Missteps V.2

Chapter 32 – Luck of the Overturned Cart

"So how long do we have the cart for?" Ander asked bundled up in the back of the wooden cart, Kerri next to him. Up front, Lia and Elaine drove, while Carric walked a little ahead of the group, on the watch for snow drifts or another hazards hidden by the latest dusting. Jun and Iados both flanked.

"All I was told was to return it to the Church when my journey was complete." Elaine shrugged. "They never specified which Church or which journey."

"Aren't you supposed to be our moral compass around here?" Kerri teased.

Elaine pulled the hood up over her face even more. "By all means trudge through the snow, I'm not going to stop you."

The group had left Esterwill just after dawn. A friend of Jun's had walked them out, and after they'd released Iados from the compact, it was entrusted with him. It was a comfort to all of them, especially Iados, that the akudaems had friends within the Servants of the Peace.

In the cart, they carried a bag full of toys for the akudaem children that were hiding in the Black Rock Woods. Everyone at the monastery knew that Peblin had taken the orphaned children and run, and when Iados and Lia had told them of their fate, there was a great sigh of relief. The toys were a reminder of home for the children.

With the toys, the group had been given a destination.

Ander had a small list of possible targets that he'd found, and a list that the Recovery Department had sent him. Lia had been adamant that the group help the refugee's with their goblin problem. Kerri voted on combining the missions into one list and throwing a dart, an idea that was seconded by Carric and Iados. In the end, it was Iados's mother who delivered the final verdict when she dropped the bag at Ander's feet.

"So, does this makeshift refugee camp have a name?" Jun inquired as he scanned the empty white landscape around him. He had to speak up as to be heard over the whistling wind.

"Nothing that everyone could agree with." Iados grinned. "Orbris is of the opinion that since it's technically his fortress, that he should get to name it. However, every name he's put forward has been pretentious and hard to pronounce, especially for the kids."

"When we left, the kids were partial to Ghost Home." Lia called out.

"I'm excited to meet this Orbris." Ander said over the top of his spellbook.

Iados scoffed. "Don't be. He's an old fart who thinks he personally created the sun and everyone else better do what he says."

"He's not that bad, he just likes to be the smartest in the room." Lia admonished over her shoulder. "Most of the time he is."

Ander chuckled. "Orbris sounds like every mage employed by the Circle. I'm sure I can handle him."

They traveled for a few more hours. Around noon they came upon a small camp of elven merchants who were headed home to Esterwill, and the two groups took their noonday meal together. The merchants shot a few glares in Iados's direction, but no words were exchanged about the akudaem. The meal was quick, and barely an hour later, they said their good-byes.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully and soon the sun began to dip low in the sky. As they set up camp in a field just off the barely marked road, Carric felt uneasy. The wind that had been whistling all day as it wrapped itself around them, had turned into a howl. He felt the intensity pick up, and could see whole swathes of snow be moved as the wind tore through their mounds.

"I think we're in for a rough night." He turned his gaze upward. Clouds had started to amass above them, and they moved quickly through the darkening sky.

"How rough?" Jun paused in the unfurling of his tent.

"Rough enough that I do not like being out in the open." Carric's voice was tense as he surveyed their surroundings. The closet tree was maybe a mile or two out. The spot Carric had chosen was mostly flat and surrounded by scrub grass that'd been missed by the plow.

"You're the ranger, it's your call." Jun turned his gaze upward. He could feel the weapon strapped to his belt vibrate. It wasn't just Carric that was nervous.

Lia held out her dark wooden staff. "If it's a matter of being out in the open, I can make us a tree."

"I'll keep that in mind." Carric's voice trailed off as he hopped the fence and went out a few yards. Jun instructed the rest of them to keep setting up camp.

Lia followed Carric. She came up beside the Ranger. "What's going on?"

He shook his head, unsure. "I don't know. Something feels off, but I can't put my finger on it. Got any druid tricks that could help?"

"Maybe." Lia held her staff out in front of her, closed her eyes, and concentrated on the tendrils of nature magic that was all around her. She ignored the soft green tendrils that peeked out from under the snow at her feet, and instead focused on the various blues that twisted around on the wind. She grabbed one and let it carry her up, up into the sky.

In the skies, the tendrils of blue twisted in and around the grey clouds. Lia felt the tingle of energy as she was pulled through them, but more so than that, she felt the shock of cold air that was held in pockets of rain clouds. She felt the anticipation of the storm as it waited for the right moment to drop its icy cargo.

With a gasp Lia let go of the tendril and allowed herself to fall back into her body. She wavered unsteadily, and Carric reached out.

"What's the verdict?" He asked. The look on her face already told him it was gonna be bad.

She shivered and tried to wipe off non-existent ice spots from her arms. "It's an ice storm, and it's going to start soon."

Carric cursed. "How soon?"

"Within the next hour or two." She stated. The two of them shared tense looks. They both knew how dangerous an ice storm could be, and they were both painfully aware in that moment of how unprepared they were.

"Should we make a break for those trees?" Lia pointed towards the small group a mile away.

"No," Carric reached up and ran a hand down his face. "No, it's getting darker by the minute, and we're already wasting time here that we could use setting up. Let's just stay here and pray for the best." Carric and Lia quickly jogged back to the group.

"What's the word?" Jun asked once the duo reached them. The air temperature around them had taken a noticeable nosedive.

"Ice storm." Lia answered as Carric went to inspecting their small camp site.

"Listen up." Carric's tone left no room for argument. "We don't have a lot of time, so follow my orders to the letter." It took them two hours to set up their shelter for the storm. Halfway in the rain started, freezing into ice after a couple of seconds of hitting the ground.

Lia changed into Bitey, and then she and Jun worked to dig out a hovel beneath the cart. Whenever they encountered a frozen patch, Ander shot it with a fire burst from the tip of his finger. Iados ran around the cart with a copper bowl filled with dirt as he attempted to bury the cart in a bid to keep it from being blown away. Ander held his circumluci under one arm, providing light for Jun and Lia. One of Kerri's buttons on her blouse, and a scarf tied around Carric's forearm were also illuminated thanks to Elaine. Carric had them overturn the cart alongside the stone fence. Kerri, and Elaine worked to cover it with one of the canvas tents in a vain attempt to protect the wood from the ice.

He himself unlatched the horse from the cart, and the two of them had a quick chat. With a panicked toss of its head, the horse made a mad dash away from the group and towards the copse of trees that Lia had pointed towards earlier. Shomma stayed curled up in Carric's pack.

The cold was biting as the wind ripped through them. Every water droplet on their skin felt like a needle that was being pressed into them. It didn't take long for the visibility around them to worsen to the point that all they could see was each other. There hadn't been much to look at before, but now it was impossible to see beyond the stone fence.

After laying down another stretch of canvas on the bottom of their hovel, the seven of them piled in. Lia and Elaine's shields were used to hole up the entrance. It was an extremely tight fit as they wedged themselves in. It was going to be a long night.

"How long do you think the storm is going to last?" Jun twisted around, trying to find a more comfortable position. He was pretty sure there was a rock lodged under his butt.

"Most of the night." Lia answered as she wedged her staff into the dirt, another barrier between the shields and the storm. "Hopefully the icy rain won't last long."

"And if it does?" Elaine was perhaps the most awkward of everyone, as she was still in her chain mail. Shomma climbed out of Carric's shirt, and instead inserted herself right under his chin.

"We'll have to dig ourselves out, or be trapped for a while." Carric unfurled his bedroll, and everyone else followed suit. The air in the hovel was comfortable, but they could all feel the chill from the outside begin to creep in. Within a few minutes bedrolls and winter blankets alike were out and wrapped cocoon-like around them all.

The only light source they had was the circumluci that hovered against the bottom of the cart, Elaine's light spells flickering out after about an hour. The artifact shook as the icy rain pounded on the wood above.

Lia conjured some green and blue berries in her hand and handed one to each person. "We should eat."

Kerri inspected the small berry. "Thanks, but I doubt I'm going to fill up on one berry." Jun, Iados, and Carric wasted no time in gobbling down theirs.

"Just eat it." Elaine reached over and popped her berry into Kerri's open mouth.

Kerri's eyes widened in shock, and she reflexively bit down on the surprisingly juicy morsel. After a few seconds, Kerri felt her hunger vanish, and it was like she'd just ingested a full-course meal. Elaine ate Kerri's berry.

"What kind of berry was that?" Kerri was in shock. She looked over and saw Carric feed one to Shomma.

Lia smiled and quickly ate her own berry. "Just a bit of nature magic. I don't recommend eating them all the time, but they're a good substitute in a pinch."

"Why not? We don't even need rations if you've got those." Kerri grinned and settled back against the earthen wall. She tried to stretch out her legs, but she ended up kicking Ander.

"If you eat them for too long they'll kill your taste buds, not to mention the mess they make of your digestive system." Lia explained as she leaned her head against Iados's shoulder.

"So Carric," Ander started. "I thought you were supposed to be the nature guy."

"I am," Carric was suspicious of where this was going.

"Then why did we get stuck in this storm?" The halfling got partially distracted as he tried to blow an unruly strand of hair out of his face.

Carric sighed. "This storm came out of nowhere. That's the problem with being anywhere near a coast, the weather can be quick and unpredictable."

"Was an ice storm a possibility?"

"Yes," Carric raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you getting at?"

Ander crossed his arms. "Shouldn't we have been a bit more prepared for this? Or was an overturned cart the extent of your preparedness?"

The half-elf sighed heavily. "For your information, I don't travel during winter for this exact reason. I stay in one place and wait for spring."

The wizard huffed. "If you're not used to it, then why didn't you prepare better?"

"Why don't you have any spells or magic items that provide actual shelter and heat? Or is that glowing ball and your little spurts of fire the extent of your contributions?" Carric shot back at the halfling. Ander opened his mouth to say something, but Carric held up a hand. "Also, if you hadn't noticed, the monastery wasn't exactly swimming in extra supplies. I was hoping that we'd make it to Yeabrook before we hit any real weather."

"How much farther is it to Yeabrook?" Lia interjected.

"Another three days at least, probably more now with the weather." Carric yawned. "We should all try to get some rest."

No one got much restful sleep that night. The battering of the ice above them, and the increasing creaks of the cart as it was frozen over haunted their dreams. On her watch, Kerri brought out her lute and sang a song of sunshine and warmth.

The next morning, everyone was cold, tired, sore, but thankfully not hungry. Outside the icy rain had stopped and the morning sun shined down. It took a bit of strong arming to wrench the frozen over shields away from the hole. One by one they all crawled out into the brisk cold air.

The first thing Carric did after hastily relieving himself on the other side of the wall, was to spend a few minutes studying the sky. Clouds still floated by, but at a much more leisurely pace and thankfully they were fluffy white and not storm grey.

Lia closed her eyes and attempted to connect to the air again like she'd done the previous night, but she couldn't make the connection stick this time.

In the meantime, the rest of them went to work on digging out the wagon. The canvas on top of it tore and fell apart in their hands as they removed it. The wood was dotted with little pinpricks all over its underside and wheels. Very carefully they worked at chipping the ice away.

For a few moments the only sounds to be heard was the pounding of dagger hilts or rocks against the ice. Suddenly, Kerri began to chuckle to herself.

"What's so funny?" Iados asked in between breaths as he unburied the wagon wheels with Lia's shield.

"I was just remembering our first fight as a group." Kerri leaned against the cart. "When we got ambushed by those bandits while we checked out a cart."

Iados paused for a minute. "Oh yeah. Man that seems like forever ago."

"Thankfully it doesn't seem like history's going to repeat itself." The two of them shared a grin and went back to work. Half an hour later the cart was right back up. Amazingly, all the damage it'd taken in the storm was cosmetic.

"Well, we've got a cart again." Jun patted the side of it. "What do you think the chances are we'll get the horse back?"

"No idea, but we've got other concerns." Carric pointed out, where a group of riders could be seen coming their way.

Lia stood in the back of the cart. "More merchants?"

"No idea, guess we'll find out when they get here. Not much we can do to avoid it." Carric wandered over to his gear. No one else had any other ideas, so they settled down to wait. Ander, Lia, and Elaine studied spells, while Kerri and Iados tried to convince Jun that he should pull the cart. Carric sat in the driver's seat with Shomma, his bow ready at his feet.

It took the new group close to an hour to reach them. The closer they got, the more apparent it was that they were not merchants. There were six of them, and seven horses, all dressed in heavy cloaks and helms.

"Hail!" One of the figures called as they approached the group.

"Hail." Jun stepped forward and met them. "What brings you this way?"

The dark-skinned man leaned forward in his saddle. He was larger in build than his compatriots, and had deep yellow canine teeth jutting out of his jaw. When he spoke, his voice was deep and had a guttural quality to it. "Strangest thing happened last night. Out of the icy blackness of the storm, came a horse." The man gestured to the rider less horse they'd brought with them.

All of Mellow Andromeda recognized it as the horse Carric had set free the night before.

"Well, it seems you've done us a service." Jun laughed and settled his hands on his waist, where his warhammer was slung. "He ran away from us during the storm. Thank you for returning him." Jun took a step towards the horse. The man holding its reins pulled it back.

"Now, I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement." The Leader grinned. "You seem like decent folk."

"What kind of arrangement?" Kerri called out. The Leader didn't look at her. He didn't even acknowledge that he'd heard her. He just continued to stare at Jun.

"What kind of arrangement?" Jun repeated.

This time The Leader smiled. "Give us the cart and all your gear, and we'll let you stumble on back to Esterwill."

Kerri scoffed.

This time, The Leader did look at her.

"Is something the matter? I thought I was being generous." The Leader's tone had a decidedly not friendly tone as he addressed the female bard.

"I'm trying to decide how much your mother must have dropped you on your head as an infant." Kerri informed him as she sauntered up next to Jun.

The Leader leaned back. "Why would you stretch your little brain wondering about that?"

Kerri rolled her eyes. "Because only a brain damaged idiot would look at our group, or hell would look at Jun, and think that ludicrous offer would actually be accepted."

The Leader's eyes narrowed, and he got off his horse. He marched right up to Kerri. Jun stuck out an arm and stopped his progress when he was a few feet away from her. "Now listen here, wench." His tone was serious and anger flared in his eyes. "All I see are three females, a half-man, and their hired help." He turned his gaze to Jun. "I highly suggest you shut her up, before I do." The men still on horses began to snicker.

Jun smiled, lowered his arm, and took a few steps back. "Kerri, I trust you can get him out of your face?"

"Absolutely." Kerri grinned, stepped right into the Leader's personal space.

She gathered up the vibrations of the natural world around her, and in one flourish released it as a single wave that radiated out from her. A crack rang in the air as the wave washed over the large man in front of her. The helm was knocked off the leader's balding head, but he stayed standing.

Kerri gulped as the man glowered down at her. She backed off and ducked behind Jun. "Well, that was supposed to be a lot more impressive. Your turn."

With a roll of his eyes, Jun unlatched his warhammer. He took a step towards the bandit Leader. "Listen, just leave. There's really no reason for all this."

The Leader let out of a deep guttural growl. "Maybe, but first hand that wench over. She needs to learn some respect."

Jun looked over at Kerri, who shrugged sheepishly. He sighed, and turned back. "Not gonna happen."

"Good, cause now I'm itching for a good fight." The Leader smiled, showing off his large and pointy teeth. Jun was pretty sure this man had orc blood somewhere in his family tree. The large half-orc pulled out a battered longsword from a scabbard at his waist. Behind him, the rest of the bandits dismounted and pulled out their own well-worn scimitars.

The small audience in and around the cart readied their own weapons.

The Leader launched first with two swings of his sword towards Jun's head. Jun managed to block and dodge both, but missed the sudden dagger that was pulled. The dagger came up and tore through his sleeve, thankfully missing his skin.

Behind them, Kerri clapped her hands and sang out for her champion.

"He may be big,

And a little green,

But he's a pig,

And you're a dean!"

The last line missed a few beats of the rhythm as Kerri scrambled to find an appropriate rhyme.

One of the bandit's who was wearing a coat, one that seemed to have been made out of three different coats and stitched together, moved to back up his Leader. Elaine reached out a hand and began to recite words under her breath. The holy symbol around her wrist glowed, before a bead of light flashed from it. The light rocketed towards the Tri-Coat bandit, and stopped just in front of him as it materialized into a golden mace. He was still in shock over this sight when the mace thumped him heavily in the head, sending him face-first into the snow.

Oblivious to the encounter behind them, the two men continued their own fight. The half-orc was faster on his feet than his large frame would lead one to believe. Ordinarily this would be an advantage in a fight, but the same could be said of many of the berserkers Jun trained with in the Silver Rise Mountains. Nearly every blow was traded back and forth. The two opponents were locked in a standstill. Their exhausted pants and cries of attack were louder than the snow that crunched underfoot.

At one point, the Leader lost his grip on his dagger, and it flew out. As it sailed past Kerri, she whistled.

"Wow, did you mean to dip your hands in butter this morning?" She mocked. The Leader winced as the magic laced words pounded into his mind.

Jun went a verta-kochen, and landed a devastating hit to the Leader's midsection. The white light that accompanied the blow nearly blinded the Leader as he was forced to his knees from the pain. Something had broken.

Back at the cart, Ander had just one question as four of the Bandits headed their way. "Are we killing them?"

"Probably not," Carric stood in the driver's seat and fired an arrow into the shoulder of the closest enemy.

"In that case I'll just leave it to you guys." Ander scrambled down below the lip of the cart, curled up out of sight.

Lia cast a worried look down at the halfling. "Do you want to kill them?" She stretched her staff towards the feet of two bandits. Instantly the snow under their feet melted into a muddy mess. The bandits nearly slipped.

"No, it's just that all of my combat spells are fire-based right now, for obvious reasons." Ander pointed towards the snow around them. "If I use them, these guys would probably die, and if that's not the goal then I'd rather not waste them, the spells I mean."

"Makes sense to me." Iados shrugged and dropped out of the wagon. "Besides, we don't need magic to deal with these bozos." He bounded towards the bandit Carric had pierced with an arrow. He reached down and sliced into the back of the man's leg with his sword. The bandit yelled and fell to his knees, where the akudaem then knocked him unconscious with a swift kick to the head. He looked over his shoulder at his significant other. "By the way, where was that snow-melting spell last night?"

Lia clambered over the side of the cart. "I didn't have it last night."

"Why are you lot so talkative? You know this is a fight, right?" A mustachioed bandit asked as he swung his scimitar towards Iados. "For the record, we have no problem with no killing you."

Iados blocked the bandit's arm with his own. "My girlfriend's got me working on communication." Just as he reached out to strike, a familiar voice sang at him.

"One at your feet,

Two on your tail,

Give out a bleat,

And send em' to jail!"

Iados gritted his teeth. They seriously needed to sit down talk with her about her word choice. Nevertheless, he felt a surge of energy wash over him as he sliced a line up the bandit's arm with his sword. Bolstered, he attempted to kick his opponent in the gut, but the bandit scrambled backwards just enough to dodge the attack.

The bandit sneered at Iados. Anger was written all over his face. Iados couldn't decide if it was from the wounds he'd just sustained, or the fact that his group didn't feel threatened by these idiots. As if to prove a point, a second bandit sidled up to his to mustachioed comrade and attempted to help. He was thwarted when a thorny vine whipped out, caught him around the ankle, and jerked him away from the combat. He landed on his back with a hard thud and slid on the cold ice towards the druid. Elaine met him halfway, a crossbow aimed at his head.

Carric was pulled from his perch by a bandit. He wasn't alone on the ground for long as he knocked the bandits knee and brought him tumbling down. The two combatants wrestled for a couple of minutes in the cold snow, until Carric came out on top with his opponent in a choke hold.

Mr. Tri-Coat, after shakily coming to his feet, attempted to fight back against the translucent mace. His weapon had no effect on it. Elaine spared barely a glance in that direction before she commanded the mace to attack him once again. This time, the man stayed down.

The Leader got back up to his feet, his forehead beaded in sweat.

Ander peeked over the side of the cart. The palm of his hand lit up as he murmured an incantation under his breath. Three bluish/green darts erupted from his palm, embedding themselves in the Leader's back. He grunted and was forced back onto his knees.

The mustachioed bandit took a second to take in his surroundings. Two, no three of his companions were unconscious. He watched Carric stand up. A fourth was held at crossbow-point, and already the little half-man in the cart was readying another spell.

"Boss, it's over." He called out as he dropped his scimitar behind him and held up his hands in surrender.

'Boss' spared a glance over his shoulder, and saw the state of his men. He looked up, and Jun glared down at him.

"I'd listen to him." Jun's voice was deep, and his eyes narrow as the verta-kochen still coursed through his body. Gone was the exhaustion of their earlier fight, Jun was ready to take this fight to the grave.

The half-orc yelled as he punched the ground in front of him, and he surrendered.

Mellow Andromeda stripped the bandits of their weapons and stowed them in their cart. Elaine tended to the bandits wounds, but only enough to make sure no one would die. With Carric driving the cart, and everyone else on the bandit's horses, the group set off once again for Yeabrook.

The bandits were left in the snow with a handful of berries, and forced to find their own way back to Esterwill.