***Group A***

Brisa stood in shock as the large form of Argurios, distorted and made odd by the barrel he was holding, rushed passed her. She was nearly as startled as the men in the doorway but when Argurios grabbed her arm she snapped out of it. She had presence of mind to grab her satchel, and fortunately she had not removed either Dakin’s book of maps or her spellbook from it. Unfortunately she had removed everything else that might remotely have been useful. 

“Run” she shouted back to the others and did her best to leap over the fallen men. It was harder than she expected and she ended up running across the top of them. She almost lost her footing, almost had her ankle snatched, almost got caught. But she didn’t. 

Her hand had slipped from Argurios’ grip but she kept as close to him as she could. Unfortunately she had not the running strength nor length of stride that the orcish boy had and she was soon several paces behind him. The others, they were behind somewhere. She heard their footsteps she was certain. Of the horse and the goat there was no sign and Brisa didn’t want to stick around to search. The men were only temporarily detained, they would be after them shortly. 

In front of her, out of the shadows, rose up two creatures that were the stuff of nightmares for the fairly sheltered girl. Standing on their hind legs they towered over her, their fur shadowy in the partial moonlight. She could smell the stink, hear them snarl, and see the glint of the weapons they held. Fear flooded her and she knew she couldn’t outrun the beasts. She caught the outline of Argurios ahead of her and also felt a fear that she would be left behind. She couldn’t be alone out here, she simply couldn’t. The two fears warred inside her and though it seemed like forever she stood there frozen it was barely more than two seconds before she took action. 

She raced to the side of one of the dog-men and sprinted for all she was worth. It was dark and she had trouble running but the ground was mostly cleared. Her satchel flapped painfully against her back with every step. Her legs and lungs burned with equal fire and she prayed to Mystra and all the gods that she would come up with some plan. She was running away from Argurios and the others, and she knew she had to double back somehow but she could hear the padding steps of the dog men behind her. 

She darted back to the right, running next to a waist high rock wall, tracing her way back towards the entrance of the inn complex. Her prayers must have had some effect, or at least trained her thoughts along a different course, for she remembered something. She only knew one cantrip but it was one that could help her now. As she slowed her steps to work the minor magic she swore she could feel hot breath on her neck. 

“head and heart are one” she whispered the simple charm, forming the arcane symbols in her mind and almost tasting them as she spoke. She was not an adept spell user, she had only successfully cast spells a handful of times, but this happened to be one. She could feel the strength flood her body and her heart beat as fast as her thoughts were racing. 

With renewed energy she raced off, the magical adrenaline pouring through her system and giving her a speed that even the gnoll chasing her could not match. She was out of the inn complex and running along the packed dirt road in short order. She had lost all the others and she realized her only chance was to find a safe place to hide and hope one of the others came along. Her fear of being alone, at night, in the woods, had come true. 

~~~

The gnolls had spotted the two children run from the building and had the same thought. The smaller, slower girl would be far and away the easier catch. They were both injured and weak from their failed battle with the destrier and needed something soft and easy. Their injuries slowed them, otherwise Brisa would not have stood a chance, but they chased the girl. When she suddenly slowed they had assumed they had winded her and could catch her with ease, they hadn’t decided whether to kill her or bring her back to the bandit camp as a potential slave to sell off. 

Her spell took hold before they reached her, however, and the two gnolls stood in awe as the girl sprinted off at a run they would have had a hard time matching at full health. A mage girl it was obvious, that would have been a valuable slave but they would say nothing to their human allies. It was not worth chasing a mage girl, and they were hungry and fed up. 

Instead of waiting for the bandits they loped off into the hills, their keen noses allowing them to retrace their steps back to camp. They may have been allies with the human bandits, but they had their own orders and own leader. The other humans were not their concern, the hunt was over and they were wounded. Let the humans fend for themselves.

The three that had been taken out by Argurios’ surprise attack took some time to recover, and by the time they did all fight had gone out of them. The attack had bruised them terribly, and they were sore, tired, and pissed. There were, however, other children besides the two who had bolted. The remaining children were captured in short order, an easy task between the three inside the building and those outside who had been searching the other places. They had let the orcish boy go, not bothering to chase after him. They had richer and easier finds, it wasn’t worth possibly loosing some of them to go haring off after him. 

It took the rest of the nights darkest hours to finish searching the buildings, gathering everything that might hold any value, and binding their captives enough so they would stop trying to escape. Shortly before dawn they headed off to their camp, grumbling and cursing the two gnolls who had left long before. They could have used the help. The plunder from this raid would not be shared with them, despite their help early on. The men decided that as they made their weary way back to camp. They had suffered no casualties at least, though the man that Argurios had personally taken out had several cracked ribs. 

Separated and alone, with only what they had managed to grab, Argurios and Brisa were finally free of their pursuers. It was by sheer luck, or a whisper of good fate, that they both had run in the same direction. It would take some doing but they would find each other before dawn. Of the rest of the group there was no sign, and the obvious conclusion that the bandits captured and possibly killed them but without returning to the Raveyn’s Rest they would never know for sure. 

Brisa was winded, sore, tired, and barely able to stand after her spell wore off. She had crumpled to the ground, huddled like a miserable rat under a bush. She was too tired even to cry.