Traverse

[Ketic]

deGray shifted and looked at the sun rising. Muradin was fast asleep and deGray figured he would have to wake him soon. The early morning watch had been uneventful. From the thicket where they were camped the battlemaster could see nothing of Hadrian's forces despite his curiosity. They hadn't risked a fire and deGray unconsciously rubbed his hands together to warm them. As he stood he heard a crack from the outside of the thicket. deGray quickly drew a dagger and crouched, waiting.

[Ketic]

A skunk sprinted out of the bushes and ran straight for Muradin. deGray couldn't suppress a shout of surprise and he ran towards the skunk shooing it and kicking at it. Not noticing the second giant beforehand, the skunk turned and ran back the way it had come.

deGray turned around and smiled wryly, "I just saved you from a nasty stink," he prodded Muradin with his foot "Wake up!"

[Barley]

Muradin Grumbled and turned over onto his back and sat up. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he slowly stood to his feet. Squinting he scanned the landscape, and pulled out a ration. Muradin gave half to deGray and brushed the dirt off himself. "What's the plan?" He asked deGray

[Ketic]

deGray studied the horizon once again. His eyes focused on the jungle and he sighed; getting through that was not going to be an easy task. The battlemaster turned to Muradin and began to speak.

"Well normally I would head towards Sparrow Castle, but that is north-east. Hadrian attacked the castle on the east side and we definitely don't want to have to go past his forces. So my thinking is that we head south-west onto the plains and then through the jungle until we get to Cromwell's castle." deGray felt absolutely no grief for Alister, except he was worried about the size of Hadrian's army and how easily they took the castle. Secretly, deGray knew he was now a free battlemaster and he was very pleased by the fact. "I can't exactly pay you though.." The battlemaster added awkwardly.

[Barley]

Muradin let out a chuckle. "All this excitement is payment enough." He nodded to himself. "We should get going then." Muradin grabbed his gear and bedroll and started to march toward the jungle in the distance with gusto. He secretly liked to go on "adventures", much like a small child. Muradin turned and grinned. "You coming?"

[Ketic]

"You coming?"

deGray let out a sigh of relief. He would be glad to not travel alone. His gear already ready, the battlemaster grabbed it and set out after Muradin.

//Iron River

Seven hours later..

deGray frowned. "Witley Ford is supposed to be right here." He motioned with his arm to the rushing white rapids in front of them. "My map reading skills must not be as good as they used to be." deGray sighed and looked up and down the river. He saw no sign of the small fishing village and he hoped it hadn't been destroyed in the past year or so. Although, now that he thought about it, it was very likely. The Ford would have been an easy target for bandits; and any evidence could have just been thrown into the rapids and washed far downstream and off the plateau. "What do you think we should do now? We can't cross here." Shifting his scabbard to a more comfortable position he turned to Muradin.

[Barley]

Muradin shuffled his feet to the edge of the torrent and peeked over the edge. "Why can't we cross here?" He asked tossing a stick into the rapids and watching it rush away. "Just get a little wet." He half joked.

Muradin never was a good swimmer, and his size wasn't good with deep water. "Or we could walk along the river and find a bridge."

[Ketic]

"Very funny," deGray stroked his thickening stubble and came to a decision. "I think we should go downriver while we look for a bridge because we are headed south anyways. And if there isn't a bridge, the Red Woods are also downstream; we could build a way across if we found a nicely sized tree." deGray looked at Muradin for a moment and then turned and started heading downstream.

[Barley]

Muradin followed deGray down the river. Occasionally throwing things into the water. Eventually they came to a rickety bridge, it looked like it hasn't been serviced for years.

"Wattaya think?" Muradin scooted closer to the bridge. "Think we should cross? If we do I think you should go first."

[Ketic]

"If we do I think you should go first."

deGray nodded to Muradin and glanced around. There seemed to be no other place so instead of wasting time, deGray ran full onto the bridge and pumped his legs until he was safely across. He turned back triumphantly to Muradin and puffed out his chest. "Alright your turn." The battlemaster called back across the river.

[Barley]

"Alright your turn." deGray called to Muradin.

Muradin shuffled till he was next to the bridge. He also wasn't good at going across bridges either. After three deep breaths Muradin backed up and charged the bridge. Muradin thumped across the bridge as quickly as possible. The boards creaked under him as he sped across. Right as he reached the other side Muradin's boot caught one of the boards. The board broke and Muradin went down. Luckily his momentum drove him forward and he went forward more than down. Muradin's chin hit the ground, but he was across. He opened his eyes, he had closed them while he was traveling across the bridge. Dusting himself off, Muradin acted like nothing had happened as he rose to his feet. "That wasn't so bad." He looked back at the bridge. "Lets keep going." Muradin continued with deGray.

[Ketic]

"Graceful." deGray commented mildly as he fell into step behind Muradin. As they walked his mind worked on possible ways to travel faster. As the sun dipped below the horizon and darkness fell deGray still didn't know where they would find some horses. They also needed provisions. "Running low on food." deGray said as he rummaged through his belongings for his fire making kit.

[Barley]

"We should try and find a town soon then." Muradin grunted. He pulled out his flask and dumped what was left of his ale into his mouth. "Plus I need more ale." He burped and rolled out his bed roll. Then laid down for the night as deGray got the fire going.

[Sponsored content]