As Leifr opened the door with the brass key he stepped aside and took a moment to attempt to perceive whether it was safe to enter or not. Allereun and Fiore, however, prove Leifr's caution was unneeded and entered on their own accord. Leifr was pleasantly surprised to see that Allereun brought a torch from their earlier campsite to light up the inner room. However, Leifr stayed outside of the inner room and remained near the hut's entrance, constantly glancing outside in search of any indication that the monsters had reached them.
Allereun's voice escaped from the inner room and explained a reasonable plan. It was actually quite knowledgeable, and perhaps this was because this is the only definite plan they had or maybe it was due to Allereun's skill, but Leifr had some confidence in its success. Though Leifr wore a wounded grin when Allereun called out on his and Fiore's dispute. Maybe we were too obvious, Leifr thought in hindsight, and I did act impatiently.
However, Leifr noticed that the plan required them to use the door as a way to limit the number of enemies they had to fight, which meant that the horses would be left outside for the mercy of the monsters beforehand. Though Leifr had thought about releasing the hauling horse as a decoy before, to lose all of their horses was something Leifr had a hard time swallowing.
“What about the horses, milady? If we were to lose them all, it would be a long trip back to the nearest town,” Leifr stated calmly, though in his mind he also wanted to add that war-trained horses were not cheap. In addition, Leifr noticed how close Fiore and his horse seemed to be. Leifr did not wish misfortune and pain upon Fiore, even if he was angry over Fiore's unexplained possession of Exalia.
Leifr's original plan was to use himself as bait, and if Allereun's suspicions about their heightened sense of smell was true, it would work much better as Leifr and his warhorse were wounded and probably smelled of blood. It was nearing daylight as well; If Leifr just managed to keep out of reach of the monsters, he could lure them away by banging his sword against his shield and staying close enough that they could smell him more than the others. At least, that was his original plan.
However, Allereun also suspected that they had a pack somewhere else in the darkness. Just wandering around making noise could lead Leifr into a lethal ambush if Allereun's suspicions proved correct. Allereun's plan also required Leifr's skills. Leifr ran both hands through his hair in thought before simply rubbing his hair around furiously. He didn't want to lose the horses, but he also didn't want to lose his life. Leifr walked out of the hut and looked up at the sky. He took a deep breath of the night air before turning around and walking through the hut and into the inner room.
“Miladies, Fiore, could we not just keep running from them? We are faster than them and daylight is less than an hour away. There must be a reason why we didn't encounter them during yesterday's search when there was still light out. There's also the moment when the beasts recoiled from the blaze Allereun set up.”
Leifr tried to give a reassuring smile, but he couldn't tell if it was expressing what he was going for or if it was easy to see through.
“I understand what Lady Allereun's plan entails, but I cannot find it in myself to allow our steeds to fall prey to these creatures. If one could draw away these creatures from the rest of our company, it could allow the others safety and respite...”
Leifr's smile faltered slightly, but he forced his familiar kind smile back upon his lips.
“I only offer a suggestion. Lady Allereun's plan is most likely to allow us all to keep our lives, surely. But if it would guarantee everyone's safety and a method of travel, I would gladly lay down my life in order to lure such creatures away from Lady Allereun and Lady Kort-” He caught himself this time, “...and Lady Lyrisa.”
