The Wurm King (PT5)

“Auren” A voice cried in the distance. “Auren!” the voice cried again this time seeming more cross than before. “Auren why aren’t you up already your father is in the field picking crops and I said we’d be out there by noon.” Auren looked up at the fair skin women whose long black hair danced in the wind blowing through the house. The scent of early summer brought in through the open windows as sunlight poured in. Auren sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes “huu mom? What time is it?” he said in  a slow groggy voice as his mother grabbed his clothes from a nearby dresser and gently tossed them onto his bed. “I slept in so I need you to get dressed quick. I’m gonna go check on the biscuits.” she dashed out of the room. Auren hopped out of bed, dressed himself and made his way into the kitchen. “come on Auren we’ve got to go your fathers waiting we can eat the biscuits on the way.” his mother said hurrying him out the door. The two walked down a dirt path holding hands as they ate biscuits. “ah its so nice to be living in the country again. You would have hated it in Tarvol not a tree in sight.” His mother said with glee, Auren nodded as they continued walking down the dirt road. Eventually a tall figure with black horns and shaggy red hair came into view. He turned and waved at them. Auren waved back before looking up at his mother. “go on then he needs your help weeding the crops” she said with a smile. Auren ran to his father who picked him up and spun him around as the two laughed. He looked deep into his fathers dim red eyes before he sat him down. “come ma boy we’ve work to do” he said as he returned to hoeing the field.
Auren awoke that morning in a great mood. The entire group was sprawled out some of the kobolds were sleeping half out of their bed rolls. However, all of them had moved next to Auren during the night. they were above him, below him, all around him and Ahnya had moved to be in front of him face to face. He sat up and look at Ahnya and whispered, “what am I gonna do with you?” as he tried to get up without disturbing the group. Ahnya rolled over to look at him as he was about to walk away. “where you going?” she said wiping her eyes. “I’m heading to town if I’m not back by tonight.” He thought for a second. “At that point… do what you think is best” as he turned back around to leave Ahnya said “ren… be carful please?” worry in her voice. “ill be back trust me” he said as he walked off passing Hyak who had passed out in a tree. “little early to be slacking off don’t ya think” Hyak opened his eyes to see Auren standing with his arms crossed. The kobold fumbled to attention in an attempt to save face. Auren shook his head and walked off waving back at Hyak and Ahnya.
As he walked toward the village he thought about what would happen if he had brought the kobolds with him to the village. About how quickly an angry mob would form to chase the group out of town. Or how much convincing it took to get that farmer to give him that kobold hunting job. Auren grew up hating the southern kingdoms. Galadnia to the southeast, where he currently was and Albiom to the southwest. Both kingdoms had a history of treating non-humans poorly especially after their war with the elves to the east. Luckily Auren looked human enough that most people didn’t out right attack him, still he would have to be careful. Soon he came to the hill overlooking the village. A thriving farming town made up of log cabins, large stone homes, with the occasional villa dotting the landscape around the village, Their high stone walls made them like mini fortresses. The area around the village was dotted with small wooden watch towers in case of the rare Garm attack. The village itself had a simple wooden wall around its north face as the rest was still under construction. Auren tried to avoid eye contact with the villagers he passed, keeping a low profile. he had stuffed his bandana into his pocket fearing that word of the robbery might have already reached the village. As he neared the village proper he spotted two sentries watching those who came and went from the village. that was when he noticed a farmer with a wagon full of hay. “Maybe. No, it couldn’t be?” he thought to himself. it was the farmer from the previous day. Auren walked up to the farmer “hey can I talk to you for a second?” he said as he walked alongside the cart. “yeah, sure. Make it quick will ya?” the farmer said impatiently as he stopped his cart. “thank you. How would you like to make some money?” Auren said sounding as shady as possible. “depends how much we talkin?” the farmer said leaning down. “how about four gold?” Auren said flicking one of the coins between his fingers. “alright, ill bite what do I have to do?” his interest peeked. “simple, you get me into town without anyone noticing and ill give you the money. Deal?” Auren said his hand extended “that’s a fair bit of coin” he said thinking it over for a moment. “sure, why not. the names Dolmino.” as he took Auren’s hand and shook it with a firm grip. “ok, here’s the plan then hop in the back and stay toward the front under the hay” Auren jumped in and nestled himself towards the top. As the cart approached the sentries Auren could hear them talking. “hay again dolmino? When are you gonna bring us some more wine?” the first guard said before the second chimed in. “yeah I’m dying of sobriety right now” he swatted the second guards arm laughing. “yeah, yeah don’t worry ill bring something good next time.”  Dolmino replied in a hurried tone. “hey, let’s make sure he’s not holding out on us” the first guard said. “yeah never know what he’s got in the hay” the second guard said continuing his laughter. The two started poking the hay from back to front. Auren could hear the spears getting closer. “shi-thunk, shi-thunk, shi-thunk” the sound of metal hitting wood echoing through the floor of the cart. As they got halfway through Dolmino spoke up “hey guys do we have to do this today I’m expected at Marbule’s soon?” Dolmino said sounding impatient. “geez, Dolmino we were only have’n a bit of fun?” the first guard said as his spearing stopped. The second guard continued for a second before stopping. “yeah if we knew you were in a hurry we wouldn’t have bothered ya in the first place” the second guard said seeming bumed. “it’s alright I just need to be at Marbule’s soon” Dolmino replied. “all right then we had our fun you can go.” The first guard said. As Dolmino was about to pull away the second guard said “hey Dolmino” the cart stopped. Dolmino turned to face the pair. “look out on the way home tonight. there was a robbery yesterday, highwayman on the loose, they say he’s got a crew of kobolds doing his dirty work for him.” The second guard said in a serious tone. “don’t worry about me ill keep an eye out.” Dolmino said as the cart pulled away. Eventual Dolmino pulled the cart into an ally “well, this is it boy. ill be takin ma money now.” Auren popped out of the hay “you had me worried I’d be skewered there for a minute” Auren said laughing. “I thought about letting them, but I remembered that you didn’t give me the money beforehand” Dolmino said with a hearty chuckle. “yeah I figured as much, oh by the way” Auren sat on the side of the cart and tossed him the coins and the silver bracelet he stole the previous day. “what’s this lad?” Dolmino said inspecting the bracelet. “a gift for your wife, and to buy your silence.” Auren said with a grin before jumping off the cart. “well my wife thanks you, good luck getting back out of the village lad. Hi-yah” Dolmino said as he pulled away in his cart.
Auren walked around the village taking in the scent of meat cooking on stoves and fire from chimneys. “just need to find a general store and I’ll be set, oh I forgot to ask Ahnya what else we might need while I was at camp. Well I’ll just grab some swords then” he eventually found a quaint little general store called “Marbule’s General” under the name it said, “we’ve got a bit of it all.” “well, maybe they’ll be as amicable as Dolmino” Auren thought to himself. As he walked through the door he was greeted by the well-stocked shelves and the chime of a bell that was attached to the door. “what can I do for ya today?” the man at the desk said as he was turning around from fiddling with something on a shelf behind the counter. He was older, maybe in his early fifties. With balding white hair and a scraggly beard. “yeah do you have any moonshine?” Auren said. “nah, lad does this look like a bar to you?” “no but I figured I might be able to buy it in bulk. But if you don’t have any moon shine can I get a rucksack, and a couple pick axes?” Auren said annoyed. “aint got booze but for everything else it’ll be five silvers an six copper” he said in a gruff tone. As Auren handed him the money the old man noticed that Auren was armed. Seemingly weighing something in his head as he eyed Auren’s blade and shield. “the stuffs right over there grab it and get out” the old man said his tone changed becoming more angry than merely unplesent. “with pleasure” Auren said with seething sarcasm. he slung the second pack with his new picks onto his back and left the store. “Off to find a tavern” he said to himself as he walked down the rough stone street.
He continued down the street attempting to look as inconspicuous as possible until he reach an old stone tavern, it was of decent size; but suffered from a lack of upkeep. ivy had grown up the left side of the building and was attempting to migrate to the front. Two double doors invited guests into the warm, loud atmosphere. A large fire filled the bar room with a comforting warmth. The bartender was to busy chatting with a patron to notice that Auren had entered so he quietly sat down at a table as far away from the other patrons as possible. he had never been inside the village its self. he had found the kobold hunting job at a cross board just outside the village. A type of bounty board placed at cross roads and taverns with jobs ranging from extermination to delivery of alchemical ingredients. All you had to do was check the board find the client and come to an agreement. The farmer who had posted the bounty for the kobolds had found three of them ransacking his cottage for the third time while he and his family were working in the field. The farmer was offering thirty silver and a home cooked meal as payment for whoever could get rid of them. “if I’d known how many kobolds were in that mine I would have asked for more” Auren thought to himself with a grin. the tavern had a mix of patrons from farmers taking the day off to drink, to hunters who were enjoying their down time between hunts, to members of the watch relaxing between shifts. The village was on the frontier after all. unsettled lands had plenty of wandering beasts from packs of Garm, to Cockatrice or the rare wyvern the watch had plenty to worry about. Hunters were every ware on the frontier, rare creatures and ancient ruins attracted scholars and alchemist’s in search of ancient knowledge and rare ingredients who would pay handsomely for a hunter’s services.
Just as Auren stated to get comfortable in his chair a young man in leather armor tapped him on the shoulder, leaned down and said with a smile. “mind if I join you?” Auren was flustered “ah yeah, sure go ahead.”  “thanks” the man said pulling out a chair and setting down. He was burly with brown hair and a five o’clock shadow. he set the three mugs he had been holding down on the table and said. “My names Durris and that’s my partner Mira over there.” He said pointing to a similarly armored walnut haired woman. “I can see that you’re a hunter. And I wanted to see if I could hire you” He said inspecting Auren’s ramshackle gear, a frying pan shield with a short sword sheathed on the pans handle that pointed toward his elbow. Auren’s appearance had to seem Strange, his clothing was made of blackened rat leather stitched together with bones as the pins and buttons however, he wasn’t wearing his bandana in fear it might be recognizable. “you see our guide just quit and I’m looking for a replacement, and I figured you look like the kind of guy who knows the area. all I need you t-” “not interested” Auren said cutting him off. “why the hell not?” he replied. “I’ve already got a crew.” Auren replied. “huh? I don’t see them anywhere?” Durris said looking over the room for others dressed or armed similarly. “their camped outside of the village, their uh not human.” Auren said with some hesitation and a hushed tone. “ahhh ok, I get ya we have a non-human in our group camped outside of town too.” Durris replied, he then thought for a second. “how much are they paying you because I really need a guide.” Durris continued.  “sorry but I can’t just leave them in the middle of a job.” Auren replied attempting to let him down easy. Just then the woman came and sat down next to Durris. “So, what’s the deal snake eyes joining up or what?” she said in a sarcastic manner. “no, he says he got a crew already” Durris said turning to look at her. “well certainly there’s another unwashed barbarian around here somewhere who can lead us to the ruins.” She said nudging Durris to follow her as she got up and walked to the bar. “sorry about her she gets a bit cranky when she’s sober. Listen no hard feelings when you complete the job your doing now and need some work I’ll be happy to take you on” Durris said with a smile as he got up “oh, yeah I never caught your name did I?” Durris said with a cocked head. “Names Auren.” “alright Auren, I’ll be at the black swallow inn if you change your mind” he said walking to the bar waving behind him. shortly after a barmaid walked over and asked if she could get anything for him with glee. “yeah could I get six of the biggest bottles of moonshine you’ve got?” he replied with confidence. “yeah, sure” her peppy demeanor had changed slightly when the two made eye contact. With that she left. When she returned she said “that’ll be four silvers” with a shaky smile as if she was uncomfortable. “ok,here ya go” he replied after counting out the money. “thank you, the boss will help you at the bar.” She said as she snatched the money and walked away. Auren sighed, got up and went to the bar. “that’s damn near all the moonshine I have son, you having a party or something?” the bartender said with a smile and laugh. “yeah you could say that” Auren replied attempting to brush the question aside. “well, if you need more of the stuff just come on back ill have just what ya need” he replied with a smile. “I will” Auren said heading out the door. The moonshine had been placed in a burlap sack. Auren tucked the bottles in his backpack and continued onward.
After twenty minutes of wandering he came across a smithy called Morgan’s metal. The place was about what one might expect. It was mostly farming equipment and with a few weapons and less than elaborate armor and helmets. Shortly after he entered a woman walked in from a room behind the shop and said, “hello now, what can I get you?” She said wiping the soot from her face with a rag. Her black hair held back by a red bandana.  “yeah I was wondering if you had some wet stones. And while you’re at it can you get me a bag of nails, a hammer, three short swords and some paint if you’ve got it.” Auren said trying to think of everything he might need. “aint got paint, but I can get you the other stuff I’ll just be a minute” she said grabbing various items from around the shop. “That’ll be eleven silvers, an forty copper.” She said setting everything on the counter. “alright here ya go.” Auren said handing her the coins. She stared at Auren for a minute studying his equipment. “that an odd shield you’ve got there, you make that yourself?” she said with an eye brow raised. “huh, no it was a gift.” Auren brushed the question aside. “did your mom make it or something?” she chuckled. “or did a goblin make it for you? Seems like the kind of thing they’d make.” She continued. “what make you think a goblin made it?” Auren asked his curiosity peeked. “hunters have tried to pawn junk like that shield off on me before, so spill it where’d you get that shield at?” she said with a stern look. “my shield broke while I was fighting goblins and I needed a replacement, there happy?” Auren replied trying to feign embarrassment. “haha, a least you admit it” she said laughing. Auren took his stuff and started to leave. “hang on, hang on. haha,” she stopped laughing “listen, no hard feelings. I need your business so here’s what I’ll do see this shield.” She said holding up a wooden heater shield “ill give it to you” she said with a smile on her face “um, thanks” Auren replied, his feigned embarrassment becoming more real by the second. As He took the shield and began to walk out the door She mumbled something under her breath “damn I think I ran off another one” Auren couldn’t quite make out what she said but whatever it was it couldn’t have been good. After leaving the smithy he tried to think of anything else he needed, he’d been to a smith, the general store, and the tavern. As best he could tell his work was done.
He headed for the village exit when he spotted Dolmino and two guards walking across a street in front of him. Auren quickly looked for a place to hide. By then it was to late Dolmino spotted him and pointed in his direction. The two guards started walking towards him. Auren knew what would happen if they caught him so he did the only thing he could think of, run like hell. He bolted down an alleyway and hoped a fence. the guards were at a disadvantage with their heavier armor. he looked back to see one of the guards having difficulty hoping the fence to continue the chase. He weaved through the back alleys until he reached an open field with a creek as Auren ran a spear landed just ahead of him the guards aim was off by just a couple feet just barely missing him as it flew by. Auren grabbed the spear as he ran. he could hear one of the guards behind him shout “end of the line,” the second shouted shortly after “just give it up already will ya?.” Through ragged breaths. Just ahead was a creek, it was deep and wide he knew he couldn’t simply jump it. Just then he had an idea. He ran full speed at the creek and readied the spear with both hands one at the rear and one towards the middle. He planted the spear at the edge of the creek and used it to pole vault himself across leaving the spear in the dirt. The other guard made a last-ditch effort to kill Auren with another launch of the spear, his aim was way off as it overshot its intended target landing far ahead of Auren who grabbed the spear before continuing his sprint toward the forest. At least there the watch couldn’t catch him on horseback. No, the watch wouldn’t pursue him that would be the hunters job his bounty would attract people like Durris who would pursue him through the country side. Auren trekked for hours through the forest until he was close to where the group had camped the previous night. He could smell ashes and as he approached he saw charred and burned trees surrounding where the party had been camped. He nimble avoided the traps the group had laid out while he was gone. When he arrived at the camp nothing remained but ashes. “Auren frantically searched the area looking for the group, for any sign of Ahnya or Hyak! After searching for a moment, he concluded that they hadn’t died in the camp. he then inspected the burns. They were in spherical patterns emanating out in a circle. The trees hadn’t been burned down completely it was like they had been charred instantly the fire failing to spread further than the origin. From this information Auren could only come to one conclusion. “a mage!” he immediately searched for tracks to follow. He found five kobold sized tracks heading off into the forest and one set of human sized ones in pursuit. He immediately charged off following the tracks deep into the forest.

Several hours earlier

Ahnya she saw Hyak asleep in the hollowed-out log that she and Auren had been setting on the night before. As she looked around heard a voice from a tree branch above “morning boss” “morning Nas where are Bwiggi and Dreask?” she replied with a yawn rubbing her eyes. “they’re out foraging” “and I assume Hyak dumped his guard shift on you then?” she said with a giggle gathering her things “of course” he said as he dropped an acorn on Hyak’s head. Hyak rolled over and scratched his back before settling down again. “by the way, what time is it?” she said checking the surroundings. “its about noon” he said still scanning the forest. “do we have an escape route yet?” she said as she took a swig of water from her flask “no, I didn’t feel the need” he said dismissively. “well then I guess im gonna go set some traps then” and with a wave and a sigh she walked off into the forest. after exploring the area around the camp for a while Ahnya figured out that if someone was going to attack the camp they would come from the side facing the road to the south or to the east where there was less vegetation. The village was to the west, but they would notice anyone coming from that side as the dense underbrush would alert the group to anyone approaching from that direction, the same went for the north as well. Ahnya decided to set up the camps defenses with a focus on the south and the east with the east designed as the groups escape route as she had found a small cave in that direction. With that She started constructing the traps. On the road side she would dig a five-foot-deep pit. “Hyak! Hyak! Wake the hell up!” she prodded and shook until he awoke. “what! What! Are we under attack?” his eyes frantically searched his surroundings. “I need you to help me dig a pit” Hyak laid back down and turned away from her “just go shit in the woods why do you need me to dig the latrine” with a yawn curling back up. “I don’t need a latrine I’m setting up a defensive perimeter” she replied anger in her voice. “gezz stop yelling I’ll be up in a minute” he said with a wave still turned away from her. She stormed off into the woods and began work on the pit. Fifteen minutes later Hyak showed up. “I knew you’d change your mind” she giggled. “sigh, just don’t sic Izza on me when we get back alright?” “I don’t know, ill have to think about it.” “hey don’t leave me hanging like this. the woman’s scary even Ren’s afraid of her and he’s twice her size” After an hour they had dug the pit and placed sharpened spike at the bottom. “tell everyone we have a new latrine just make sure somebody covers it up before tonight.” “will do boss” she continued building traps on the road side she dug smaller holes and placed spikes in them creating a mine field small spike pits. After that she decided to work on the east side. She began with spiked branches tied to trip wires. She was able to place a couple along the path to the cave as well as a few more mini spike pit traps. The cave was near the top of a hill so Ahnya piled large stones near the entrance. She had also found a large boulder further up the hill above the cave. she wedged a large branch between the boulder and the ground in case they needed to release it in a hurry.by the time she returned to camp it was getting dark. The whole crew other than Nas who was still in the tree had gathered around the camp fire to relax. “hey? What’er ya makin there Ahnya?” Dreask said with a confused look on his face. She had been smash mud and leaves together until she had three small statues with sticks poking out of the back of their heads. “these are our decoys.” She said with pride presenting them with both hands. One of the decoys heads slumped a bit to the side “they’re still a work in progress. She said with a giggle pushing the dummy’s head back into place. “hey Ahnya?” Hyak asked with a more somber tone. “yeah” she looked at him confused. “do you think Ren will come back?” “heh, him? probably telling the humans where the base is as we spe-” Ahnya cut bwiggi off before she could finish. “bwiggi, if you say one more word. I’ll remind you why I’m the boss around here.”  The two’s eye met with a stare that lasted a couple of seconds before Bwiggi conceded. “he said he’d be back some time before tomorrow.” Ahnya continued her focus back on Hyak who seemed sorry he ever asked in the first place, as he stared at the ground. “but what if he doesn’t come back?” “well, then well just have to go find him” Ahnya replied annoyed at the question. “yeah, that’s just what we need. To get more of us killed trying to save some human” Bwiggi said still avoiding eye contact with Ahnya who stood up and walked over to where Bwiggi was siting. “what’s your problem. You’ve been like this since we left.” Bwiggi turned around with tears in her eyes. “if you hadn’t been so busy helping that stupid human Gura and Lomu might not have been hurt. But you picked him over us” Ahnya grabbed Bwiggi by the collar. “I helped him because he would have died with out me, because if it weren’t for him Izza would be dead.” Tears now streaming down her face as well “he’s one of us, if he wasn’t he would have left already.” Bwiggi pushed Ahnya away. “fine Then! well see if he comes back tomorrow and when you’re wrong I want you to step d-” The argument was cut short by Nas “someone’s coming!” “see I told he’d be back” she looked up to where Nas was setting. “it’s not Ren to tall” Nas continued. “everyone get in the trees!” Ahnya whispered. Ahnya set her dummies on the log and scurried up the tree Nas was perched in. they watched as the figure walked forward before slowly circling the camp who ever they were they must have found the camp due to all the noise Ahnya and Bwiggi made during their argument. Ahnya was kicking herself she had put the whole group at risk by arguing with her. Ahnya raised her spear and pointed at the tree the rest of the group was perched in, then she pointed at her self and finally at the person circling the camp. The figure continued to quietly circle the camp before stopping. The figure stuck out its hand and a blinding flash bathed the area in a bright red light. In an instant the camp was scorched before the groups eyes. The dummy’s Ahnya had placed on the logs around the camp fire were gone only ashes remained. The camp fire had been blown out coating the area in darkness. The figure stepped into the camp where he was close enough that the group could make out his features. Long blond hair with rakish good looks he stood 6’5 ft tall with a spindly build. His dark blue robe dangling just below his knees. This was the strangest Human anyone in the group had ever seen. His eyes shewn with a pale dim blue and his ears continued beyond the back of his head ending in dagger like points that blackened at the tips. he mucked about with the charred remains of a few of their backpack. Before Ahnya looked up to see that everyone was still transfixed on the intruder. She reached over and nudged Nas holding her spear up to throw and looking at him. she readied her throw and took a deep breath.
Whir, the spear flew through the air, connecting with its target. It hit the man in the back just below the ribcage, the rest of the groups spears soon followed missing their mark who had dodged out of the way. Ahnya and Nas leapt from the tree before the man could respond in kind with another blast of fire eviscerating their former perch. The other group followed as Ahnya and Nas ran down their escape route the giant in hot pursuit. Ahnya stopped to look back. The man’s pace had slowed, were his wounds that grievous? She got her answer when she saw him step over one of her traps. “damn, we’re running out of options. Nas, Hyak there’s a rock above the cave just ahead get up there and wait for my signal” Ahnya shouted. “you got it boss” the two replied in unison as they scrambled up the cliff. As she climbed up the hill she thought about her opponent, a frontal attack would be suicide and catching him off guard again would be difficult. She would have to find a way to get close and end him in one strike but how? She didn’t have time to think anymore. She was at the top of the hill. “end of the line you little shits” she could hear him shouting absentees as he climbed up the hill behind her. Just then she had an epiphany, she grabbed dreask’s shield from off his arm “now!” she shouted.  Nas and Hyak shoved with all their might releasing the rock which came tumbling down off to the side of her. As it rolled down the hill towards him he shouted “you’re gonna have to do better than that!” as he dodged out of the boulders path, his eye widened with shock as a blade plunged through his chest. He hadn’t seen Ahnya sliding down the hill on the shield behind the rock. He fell to the ground with Ahnya on top of him. she pulled the blade from his chest before plunging it in several times more for good measure. She looked up to the hill to see the rest of the group peeking over the hill, after they were sure of Ahnya’s victory they came running down the hill to congratulate her. Nas and Hyak lifted her into the air and cheered as Dreask and Bwiggi searched the corpse for valuables. Just then the group heard some one moving through the forest ahead of them. “shhhh. I think this guy wasn’t alone” Hyak whispered. They quickly scrambled for cover, Ahnya, Nas and Hyak hid in a tree while Dreask and Bwiggi ducked under some bushes. A figure emerged from the forest quickly running to the corpse. It took Ahnya only moments to recognize who it was. she leapt from the tree onto the shadows back, she shouted “Reeen!” Auren was caught by surprise by the hug that hit him like a ton of bricks crumpling him onto the ground. “hey Ahnya?” “yes Ren?” she said lying on top of his back hugging him. “could you do me a favored and get off my back.” “huh? Sorry ren.” She hadn’t realized she had pinned him to the ground face down. Auren stood up and dusted himself off before stretching his back. “so, it was an elf that burned the camp down.” “yes, big boom nearly kill us all” Ahnya replied kicking the elf’s corpse. Auren flipped the body over before plunging his dagger into its neck. Ahnya and the rest of the group watched puzzled as he removed a red crystal from the body before wrapping it in a bit of cloth and placing it in his bag. “what ren doing?” Ahnya said with a quizzical look on her face. “ill explain later for now we need to head back to base” Ahnya turned to look at the wiry and hungry group before replying. “everyone tired need camp we leave tomorrow.”  “we haven’t got time were being chased by Hunters if we wait around here we’ll be caught” Auren replied with irritation. Ahnya thought for a moment before replying “fine we go but camp before sunrise.” “alright let’s get going then” Auren said walking ahead of the group. Ahnya and the rest of the party shortly followed as they marched off into the night.