3

A Night in Town

It had been almost an hour since they'd given the note to Kal-Diss and demanded a response. Valic is getting restless now and is pacing back and forth. Lachlan is sitting, cleaning the grime out from under her nails or sharpening her blades on a whetstone. And Garrick is looking his armor over and taking inventory of his the items in his backpack. Valic lets out a loud exasperated sigh and looks at Kal-Diss's assistant who, he assumes, has been looking like he's busy on purpose. He avoids eye contact with the half orc and continues writing on his desk. A few moments later, a messenger walks in and the assistant stands up. The three stand as well, hoping they can finally leave.

"Welcome!" He says, a bit too eager for the distraction.

The messenger walks over to him and hands him a note. He skims it quickly and nods at the messenger smiling. He runs down the hall into Kal-Diss's office and they both come out and walk back out into the room.

"Finally," Kal-Diss says, "You'd think he'd have been quicker about it!" She glances at the three waiting and her stare contains so much bitterness that they almost take an involuntary step back. She faces the door just as two large men walk in. They look at the three and focus on Valic who towers over them and shift their weight from foot to foot uneasily. Valic looks them up and down and sees something small moving behind the large men and squints, leaning his head to the side.

Kii moves around the legs of the man she is standing behind, her wide yellow eyes sparkle as she stares.

"What the hell is that?" Valic asks looking at her hair and pale skin.

One of the men picks her up and holds her in front of him.

"Hi!" She says overly excited. Valic takes in her features: short red hair that stands up, orange skin and weird yellow colored eyes. This, he thinks, will not do.

Kal-Diss walks over and gestures at Kii, "Why, this is your new recruit." She smiles and it is so big that is shows almost all of her teeth. It is clear that she is very proud of herself.

"I don't want it." He says.

"Well, Helgrym does. Take her and leave Fjögur Horns." She waves a hand dismissively.

"We were to secure an answer." Valic responds, now more upset that this is what he was waiting for. Kal-Diss huffs and goes over to her assistant's desk and scribbles a message out on a piece of paper.

"Here." She says and shoves it into Valic's breastplate.

"There's your answer. Leave."

Valic feels his nails dig into his fist to the point of almost puncturing his skin. He reaches for the hilt of his great axe when Lachlan wraps her arm around his and hugs his side.

"Thank you, Kal-Diss. May your office be held for as long as Helgrym allows it." Kal-Diss's anger is nearly palpable through the death glare she gives Lachlan.

"Yes, you're dismissed."

The men let Kii down and Lachlan tugs a fuming Valic out the door followed by Garrick who is kicking away Kii who is trying to hug his leg.

As they exit the building, they hear Kal-Diss speak to the orderlies.

"What the hell took so long?"

"We had to wait for the sedatives to wear off." One responds, then the door closes.

They meander through town for a bit and decide they'll stay in town for the night and buy some horses for a quick trip back to the fortress in the morning. They secure horses, which takes all of their gold but a few pieces, then head to the closest inn with a tavern. After searching for one with their kind of people, they settle on one with a lioness and cubs on the sign. When they walk in, they get the customary cursory glances, but no one seems to care about them which is just as well for a quiet night. They find a table in a back corner and order drinks and dinner.

When they sit down, Kii stands on her chair looking over at the bar.

"Do you guys see that?" She asks pointing, "You guys totally see a bird, right?"

Valic pulls her down into a sitting position. "Don't stare. It unnerves people. Especially with your eyes. They are called Tengu."

She is awestruck. As soon as Valic turns away, she walks over to the bar and takes a few minutes to climb up onto a stool. The bar tender looks at her, "You need something?"

Kii's jaw drops, "You can talk?"

It sighs, "So can you, congratulations. Do you need anything? Full bar, let's go."

"Do you like birds?"

"No."

Kii opens her mouth again, but Valic's hand covers it before she can speak.

"Sorry. Please don't mess with our food or drinks. She doesn't get out much."

The Tengu scoffs and shakes its head.

"Just keep it away from the bar."

Valic nods and carries Kii away.

Lachlan spots a man trying to come in with a large wolf but he is turned away. He comes in a few minutes later sans wolf and sits down. No longer interested, she sips quietly and listens in on conversations while Kii and Garrick talk about some nonsense or another.

Valic looks around the room and spots a group of women. He smiles, checks his smell and moves over to them. As soon as he walks up, they scatter. He sighs and sits at the bar ordering another drink. Another woman is sitting a few seats down, so he orders a drink for her. She refuses the drink and walks away. He offers it to another woman and she thanks him but walks away, sitting next to a group of humans. He looks around again and sees an old woman talking to herself. Her wits have clearly left her and possibly even her sense of hygiene. He slides over to her and she starts talking to him like they've been having a conversation the whole time. After awhile, he closes his tab, buys a room, and walks her upstairs. As the night wears on, people begin filtering out and the sounds of Valic and the crone are more audible. Valic comes downstairs a short time later feeling renewed. The crone comes downstairs limping and asking where she is and where that nice sick looking young man that she was talking to went and then leaves the bar. The rest of the night is uneventful and when the bar empties, they all head to bed.

Kii

Expelled

Blinking her eyes open as they adjust to the light, Kii tries to sit up but is pulled back down by restraints on her arms and legs.

What the hell? She thinks and tries again but her strength fails her. She looks around and sees torches lining the walls. Her eyes move past a figure in the shadows then snap back and she squints through the darkness letting her low light vision kick in. It is standing purposely in a shadowy spot and it's shoulders are shaking. She sees the face and hears the low chuckling.

"Headmast-" she starts, but the chuckling break out into a guffaw.

He steps forward holding a letter with the biggest smile she has ever seen him with and it looks like tears from prolonged fits of laughter have made their way as down his face.

"Ahh, Kii. Today is a great day!" He says, stepping closer.

"I have happy news, Kii. The happiest in fact." He paces the length of the oversized table she is strapped to. She tries the binding again.

"Why am I tied up?" She asks struggling.

"Oh, you've been tied up and drugged for weeks now. Ever since you sent the last attendant to the asylum." He says waving a dismissive hand. She thinks about the man that she saw last that claimed to be an attendant while she was confined to her quarters.

She started with simple pranks like casting Light on an object or piece of their clothing and laughing as they left glowing. Or creating water above them where it would splash down all over them or even making it rain on them.

Then she got bored. 

And the pranks got more devious.

She would summon monsters to chase them or paralyze them and even went as far as to inflict wounds, silence, or curse them. She realizes she is smiling snaps back to the present.

The headmaster is staring at her and his hand is outstretched. Between his fore and middle fingers is a piece of parchment, but it is folded over so she can't read it.

"I received a letter today." He pulls a pair of spectacles out of his breast pocket with his other hand and opens it. He reads it to himself as if reaffirming its validity. He clears his throat and begins to read it aloud.

"Headmaster Crichton, you are to deliver a member of your academy, Kii, to my office immediately or as soon as available in her current condition. She will no longer be affiliated or welcome in the academy or Fjögur Horns, so please see to this as expeditiously as possible."

He lets his hands fall and has a far away look as a tear falls  from his left eye.

"I thought I would never be rid of you Kii. This day," he takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, "This day is worthy of a holiday."

Kii looks up at him. Nothing is funny right now. She is dumbfounded.

"Where am I going? What will I be doi-"

"That's just the thing!" he says cutting her off, "I don't know! I don't know, and I don't care!!" He snaps his fingers and two large orderlies walk in and stand at her sides.

"I never have to see or think about you ever again."

With that, the orderlies unstrap her and pick her up. Her little legs kick furiously, but only because she thinks it is funny. She finds that she likes being up higher than she normally is, although, she would rather just ride on one of the orderlies shoulders. She had actually been thinking about leaving the academy before she was put into an induced coma. She would have left if she hadn't been required by court order to stay. But now she didn't have to!

Whatever comes next couldn't be worse than this, right?"

Headmaster Crichton packs up the symbol she uses to pray to chaos and looks it over, then tosses it into a sack with all of her other "divine instruments" and hands it to one of the large men. They start carrying her down the hall and Crichton calls out from her old room.

"Don't ever come back Kii."

Valic & Lachlan

Arrival in Fjögur

They see the smoke rising in the distance before the town comes into view.

"Finally," Valic says, squinting. Lachlan opens her mouth but looks to her side into the trees. She thought she saw something moving quickly through the trees.

What the hell was that?

She dismisses it and they continue forward. After a few more steps, they hear a distant horn. They all stop and listen

"Must be Fjögur saying they see us?" Garrick says and shrugs his shoulders.

They walk for a few more minutes then hear the horn again, only this time much closer.

Lachlan stops and turns around.

"That sounded like it came from behind us."

Valic turns, "Wanna take a quick look?"

She nods and moves toward the sound. After about thirty paces, she squints to see a bit further and her eyes go wide.

Valic was looking toward Fjögur when Lachlan runs past him.

"What's going on?" He yells after her, starting to run himself.

"Goblins are coming." She responds.

"How many this time?"

"All of the goblins." She yells putting more distance between her and the slower members. Valic puts on as much speed as he can.

Garrick, still standing back where they started, looks back and sees the horde coming for them.

As far as he can see, there are figures running or riding toward him.

"Oh." slips from his mouth and he turns sprinting for the gate. Lachlan reaches the gate and the guards stop her.

"What is your business he--Holy Shit!" He looks behind her and sees the army of goblins coming for them and yells to the others. "Open the gate! Open the gate!"

Lachlan runs in and watches. Valic runs in behind her huffing and puffing followed afterward by Garrick in much the same condition.

"Archers, take aim!" Captain Bralok shouts from atop the the rafters. Archers come from either side nocking arrows and line up along the front of the gate. They draw back and as they do, another horn sounds from within the horde. Valic, Lachlan, and Garrick watch the army disperse into the trees as the gate finishes closing.

"What the hell did you do?" Bralok asks then jumps down to the ground from the upper gate and looks them over.

"They attacked us and we killed some of them." Valic responds.

Bralok's eyes pause on their rings and his relaxed posture stiffens.

"Fixers." He says, spitting out the word like it was poison, "I should have known. What're you growing on trees now?"

They all look a little confused but Bralok continues.

"What is your business here."

"Just a message for someone, nothing to worry about." Valic says and holds up the message with Helgrym's seal.

Bralok snorts, "With you people, it's always something to worry about.

He recites the rules of the town that Lachlan and Valic know all too well and once they swear to cause no trouble, they are allowed into the front gate.

They pass through into the busy city. The group is amazed by the fact that they were just chased by an army of goblins and, inside this town, it is business as usual. The crowded street is loud with people yelling out orders, smith's hammering away and barkers trying to get people inside their shops.

Deciding to tend to Lachlan's wounds before anything else, they try to get directions.

Valic walks up to the closest structure and it turns out to be a smith hard at work. He pounds away at a rod of orange superheated metal and dips it into a barrel of water with a loud hiss.

"Hey," Valic says but the smith doesn't respond and continues pounding.

"Excuse m-"

"Back'a the line." He says and kneels down, shoving the metal back into the fires of the forge.

Valic leans down and taps him on the shoulder openly displaying his signet ring.

"Aw, come on. I'm busy here. What do you want?"

"I just want to know where a healer is," he looks at Lachlan and shrugs pulling the looted arms and armor out of his backpack, "And sell some stuff." Lachlan stares at him, but he can't read the look on her face.

"You're about one hundredth in line, pal."

Valic sighs, "The faster you buy this stuff from us, the faster we'll leave you to your work."

"Fine, this stuff is garbage. Might not even make good scrap. Three copper." The smithy says.

Valic shrugs, "Fine. Where is the healer?"

"Down the street."

"Which street?"

"That street." He points his thumb behind him.

"Which direction?"

"By the Gods, go that way!" He says pointing his thumb again.

Valic furrows his brow and can feel anger bubbling up, but takes a deep breath and, with all the warmth of an icicle, says, "Thank you," through gritted teeth.

They walk in the direction given and find what they seek easily. As they enter, a woman greets them and after telling and showing her what they need, she takes them to a room.

A few minutes later a man walks in with some bandages and a nurse follows with other instruments. He sits down and starts cleaning and dressing the wound.

"What happened?" He asks.

"Goblin." Lachlan says and gives him a weak smile.

"Nasty buggers, they've raided a couple of shipments to the city that have had some of my goods on them. . . Oh." He says slowing his wrapping of the wound. Lachlan notices his eyes are locked on her hand.

"I-I don't want any trouble." He says, and the nurse sucks in her breath and covers her mouth.

"You'll get none, finish up." Lachlan says and smiles genuinely this time.

He does and she holds out a gold piece. She knows this is much much more than it would ever cost, but the man did a good job, it already feels better.

"No, please. No charge. Just please, leave." She nods and Valic smirks. They exit the building and head toward the Magistrate's office building. Having delivered messages to the city before, they knew where her office was, but had never had use for healers. They are met by Kal-Diss's snooty assistant. He makes a short bowing motion with his hands behind his back.

"Welcome to the office of the revered Magistrate Kal-Diss. What can I do for you?"

Valic looks the thin man up and down and snickers.

"We've got a message from Helgrym."

At the mention of the name, the assistant curls his lips in revulsion.

"Yes, yes of course. I will take it right away." He tries to grab it, but Valic pulls away.

"We would much rather deliver it ourselves."

The assistant puts on a pompous smile, "I'm sorry, it either goes through me or not at all."

Valic looks back at Lachlan and she nods, "It's normal."

He begrudgingly hands over the letter and the assistant grabs it.

"I'll be right back." He says and bows again disappearing into a side room.

Once inside they hear a muffled voice then a woman yelling.

"They're here?! What the hell for?" The assistant replies but it is too muffled.

They hear the woman's voice again but it is unintelligible then they hear loud footfalls coming their way.

She stomps into the room and walks up to Valic. She is much shorter than him but attempts to get right in his face.

"What the hell is this?" She asks. Valic shrugs and looks at Garrick and Lachlan who also shrug.

"It is not for us to know, we are just to secure an answer."
"Secure an answer? SECURE AN ANSWER?! That arrogant prick!" She stews as she reads the letter again and looks up at them, her face red with rage. Then her expression changes. She slowly breathes in and out closing her eyes. She opens them after a few more breaths and smiles. 
"Secure an answer, huh? I've got the perfect one for him."

Davros

Surveillance pt. 2

Are you kidding me? Davros thinks as the goblin footmen run past his hiding spot.

How are these guys alive still? They let every enemy go.

He watches the group loot the corpses left behind and then start walking again. He signals for Clint to follow him and the wolf obeys.

They creep along through the forest for hours occasionally stopping when the group does for food or drink breaks. At this rate, they'll be in town in a matter of hours and he can finally get some rest. Spending most of the night watching them has him exhausted. The fact that they keep letting the goblins go, however, has got him agitated. First, the goblins considered killing them in their sleep and taking what they wanted from their corpses. Then, when they had been run off the night before, they had come back with more and were prepared, yet again, to kill them and take what they wanted from their corpses.

I'm seeing a pattern here that is most likely not going to change.

He thinks for a moment on that and wonders if they'll be attacked again.

How many would they bring then? And for that matter, where are they even coming from?

He realizes that normally with large settlements, you see the occasional plume of smoke or something. He hasn't seen anything like that except the normal smoke trails from Fjögur Horns coming up ahead. He's curious, but he has his mission. So, he resolves to put it out of his mind for now and continue to observe the group. Out here on his own, just he and Clint, he realizes he's happier. Of course his wolf can't respond even if he is displeased, but when they are on the hunt together it feels right. Stalking them has taken a bit of the joy out of it because they are so bad at surviving, but if he could get more solitary missions like this . . .

What was that?

Clint stops too and his ears perk up. Davros looks at the path ahead and sees they are about a half mile from the town. He thought he heard a horn, but it didn't sound like one of Fjögur's. He looks at the group and they seem to be continuing their walk, oblivious. Davros turns back down the path he'd been taking and back tracks a bit. He hears the horn again and knows he is going the right way.

Leaving the densely packed trees and heading for the more open areas, he looks down the path. The horn is close now as it sounds again. Davros sees what is coming.

"Oh my-" he yelps and turns around running for the town with reckless abandon.

He stays somewhat inside the canopy of the woods and runs for the town completely passing up the group he is to watch. The Rogue looks in his direction but her attention is pulled away by another faint horn.

Davros comes up to the gate of Fjögur Horns minutes later and the guards stop him.

"What is your business here?" The guard at the top of the gate yells.

Davros tries to act casual. "Just passing through."

"To do what?" He starts fidgeting and absent-mindedly fumbles with his signet ring.

"Just looking around town and-"

"Let him through, he's with Helgrym." The guard looks at the man that spoke and nods.

"Yes, Captain Bralok." The guard opens the gate and lets Davros through.

He let's out a sigh of relief, "Thank you."

"Don't, we just don't want any trouble. Do you understand?" Bralok asks. Davros nods quickly, not wanting to be forced back out of the exterior gate.

Bralok nods to the guard at the interior gate and he opens it. Davros walks through into the bustling city and finds a spot near the gate to wait for the others if they make it.

Good luck.

Valic & Lachlan

Day Two: Missive for the Magistrate

Midday

"I dunno," Lachlan says with a shrug.

"What do you mean you don't know? What did you see?" Valic asks. His anger toward Garrick has got him tensed for a fight.

"I didn't see what they were, I was just letting you know."

He grunts his frustration lifting his axe and beginning the march toward the unknown situation. Lachlan stays behind Valic's hulking figure. After all, if they start shooting it's always good to have a meat shield. Garrick, on the other hand, is trying to keep stride with him so as not to be shown up. They reach the roadblock in short order and stand just shy of twenty feet away looking the goblins over. Lachlan peers around her cover and doesn't see any weapons ready to be propelled at them so she steps to Valic's side.

She regards them with indifference until she realizes the two riding the dogs are the same two that they let go.

"Wow," She says and points at them, "Our friends from last night."

"Mm." Valic responds, "Ask them what they want."

She looks up at him and raises an eyebrow.

"Please."

She nods at the proper format of the request and steps forward speaking in their tongue, "What do you want?"

"We want shiny armor." says one of the riders. Lachlan translates then responds.

"No."

"Yes, give it or we kill you. There more us's now. We kill you. Give us shinies."

"I don't think you understand what you're-" her sentence is cut when the other rider hurls a javelin at her and it sticks into her shoulder. She yelps in pain at the unexpected attack and retreats back a step.

"You motherf-!" Valic charges at the group with his great axe raised high.

The four on foot charge in front of the riders and Valic meets them first. Swinging hard, his anger fuels the power behind it. His axe sinks into the first of his targets and rips through it, easily cutting it in two. The momentum of his swing carries and the blade bites into the goblin's neck that is second closest to him. It lets out a gurgle as its lifeblood flows freely onto the axe and showers Valic. He points his gore dripping weapon at the other two and dares them to attack. Garrick makes ready to charge in but feels blades scrape against his armor from behind. He turns to see that four more goblins have come out from hiding places in the forest, two from the left side of the road, and two from the right. Taking the more immediate threat, he swings on the one closest to him and his greatsword metes out his brand of justice. The blade slices into the chest of the attacker and it falls clutching the gaping wound.

Meanwhile, Lachlan recovers from the blow and focuses on one of the ambushers that came from the woods. She grabs her crossbow and positions herself behind it. Her bolt hits one of them in the shoulder and she feels somewhat vindicated.

The goblins close in a little tighter while the two riders bark orders from afar. Again, they swing their blades on the group. A couple of them miss Garrick and Lachlan, but one connects with Valic, finding a gap in his armor. He shrugs off the minor damage and brings his axe around for another powerful hit. The first hit decimates his foe, cutting it deeply from shoulder to hip getting no more resistance than if he had been swinging it at nothing. The axe continues into another goblin, but the creature was starting to back up and it only gashes its arm. Garrick's targets have started backing up as well and his swing hits nothing. Lachlan ditches her crossbow as the goblins move away from Garrick and into her. She pulls out her short swords and thrusts hard into a goblin's back. It lets out a wheeze of surprise but it is cut short as her second sword blurs across its neck. The goblins are noticeably shaken at losing more than half of their raiding party in less than a minute. Incredibly forgiving, Valic, through Lachlan, offers them yet another chance to leave. They take tentative retreating steps and he gives them a time limit holding up five fingers then four then three. They all turn and sprint away into the forest.

"What the hell? Again?!" Garrick is not happy with the decision. Valic shrugs and the party riffles through the corpses and finds a small amount of money and some poorly kept armor to sell.

Davros

The Watcher

These people are idiots.

Davros has been following his targets objectives for hours. Yesterday it was a chore to follow them because they move slower than necessary and are loud enough to wake the dead. Then they let a couple of goblins go that wanted to kill them.

Idiots.

The half elf has almost spotted him a few times, but she seems to be brushing it off. She also may be the only sane one in the group because the human won't shut up and the half orc has murder in his eyes.

How did these guys get grouped together?

He moves through the brush further away from them after he steps on a twig and the halfbreed Rogue looks in his direction. He doesn't mean halfbreed to be offensive. He holds no more contempt for them than he does everyone or anything else.

Which is everything.

She moves quietly enough through the brush that he is sure if he didn't see where she came in, he wouldn't know she was even there. He makes the sharp bird call and Clint shows himself a few yards away. Davros makes some gestures and his wolf retreats farther away from the Rogue then disappears into the thicker parts of the forest. He can't let Clint get too close, he's not sure how well she can see into the brush. She looks around for a few more moments then, satisfied that there's nothing dangerous to see, she heads back to the group. On her way though, she looks in the direction they are headed and stands as still as a statue, then doubles her speed to her companions. Davros looks ahead to see why the scout is heading back and notices the figures standing in the road. They are humanoid, but he can't quite see what kind of humanoid. He glances back to the group and she seems to be telling them what she saw. While they talk about what to do, he quietly moves closer. As he approaches, their green skin shoddy armor and rusted weapons come into view.

Goblins. Disgusting.

Two of them, seeming to be the leaders, are atop the hairless rat-like goblin dogs and there are two goblins on foot next to each rider.

This will be interesting.

He feels fur brush against his hand and he looks down at Clint whose eyes are locked on something to their left in the bushes. Studying the area more closely, his eyes adjust to the darker hue under the canopy of trees and he notices two more goblins hiding. He assumes there are two more lying in wait on the opposite side of the road.

Very interesting.

He wonders what they are doing here, waiting on a trade route that hasn't seen much trade in awhile.

Nocking an arrow he pulls back, aiming for the rider on the left but a warning plays in his head.

"You will be observing the group only."

Whatever. He aims for the throat.

"Any action on your part will be an immediate failure for both parties and you will all be "removed" from employ with Helgrym."

A small flicker of doubt and possibly fear sparks inside him at that. He relieves the tension on his bowstring and lowers the weapon with a sigh.

Removed. What does that even mean? How would they even know, am I being watched?

He looks around suddenly more paranoid but tries to shrug it off.

"Pfft." The sound escapes accidentally and he clamps his hand over his mouth. The goblins look in his direction, then past him toward his objectives. They make a grunting sound that he assumes is their language and seem to be getting ready.

Oops.

Valic & Lachlan

The First Night

Valic stokes the fire and sits on a rotting log he found when they were setting up camp. He hates nights away from the fortress. There's no guaranteed 'fun' to be had here. He highly doubts anything would come from propositioning Lachlan . . . Not that that would actually stop him from asking if he was really hard up.

Hmm . . .

In the end, he decides against asking. It would make the trip more awkward than necessary when she says no. He pulls out his book and looks over the cover. When he starts to open it, he hears noises from within the trees around them. He sits still and listens closer. He hears movement coming from deeper in the woods and gets up slowly, stretching. He walks into the woods slightly to the side of where he heard the noise and makes like he's going to relieve himself.

Once he is in the darkness of the trees, he attempts a sneak. A 'sneak' for a half orc in half plate mail is not a sneak at all. The constant rattle of his armor is intensified with every step. When he gets close to where he hear the sounds, he stops to listen again only to hear whatever it was retreating further into the woods. He sighs and curses under his breath and is just as loud walking back to the camp as when he was trying to be quiet. Plopping down onto his log once more, he pulls out the book again and flips through the pages getting back to his place.

After a while he closes the book and sets it down next to him, looking around. He unfastens his buckle and just as he is reaching his hand in, he hears the noises again and loses his libido. He quickly buckles his belt back up and stands with a small grunt for the effort. This time instead of investigating things himself, he wakes Lachlan.

"Is it time to get up already?" She asks somewhat groggily.

"No, Garrick still has his watch that's not why I woke. There's something watching us and I can't sneak up on it." Valic responds looking out her tent flap and into Garrick's face and recoils.

"What's going on?"

"There's something in the forest, Garrick. Lachlan is going to go see."

A smile spreads across his face and he runs to his tent and Valic notices that he is completely naked. He comes back out a moment later, still completely naked, but holding his greatsword. Lachlan covers her mouth with her hand as a small laugh escapes.

"Go put your armor on!" Valic yells, "What would you do if there was someone with a weapon out there?"

Garrick's face falls and he goes back into his tent.

"Don’t start without me!" He yells.

Valic shakes his head, "You should put on your gear too."

She nods while stretching and yawning then gets up and puts on her gear. Valic makes a lot of noise while she slips out of the tent and into the trees. She moves quietly through the dark and gets close enough to see the intruders, but she smells them before that.

Goblins.

Two of them.

Their dull and dirty arms and armor are not even worth appraising with a glance, but they seem to be deep in a debate of some kind. Luckily, Lachlan speaks their language so she listens in.

"More them's than us's stupid." One says in a loud whisper. "This many is more than this many!" It says holding up fingers.

The other looks to the camp and his eyes go wide, "But they has so many shinies!" The second says, nearly salivating.

She decides to just tell them to leave diplomatically.

"Go away, or we'll kill you."

They both jump at the closeness of her voice.

"Is it talking to us? Can it see us?" The first asks. The second shrugs.

"I'm almost done!" Garrick yells from the camp

"Yes. I'm talking to you. Leave now, or you won't ever leave this spot."

They look at each other and then look for her before giving up and running away.

She walks back to the camp just as Garrick leaves his tent buckling the final strap on his armor plates.

"Let's do this!" He yells.

"They're gone." Lachlan says to Valic ignoring Garrick.

"Aw come on, I just got my armor on!"

"Keep it on, your watch starts now. I'm going to sleep." Valic heads to his tent and Garrick pouts.

"Tch."

Valic & Lachlan

Day One: Missive for the Magistrate

The bright morning sun was just cresting the hilltops on the distant horizon when the three of them started the trek. Now it is just three fingers high and already Garrick is proving to be an annoyance neither Valic nor Lachlan is sure they can bear. He still talks of proving himself and is far too excitable. Everytime they stop to eat he polishes his armor and it catches the sun's light and reflects it perfectly, mostly into his companion's eyes.

After hours of irritation, Lachlan decides to scout ahead so that, in case of a goblin attack, they can't be ambushed. As she walks away, she can feel the hatred emanating from Valic. His incredulous stare is nearly burning holes into her back. She steps off the path and slinks into the brush, keeping about ten paces ahead of them. She's almost solely gone on solitary missions to gather information.

It plays to her strengths. And she likes that.

She feels an unease about this journey, but tries not to let it show. If either of her companions has noticed, they haven't shown it, but she gets an odd sense from Valic as well. 
Maybe he feels it too? 
She doesn't get anything about Garrick, but who could? He seems like your run of the mill idiot. Even if he were in danger, he probably wouldn't realize it. She looks back occasionally to make sure they are keeping up and attempts to corner what plagues her. However, the more she tries the more lost and odd she feels. If she didn't have to do this to stay employed, she would leave now. That, she knows for sure. A small sound from her left snatches her attention away from her inner monologue and she searches the area. Seeing nothing, she assumes it is just normal woodland sounds. A squirrel or some other small creature and dismisses it. She hears a sharp whistle and looks back. Valic and Garrick have stopped and seem to be sitting down to have a small meal. She lithely steps out of the brush and walks over to them, dropping into a cross-legged sit. She pulls out some dried salted meat and her water skin and tilts her head back, taking and drink. When her view comes back down, Valic is staring daggers at her.

What an ass!

Valic glares at Lachlan who's sitting across from him. She takes a drink from her water skin and her eyes fall on him when she finishes. Their gazes meet and she raises an eyebrow quizzically. He glances furtively at Garrick then back to her. She seems to understand and smiles slightly.

I hate this woman. I don't think I have ever said that. Leaving me with this moron is unforgivable!

Since Lachlan had abandoned them, Garrick spoke only to Valic.

At great length.

About absolutely nothing.

He wants to make her stay with him now. To go through what he had to, but he's no good at scouting. He would just have to suck it up and endure another round of the idiot's incessant ramblings. After the meal, he cools off a bit. He thinks about what he would do if their roles were reversed. He would leave her in the lurch in less than a second. He couldn't hate her. That was ridiculous. He couldn't hate any woman, really. 
Or any man. 
Anything. 
How far did his depravity go? He feels a tingle in his nether regions.
What was I mad about again? 
He shakes the fantasies forming from his head. This weird feeling he's been having is making his head swim. He snaps back from his odd reverie and stands up.

"Alright, let's go." He says. Lachlan smiles.

"I'm going to scout ahead again." The anger returns, but abates quickly. He nods at her.

"Oh! I have a story about before I joined Helgrym that you'll love!" Garrick shouts. Lachlan let's out a snort that she tries to stifle and looks back at him almost apologetically. Valic grumbles out his frustration and they trudge on.

The rest of the day is unexpectedly uneventful given the recent attacks on the trade routes. Lachlan hears a few noises in her searches, but never sees anything threatening. Valic hears too much and wishes it would stop. And Garrick seems to be having the best time among the three, blissfully unaware of the malice and murder on Valic's mind. As dusk approaches and the sun falls behind the trees, they decide to make camp for the night. Lachlan finds clearing a ways off the path and informs the others. They set up tents and discuss watches for the night. When it gets almost too dark to see, they start a fire. The two are very uneasy letting Garrick take a watch by himself, but it wouldn't do well to be fatigued for the remainder of their trip. Valic and Garrick settle in their respective tents and, after a while of restless tossing and turning, drift off to sleep.

Davros

Surveillance  

"Why?" Davros asks, grabbing for the letter being handed to him.

Gunnar, the Ranger trainer, sighs but doesn't respond. He pets the falcon that delivered it.

"And it's just for me? No one else has to go?" He asks, not looking up from the letter and absently scratching Clint behind the ears.

"It would do you well to learn some teamwork, Davros," he pauses, looking him up and down then continues, "It doesn't specify if you can or can't have someone with you. However, none of the others wants to go with you."

Davros looks at him now and stops scratching. He wants to ask why again, but it's pointless. He won't elaborate, he never does. Everything is pointless, he thinks.

"Whatever." He says, and flips his hair out of his eyes. Clint nuzzles his hand and he starts scratching again

Gunnar shakes his head, "That's exactly the behavior that makes no one want to go with you Davros! There are many other Rangers that could learn from you and there are even other elves that you could bond with. Why must you be so morose?!" The anger starts to show on his face.

"You just don't understand." Davros says, and slinks away calling Clint who follows obediently.

He reviews the letter again while walking to gather his things.

"Your services are required by Helgrym. You will leave immediately and head northeast to intercept a group of members from the fortress. You will be observing the group only. It is imperative that you do not let your presence be known. If the group is in danger, let them figure it out. This is their evaluation as well as yours. Any action on your part will be an immediate failure for both parties and you will all be "removed" from employ with Helgrym.

"Why is removed in quotations?" Clint looks up at him and blinks which Davros takes as the wolf equivalent to a shrug. He walks down the path to his hut and stops when he hears a noise to his left. Clint ears perk up and he faces the same direction snarling. Two wolves, one deep brown, the other grey with hints of black, and a brown bear intercept his path.

"What now Daedriin?" Davros asks looking at the brown wolf and patting Clint's head, an "It's ok," signal. Clint's hackles lower and he relaxes, sniffing toward the animals.

The three slowly transform into bipedal humanoids.

"We heard you got a mission," Daedriin looks to his left at the tall elf man that was the grey wolf then to his right at the muscular human woman who was the brown bear and finally back at Davros, "Is it true?"

Davros looks them over. He recognizes the other two, but doesn't recall their names.

"Yeah, why do you wanna know?" The letter starts feeling heavier in his hand.

"Relax, man. We just wanted to wish you good luck. Don't be so defensive."

The lead Druid thumps his fist against his chest in salute and the other two do the same.

Davros let's out an exasperated sigh and rolls his eyes but returns the gesture awkwardly then walks past them.

"I swear, one of these days I'm gonna get through to that guy." He hears Daedriin mutter as he continues down the path.

After grabbing a few items for the trip, he leaves the forest fortress and looks back for a moment.

"Jerks probably don't think I'm coming back."

Clint let's out a groan, a very odd thing for an animal to do, and trudges away.

"What?" Davros walks quickly to catch up, "What?"