asked Ithrigard. She crouched down and the group huddled closely around her.

"We're being followed." Ithrigard said to the group quietly. Hegasi and Varest shared a look.

"We've been hearing them too. We didn't know if we were just going crazy or it was actually something to worry about." Hegasi muttered.

"Do you know what language they speak?" Master Lumin asked the elves. Both of them shook their heads.

"It sounds elven, but like a bastardized version of it. Like they haven't heard an actual elf speak it in a very long time." Hegasi explained. Just then, the group collectively heard a loud snap behind them. They all spun in the direction of the sound, drawing their various weapons. What they saw when they turned around sent shivers up each of their spines. Or rather, what they didn't see. There was nothing when they faced the sound, but an empty treeline. Ithrigard, sword in hand, began to move the party further down the road. She listened intently, waiting for any out of place sound that could possible befell her ears.

"I no longer hear anything." Master Lumin muttered, moving along slowly with the group. He scanned the treeline with his old eyes, waiting for any slight movement or sound. Still, he saw nothing. Ithrigard also saw nothing as she peered through the foliage. She sheathed her blade, but kept her hand on the hilt of it. The group walked in a circle formation, with Lumin and Ithrigard, the two with senses keen enough to see through the forest, on either side of the circle. Donny and Deeky led, the dwarf carrying his axe and the kobold carrying a small, dirty knife and a sling with a rock in it. Varest and Hegasi walked in the middle next to Frena, Hegasi carried a readied firebolt and Varest had his metal knuckles on either of his hands. Frena had both her broadswords out, ready for a fight. The party walked like this for another two or so miles, until Ithrigard looked up into the sky that peeked through the canopy of the forest and notice the amber hue of sunset. The sun was less than an hour away from sinking below the mountains and plunging the land into the darkness of night. Ithrigard spotted a game trail off the left side of the road, and led the group down the trail. They crept along the small path for sometime until they stepped into an open clearing, which used to house a tall and lucious meadow of tall grasses, but it was obvious that a herd of elk had come through and bedded in the tall grass. The clearing reeked of elk urine and stagnant pond water from a long unused watering hole across the far side of the clearing that was covered in a thick layer of algae.