Escaping The Empire - The Nonhuman Chronicles

At Axel's sign of consent, and seeing that the main thrust of the conversation between the bandit and the other monsters was over, Gerid began moving back towards the main group.

He rolled over one of the dead bodies that was on its side so that it was now fully face down. He knew the surviving members of his squad would follow his path eventually and, if they could not identify them at a distance, they would need to stop and check the corpses to make sure he, or one of the commanders "prizes" were among the dead or not. By that same token, before he could decide on what he needed to do next, he looked over the edge of the cliff the wolf-girl and her foe had tumbled off to see if there was any sign of them.

His ear twitched at Wilhelmina's question, having only head something about a now mostly abandoned camp to spend the night. "If it is sufficiently hidden," he said, "And provided the shelter is not too poor, the camp would probably be better for all of you than sleeping under a rock."

 

“The camp seems like the better choice,” the angel agreed,”however, we should be careful and not assume it is completely safe. The empire soldiers might have found it – unlikely, but not impossible.” She cautioned.

 

"Well, It seems like the consensus is to camp. I'll lead you there." The elf perks up a little and limps back the way they ambushed from. The full moon manages to illuminate your path enough to safely walk down the mountainside for about twenty minutes before arriving at a crossroads of sorts. One path leads down the mountain below and the other leads back up a way. He takes that path and it's only a few more minutes before you arrive in a clearing surrounded by an outcropping of rocks. In the center is a small campfire, its embers just faintly glowing.

He prods the flames with a nearby stick and causes the flames to flare up a little and what originally appeared to be rocks turns out to actually be resting places within the camp. Most of them consist of a bit of gray and black fabric tied to a rock or some branches. They were made so that when one was down the mountainside or in the dead of night, they would appear to be oddly shaped boulders. Each one has one or two bedrolls with a couple even having three. On top of the makeshift shelters, there are also two tents that appeared to be of better quality. The corners and edges of the tents were tied down and wrapped to make them look natural. With all said and done, there's probably about six makeshift shelters and two tents which could potentially house about 15-20 people. Plenty of space for your little group for the night.

 

Wilhelmina decides to look around the land surrounding the clearing, scanning for threats. If she's satisfied, she enters the tents to check, before returning to her elf servant, smiling brightly. "You've done well, Thialin. I think you deserve a reward, if you're interested."

 

"If that's what you wish, then I wouldn't so no..." He grunts in pain and clutches at his side where one of his more painful injuries is. "But my whole body aches from a certain angel peppering me with tiny magic arrows."

 

Ariel smirked. “Well, you were attacking us...” she shrugged as she looked around the camp. After checking out the resting places she made her way to the other tent and looked inside, planning to take it for herself. But first she looked at Talia, giving her a silent invitation to join her in the tent.

 

"Well it still hurts like hell" He shrugs his shoulders in defeat.


Talia had stayed quiet for most of the trip and now doesn't seem much better. It's like 2 in the morning and she didn't sleep very well back on the cliffside. She notices your invitation and wanders over to you in a sleepy haze.

 

“Come on, Talia, let's go get some sleep.” Ariel spoke gently to the faun as she led her inside the tent, leaving the rest of their small group to figure out their own accommodations.

Once inside the angel helped Talia settle down for the night, before doing the same herself. Hopefully there will be no more interruptions... Was her last thought as she closed her eyes and tried falling asleep.

 

Gerid silently makes a beeline for one of the makeshift shelters, sitting down on the bed roll and wrapping his cloak around himself as he settles in. He sits in such a way that what shadows there are obscure his face so no one can easily see if his eyes are open or not.

It is honestly a little hard to tell if he is sleeping while sitting up or is lurking in the darkness, keeping an eye and an ear out for everyone and every thing.

 

Wilhelmina guides Thialin back to one of the tents. "Poor man..." She examines his wounds, doing her best to heal him with any supplies in the camp.

 

Talia pretty much faceplants into the bedroll without much encouraging.

He gives you directions to a crate up near the camp fire where they keep their supplies. It's just a couple of crates and there isn't much there. Just some food and some sterile bandages. Once you return to the tent and enter, Thialin has removed his hood, armour and shirt. He's a lean elf with green eyes and black hair that hangs over his shoulders. His face has the telltale jawline of his kind and outside of the hair on his head, his upper body is completely devoid of hair. Several cuts and scrapes cover his body including the one that has been bothering him and is slowly oozing blood down his side. He looks to be thinking somewhat grim thoughts as you return. "For what it's worth, sorry for attacking you all and scaring the girl. We don't have much left...especially after the attack on that Imperial caravan that went wrong..."

Spoiler

 

Wilhelmina continues smiling as she treats her new servant. "That's all in the past, now. It's time to think of the future." Her hand grazes his chest as she bandages up his wound. "My, you are rather attractive, aren't you?" Her voice is intoxicatingly pleasant to him.

 

He gives a soft chuckle as you wrap a bandage around his wounded side. "Well, I don't usually get told the opposite. I would imagine that my elven heritage helps with that. We have been known to be pretty attractive to other races.."

 

Wilhelmina grins. "Well, you certainly don't go against the grain in that regard." She finishes with the bandage. "There. Better?"

 

He rubs his bandaged wound. His eyes wandering across your body slowly. "well, it still hurts, but it certainly does feel better now that it's had a lady's touch Miss Mina."

 

She scoffs. "Please, just Mina." She offers her wrist. "Some more blood will help with the pain, if you wish." She neglects to tell him that it's also addictive.

 

After helping Gerid turn over the bodies Axel had a quick look-around for Kerri, when he couldn't see where she may have fallen to he whispered a short monosyllabic prayer; the best he could do. When he turned back to the group he saw that they were already on their way. The minotaur let out a huff and lumbered after them. The uneven ground bothered him, but not nearly as much as the arrow still sticking out from his shoulder. With a grimace, he holstered his ax and gripped the arrow shaft with both hands before breaking it in two. The shortened shaft would at least make it easier to move.

When they eventually came upon the camp the others scuttled away into their claimed tents and bedrolls. Axel, the last to arrive, let out an annoyed sigh and unceremoniously plopped down on the spot. Sitting, he removed his ax from its holster and resigned himself to the night's watch. He wouldn't get to rest this night; and while he was no healer, he might be able to do something about the arrowhead in his shoulder.

 

From where he sat in the shadows, Gerid suddenly called out, "I'd take the night watch for you, but I doubt you all trust me for that kind of thing quite yet. And I can help get that out of you, if you'd like."

 

Axel pondered Gerid's offer for a moment. While the half-elf was correct in his assumption that there was no way Axel would let him take the watch, help removing the arrowhead was growing ever more preferable by the moment.

Axel looked at Gerid then huffed, his breath forming vapor in the night, and finally nodded in approval.

 

Standing up, Gerid walked towards Axel. "I can either try to cut it or pull it out," he explains, "the former is easier for getting it all but it will be painful. The latter will depend a lot on if I can get just the right angle so it comes out the same way it went in. If I get it right, it'll do a lot less damage than cutting. If not, it'll do a lot more damage than cutting."

His face remained deathly serious as he took a closer look at the wound. "So... much of a betting bull are you?"