It didn't take long for everyone to gather in our not so secret hideout once more. Kaele had scrounged up some more herbs, the little girl returned with fresh water and my saviors brought some meat. They hadn't brought the whole sheep, focusing on some choice cuts instead. “We don't have time to roast a whole animal. Never mind two. They will send soldiers to investigate if their foragers are late to return.” What the young Darkelf said made sense. He and his gorgon companion had brought more than enough for everyone anyway. We had a nice fire going by the time they got here as well. This time even with real fire wood and not just smashed furniture, thanks to Ad'zan, the little boy.

“Save some for us.” The Gorgon pulled her companion back outside once they dropped the meat of with us. I wasn't entirely sure what they were up to but if I had to guess, I'd say that they were probably looting our downed enemies. It was what I would have done if I had been in any shape to. Instead I just sat there and let my sister take care of my injuries. We didn't have any strong spirits to properly clean the countless cuts. We didn't have clean bandages either. Instead she just liberally applied some blueish paste, that contained ground bark of the wisp willow as well as some other herbs, to them. I had no clue about the other herbs but I knew that wisp willow was used to treat open wounds.

In the past warriors would even paint heir bodies with the blue stuff before going into battle as a precaution. Sitting there sans my armor I might just look a little like one of them. Except I wasn't painted in fancy, traditional patterns. I probably looked more like a piece of abstract art. I could only hope that it really worked and was not just some superstition. In the meantime Eld'tide and the two children took care of the meat, pushing the glowing coals aside a little to place it right on the hot stones of the hearth. Some ash would get on it inevitably but I didn't mind. Sheep wasn't one of my favorites but right now the sizzling and the smell was probably the only thing keeping me from passing out. As I let my mind wander it returned to one of the thoughts I had just had. What the hell was abstract art?

I couldn't quite recall it. The idea remained fuzzy, more a general impression than a real memory. Well, whatever, if it resembled me in my current state in any way, it probably wasn't anything to look at. I barely even felt Kaele draw upon the ambient Mana as she cast her healing spell upon me. “Regeneration!” I sighed, closed my eyes halfway and leaned against her as she finished and the by now all too familiar feverish rush washed over me. It wasn't quite as strong as in the past when she had cast the spell on me. She had to be exhausted as well after that barrage of magic missiles she had unleashed during the fight. She patted my back, taking great care not to touch any of the numerous small wounds she had just been tending. “Don't worry. Just rest up a little. I will feed you some once the meat is done.”

Being treated like a little child like that was a little embarrassing but I just nodded. Protesting would have been pointless anyway. I wished I could have gotten some real sleep but that wasn't an option. I had no idea if the others would have been able to rouse me again in time to get moving if I had closed my eyes and dozed off for real. I drank some water as Kaele put one of the refilled water skins to my lips. The sweet wine from last night had been better, but at least the water was fresh, cool and clean. It rekindled my spirits even if just a little. I looked around at our motley little group. Two children, my sister and our best friends. And two of us were in no shape to fight. Just moving, leaving this place for another hideout of one sort or another would be a challenge.

Just then our two new acquaintances returned. They sniffed the air in anticipation as they entered, climbing across the barricaded entrance. They bore two crossbows and a number of quivers each. They had gathered up some of the other weapons as well. The young woman even handed my hunting knife back to me. “I am Kor'za and my companion is Kivilan.” The children seemed not worried about their presence. They probably knew them. “We were out hunting when the raiders came down from the mountains. We hid until they passed us by.” She accepted a strip of juicy, hot meat as Eld'tide started handing them out to everyone in turn. I started chewing on mine as well after Kaele pretty much put it in my mouth.

She kept going while we ate. “We have a hidden camp a little deeper in the woods. I suggest we relocate there and we better get going as soon as we are done with our meal.” She paused briefly to chew another strip of meat herself. “We have some crossbows and enough ammunition for them but we are not really familiar with the weapons and right now I don't fancy our chances against another detachment of this size anyway.” She looked at Khuzan and me. “You need a chance to rest and recover before rejoining the fight. And we better get moving early because given your state you probably won't be moving fast.” She pointed at me. “We will carry you on the stretcher you have there. One of you can carry your Darkelf warrior companion on their back. The other one will take care of the children.”

I couldn't really argue with her assessment, even if I didn't very much like it. I just swallowed and nodded. There was still something worrying me. “That leaves no one to range around the group as we move. They have headhunters roaming the countryside as far as we know.” I paused briefly. “We ran into them twice so far. Once they were on their own and once they accompanied a group of human warriors.” Kor'za probably already had an inkling what I was getting at but I said it anyway. “I'm a little worried that we might run into an ambush if we have no one on the lookout for them. As a whole we aren't exactly a stealthy group.”

The Gorgon huntress just nodded. “We spotted some of them as well. They moved on to other parts of the countryside though. I guess they must have deemed this part pacified or something like that. After all they came through here in force, killing everyone who didn't get away fast enough.” She winced. “Either that or they left for better hunting grounds after exhausting these.“ That was a grim prospect. After all the headhunters of the elves from the east didn't hunt game like we did. Instead we were the game they hunted. Kor'za wasn't finished yet though. “We better cover our tracks though best we can though. After attacking their supply detachment they will probably be back to snoop us out.” Grim prospects indeed.

For a little while we continued eating in silence and once we were done with not a single scrap of meat left we got ready to get out of here. We gathered our weapons and other essentials. The children refilled our water skins once more and offered to carry their share of the assorted gear as well. I couldn't tell if they wanted to act brave or if they just wanted to appear useful. As far as I was concerned they didn't have to if it was the latter. We wouldn't leave anyone behind. I got strapped to the stretcher and Eld'tide decided to carry Khuzan on her back. Before long we were ready to go. Kaele eyed the still burning fire. I shook my head. “Don't bother. If they waste some time looking for us here, then all the better.”

Then we got going. At first we kept to the dirt paths as far as was possible. That would minimize the tracks we left. Then we moved across one of the pastures. There still were some sheep on this one. Some even came close, eyeing us with curiosity. That was good. They would help obscure our tracks at least a little. The we disappeared into the forest. We stopped every once in a while. Our new companions, Kor'za and Kivilan, and Eld'tide would double back on these occasions to obscure our tracks to the best of their abilities. We moved across a lot of rocky terrain as well. All things considered I was confident that we would be able to lose any pursuit this way. There wasn't anything I could do anyway, thus I closed my eyes to catch a little sleep.