Dice Results
A single guard in the rusty chain armor Jaggar was growing very familiar with rounded the bend and stepped into the light of their torch. She was gaunt and pale. A sheen of sweat covered her face and bare arms. Her eyes were sunken into what would otherwise have been a lovely face. The woman looked haggard, battered, and dispirited.
When she saw Jaggar and Sendra standing tall, their blades naked and orange in the fire light, she stopped short and held up both hands, palms outwards. Jaggar stepped forward, his stern expression not wavering despite the pang of compassion for the miserable soul he felt in his chest.
“We have come for our people,” he said, his voice hard.
The woman’s mouth moved, but no sound came out. Finally, under the scrutiny of Jaggar and Sendra, she lifted a ring with a single rusty key off her belt and tossed it to the ground at Jaggar’s feet.
“Take them,” the woman said through cracked lips. Tears streamed down her dirty face.
“Why are you doing this?”
The woman looked at Jaggar blankly before she answered. “The Magister made many promises. He kept none of them. My own husband and son are dead at his hands. He must be stopped. Freeing these poor souls is the least I can do to that end.”
The woman nodded at Jaggar and turned around leaving the way she had come. Jaggar watched her until she disappeared into the darkness.
He wasted no time scooping the key from the ground and fitting it into the old padlock holding shut the cage door. Once it was opened, he and Sendra helped Padma and Vereena to their feet. The two women’s legs were weak from lack of food and exercise, but they were otherwise physically fine. Mattick’s left leg, however, was mangled. The angle of his lower leg told Jaggar that it was badly broken. It was a small mercy that the bone had not penetrated the skin. With Sendra’s help, he lifted Mattick and supported his weight. Sendra leads the group out of the cave and into the afternoon light, with Jaggar and Mattick bringing up the rear.
Vereena and Padma shielded their eyes against the bright light of the sun, and waited as Sendra scouted the clearing in front of the cave. She jogged back a moment later and looked hard at Jaggar. He did not need her to speak to know what she had seen.
“Come,” he said in a whisper. “We must hide.”
He led them deeper into a copse of low scrub trees where he had spotted a large rock on his last visit. Jaggar settled Mattick against the rock and drew his sword. Vereena and Padma huddled close to Mattick, while Sendra kept watch on the other side of the rock.
Dice Roll
From his vantage, Jaggar could see the woman who had given him the cell key was leading the group of warriors back to the cave entrance. A large, bearded man walked behind her with his spear pointed at her back. She had been caught, he realized, and was not betraying them. She led the men inside the cave. Jaggar couldn’t believe their luck. He sheathed his sword and hefted Mattick.
“Come. We must move quickly. When they realize we are already gone, they will come hunting.”
Dice Result
Dice Roll
Despite having to support Mattick’s weight, Jaggar kept the small party going at a fast pace. By nightfall, they arrived at the edge of the pine grove without incident. Jaggar was absolutely certain the Stonetower warriors would be following them, but he could not make these poor souls travel any further without food and rest.
Dice Result
Dice Roll
With Sendra’s aid, Jaggar quickly set up camp, and lit a fire. He had misgivings about the fire, but the way Mattick was shivering gave him cause. The supplies they carried had bandages as well as food, so while Vereena and Padma hungrily devoured the rations, Jaggar and Sendra worked on setting Mattick’s broken leg. The man screamed in agony as Sendra straightened the broken leg and Jaggar bound two stout sticks on either side.
“Do you think we are being followed,” Vereena asked Jaggar after she had eaten her fill.
“I would think so.”
“What if they find us?”
“Then Sendra and I will defend you as best we can.”
“Why didn’t we keep going?”
Jaggar looked pointedly at Mattick then said, “You and Padma are weak from lack of food, and Mattick is in extreme pain. We have to rest.”
Vereena looked at Mattick whose face was set in a pained grimace, then over at Padma. The younger woman was still eating, and her thin frame was shaking with the release of pent up tears. “Yes, you are wise Jaggar Kova. It is well that the chieftain sent you back for us.”
“Sendra and I will keep watch tonight. Never fear.”
With that, Vereena laid down on Sendra’s bedroll and was soon asleep. Padma followed a bit later and Mattick rested fitfully against a log.
An hour later, Sendra sat down by Jaggar. “My boy, go rest. I will keep the first watch.”
“Are you certain?”
“I sleep little nowadays anyway. You will need your strength for the journey tomorrow.”
“Very well. Wake me if there’s trouble.”
Dice Results
Dice Roll
Sendra’s eyes drooped as she sat on a stump near the dying fire. She was not lying when she told Jaggar that she did not sleep much, but it had been a long while since she had been out in the field like this. It was more than she was used to and the need for sleep was rapidly overcoming her vigilance.
A few minutes later, she blinked rapidly to clear the sleepiness once again from her eyes. In the distance she swore she saw small motes of light. Standing and focusing as well as her eyes could in the dark, she watched carefully. On the ridge of the next hill over, she spied four bobbing flames. Sleep quickly fled from her body as her battle instincts flared to life.
She rushed to Jaggar’s side, and knelt. “Jaggar, wake up. We’ve been found.”
Jaggar, who had only been lightly asleep, pushed himself to his feet and drew his sword from the scabbard beside his bedroll. Sendra pointed out the torches, and then went about waking up the women and Mattick. Sendra gave Vereena and Padma two large branches to defend themselves with if it came to that and bade them to keep watch over Mattick in the coming battle.
The glow of torches lit the hillside as the Stonetower warriors approached the campsite. Jaggar could see at least four in the firelight. They were led by the large man with the spear he had spotted back at the cave. When their leader saw Sendra and Jaggar standing ready to engage them, he bellowed a command and the warriors charged.
Oracle Dice Rolls
Dice Rolls
As the charging warriors came closer, Jaggar could see that they were outnumbered six to two. He steeled himself against the fear beginning to gnaw his gut and readied himself to meet battle. Three of the men reached Sendra and Jaggar’s position before the rest.
These warriors were untested, Jaggar decided, as they clashed. The first warrior went down from his blade before the skirmish could even begin. Sendra, he saw, had dispatched one as well. He slashed at the third warrior, but missed, and the lithe man dodged around him and attacked Sendra. She managed to bring her blade down on his clavicle, but not before he kicked her knee out from under her. Sendra fell with a cry, her sword still wedged in her foe’s collarbone.
The other three warriors, including the big spearman, surrounded them.
What happens next? Find out in Session 14, coming next Tuesday!
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