Goldy fussed into the much larger group, it consisted mainly of sword and spearmen with only one mage amongst them and his gem was depleted. I sent a bright flare into the sky hoping others could find us and a few made their way back to us. Then made my way to the center were the wounded would be taken.
Upon making it to the wounded Goldy instantly started to heal them, her actions seemed to snap the mage back into motion. He slipped a gem in his staff and begin to help first by igniting lightball spells and then healing. All together their was close to 30 survivors in this group.
As soon as we got the injured healed enough to walk we started moving back towards the camp using a trace spell. Finally we struggled back into the camp and all were corralled towards the medical area. I begin to quickly and frantically look around for Eric but he was not in our group. In fact none of my party members were present.
When I went back to the entrance and asked around about any other survivors I was then informed that no one else had returned yet. I instantly ran for our area just to check but no one was there so I grabbed some extra gems and went back towards the front entrance.
When Goldy arrived there were many who were asking to go out to look for their lost companions. However the Commander's personnel guards were blocking the entrance forbidding everyone from leaving. Goldy could heard something about not wanting any more to die in vain and to be patient for their return.
Goldy knew that even their group would not have made it back without that trace spell and very few could cast it. There was no way she could just sit and wait when her every instinct was to go and that Eric was in dire need. She stepped back into the darkness of a nearby corner and cast a conceal and hide spell.
It worked well with animals with normal or no sense of smell but not on beast so most did not learn it nowadays. As soon as the rest finally left she was able to silently slip out the entranceway. It was now night time and still the storm raged on but the wind and rain seemed lighter.
She sent out her trace spell using a piece of Eric's hair and with the stealth of a lone wolf slipped quietly into the night. Goldy found that he was quite a distance away even going as fast as she could it was near on a hour and a half till she come across some bodies that were lacerated so badly she could not tell who they had been.
The lake was only about 50 feet from her current position if her mental map was right. Goldy searched each body till she knew for sure it was not Eric. Finally she left the last body to continue on the trace line until it veered off towards a tallest cliffside. She had to use a morphing spell to change her hands into claws to climb upward, scaling its rocky surface.
Goldy found several large claw marks from one of the beast following him. Mage blast marks scotches marks showed their battle as they went upward. Finally she saw were a large amount of blood plastered the wall even the rain had not washed it all away yet. She prayed it was the beast.
As she finally reached the peak of the clifftop and pulled herself over it she was exhausted and rolled to her back. After a few minutes she felt something stabbing into her back, as she turned Goldy discover that it was fragments from a chewed on staff. Not far from it laid a partially chewed head, it's one remaining eye looked familiar. It was one of Melissa companions, the one who had rudely mocked her at their first meeting.
Goldy could not even feel pity because her brain had mostly shut down her emotion center as a form of protection and could only concentrate on finding Eric. As she continued to lay there to gain enough energy to go on with her search, a sniffing noise off to the left of the head could be heard.
After a few more minutes a rat came forward to me it's cheeks stuffed full happily eating, it was a good sign that the beast were not close. I signaled it to approach me and bartered a piece of cheese for rumors. He told me of the bodies he found, how the water beast were dragging them into the lake to store them to eat.
It took a while but finally he told me where a few live ones were dying nearby inside a crack in the land. By morning he figured they be dead to and become food for the rest then bid me farewell. He even picked up something from the ground nearby which I tried my best to ignore.
With this bit of encouraging news I pulled my self up once more and continued my trip with at least a little hope to find someone alive. About 1000 feet away I almost fell into the crevasse myself, it was as he described a large crack in the land that extended downward about 100 feet.
I heard slight moaning coming from within, so hastened to the largest tree I could find to prepare a rope to use in a rescue. Once secured I slowly lower myself downward into complete darkness based on the words of a rat. Finally my foot touch someone and their scream just about caused me to loose hold of the rope. I had found someone and then the wind carried the scent of Eric and blood to my nose.
Goldy had found him and her heart leapt and she suddenly realized how much she loved him. More then her own or anyone else his presence in this world was what she lived for and made her life have meaning. Goldy realized she was not his sister but wanted to be so much more.
The one she stepped on was a man named Grant and he come from the neighboring West kingdom he was a strong swordsman but wiry instead of massive. He groaned as I calmed him then slowly came in behind his back which had multiple large laceration across it. Blood was slowly seeping out and I knew he was approaching death so I said the healing prayer.
However this time I could not control my powers because of my emotional turmoil and so my healing extended outward and found four more bodies. The energy told me of their grievous wounds and my heart gem instantly responded shouting us in a prismatic light show which compounded my healing efforts.
Bones cracked back in place, wounds that were festering expelled the pollutants and mending back to normal. muscles bonded, ligaments knitted back to normal. Even Eric who had his stomach open up and one whole leg and arm almost sliced off was almost instantly healed.
All of it happened within a ten minute time period and by the time it was done all including Goldy fell into a healing stupor. They would not wake till almost eight hours later when a very sad Arch discovered their trail on his way to find food. He was amazed not only to find people but also to find them in a healing circle.