Master Novice - Part 03

Dawn found the adventurers gathering in front of Preston's tent. They were waiting for the wizard to come out, and were gathered to wish Sheila luck.

Preston lifted the flap just as the sun peeked over the horizon. As he joined the group, Hank started speaking. "I'm not going to mince words. These creatures think that they have been wronged by Sheila. Maybe they have, but I'm thinking otherwise. No matter, though. I'm not going to let them take my wife. If this plan goes poorly, I plan on personally fighting every single one of them, if I have to."

He looked at Sheila for a long moment, then continued. "I don't ask any of you to come along. It's more than I could expect."

Eric spoke up. "Well, uh, speaking for myself, I'm coming."

Diana added, "Of course we're all coming. Sheila's family, in the way that we're all family." Preston cleared his throat and said, "Actually, if you can, I'd rather that you two stay here and pack the horses. We're probably going to need a quick getaway."

Hank looked at him, then at Eric and Diana. Eric grunted, and said, "Sure."

They heard footsteps approaching, and low growling. The bugbear leader was back for his prize.

Sheila kissed Hank, and then walked over to hand herself over.

Rob stepped forward and spoke to the leader. The leader laughed loudly as it gripped Sheila by the arm, then replied in an almost jovial tone.

Hank bristled. "What are you saying?"

Rob said, "I asked what they're going to do with her. He says they're thinking about making a brief stop on the way back, to have some fun with their toy."

Hank's face darkened. He stepped up to the leader. He calmly looked up into the beast's eyes, then slugged it in the jaw. It started growling, and Hank calmly said, "I will let you take her, and I will let you present her to your chief. Not a damn thing more. If you so much as touch her between now and then, I will personally hunt you down, cut off your testicles, and force-feed them to you." He looked back at Rob. "Translate."

Rob stepped forward and did so. The leader harrumphed, and turned its back on Hank. It spoke to its troupe, and the beasts disappeared into the forest with Sheila firmly in the grip of two of the creatures.

Eric walked up to Hank and put his hand on Hank's shoulder. "Don't worry, man. This is going to work out fine. We'll get her back, you'll see." He turned back to Preston and said, "Fifteen minutes, Presto."

Preston said, "Already timing it." Indeed, he had procured a small hourglass and sand was rapidly spilling into the lower half.

"It's time," said Preston.

Hank looked up, gathered his people with a look, and said, "Let's go."

As they reentered the forest, Hank said, "Spread out - no less than a hundred feet between each person. If they stopped, I want to make sure that we find them." As the others complied, he added, "If anything happens, the important thing is to get Sheila back. Remember that."

As they walked through the woods, they were able to hear the drums that the hunting party had noticed the night before. Hank ruefully remembered what he had said: "Somebody had a good hunt, I guess." He grimaced, thinking just how much different things would be if they hadn't been out hunting themselves.

They reached the opposite edge of the woods without incident, gathering a few feet in. They approached the very edge of the forest, and hid where they could see the camp. Preston reached into a pocket and pulled out a small collapsible telescope, which he handed to Rob. Then he cast a spell that made him fade from sight.

Hank asked, "Where's he going?"

Rob put the spyglass up to his eye and said, "He's got some spells he needs to cast on the prisoners, and he needs to get closer." He searched the tribal area, and then said, "I see a hut that is probably the chief's. It's more elaborate than the others."

Hank replied, "Good. Tell me when he emerges."

After a few minutes, Rob quietly said, "The chief has just exited his hut. You should be able to see him from here - he's bigger than the rest of them, noticeably darker, and half of one ear is torn off."

Indeed, it was so. The chief was plainly visible with the naked eye. Hank got out his unstrung bow and held it at the ready.

The chief sat in a primitive throne and spoke, clearly audible over the noise. Rob murmured, "He's demanding the prisoner."

There was movement from another hut, and Rob said, "That's Sheila."

Four guards surrounded her. They had apparently not yet taken anything from her, for she still wore her cloak. As she approached the chief, the din of the tribe quieted. The chief spoke, this time in the common tongue. "Foolish puny-human, why you trespass on our grounds?"

Sheila's response wasn't loud enough to be heard by the group, but it apparently amused the chief, for it burst into laughter. "We have no prisoners, puny-human, we have servants! You serve too, maybe be pet."

Sheila responded, and the chief said, "Ha! You serve, puny-human, or you die!"

Suddenly, the guards started backing away from her. Rob said, "There's the cloak of fear."

Hank drew back on his bow, causing it to form an energy bolt, and aimed for the chief. "Just in case," he told himself. "Just in case."

Sheila spoke again. Whatever she said angered the chief to the point that it stood up and yelled, "Then you die, puny-human!"

The chief yelled commands to the guards, but only one was willing to approach Sheila. She whirled around, grabbed it by the arm, and threw it as though it weighed mere ounces. The chief roared and ran at Sheila.

Hank let fly his energy bolt, and in a fraction of a second, it hit its mark. The chief tumbled over, clutching at its chest. The tribe silently stared in shock, and Sheila leaped into the sky, and raising the hood of her cloak, disappearing from sight.

Preston walked around the tribal grounds, searching for a way to reach the prisoners' cage. He finally reached the found a route that took him around to the rear of the cage. He looked around to make sure that his invisibility hadn't given way, then started to prepare an illusion. One of the prisoners, a woman, turned her head, having apparently heard him.

He stopped casting and spoke. "If you can hear and understand me, nod once." She slowly did, trying to see who was speaking. He continued, "We're here to rescue you. In a few minutes there's going to be something of a diversion, and at that time, we're getting you out of here."

Suddenly a very loud voice cut the air, speaking the garbage that was the bugbears' language. They both looked up, and sitting on a makeshift throne was the largest, ugliest bugbear Preston ever hoped to see.

A rustling sounded in the hut nearest the cage, and Sheila emerged from it, surrounded by four guards. They escorted her to what passed for the chief's "court" and stopped.

The chief regarded her for a second, then spoke again. "Foolish puny-human, why you trespass on our grounds?"

Sheila's voice cut cleanly through the air. "I came here to rescue your prisoners."

The chief laughed. "We have no prisoners, puny-human, we have servants! You serve too, maybe be pet."

Sheila retorted, "I will be a slave to no such foulness as yourself."

The chief forced a laugh. "Ha! You serve, puny-human, or you die!"

The guards surrounding Sheila suddenly started backing away. Sheila said something that Preston couldn't hear. He realized she was probably casting Rob's stone strength spell. She finished and said, "I rather would die, than be forced to serve such a lowly creature as yourself, so low that insects look down on you."

The chief stood and yelled, "Then you die, puny-human!" It yelled at the guards, but only one was able to summon the courage to approach Sheila. She grabbed the creature and flung it into the crowd.

The chief roared and charged Sheila, but before it had gone more than a few feet, it was struck down by an energy bolt. Sheila immediately disappeared into the sky.

Preston cursed. "So much for a diversion." The tribe was apparently in shock, so he decided to put that to good use. He cast an illusion of Hank as far away as he could. The illusion laughed loudly and yelled, "Score one for the good guys!"

Immediately the tribe noticed it and rushed to destroy the "assassin." Preston had his illusion run directly away from the woods hiding his friends. He concentrated on it until it reached the far edge of the clearing, nearly a quarter-mile away, then turned his attention back to the cage, only to see Sheila already freeing the prisoners.

Sheila alighted near the prisoners' cage, still invisible. She turned to see the tribe running toward the far edge of the forest.

She turned her attention back to the cage. There were two prisoners, a woman and a girl, both dressed in rags, both watching the tribe. The cage was locked with an old rusty padlock. She grabbed it and gave it a twist, and with her enhanced strength, was able to rip the hasp entirely off.

The prisoners started, hearing the sudden wrenching of metal. They watched the door apparently open by itself, and then Sheila put her hood down and reappeared. "We're here to rescue you."

The woman quickly picked the child up and ran out the door. Sheila said, "Wait! Don't go anywhere yet - we've still got those creatures to worry about."

The woman cried, "Better to die now by their hands than to sit here and wait for it!"

Sheila considered, then said, "Run to the forest opposite the direction the tribe went."

Rob and Hank intercepted the refugees as they entered the woods. He looked around and said, "Where's Preston?"

The mage suddenly appeared at the edge of the woods and said, "Right here - let's split; that illusion's not going to fool them for long."