Zilo and Zatrian trudged through the forest off the trail, while Zilo carried Tess on his back. They had made their way away from the cart after I' Sereg'wethrin faded into the night after May and Jin. The Elf and Fetchling's eyes glowed with the tint of dark vision as they moved between the trees before Zilo fell to his knees, breathing heavily.
Zatrian turned and placed his hands on his hips saying, "Come on Zilo, May said that your strength should still be fine after the poison." Zilo grimaced and said,"Strong or not, my endurance is shot, we need to take a break, besides you don't look much better." Zatrian shook his head and sat with his back to a tree as Zilo laid Tess down lightly on some groved ground.
Zatrian takes out a map and begins to look it over, It seemed like the trail May and Jin are on would lead around the forest and southward toward the Wood Elves. Zatrian takes out a quill and his eyes glaze over and the quill begin darting all across the map. In addition the quill begins to show a faint glow as streams of ethereal sparks jut down the feather and focus at the tip.
Zilo had just finished placing a blanket over the invalid Magus before his eyes came upon what the Chronicler was doing. The quill lightly stroked across the map from one point that seemed to be the spot on the trail that the group split on. Zatrian's quill made glowing lines throw the Forrest south of the point, but one by one the trails fade and he goes back to the original point to trace a new one.
Slowly the trails get longer and longer until eventually Zatrian has traced a full glowing path through the southern woods and connected to a Wood Elf settlement the Trail glows and sinks into the map forming a silver glowing trail on the map, and the Elf's eyes and and quill returns to normal.
"What...What was that?" Asked the Bard. Zatrian smiles and answers him.
"It's a technique used by Chroniclers known as Pathfinding. I can use a map and discern direction and trails where there may not be any. It will make the trek to the Wood Elves much quicker, faster than if we took the trail since we'll be cutting through the forest rather than going around with the constructed trail."
Zilo looks the map over and remarks, "Incredible, I can see why the Wood Elves would want a skill such as this, so how long would it take for us to reach a the Elves?"
"If we were at our peak, less than two days, hopefully we can get there before Tess succumbs."
Zilo looks down at the Elven Maiden, her skin still discolored from her health being struck with the poison. He reaches down to her and begins to undo her belt.
"Oh! The dishonor! And here I had thought you an honorable man Zilo. I shan't let you sully her this night!" The Chronicler rose and put up his fists before Zilo raised an eyebrow at him before his face shifted to surprise saying, "Sully her? What do you-? OH!!! No no no! you misunderstand, Tess told us at the arena that she wears a Belt of Giant Strength! I was just going to borrow it while carrying her!"
Zatrian's eyes widen and he pounds his hand with his fist and says, "AH! Smart idea, That should make the trek far easier." Zilo cinches the belt over his sash and he feels his muscles bulge as he goes to heft the woman off the ground. Zatrian raises his hands and says, "Hold on, let her rest, she finally got comfy. Maybe you should make some food so we can keep our strength up.
Zilo leans back and says, "I picked up skill in Alchemy in my academy days, so I'm not too bad of a chef, but you will need to gather some stuff for me. I'm not to good at survival out side of a city."
Zatrian looks to him confused and says, "didn't you hunt that deer though" Zilo looks to the elf and gives him a sarcastic look as the elf recalls how the deer shouldn't be a point on Zilo's scorecard. The Elf nods and walks a bit off into the woods.
Zilo begins to set out his Alchemy supplies then as he lays everything out his eyes shoot wide and he stands "I completly forgot! Magic might not be the only answer! If I can put together some Antitoxin then maybe I can help Tess recover!"
Zilo begins laying out the few alchemy supplies he thinks he might have to put together some antitoxin. He begins to mix and crush different herbs and breaks them down and mixes it all together. it forms into a green liquid which he holds up in a vial he kneels down to Tess and holds her jaw open before pouring some of the liquid down her mouth.
Tess seems to struggle against the liquid out of instinct coughing a bit. Zilo's improved strength was formidable, but Tess's natural dragon strength was too much for him as she rolls away and Zilo's grip on the vial fails, making his mixture shatter on a rock. Zilo curses and looks back to his ingredients when he heard a shout from the woods.
"ZILO!!!!!" It was Zatrian from a few dozen meters into the woods, Zilo snatched his blade, bow, and violin running toward the shout. He darts between the trees to come to a cave embedded into a small hill that looked to descend down into a shelter dug by an animal, possibly the animal he saw in front of the cave.
Reared up was the form of a bear, but it had the head of an owl. This beast was well known for it's viscous tendencies, the ferocious Owlbear. Zatrian was trapped against a wall by the beast. The bard snapped out his bow and released a silver clad arrow, putting a hole into the beast's ear as he missed his aim at the monster's head.
The Owlbear spun and roared now focused on the bard. It charged at Zilo, and the Bard went to block with the buckler that he realized he had left with Tess. The bard was ripped into by the monster's claws and thrown to the ground with a gash across his shoulder.
Zilo tried to roll away, but the beast halted his roll with it's other claw. With no way out, Zilo went for broke, hoping that his new belt's strength would see his blade strike true. He stabbed with his silver longsword, and jammed it into the ursine bird's haunch. The beast growled in pain before biting into the Bard's hip with it's beak and flinging him 3 meters into the edge of the cave next to Zatrian.
On any other day, Zilo would be able to stand back up and continue, this was the bard who out did both a lich king and master hobgoblin swordsman, but with his body still suffering from the lingering effects of the king's sleep, he was barely able to remain awake.
Zatrian looks to reach for a backpack, but he also left his gear at the camp,and just as the owlbear looks to be upon them, a bolt of lighting fires out from behind it, and the Owlbear crumples forward into a smoldering pile next to the two of them.
There standing in the origin of the lighting stood Tessa'ladra Hare'nela with the discolored green shade of her face replaced with the faint sheen of bronze scales and her eyes lit deep emerald green. He mouth sparked with the remnants of a breath attack as she lean on a tree and she says, "So who wants to explain why we are in a forest and my pants are loosened?"
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