Willowspeak

Happy that Allan had accepted her offering Lauren focused on Michael's question. It was indeed preoccupying, and she almost missed Allan's question. "I went to the village because I needed some bread for my dinner, that's how I found you and Zander." she calmly replied, then she realized the topic of the question and grew suspicious. "Why is he asking me that? Does he want something?" she wondered to herself, Lauren couldn't help it, the people she had found during her journeys used to ask that when they wanted to steal something, or try to harm her. So she tried to hid her face in her hood even more as she walked alongside Allan with her furry bear-feet and wondering if she had misjudged him.

He looked down at her as she pulled up her hood, frowning. Had he said something wrong? Did she hate his guts and wished to never see him again? He shook himself and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was probably over reacting. Obviously the subject of where she was from was made her uncomfortable, so he decided to change the subject. "Well you did good in finding your way to Willowspeak! No town I know of quite like it." He scratched his chin and muttered. "Not that I really know of other towns." He grinned and kept talking anyway. "Everyone's very nice, and there's hardly any crime. Place is chock full of heroes though, so I'd avoid the taverns when it gets late." Going into a tavern frequented by heroes anytime past sunset was a sure fire way of getting into a decent brawl, as big men and strong liquor tend to mix like that.

He drew the length of iron wood he'd collected from the Treant and took a good look at it. It was the perfect size for a greatsword handle, so he drew a whittling knife and slowly carved the desired shape into the wood. Once he got the rough shape of what he wanted, he could true it up with some files, drill a hole down the center, and create the proper fittings. That would only take a few hours, but he didn't have the tools for all that in his bag, so it would have to wait until they returned to town.

Lauren watched carefully Allan's change of subject, feeling more comfortable she even nodded at his advice about taverns, she also knew that they can be a little... rowdy. She took special attention when he said he didn't knew about other towns. So he probably lived in this town for his hole life, she suspected. The an idea occurred to her, she wanted to take some doubts about Allan and know was a time as good as any.

"You say that Willowspeak is a town full of heroes, do you include yourself in that category?" she asked him, as he was looking at a piece of iron wood he probably got from the Treant. He could probably turn that in some kind of weapon, she thought, but she needed to ask him to make her arrows first, she smiled sweetly thinking on how nice it was of him to have suggested that. But she shook it of quickly, it could be some kind of elaborate plan to make her trust him, she couldn't trust him, absolutely not. Trust leads to sorrow.

He looked startled when she asked him if he thought of himself as a hero. "Me, a hero? No, I'm just a blacksmith. I might go on the occasional odd job or two, but by no means does that make me a hero." He put the piece of ironwood back in his bag, deciding to wait until this job was over before trying to make anything of it. "No, the real heroes are up there." He pointed up the path to Ark and Zander respectively. "Ark has been doing this kind of thing his whole life, fighting trolls and death maws almost as long as I've been alive. He even saved Ed!" His entire demeanor changed when he said that, from his jovial and carefree self to almost fragile and melancholy. But just as quickly he was back to himself. "And Zander can use magic! He's not very strong yet but one day he'll be a great hero."

He fell silent after that, thinking about Ed. He wondered why he'd agreed to raise him, and if he'd be okay while he was gone. He wasn't getting any younger, and the orders for weapons and armors just kept coming into the shop. He frowned and stared out at the snow. Maybe he shouldn't have come? He wasn't a hero like Ark or Zander, and even the Merchant was full of more surprises than he was. And Lauren would be fine against anything that the mountain threw at her.

Thoroark grinned as he heard the chatter in the background,well at least they were getting along well. Although his grin was soon gone as he heard Michael's words,it was true that it was a rare occurrence for anyone to be up here,especially a group this big. Yet it was also true that the Treant could have simply been driven mad by the mountain and it's savage inhabitants. The local Troll den held host to lovers of destruction and flesh so it wasn't unlikely that it had been hunted for it's barks weapon quality,or that the Troll's had driven it mad with anger from all the damage they would have done to other trees nearby. Even so...

"Aye,all the herb's died recently. I usually come up here alone for materials but even then its rare,I try to stick to caves and dens instead of the peak due to the danger. Aisha fusses over me too much when I come here,you know how women are." He said,his tone joking at the end before he raised a paw to scratch his head "Something's definitely wrong here though,your right....A package arrived this morning containing a crystal of some kind,Aisha apparently ordered it and had the key but we had no idea what it was until we managed to get it open. I looked into it for only a second but,it felt like something had chilled my soul,like a shard of ice had pierced my eyes and left something behind. Then all of Aisha's plants died and we put the thing away in a safe place." He explained,sheathing his sword upon his back for now and lowering his arm.

"When we make camp,we'll tell the others in case they haven't thought of it themselves,but for now we need everyone focused on what's in front of them rather then what might be over their shoulders. I mean,especially considering Zander lobs fire and we're whats actually behind him." He said,offering a small grin at the end as he raised his hands to rest behind his head,his eyes scanning everything around them just in-case anything else decided to lie in wait till they wandered past.

The merchant nodded, brow cocked at the mention of an odd crystal and the box this Aisha had a key for but didn't know the contents of. Then he remembered stories of old villages hidden away, filled with ghosts who didn't know they were dead and visitors that would be trapped in their eternal damnation should they run afoul of whatever put the cursed township into it's present state. A chill ran up his spine at the thought but the icy grip of fear lessened its hold when he remembered that in most of those stories the ghosts were never actually able to go outside the village. 'I need to stop reading those damned books.'

"I can agree that getting Zander riled up probably wouldn't be the best idea. Wouldn't want to be turned into cinders so far from home. Though, if that does happen, it would be best to bury me up here and say the Treant did it after I, uh... heroically sacrificed myself to save a passing child or something; don't want to ruin my reputation when someone comes looking for me." Michael's gaze turned to the direction of the village, where this strange object had arrived.

"You know, when we get back, I'm a specialist in enchanted items. That's why I came here, I was going to ask about buying those floating candles in bulk so we, that is to say the caravan I work for, could sell them in other areas. It's a novel idea and I've not seen it done before. But something about that crystal doesn't sound right; actually, everything about that crystal sounds horrible. I could take a look at, if you'd be able to convince your employer to trust me with it." Turning back to Thoroark and following his lead, the merchant also began to peer around in case anything else would decide to mimic the Treant's tactics of ambush.

"That said I was coming here expecting to buy those candles and maybe find other oddities, I might not have the proper tools needed for something that might be cursed. Though if the plants died after that thing arrived, I'd suspect there's some necromancy involved. Eyes are a window to the soul and that thing might have just reached through and tried to takes yours like some thief taking a freshly baked pie cooling on a counter." A second later he sighed, realizing just how frightening what he just said was yet sounded like he was used to dealing with such a thing. That was far from the truth; cursed objects almost never came into his possession, rather his father would constantly tell stories about the objects they had found and examined and they had been repeated so many times that Michael began to think of it as just another thing to deal with rather than a scary proposition.

"Oh, that probably could have been worded a bit better. Don't worry, might just be a way to keep people from looking too closely at it. Putting information into crystals isn't exactly new and it could just be a defensive measure to keep what's held inside from prying eyes." A moment after saying that, Michael rethought his entire plan. He was physically weaker than the two warriors, the gloves on his hands were nearly out of charge, and the best he could do was blind something and throw stones really hard. 'Maybe I should just go back and see what I can do at the village.

"That being said... would you like me to go back and try to help your employer with all of this? The crisp mountain air is nice and all, but unless your party here find anything they'd like enchanted or looked at I might be of more help finding out what exactly your friend received today."

Taking note of Lauren's silence, he walked past her to the rest of the group and began to set up camp. He didn't have much in the way of camp supplies. A nice sized tent that one person could sleep in comfortably, two people would be somewhat cramped, a thick bedroll that would keep him plenty warm, and tools to set up the tent. He put the tent up quickly and spread out his bedroll, closing the front flap to keep out the cold until he was ready to sleep. He put down his pack and stretched, glad to be able to put the thing down. "Alright, I'll go look for firewood. Try not to get eaten while I'm gone." With that, he walked off to a small group of trees.

He was only about a hundred feet away from the group, but he didn't feel comfortable going any further. That said, he wasn't about to hack away at the trees like last time, for fear of another treant. Two of the trees looked dead, and upon breaking a branch or two without being mauled, he felt comfortable in the knowledge that these weren't treants, and if they were, that they had long since died. As he cut away at the branches, setting up two piles, one for the fire, the other to make arrows, he spoke to the dead tree. "Thanks for this Tree. I'm sorry you died up here, but your wood will make fire to keep me and my friends alive, and for that I thank you." He only felt a little silly talking to a dead tree, but that meant very little to him.

Thoroark rubbed at the back of his neck with a heavy thumb while Michael spoke,listening attentively until they finished before nodding and sighing. Noticing the camp being set-up,time to stop then. The giant was far less tentative to the tree's and walked over to the nearby shrubbery and tore one of the tree's from it's roots,dragging it slowly but surely back to the group. It was heavy work and he soon dropped the thing next to where the fire would assuredly be started. Taking a seat on the now branch free log and wiping the sweat from his brow before addressing the merchant again.

"Nah...She never met you,and tends to only trust those she knows well with an important item. Considering this came with courier and lock,it'll be hard to convince her to let you even glance at it. Even with my word to back you up. Your better off up here with the rest of us,you'll be helpful in getting the herb and then we can head back quicker and a lot safer,besides you'll never make it back down before night-fall,especially alone,even I'm not crazy enough to try that. "He explained,taking the moment to unsheathe his weapon,again. Picking up a nearby rock and using it to sharpen the blade,checking the hilt for any imperfections at the same time.

The Giant wondered if Aisha had figured out what the ring was for yet....nah,she thought too innocently to guess what he'd gotten it for....Guess that was why he'd left it up to fate whether or not she figured it out,rather then explaining it to her. He smiled to himself as he awaited the merchant's response,as well as the eventual complaints about the freezing ground and rough terrain they'd be sleeping on. He wasn't used to bringing other people up here,their hides weren't weathered like his was.

Lauren noticed that Allan suddenly went silent, perhaps he was thinking about something, something important to him. She didn't want to interrupt him, so she stayed silent. When he started to set up camp, she also dropped her stuff, she didn't have a tent like him, she was used to sleeping in a small sleeping bag, normally on top of a tree,, since it was less likely to be attacked by wolves or bears if she was high up. But since she was with companions, she could sleep on the floor, Lauren checked her bag, she only had food enough for herself and since she was traveling with friends, she was still unaccustomed to the word, she could try and find some food for them, 9 arrows were more than enough for that.

"Alright, I'll go look for firewood. Try not to get eaten while I'm gone." Allan said. "Tsk, I'm making sure that all of you eat, it would be bad if I got eaten." she said with a smile, she assumed most of the group had food with them, but it couldn't hurt to have extras. So she also went inside the forest, with luck she could find some bunnies, or if she was very lucky, a deer. "Don't forget my arrows, I won't take long." Lauren added with a happy tone as she walked away.

Something was tickling his cheek. The Teifling's eyes were half lidded, when he realized he was regaining his lucidity. He was rather still for a small moment as his brain processed the sensation trying to interpret what it was. In realization his body jolted and he quickly swatted at his face to banish the intruder. He didn't manage to hit it of course, as soon as the insect sensed the slightest movement it was already aloft in the air before Kairon hand made contact. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a small black blur whiz off into the distance.

He forcibly blinked, the grogginess not yet escaping him, and took notice of the current lighting which urged him peer at the sky. Apparently he had taken quite a nap, for it was now dusk. Kairon had traveled the road enough to realize that sleeping alone in the wilderness during the night could be especially dangerous, luckily his day time snoozing would help compensate braving the night with waking eyes. One could almost call him a nocturnal creature for such a habit.

Deciding that being idle would serve him not, he rose from the ground and faced the mountain. True enough he could make a fire to fight the chilling bite of the mountain, but for the glimmer of daylight left he wanted to use advancing toward his goal.

Not long after did his ears perceive voices nearby, and sure enough not twenty paces away from him was a party of humans, by them was an incinerated and galvanized corpse, or rather log perhaps, of a Treant. Little analysis was needed to understand what they were, Adventurers, he mused. Often there were two types of adventuring parties, the diplomatic, and those who used their muscles do the diplomacy, and by the look of the scene these fellows would likely follow the latter.

Kairon had no delusions or any desire to open dialogue with them, usually it was either a one sided conversation on their part filled with obscenities and phrases he'd heard before, or dead silence. He didn't believe they had seen him yet, and he thought it best to keep it that way.

Again, he felt a tickling on his face. Instinctively he enacted swift justice on the intruder, his palm slamming into his forehead at high speed. It was only then did he realize that it made quite an audible smack, and out of the corner of his eye he saw that little black blur whiz off again.

Taunting him.

He turned quickly, drawing his blade and taking it up and both hands, searching for the source of the noise. It had come from only about sixty feet away, and slowly he began to make out a shape in the darkness. Humanoid, but that meant nothing. It could easily be a small troll, or even a mad dryad. Anything was possible. Apparently, he hadn't been noticed yet, standing far enough from the main group to be overlooked. So that left him two options. He could attack now, and gain the element of surprise, or go back and warn the group that they were being watched.

The overall group safety was more important, and in the darkness he couldn't be sure of what kind of a fight he'd be getting into. Attacking recklessly would likely get him killed, so he picked up his piles of wood and made his way back to the group. Once back amongst his companions, he set the fire wood down in the center of camp and sat next to Ark on the log he'd pulled up for a seat, laying down the pile of arrows to be, and began whittling them. He whispered, loud enough for Michael and Ark to hear, but not so loud that their mysterious guest could listen in. "There is a something in the snow directly behind us, about 90 feet. Don't look, it's watching." He continued to whittle, pretending that everything were perfectly normal.

Michael nodded at Thoroark's words. Trust was a precious thing, something you wouldn't give a stranger. And if anyone was going to be trusting, it sure wasn't going to be a sorceress. After years of guarding the secrets of their magic from prying eyes, most magicians that Michael had previously met didn't exactly invite him in for tea and muffins. As the noon sun sank in the sky, the merchant laughed when Thororak told him about travelling around at night.

"Well no shit. I've not traveled miles to be eaten by some damned mountain troll. Leaving or not I dare say I'll won't be snatched up in the night like some fool, thank you very much; I'll be staying right here." Shaking his head, the merchant moved to the nearby brush and snapped off dead branches. He was unafraid of another Treant showing it's face, it would have joined the other in the battle. Getting some good sized branches Michael went back to the camp and began to make a sort of nest, attempting to make some kind of cushion between himself and the ground so the cold earth wouldn't steal the heat from him as he slept. Now that'd kill me dead.

Before he could make another trip to further refine the bedding with more branches, the young warrior Allan spoke of some unseen figure behind them. Some kind of tail? The merchant's brow furrowed, the question intrigued him, but he managed to resist the urge to turn around.

"Good job Allan. Question is, what did you see? Could just be another adventurer. Alone could mean he's foolish or powerful. Could be a scavenger, seeing if the Treant did us in. Either way I'd like to find out before nightfall; getting a blade between the ribs wouldn't be good for my beauty sleep. Speaking of behind us, eh Thoroark? "

"I can't be sure. it was to far away and to dark. I didn't want to risk giving myself away." He kept working at the arrows, not wanting to attract their stalkers attention. "However, anything that feels it can make its way up Willowspeak alone is either extremely cocky, or extremely dangerous. Possibly both, but not as likely." He held up the arrow shaft he'd been working on while they'd been speaking. After a few more slices, it was perfectly straight. He set it aside and started on a new one. "I suggest a small group of two move out west, then loop around behind our stalker. I suggest Lauren and one other who feels they can move quietly in the snow. Speaking of which, where is Lauren?" He looked around the camp frowning, not seeing her.

The forest was silent, almost peaceful with the white snow glistering in the moonlight and some of the forest inhabitants peacefully grazing. A group of birds took flight, SWOOSH, and two birds fell in the snow with a loud thud as their dead bodies hit the snow.

"Dammit I only got two." cursed Lauren as she approached the bodies of her prey. "Well, two will have to be enough, I should get back to camp." she thought, so she withdrew the arrows from the two bodies and added them to her quiver, now she only had 8, since she missed one bird, and now was not the time to go looking for a stray arrow. As she started going back to camp she realized that in her hunt she had already made some sort of a circle around the camp, it shouldn't hurt to complete it. So Lauren continued her lap and eventually found the tracks that her group had made, but something was off.

"Something is following us." Lauren whispered, then she started to panic, what if "it" had already attacked the group? What if it had something to do with the crystal that the mage had received that Ark was talking about? Lauren decided she had been away from her friends long enough, she needed to help them. So she started following the extra track, from the snow impressions it was something with feet or boots, but it was hard to tell from the melted snow it weighted about 80 kg and was traveling at medium speed, probably the same as her group, but she could be wrong, some creatures can make very convincing fake tracks.

She was walking slowly, but very silently, she learned that when hunting wolves, so she could be so silent that a wolf wouldn't hear her, the problem was that wolves don't leave feet like marks on the snow. When she noticed a shadowy figure, she hid inside a bush. Lauren didn't knew if the thing was dangerous or not, but it was preferable to be safe than sorry, so she started getting an arrow ready, very slowly.

Thoroark continued sharpening the blade as he heard of the intruder,The Giant not even blinking an eye as he focused his ears on the surrounding area,picking up only faint noises after the thwack. The Giant nodded to the rest of the group and hoped to himself that Lauren hadn't gotten herself hurt. Willowspeak was even more dangerous at night.

"Right...Okay...Looping around,That might work if it's humanoid...However nothing's ever that simple on Willowspeak. I have a plan B. f you two get your weapons ready,and one of you can make a big fire of some kind, prepare whatever you need quickly and quietly....I'm going try and call whatever it is out,and use the Log as a shield. I'll be able to set it up if I'm pretending to cut it length-ways for fire-wood,and then I'll still have my blade. It's not an uncommon practice in Willowspeak or any of the surrounding villages. So if they're friendly or at least humanoid they shouldn't suspect anything. If it turns out to be something big and nasty,try and light the tree's and we can use the log as a fire-wall,it'll be a big enough flame to tell whatever else is on the mountain we mean business and it'll tell Lauren to hurry back. Then we can deal with it together,if it's friendly it should show up when I call it out." He whispered to the others,still keeping his eyes on his blade and the rock. As if they were simply having a normal conversation about something other then lighting trees on fire. He expected objections,maybe even cries of insanity or something of the like,at least from Michael,but that was why it was a suggestion. He was used to doing this sort of thing,it wouldn't be the first time he lit the mountain-side on fire to escape something deadly,especially when he was younger.

The Giant finally stopped sharpening his blade and inspected it, If Lauren was in the forest,she'd see the fire and either run around to get to them,or take out whatever fled through the darkness....He hoped....He realized a lot of survival on this mountain relied on luck and timing. He was kind of surprised he climbed the peak so many times,especially with all of Aisha's 'safety' precautions...He looked forward to heading back,who knew. Maybe he'd be able to stay there for good this time...He'd been saving coin for awhile now,All he needed was a reason. He instinctively brought out his coin purse and stared at it for awhile,most of his fortune was in that tiny little bag,Thank The Gods Theransted coin was so conveniently valued into Silvers,Golds and the like.

"You'd burn down the forest around us as part of your battle plan?" The merchant stayed silent and placed his head in his hands, letting out a quiet sigh.

"You know," he looked up again, "when something like that is not the craziest idea you've ever heard, you know you need a vacation. I say go for it, but I think I have a crazier idea. That penny Allan used and those flash rings I made myself; actually, the archer should still have two of them. If you see white flashes in the woods around us you'll know who it is. Anyway, if I enchant some pennies to hold heat maybe I can give them to your sorcerer and he can super heat them and place them around the perimeter. Something big and mean gets near one I can release it and cook 'em. Of course, that'd be up to Zander. I wouldn't trust an enchantment so hastily crafted, but it would scare the hell out of whatever would attack us." Reaching into his pocket Micheal pulled out a few copper coins, something he kept for emergencies.

"Any objections?"

"That sounds fine by me. Just make sure it doesn't notice." He inspected the arrow shaft he'd been working on. Perfectly straight. He placed it in the pile of finished arrow shafts and reached down, only to find he'd finished the entire pile. He then began cutting the slots for the arrow heads. It took less than ten seconds a shaft. "You'll have to take it up with Zander though. He might be wiped out from clearing us a trail." He stood up, picking up the pile of arrow shafts. "Sounds like you guys got this covered, so I'll be in my tent. Let me know if things get crazy." He grinned and walked off, slipping into his tent.

After lacing up the front of his tent, not to tightly in case he needed to get out quickly, he took of his pauldron and rubbed the paste he'd traded Lauren for. He shivered as he applied it. It was cold as the mountain peak, but it greatly eased the pain. It was warmer in his tent anyway, since it kept out the wind.

Thoroark stared upwards and pocketed his coin, nodding to Michael whilst still keeping his eyes to the sky. His gargantuan hands wringing together as he thought for a moment. Perhaps however...no such plans were needed, Thoroark smiled for a moment before that smile turned into a frown when he thought of his comrades. The sun was already rising, the world already beginning to lighten so soon.

"Welcome to Willowspeak....It's not just deadly because of the nasties or the cold, no...to climb it you have to deal with near on no sleep or rest. To set up camp at night is dangerous, to rest during the day....that's suicide. Everything can see us now,or at least they will when that sun hit's the Willows Horizon. A fake horizon that is. Magical mountain that this peak decides to be" He explained, standing swiftly and glancing to the tree's,expecting whatever beast that had relied on the shadow's to burst forth. "No objections to your plan Michael but...I don't think we'll have time anymore." He commented,his sword in hand he side-stepped a little and kicked lightly at the tent, hoping to get Allan up and moving as soon as possible despite the draining day.

The giant rubbed at his eyes once more and brought his sword in front of him, at the ready for an attack, chances were it was a troll or something of the like, and that meant having to treat infected wounds already. He just hoped whatever it was went down as quickly as the treant and that Lauren showed up sometime soon.

"Oy, boss, do we go for em now?" A young man, no older than his twenties, peeked out from a bush, and towards the group they had been watching. They had counted five, one of them being a massive man, and another being a young girl.
"I want them alive. I'll chop off one of your fingers for every one of them that dies." Another figure spoke, in a deep bass voice that is coarser than sandpaper. The larger figure hoisted his axe over his back, and shambled away, back up the mountain.

Suddenly the younger bandit said in a hushed voice,
"Alright boys, get in position! Boss says we need them alive." He dusted off his clothing, a tattered jacket with various patches of random cloth sewn over the holes.

He cleared his throat, stepped out from behind a tree, and spoke, mainly addressing the largest member of the group (Thoroark)
"Good morning. However, this ain't a good mornin' for ya today. Yer going to come with us all quiet-like, or things might havta get a little rowdy around here. We want ya for ransom and for loot, not to kill ya. Just lay down yer weapons and come with us."
He snapped his fingers with the end of that sentence, and a few dozen bandits appeared from behind and inside trees, around corners, and even in fake rocks. They all were brandishing weapons of some sort: daggers, small axes, clubs, a few even had bows.

"So," The bandit extended his hand out and pointed at Thoroark,
"Are ye willin' to keep yer life and come with us?

Needless to say, Michael was very much surprised. Surrounded as if by magic, the group of brigands popped up suddenly and without warning. A flicker of self-disappointment came and went for the merchant, but the time for such frivolous emotion was not at hand.

”Unless these folks are going to disagree with you, Thoroark, I do believe this confirms my suspicions of sabotage. I should have took bets while I had the chance.” Looking around slowly Michael counted about forty men, armed and dangerous. But whether or not their courage could hold was another story. That was not something Michael would usually leave up to chance.

”Gentlemen, if I may confer with my group for a moment I may be able to find a amicable solution to your demands.” Bringing his hands up above his shoulders to show he wasn't holding anything, Michael slightly leaned towards Thoroark and tried to keep a smile on his face.

”I could,” he spoke in a hushed tone,”try to convince them to take just me instead and let the rest of you go on with your mission. Depending on how much they ask, you may be able to pay using what's in the cart I came in on. Let's face it, I've spent most of my usefulness on that Treant and I don't believe I've got the constitution for a mountain climb. Plus you don't seem the type to just let me rot in shackles so I feel somewhat safe in that. Should I try or what?”

He frowned as his tent was kicked and started pulling his gear back on, buckling his pauldron back into place as he heard the voices. Bandits this far up the mountain? Either they had followed the merchant's wagon, or someone had hired them to attack the group specifically. For some reason, he suspected the later. Slowly he lifted the very bottom of the back flap to his tent. Just from where he was, he could see three bandits spread out to surround the group. Well, they were in for quite a rude awakening. They didn't seem to be paying attention to the tent, perhaps not knowing he'd been inside. This was probably going to be his only shot!

He silently drew his sword and unlaced the back flap of his tent... Then he shot out from the tent like an arrow loosed from bow, covering the distance in less than a second. The first bandit died bloody, Allan's sword slicing him open from waist to shoulder, blood flying into the air and freezing as it hit the cold ground. He ran to the next one, but this bandit had time to raise his weapon, though his eyes were wide with shock. Allan charged at the man, but stepped off to the side as the bandit swung his weapon, then leapt through the air whilst slicing, neatly cutting the man's jugular. He landed in the snow and leapt again to the next man, flying nearly ten feet into the air! He kicked his heavily armored feet behind him, the force of that sending him into a sort of midair somersault with a sword attached to it. The bandit blocked, but the force of the blow broke the man's weapon and both of his wrists. Allan's sword kept going, cutting deeply into the man's collar bone and into the ribcage. Allan pulled his weapon out of the lifeless corpse and scanned the immediate area. Lots more bandits. Allan growled with rage and charged at the next bandit, sword at the ready. Allan disliked the idea of killing others, but by no means would he hesitate to send them all to their graves!

Thoroark grimaced as Allan leaped from the tent, killing the bandit's in a messy manner without half a thought. The giant growled and rushed forward towards his ally reaching his arm out and grabbing the young smith by his throat while he charged. Stopping the fool before he could hurt their chances anymore then he already had with his behavior. The giant instantly sheathed his sword upon his back and flung the boy behind him, utter disregard to where or how he landed. Looking directly at the bandit leader,his fist clenched tightly in anger,how could he have not seen this? He turned back to look at Michael and shook his head once before rolling his shoulders and straightening up.

"We have no chance against so many, They made it up to us and they don't look tired or injured at all, They either came from below or live in the peaks area...They are way out of our league....at least right now. This, is what is called a perfect trap on the peak....There ain't just monsters up here and I should have thought that through before bringing you ALL up here." He said, loud and clear before a stabbing pain filled his head, The giant pawed at his eye for a moment, his arm's tensing up as he fell to his knees. The pain spreading through him so quickly, so rapidly....It felt like an eel was tearing it's way through his body,writhing through his soul and his form couldn't take it. The giant thumped his fist into the ground and then just...fell. Collapsed and unconscious on the ground, a sickly black glow hidden and barely showing from under his eye.

((Collab in between Dementedness and xxRiftxx. Sorry for the unclean post, but I really got lazy on cleaning it up after I lost all my work. ))

The black glow from under the giant's eyelid worried Michael immensely, but he wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't planned by the creators of the ambush. Thankfully, the giant still seemed to be breathing. Keeping his hands raised to show he wasn't holding anything, Michael shrugged his shoulders and looked to Allan.

"I don't think that sword will be much use. We can't defend Thoroark and they'll take him and I hostage to make you stop. I think our wizard and archer have thankfully both wandered off, but even if they were here we'd be in trouble."

The merchant tilted his head towards Thoroark and addressed what seemed to be the leader, hoping to be amicable and charm some information from the brigands surrounding them before he was jammed into some cage or prison to wait.

"That'll be from that crystal his employer got in the mail, right? Judging by you asking us to come along quietly, I'm guessing you wanted this group alive. Cursed to disable after being viewed, I'd imagine. Where'd you get it? I want one."