A Stormy Knight

[Northen Light36]

Acqua nodded thoughtfully, then looked at Amaro and Talon. "We can do it, I think," she said quietly, shifting Faith from her shoulder to her lap and petting the cat.

"I think we can too, if we're careful," Amaro agreed after a moment of thought. He nodded to Lutiger. "We'll do it. Give us a couple of candlemarks to restock our supplies and we'll meet you and your Mind back here."

Acqua sighed just a little at that. So much for getting a bed tonight. But she knew there wasn't time to waste.

[Kender Bard]

Lutiger smiled, but it was mirthless. "Excellent," he remarked. "Then I will meet you here."

---

After they'd seen to their supplies and headed back to the council building, Talon looked around for Lutiger or the Mind who was supposed to take them.

While waiting, Alethia moved closer to Amaro and asked him quietly, "What are the odds of succeeding, you think?" She fingered the hilt of her dagger nervously thinking about the amount of men it'd take to bring down a royal escort guard.

[Northen Light36]

"Slightly over fifty-fifty," Amaro replied. "I think our chances of the four of us getting out all right are better than that or I wouldn't be bringing you and Acqua along."

"We can handle ourselves," Acqua cut in, proving she was eavesdropping.

Amaro nodded, reaching out to ruffle Acqua's hair. "I know kid, but I still worry about you."

[Kender Bard]

"She's right, we can," Alethia agreed with a tiny smile as Talon returned with a strange man.

The man bowed his head, bangs brushing over a Mind sign. "I'll be taking you to the drop off point. Are you all ready?"

"Ready as we'll ever be," Talon remarked, shifting his pack.

"Right," the Mind agreed, touching a sign on his fingertip to the one on his forehead as he teleported with the group to... seemingly in the middle of nowhere. He looked terribly exhausted afterwards.

"Are you all right?" Alethia asked in concern.

The man nodded, waving her off. "Good luck," he murmured. "You'll want to head due east from here."

[Northen Light36]

"Right," Amaro agrees. "Come on you three, let's go." Once they were away from the Mind, Amaro pulled out a map and considered it. "Acqua, you're scouting ahead, kid. Talon, you poked around a bit the last time we passed though this spot. Can you think of anywhere that'd be a likely area to start looking?"

[Kender Bard]

"Uh huh," Talon answered, leaning over so he could point on the map. "Right here there's a small range of hills. Animals have some dens in there; if there's an Earth in the group, it'd take no effort to widen that up into a little lean-to or even a tiny cave. That'd be a good place to stuff a Wind. Can't use your powers well with that much earth around you." He barely repressed a shudder as he said that.

[Northen Light36]

Acqua shuddered slightly. She wasn't as freaked by closed spaces as Talon was, but she didn't like them either and the thought of being imprisoned in the dark made her squirm. "Then that looks like the best place to start looking."

Amaro nodded. "Check it out," he told her. "Carefully." Acqua nodded solemnly, her eyes dark and serious. No matter how much she might torment Amaro most of the time, she had always taken their mercenary work seriously. And her taste in clothing, earth colours and dull blues and greys made her harder to see then Talon's louder style, which gave her an advantage over the other 'scout' of the group.

When the group were nearer to the group of hills, Amaro signalled silently for Alethia and Talon to wait and nodded to Acqua. The young thief nodded back and headed on alone, keeping alert and listening and looking for any sign of people.

[Kender Bard]

Talon's guess had been considerably accurate; the hills that he had indicated showed no sign of any habitation... until there was a sudden flash of light, small, behind the bushes that covered one side of the hills quite thickly. It had been a very small flash, likely from a flint. A soft hiss broke the silence of the area and then all was quiet and still again.

[Northen Light36]

Acqua frowned thoughtfully and paused, debating whether or not to get closer to check it out or go back to the others and alert them. After a moment she decided to sneak closer for a better look. The others wouldn't let her live it down for ages if it was just a couple of campers.

Dropping lightly to her hands and knees to make herself even less noticable, Acqua made her way slowly and quietly towards the bushes, listening for any voices or other sounds of humans in the area.

[Kender Bard]

Whoever was in there was very good at hiding. There were no fires, so the shallow cave (Earth-made if the smooth opening was any indication) was cast deep in shadows. There were people in there, however. They weren't holding completely still, figuring themselves relatively safe, and there was movement enough to guess at possibly four or five individuals.

They were whispering softly to one another now and then, but nothing too much--mutterings, mostly, about their situation. Being cold and bored. At one point there was a very muffled whining sound, like a choked off sob or whimper.

[Northen Light36]

Found you, Acqua thought, smiling in grim satisfaction. Carefully, being doubly careful not to make a sound, Acqua crept away from the cave. When she was certain she was out of sight, she got to her feet, but resisted the urge to run. Sound carried a good distance in the night air, she knew.

When she made it back to Amaro, Talon and Alethia, she allowed herself a little sigh of relief. "I'm pretty sure they're there," she murmured. "Four or five people moving around in an earth made cave. And I heard something like a muffled whimper."

"Good work kid," Amaro replied, frowning in thought.

[Kender Bard]

"Gonna be hard to get her out of a cave," Talon muttered with a frown. "All packed in there? Sneaking in would be impossible. Charging it would be suicide." He grinned slightly as he said that last bit.

"You've got a stupid idea," Alethia remarked, eyeing him.

"Don't I always?" he quipped. "How about I provide a distraction? It won't draw all of them out, not unless they're absolute idiots, but it should bring out enough to make the rest manageable by you three."

[Northen Light36]

"What sort of distraction?" Amaro asked warily. "We're not going to rescue the Lady then have to turn around and save your stupid arse as well."

[Kender Bard]

"Naw naw," Talon assured them all. "I'll lead them on a bit of a chase, eh? They said they'd kill the Lady if they sent in people to rescue her, like an army. But I doubt they're going to get riled up over one man. They'll just try to kill me! And they won't do it because I'll always be just out of their reach. I'll have them halfway to Ronduin before they give up."

[Northen Light36]

"Unless one of them has a bow or a crossbow," Acqua replied, frowning. "You are a big bright target, Talon. Let me be the distraction. Unlike you, I don't dress like someone's court jester, so I'll have an easier time losing or hiding from anyone chasing me. And besides, you and Amaro are better in a fight then I am."