Bandits
at Nine O'clock
9/15/10,121 - Kest-I-Mond's Tower
Worriedly Kilite continues to avoid the angry swipes from the wounded Gunter whilst Tharla hurries through the cellars to alert the others, shouting as she goes she is mystified as to why they don't answer her cries & expecting the worse quiet's as she crosses the main cavern towards the hidden door.
Looking through the door she can see Molin, Illyra & Brasso carrying out a finger tip search of the paneling, calling for them come quickly she is perplexed by their ignorance to her calls, stepping forward mid conversation they turn quickly to ask what all the fuss is about & are equally confused as she steps back through the doorway miming at them. Realisation dawns, her/their words do not cross the threshold, dismissing the matter for later consideration, all three quickly move out of the room & head for the surface. Closing the door as they go there is again a rushing noise & a puff of dust is expelled from beneath the door as it seals.
Partly to avoid Gunter & to get a better view Kilite scales the outer wall where he sits until Molin emerges from the tower. With some difficulty Molin eventually calms Gunter & leads him limping to the barn where, aided by Tharla & Brasso, the arrows are removed & his wounds treated. Seeing blood & feathers on Gunter's pads Molin alert the others to watch out for sky city riders.
From his elevated position Kilite can see nothing beyond the walls, however Tharla, using the mirror expands her view from the point of view of the roof where she had climbed earlier, she jumps backwards as her focus rotates & closes on the face of an eagle rider & her mount crouching on top of the tower itself, adjusting her view she watches as the rider tends a bloody gash to the eagles chest.
Gathering at the base of the tower a plan is hatched, whilst Molin & Brasso, bows in hand watch for movement from the courtyard, Tharla, Illyra & Kilite move into Kest-I-Mond's quarters on the top floor taking the mirror with them. Watching via the mirror to ensure the rider is occupied with her mount, Kilite, a silence spell cast upon him, slides back the bolts to the roof hatch & runs crouching towards the rider, half out of the hatch Illyra stands ready to assist if required. As Kilite is about to strike, the eagle raises a warning scream & lunges forward knocking the rider off her feet. Illyra, reacting to slow, casts a spell of befuddlement against the rider & then sends a ball of fire from her ring wide of the mark. Kilite, blood pumping from a gaping gash at his thigh, scrambles back to avoid the further assault of the eagle.
The eagle itself is badly hurt, confused by its riders inaction & in confusion launches itself into the air in a flurry of feathers,Illyra & Tharla accost & bind the befuddled rider. As the eagle struggles to rise above the parapet both Molin & Brasso let fly from below, Brasso's arrow is poorly aimed & clatters against the tower face, Molin's aim however is true &, with flame strike cast upon it, punctures the eagles heaving chest. Screaming in agony it wheels over the compound wall struggling to maintain itself aloft.
Kilite, unable to walk by himself, is half carried, half dragged towards the trap door, his life expectancy further undermined as he is clumsily dropped through the hatch, crashing to the boards below. Desperately trying to keep him alive Tharla casts first a spell of healing & then, fingers grasping the ruptured artery, bodily carries him to the subterranean chamber of well-being. Some time later, with Kilite made comfortable, a blood covered Tharla sits back confident that Kilite will survive.
The befuddled rider is quickly lead into the cells recently occupied by Brasso & realising something is amiss struggles as he shackled to the wall, Molin, in a fit of anger for the hurt caused to his life long companion & friend as well as that to Kilite lashes out wildly at the rider. It is a miss judged blow & the eagle rider, senses clearing, steps away from the blow. Illyra however, unarmoured, is not so lucky & mistakenly takes the full force of Molin's anger in the midriff & crumples in the dirt.
Shocked by what he has done, Molin, ensuring the rider is secure, drags Illyra into the blue room to the disbelief of a blood covered Tharla. Confessing his part in Illyra's injury, an examination reveals several cracked ribs & bruised kidneys at the very least.
Their departure now delayed due to injuries sustained, four days recuperation, the prisoner is questioned not to kindly, on several occasions. Worn down, tired & hurt she tells that she was with a patrol searching for the flask bearers, but that she was separated from the rest of her patrol during a sudden sandstorm. Blinded & stung by the flying sand she had taken refuge in a gully until the storm had lessened. Taking back to the skies she could see no sign of her comrades but had spotted the tower, thinking maybe her patrol had taken shelter there, she had landed within the courtyard only to be met by a charging bear. Her eagle wounded she had escaped to the tower roof to tend her mounts wounds & shot the bear for its trouble, realising to late that it was not a wild creature but was in fact part of the very party she was here to track. Despite repeated efforts she cannot, or does not, confess as to why Erimmes is so important to her mistress.
Knowing her life is forfeit, she dies proudly spitting in the eye of Molin as he slits her throat.
So it is that several days later than intended the group, including Brasso, eventually leave Kest-I-Mond's tower, 12/15/10,121, & head for Samadum, richer, non the wiser & limping.