Safe and sound

The company was in a sorry state and it quickly became clear to the Kai lord that healing the fellows would take quite while. It was hard to find who needed help the most. Erleothir with his now dented armour, limping and showing bruises all over the less protected body parts? Griselda, still bleeding abundantly from the various deep cuts inflicted on her during the battles and one arm hanging almost motionless ? Alast playing down his injuries despite a serious need of first aid ? or Gustavius shaking from exhaustion and having slight traces of burn on his hands and on his face ?

The Kai Lord's companions had continued their way westwards. Courageous Blade, so was the name of their saviour, informed them that their meeting was by far not as fortuitous as it seemed. He and his team were sent to search for Dark Raven, the masters had had a premonition and a felling of loss concerning his person.

And that's when Mulchanor started talking.
- What's he saying ? asked Alast to Gutavius
- I have no idea...
- you mean it's not drodarin ? wondered Erleothir
- not even drunk drodarin.
- is there any other way to speak it ?
- hmm your friend seems to be speaking in fever. Said Courageous Blade finally.

Griselda kneeled over Mulchanor's fever shaken body and rapidly found the bite wound of a snake. Poisonous, obviously. All turned to the Kai asking him what could be done to help him; gathering herbs, laumspur, whatever... Courageous Blade shook his head slowly. "There is no possibility for me to get a cure. The only way would be using the blood of Griselda since it holds a resistance to natural poisons." All turned to her. Would she help Mulchanor immediately or would the grudge against him still be too strong ? After a short moment of silence she nodded, probably innerly ranting that she could not have Mulchanor begging her for help. The Kai lord stopped her mid-movement as she was about to cut herself in the palm. "There is no need to open further wounds" he said, while drawing some blood out of her injured leg. She rolled her eyes in a typically annoyed fashion but said nothing. He proceeded to pour the blood into Mulchanor's mouth. Even if Mulchanor did not wake up, it was obvious that this improvised cure was working. His fever sank and his hallucinated speeches stopped.

Luckily for all of them the night passed without further incidents. Under the guidance of Courageous Blade, they finally reached the mountains. A steep road upwards was now their path and soon they had to line up along a narrow trail on the edge of a precipice. The road was difficult but luckily they were not being followed. It seemed that the Kai Lords had continued westwards and were protecting their back. even from dozens of miles away.

The night passed, Courageous Blade pushed back Griselda's attempt at discussing what seemed to be some personal matter. Either he did not want to speak with her or he simply had no clue what she was asking him about. In the background, Erleothir and Gustavius stared at each other, suddenly remembering that they also needed to discuss some urgent matters regarding the keys.
The second day was soon over, the road now easier and the pass not too far away. When looking back in the deserted plains to the West, the companions saw some clouds of dust far away. "No need to worry too much" said Courageous Blade "They are heading for us but still one or two days away. If we march on, everything will be fine." As most were asleep that night, Erleothir and Gustavius shared the first watch. "Gustavius ! we have much to discuss since the imprisonment. Could you maybe enlighten me about one or two details concerning the keys?" those were the last words spoken by a tired Erleothir that Alast could hear before falling asleep.

All woke up early the next day, not much was said. Even if it was the third day travelling towards the monastery under unfailable guidance, the dangers were far from being over. Their rations were all gone. The horses were triping on almost every stone. And the dust cloud to the west was still visible, nearer than the day before. They had now reached the pass and the cold air woke Mulchanor.

- Beer ! was his first word
- not now. sighed Erleothir
- what happened ?
- short version: you got bitten by a snake, went unconscious for the last 3 days and Griselda saved your li...
- where's my gun ? Interrupted the dwarf
- Oh you should have seen it ! it blew up in Gustavius' fa.... started Alast laughing
- gone. quickly interrupted Gustavius
- and my backpack ?
- gone
- and the powder ?
- gone
- and what about my belt with the fire pots ?
- gone
- my munitions ?
- gone
- wait, don't tell me that..
- IT'S ALL GONE ! and after a pause he added: "also you are missing two teeth".

Luckily, before Gustavius had to explain the unlucky loss of Mulchanor's equipment and before the situation escalated, another Kai lord appeared from under the cover of some trees a few hundred meters to the east, he was accompanied by fresh horses. The road was narrow and Courageous Blade made sign to the company that it was time to switch horses. One by one they saddled down and walked along the edge towards the trees. The new kai lord continued westwards taking their old mounts away. Only Erleothir seemed not willing to leave his horse, thus leading to some confusion.

- what's he doing ?
- if I did not know better, I'd say he's trying to annoy Courageous Blade.
and exactly at that moment the Kai Lord started to gesture rudely (according to Kai lord standards ) towards Erleothir.
- see, it works....

The rest of day went without much to tell. Around the evening, they decided to put up a small camp. They were too tired to build up tents and simply unrolled some bedrolls. Their stomachs were rumbling and Griselda decided to see if she could hunt anything edible. She was followed by Gustavius. A hissing discussion arose in the bushes as Griselda tried to make it clear to the loud dwarf that he should go hunt elsewhere. Not even half an hour had passed when Courageous Blade suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Ambush!" he yelled. But before he could do anything half a dozen of bandits had already encircled the camp and were going for Erleothir. Griselda and Gustavius also heard the scream and rushed back to the camp. Luckily for Erleothir, he was so tired when he went to sleep that he was still wearing most of his armor. Even though fighting out of a sleeping bag wasn't anything he had ever done before, he managed to block the oncoming blows by quickly grabbing his shield. Alast was well awake and was already jumping on one of the bandits while Courageous blade struggled to get two opponents off him. Gustavius and Griselda were now almost there.
One coming from the south, the other from the east. Gustavius kneeled down, aimed and shot. The bullet missed its target by a few inches and ended in a tree. Griselda was luckier, or so it seemed, using her bow, she fired an arrow: it hit the bandit in the chest and a cry of surprise was heard. The bandit looked down at the arrow in his chest with slight unease but a smug grin crossed his face as he broke the arrow apart. It had indeed struck his armour, but not perforated it.
With a quick shield bash followed by a straight strike, Erleothir managed to get rid of one of the attackers. In the background, Courageous blade produced a handgun out of his tunic and quickly unloaded it at point blank in the face of another bandit. Alast's opponent jumped at him, but he evaded, completely unimpressed. The bandit hit the ground and rolled back into a standing position, right in time to notice his sword stuck in the ground. With a grin, Alast pulled it out and stroke the bandit down. As Griselda ran towards the camp, she saw that Courageous blade and Erleothir had managed to dispatch two more bandits in a flawless manoeuver. The remaining bandit looked at his dead companions before deciding to run away, unfortunately for him, not fast enough.

Courageous Blade quickly snapped: "There may be more coming, let's get away from here as fast as possible"


Fleeing from the ambush, they resumed riding and kept on the rythm, making fewer pauses now that they were closer to the Monastery. Three full days and three full nights they pressured their horses to hold till the end. They met neither foes nor friends and reached the tall wooden gates of the Monastery. Already spotted many miles ago, silently escorted by Kai Lords on their way, they entered the building under the amused eyes of Courageous Blade. Fatigue took over amazement and they were quickly sent to their quarters while the horses were taken care of. For his part, Courageous Blade left them in the sleeping quarters to rest for the night.

- I'll be asking for you tomorrow morning, be ready to meet our Leader, I am sure he'll have fresh information for you. Good night!

The company noticed with pleasure that they each had their own room. A fine and much appreciated luxury after those last weeks of privations. A good bath was more than enough to let them sleep without worries of safety. Only their own demons tortured them that night.

One by one they woke up, reinvigorated by a real night of sleep. They were summoned in the Kai Chapel before breakfast to meet up with Sharpen Fox and teamed up at the entrance of the dormitories.
Spontaneously. they gathered near the entrance, losing a time they seemed to have forgotten, admiring the stone work, tapestry and the few Kai decorating weapons on the walls. Reality came in the hand of a younger Kai lord, leading them to the center of the chapel. It was a beautiful fall morning, fresh but not cold, sunny but not too bright. Many Kais were training or hurrying to their own tasks, a few shops could be seen, but none were open yet. Local folks lived their lives slowly under the safe protection of the Kais. No one would ever dare to attack them here. Doors seems to be left open, cunningly thought Alast. Quickly reminded of his newly acquired common sense, Alast stepped past the great wooden doors to enter the solemn soil. Silence was broken by murmurs coming from the main altar. Two Kais were talking silently with heavy swift gestures. They stopped as soon as they felt attention upon them. The young Kai came near both, bowing respectfully. He left right after having introduced our heroes. Soon after, almost at the same time as Courageous Blade arrived, the other Kai, mysterious and tall, talked:

- I don't know who is happier to see you, the proud father or the Master Kai who sent you on a mission, smiled the unknown Kai.
- Probably both father, smiled back Courageous Blade. Master Sharpen Fox, those are the men Huldrak asked to recover from the enemy.
- Well, welcome in the Monastery young fellows. Seven persons I was excepting to see. Only five came. I can't feel Dark Raven any more, even if my heart tells me he is alive. And your companion, the Dessi voyager? Speak! Don't make me wait for news I suspect.