He was concerned about the horses? While it was logical that, perhaps, it would be undesirable for them to lose all the horses, consigning them to travelling in these dangerous woods for multiple nights, it still seemed...odd that a noble would care more for the life of his steed than his own. After all, what sort of self-important, blue-blooded, spoon-fed noble knight WAS Leifr, to prioritize the lives of others over his own? Clearly a daft one who had yet to understand the value of one's own life and wealth.

Maybe that was why he was mucking around in the wilderness, instead of cuddling with whatever childishly young wife he had back in his lavish estates.

Nevertheless, those points, especially that of the option of simply continuing to ride back to town, was a realistic answer. If Leifr really didn't want to fight, there was no point in forcing him to, even if the trio were apparently sent to get rid of the human-kidnappers that had plagued Calgeth earlier. Allereun scratched his head at those rather reasonable options, before, unconsciously stomping the ground a number of times.

His hand sliding up, supporting his chin as he began to re-weigh his priorities, the young apothecary was just about to explain why they should stay and fight, until the whole party was interrupted by the arrival of...a stranger.

A stranger who was trying really hard to sound meek and nonthreatening, even though she (or he, Allereun couldn't tell whether those chest mounds were breasts or simply overdeveloped moobs) wore a sword at her hip and possessed eyes the color of blood. Perhaps, if it was a different night, he may have even felt a bit threatened.

But in this case, it simply cemented their ability to fight against the four approaching beasts. It simply insured an easier victory, and an easier capture of one of those specimens. It simply meant that, with such a dramatic shift in numbers, with their total fighting capabilities increased by one-half, Leifr should find no objection with what he had to say next.

[b]“Good morning there, lady knight,” [/b]he began, with a friendly nod, [b]“Have you also been sent here by the guards of Calgeth to investigate whatever has been attacking the homes of their people at night? Regardless, it's good to have you here.”[/b]

The whinnying of the horses, their fear slowly growing, though, made Allereun cut off what other formalities he was planning to exchange, and he focused on what needed to be said immediately.

[b]“I apologize for my brevity, but we've been beset by a group of monsters, with more possibly to come. There will be four that shall be approaching soon, and perhaps a fifth lagging behind them. Myself and Lyrisa, our resident Scribe, are unfit for battle, whilst both of our fighters are injured. Though it may be safest for us to retreat on horseback, that won't solve the town's problems, and we may not get an encounter like this any time soon.”

“These beasts are linear creatures. I believe that, if we were to present an obvious, viable target to them, they would come for us, not our steeds. Of course, these are all just assumptions, but now that the numbers have been leveled slightly, should we not press this advantage?”

“We can utilize the doorway as a choke point and we have plenty of weapons to use. Furthermore, if Sir Leifr's thoughts about those monsters retreating after the light of day shines upon these woods are correct, then doesn't that mean we should push further for a fight? If nothing else, it would be good if we brought back one of the corpses of these monsters, as well as gather experience and knowledge regarding how strong they are, to share amongst the guards.”[/b]

And then, Allereun smiled, a chilly one that betrayed only the expectation of things to come, [b]“After that, the guards can properly hunt down those monsters and put an end to their troubles, yes?[/b]

Of course, they could probably still die if they had somehow underestimated their foe, but that was all part of the risk of 'discovery', wasn't it?