Early the next morning we were back on the trail. I was sharpening my sword when willow looked curiously in my direction, "I just remembered, Mr.Crowfeather, you never gave us your story, nor told us if you've, you know." I stopped and took a moment to understand what she was trying to say, "Oh you mean...oh." I put my sword away and sat up like the others in the back of the cart sat near me to see what I have to say, "Well, to begin with…" I told them about my story so far, including the only relationships I had, all the way up to this point. "And with either of those girls have you ever...spent the night together?" "Well, not with the first girl, we were far too young for that. Imani, however, nights with her, were magical. She had a very pear-shaped figure, thick thighs, beautifully dark brown skin, in all honesty, I remember her better from behind than from the front." I heard a few short chuckles from the others as I continued my description, "Let me see, she also had soft, very curly dark brown, almost black, hair. All that, and the most gorgeous pair of brown eyes anyone had ever seen." I leaned back against my belongings, placing my hands behind my head, "There was one night in particular that I remember.
I don't remember too many of the more, finite details, but I should let you know, it was one of the best nights I've ever had. It was pouring rain outside, the sky was dark and thunder and lightning roamed the sky." Everyone leaned in, clearly interested, "Imani was only wearing a dark purple silk robe as she lit candles and incense. I was already lying in bed, simply waiting for her to join me and sleep the night away, however, that's not what she planned. It was a relatively dark room, yet it seemed to glow with dimly lit shades of purple. She climbed on top of me, kissed me then the next thing I knew, the sound of heavy breathing filled the air, gasping, moaning, and finally the sound of thunder and a flash of lightning. Just like that, it was over. I'd do it again but I'm afraid she'll try to experiment with her curses on me again." Oloric chuckled at my joke as we continued for the next few days.
About three days have passed without too much happening, we'd stop on the side of the road and we'd all keep watch as we set up camp. One night, while I was on watch I couldn't help but remember back to the days when Gala used to take care of me and helped me get back home. I felt something within me fill my chest, it couldn't have been fear, and it wasn't sorrow or sadness, no it was hatred. Though my time with her was short, Gala had treated me like I was her own and I loved her as if she were my mother. To think some bastards just took her away, who knows what they've done to her, even if they didn't do anything, I'd still end their lives without a second thought. She deserves better than to have been kidnapped and taken for ransom. "I'll find you Gala. I promise." I looked up into the stars as the embers from the fire drifted into the night sky.
We had finally arrived at where the scene had happened. We unhitched the horses and tied them to a nearby tree with enough room to roam around and eat the grass. We gathered our supplies and belongings and stared at the scene before us. The carriage was in shambles, we were given a drawing of what it used to look like, it even came with labeled areas, the carriage, before it became this destroyed mess on the roadside was once a beautifully made carriage, the wood was amazingly carved and painted white with bits of a golden yellow and a dark blue. What laid before us was, simply put, a disaster, the wheels were shattered, much of it was set on fire, and in areas where it wasn't burned or destroyed, there was a splatter of blood, likely from the guards trying to protect the carriage. "Crying shame what happened to these lads." "Indeed, best not dwell on it too long, who knows what they might be doing to the poor lady," Atlan said, I didn't want to think about it but he had a point, Gala is a tough woman, she's an Ulfguardian, but I can't help but think what she's had to go through, what if they beat her? What if they lashed her? What if they…? I shook my head and got those ideas out of my mind, I reminded myself how strong and unrelenting she was.
She wouldn't let anything like that happen, and if it did, she'd endure. We made our way over to the hill that would lead us to the clearing, "Let's get a move on." Willow said, beginning to climb up the steep hill without any sort of hesitation. We all shrugged and made our way up.
About a day and a half into our journey throughout this terrain full of large stones embedded into the dirt and surrounded by never-ending trees, we found what looked to be the makings of an old watchtower, "Let's rest up here, best save our strength for when we finally arrive." Oloric said setting down his large pack of supplies, "I'll gather some firewood, it's getting cold." Kara said heading into the woods, "I'll join her in case there's trouble." Willow stated the following behind Kara. I stayed behind with Atlan setting up tents, clouds began to gather, it's likely it was going to rain again. Once we got the fire going we heard thunder in the distance, a definite sign of rain. "I'll take the first watch. You should all get some sleep. We're almost done here anyway." They all nodded and got in their tents. I took out one of my daggers and listened closely for anything that would likely sneak up on us. About an hour had passed and nothing happened other than a gentle rain starting. I woke Oloric to take the next watch as I laid down to get some sleep. Tomorrow morning my blades would taste blood.
Another half-day into the journey, we finally arrived at the clearing where Gala was last seen. Kara put her ranger skills to work as she inspected the surrounding area. She noticed that there were signs of a struggle, she led us through a small pathway that led us to a cave within a large hill, "Who goes in first?" I asked, Willow walked up quietly behind me, "I'll go in, check for any traps and such then come back and let you know what I saw." We all had our hands on our weapons in case we needed them. About 15 minutes passed and she came back, "I saw what I could, it's a relatively small cave, no traps of any kind, guessing they don't plan on other people other than themselves from coming in." "How many did you see?" Kara asked, "About six or seven, there might be more, I heard that they might have our target in another area of the cave, so we might have to deal with a few others, where you enter the cave there are to of them standing guard facing the opposite direction, probably best for a stealth takedown, better to not alert them right away and start some sort of scuffle with the lot of them." we all nodded and followed her lead.
We came to the point where the two guards were, I looked over at Kara and motioned for her to take the one on the left side while I took out the one from the right. We snuck as close as we possibly could, and in an instant, we both stuck our daggers into their throats and dragged them deep into the dark area of the cave. However, as the others moved on, from the little light provided I looked over these thug's gear, it was elegant yet simple, and practical, there were large areas in the chest and legs that had a purple or blue cloth, and the symbol on the chest seemed familiar, it looked like a crow or raven in the shape of a crescent moon with an elegant dagger in its back. "Crowfeather, let's go." I ripped the patch off the chest and continued onward into the cave, there we found the area where they held Gala, she seemed to be unconscious and tied to a stalagmite, There was no one around but the others surrounded her as Kara cut the ropes to free her and I tried to wake her up, she had a large bruise on her left cheek and a black eye, "Gala, Gala talk to me." I loudly whispered, As she was freed I heard a relieved gasp, "Sweet little Shane, my how you've grown up, what took you so long?"