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Mal christens the floor of the unholy chapel with a spit of blood, sanctifying it in an odd way. He wipes his mouth on his blood-streaked arm and slides his eyes over to the fleeing succubus and dwarf. "They aren't going to make it, Darkmane. Not with that over-sized maggot after them."
He looks at her skeptically, "Is that a rule somewhere?"
"Sacred Consort"
Mal looks speculatively, "We betting on this?"
Mal wraps an arm around her waist and steals a kiss. Priyya melts faster than the butter. Mal looks speculatively at the other women and says, "Girl Fight?"
Mal only nods, waiting to hear the second item on her list of 'a couple things'. After a few minutes of silence, he casts an eye on her. "You said 'a couple things'... What's the other part?"
She shakes the thoughts from her mind and resumes her studies, while thinking of a way she could make Mal suffer for his actions the night before.
Mal curses as his 'charge' gets yanked up the cliff. "Tal, look out for an ambush!" Talvyra turns her massive feline eyes from the flying princess, hisses, and sniffs around for threats.
Their flank protected, Mal whips his axe from his belt and hurls it, trying to cut the line above Alis without giving her a haircut in the process. Standard:
Not trusting this creature's desire to reach out and touch someone or the belly that looks fit to burst... Mal orders Little Sister back, pulls his handaxe, and throws it at the creature as he falls back into a defensive stance in front of Alis. His accuracy doesn't impress, "That's what I get for playing it safe." He unsheathes his claws. Standard:
Little Sister snarls and moves back into a defensive position in front of Darkmane.
Mal nods curtly and casts the spell on himself, instantly feeling a sense of relief from the oppressive heat. He says with a trace of humor, "Maybe she's a baby giant cannibal. We could just pass her by, eh? Chatting her up sounds like a diplomatic mission to me and I'm no diplomat. But I'll give it a shot, if you really want."
With a hand signal, Mal signals a halt and slowly backs off for the group to have a hushed discussion. "Something isn't right here. She has vines wrapped around her. I don't know if she is some strange creature or bait."
Mal ignores the conversation, engrossed with his survey of the cliff-face. "Well, feather falling would be fastest. But if you want to conserve your magic, we can rope down with little risk, I think."
"Mal, it's not even noon and you had the middle watch. You can't possibly be tired yet." "After another 12 hours of tracking I will be tired. That's what I'm planning for." "Also, don't forget this, we need to find out why she came here. I would not advise attacking her, as I believe she is much more powerful spellcaster than myself. If we want to ambush her, then we all need to participate if we are to take her down." Mal tries (unsuccessfully) to not roll his eyes. He stares at the reformed succubi briefly as if to say, Do I look like an idiot? Without another word, he turns away and begins to take stock in the contents of his pack, dumping non-essentials, and tightening everything down.
Mal shrugs and holds his hand out catching some raindrops as if to emphasize a point, "This isn't about speed. It's about continuing to track our game before the trail gets colder or is wiped away completely by the rain. It's also about stealth, safety, and endurance. Three of us are more likely to go undetected rather than five or more. While I don't mind stalking alone, if there are traps or unseen dangers, it would be smart to have a partner along. I can hunt better and faster alone but Darkmane has the ability to keep our weariness at bay. We've been going all day; it's likely we will go all night. I'm sure she can keep three of us up and moving... I don't know if she could manage five or more." "So time is wasting..." He turns to Alis, "It's your decision - about the scouting party AND your perfume."
"I'm tired of all these gods-be-damned bugs on the god-forsaken island!!!" Mal c0cks his head and frowns, curious at the swarm surrounding the Princess. He moves in closer, eyeing her. "Excuse me, Alis." He moves his face near her neck and breathes deeply then steps away, saying "It's your perfume. It carries a hint of copper, like blood. I bet that's why they like you so much."
Mal shrugs. "Ida know..." Mal's delivery is so dead-pan, it is hard to tell if he is joking. "Lureene summons that guy out of thin air. I didn't know you could do that with a familiar. Too bad I can't do that trick with Little Sister."
"I don't know much about Eidolons. Can Grak be that far from Lureene safely?"
Mal nods and continues. "If we are going to be blazing a trail all night, then you will need someone to track us by our trail tomorrow. I think Sasha should be the ranger for your group and I'll lead the 'trackers'. I'd like to take Little Sister with me and..." He seems to debate his next choice carefully, "Darkmane. She's not the stealthiest but she is a healer, tough, good with a bow or blade, has excellent night vision so she won't be tripping over roots, and can banish our fatigue as we press on all night."
Mal nods, "Maybe they know some of us are alive... but which ones? They may not know we are after them, that we can track them, or that we are..." he holds up two sharp claws like pincers, "this close." Mal looks at his ex-faux wife and gives her a smile that instills her with no comfort. "If you didn't like my last suggestion, til you hear who should be on each team... assuming Alis doesn't squash my idea from the start."
Mal smiles fiercely. "Well they have been dropping the goats on that hillside; I'm not sure where exactly they've been goat-hunting. Wherever we choose to set up camp, we'll want cover from flying goats." "I doubt our quarry will be returning to this site... Still, it might be better if we set-up on the high ground so we can watch this site and surprise them if they do return. The bigger question is - do we send a small team to continue the chase before this trail goes colder?" The glint in his eye tells you this would be his preference. |
