"Well, it appears we have little choice if we are to be reacquainted with Gorewillow. Let's move."
The party sets out again, this time following Melira and her snake, which sometimes slithers on its own through the rocky ground and sometimes is picked up and slung over the Mwangi woman's shoulders. Whatever else Melira may prove to be, she is a good guide. The journey back down out of the foothills is far quicker and easier than the trek the group made on their own the day before; Melira grumbles a bit about the necessity of finding footing for the horses, but she does so, without any of the backtracking that had been necessary yesterday.
Once out of the rugged terrain of the foothills, Melira climbs atop a boulder and squints at the horizon downriver. "No signal from Gashnakh yet. Best we can do is follow the Kestrel downstream and cover as much ground on foot as possible. With luck, we'll catch sight of the ferry before long; at the very least, we'll be sure we haven't missed it if we keep near the river."
Alicia nods in response to Melira.
As the group travels, she strays a little bit from the group, acting as an outrider or scout on the inland side.
"Downstream it is. I'll send Reaver up high so he can keep an eye out for us." Dorn does just that as the bird takes to the sky.
"Not too high," Melira snaps at the dwarf. "We don't want your bird drawing the attention of any river drakes on the hunt. Might as well chum the water."
Pondering that a moment, he calls out to the bird who proceeds to drop down to a lower altitude.
Melira proceeds to lead the party down the Kestrel. After a few hours of eventless travel, Dorn feels a surge of adrenalin from Skyreaver, a split-second before Melira calls out sharply, "Down, now! And off your horses, unless you want to get carried away on one!"
She hurries to the nearest rock and crouches in its shadow, making herself as small and unobtrusive as possible. A moment later, a sinuous shadow streaks over the ground and is gone.
Once she is sure it isn't circling back, Melira cautiously steps out of the shadow and peers after it. "River drake, and a large one. Fortunately for us, it already had prey in its talons and wasn't interested in stopping and trying for more."
"Well that's a relief," Dorn says sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. "It's not hungry... this time. Me problem's gonna be when it shows up the next time and hasn't eaten in a week. I'm thinkin' we need ta speed this up a bit. The quicker we can get ourselves out of the open, the better."
Alicia does as bade, dismounting and hiding in the rocks at Melira's warning. After the danger is passed, she is quick to remount. With a nod to Dorn, she says, "Best to not be here in a week."
"Yes, I agree. Let's definitely keep moving. The sooner we finish this, the better."
Mahath looked back the way they came. This was farther than he'd ever been away from home before, by a long shot, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.
Melira leads on, a little more quickly than before as if to put as much distance between the group and the drake as possible. A moment later, she calls out cautiously, "Someone approaching, in a hurry. Single humanoid."
Indeed, a figure can be seen jogging in the party's direction from downriver. As it nears, it is revealed to be Tama Turns-Her-Shoulder.
Alicia relaxes as it turns out the other party is known to them--but only a little. "Looking for us? Or do you come out this way a lot?" she calls to the Shoanti.
"Probably something to do with the drake," mutters Marikel who has been following Melira's instructions without complaint. "I'm not a strong believer in coincidence."
Indeed, as Tama recognizes the group, her grim expression softens toward imperious. "Trunauans! I call on you to discharge your debt to me! My horse was taken by the river drake. Aid me in defeating it, and we may part as equals."
Recognizing the Shoanti woman, Dorn can only roll his eyes. "You gotta be kiddin' me. Not her again," he mutters, shaking his head in frustration.
Marikel frowns. "We're kind of in a rush. Is there another way of discharging our debt?"
His shoulders slump.
"How far away is the ferry?" he asks resignedly.
"On the Kestrel. Or the Esk," Melira replies bluntly. "Is this woman's horse really more important than your quest?"
"It's not more important. That doesn't mean it's not important."
Marikel looks to the others.
"Tama did help us. But we don't want fall further behind. But I don't want a pile of debts behind us. And it'll be dangerous."
Marikel smirks. "Again."
Melira's eyes narrow. "Leave the horses with me. I'll watch for the ferry and try to convince Bloodtusk to wait if you haven't returned."
Mahath, more assertive than he's been up until now, says "Even if it wasn't just the right thing to do, Trunau depends on outlying settlers for advance warning of threats. We should keep our obligation. We should foster good will. We should help."
Alicia shrugs and dismounts her horse. "Fine. Let's get this over with."
She starts heading in the direction that Tama had come running from.
Rolling his eyes in frustration, "Reaver!" the dwarf calls to his bird buddy, giving him orders to follow.
"It flew this way," Tama explains. "It must have a nest near the river." She jogs on steadily, assuming the others will follow in her wake, for something less than a mile, then slows cautiously. "There," she points. Just upriver, a stretch of riverbank is littered with dead fish and animal bones, a sight reminiscent of the bones outside the abandoned drake's nest where the exchange for Zola Sawyer was carried out, but these carcasses are quite fresh. A similar cavern must be nestled along the river's edge below ground level. It looks as if the group can get down to the beach where a section has collapsed toward the river, creating a sort of rough slide toward the water, though the terrain will be tricky to traverse.
Alicia attempts to sneak her way down closer to the river drake.
As Alicia creeps away from the others, Mahath casts a quick spell on himself, girding himself in mystic armor for the seemingly inevitable battle.
Marikel jogs up and looks to Mahath.
"Good thinking. We'll need all the help we can get."
He touches the pommel of his sword against his shield and with a qucik prayer a radiant light emerges from the shield to engulf him before fading. Another prayer and with a wave of his sword, holy power and a sense of resolve wash over the party.
Following suit, Dorn uses a bit of his own magic and gives himself a bit more speed.
Tama puts an arrow to the string of her longbow.
Alicia creeps slowly and quietly down the slide to the level of the river.
Alicia continues to sneak closer to the river drake, hoping that it hasn't seen her yet. As she moves, she draws her rapier and dagger.
Dorn straps on his shield and casts more magic upon himself.
Skyreaver awaits Dorn's command.
As they creep closer, Mahath recalls how, in their previous encounter, the wasp bypassed his allies and got straight to him. As an extra precaution, he summons an illusion to confuse the drake. Two duplicate images of Mahath appear next to him, mimicking his every action and expression.
Mahath casts mirror image on himself. Images created: .
Marikel eyes the pathway underfoot and begins to make his way carefully down the slope.
At the twang of a bowstring, Alicia darts forwarding, sacrificing stealth for speed now that she's so near her target. The rogue stabs at the river drake with her rapier before it can react.
Focusing more on reaching the drake quickly than quietly, Alicia charges forward and drives her rapier deep into drakeflesh.
Seeing Alicia charge the beast, Dorn yells out for Skyreaver to attack and he himself doesn't waste another moment as he works his way right next to the rogue.
His magically-enhanced stride unslowed by the slippery terrain, Dorn charges after Alicia.
Confused and enraged by the sudden attack, the river drake snaps at the fragile creature that hurt it, seizing Alicia in its jaws while it uses its tail to slap at the dwarf beside her.
Skyreaver flies down from the bluff, circling around from the other side to flank the drake. The roc takes a strike from the creature's flailing tail but returns the favor with a savage bite.
Mahath stops where he's at. When he sees Alicia's peril, he starts with the fire.
Casting flaming sphere, dropping it E9. He'll use his move action to move it into E8. That's fire damage unless it makes a DC19 reflex save, in which case it would be negated.
Mahath summons a ball of fire into existence and mentally directs it against the drake's rear flank.
Marikel looks up as the beast snatches up its tasty morsel.
"ALICIA!
He thrusts his sword high and swings it down with a prayer cried to Iomedae, and a copy of his sword appears beside the drake. The spiritual weapon slashes down at the creature.
Marikel tries to navigate the narrow path to get closer.
Marikel summons a divine weapon that slashes into the drake before carefully sliding down to less hazardous footing.
Tama releases another arrow which buries itself in the monster's long neck.
Alicia attempts to stab the thing grappling her again, thrusting her rapier at the side of the drake's maw.
As Alicia is unable to maneuver effectively in her uncomfortable position, the point of her rapier skids harmlessly off the drake's hide.
Dorn moves to get into flanking position and strikes at the large beast.
Dorn circles around a rock in the riverbank, and the drake takes the opportunity to slap the dwarf with its tail. Dorn responds with a blow from his hammer, which crushes the drake's ribcage. Its jaws loosen their grip on Alicia as it collapses to the ground.