EntQuest, the Battle for Hector.

[Grey_Wolf]

Sir Gw, being a pracitising magician, opens a portal and slings the monster into it with a excellent throw of his lasso, which had landed around its tentacles.

And, THEN, the whole Gang may follow Sis NORTH!

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Originally Posted by Grey_Wolf

Sir Gw, being a pracitising magician, opens a portal and slings the monster into it with a excellent throw of his lasso, which had landed around its tentacles.

And, THEN, the whole Gang may follow Sis NORTH!

Sis, pelting pell mell into the drenched forest, all but ran Grey Wolf down. He was having another one of his seizures, sitting rigid on his horse in the downpour.

"I don't have time for this," she muttered grimly. She signed to the nearest bandito. "Take his horse in tow, and if you get any guff from either of them, truss him like a turkey and throw him across a pommel, somewhere. He may struggle, when he comes to, but be firm."

The bandito grinned piratically. "Firm", he could do.

The flight north continued.

[Grey_Wolf]

Sir Gw after having closed the portal and let the monster go, told the bandito:

"I was only trying to help you guys, but if you want the monster to have a go at you, be my guest."

[The last sane person]

Regardless of Wolfe's fear inspired delusions, after catching an aweful eyefull of that...Thing.... The whole troop of would-be heros, tired soldiers and everything else in between boogied their asses out of there PRONTO. Sane and Nautipus being treated to the royal view of the monster from the depths were fairing none too great for being bumped and jostled and dirt covered as their travioses kicked up dirt and had mud splattered on them from the horse's hooves.

Every rider with heels was urging their wobbly legged mounts to go their all; and the horses were doing their best to comply even with the quaking earth beneath them and fear running through them. Amidst all the tulmut, Sane and Naughty shared a glance at one another; both being painfully awake by now. She shouted over to her comrade in blood drenched arms;

"Well, I'll be damned if I live a day Naughty! What the hell did you DO in that water to make him so upset? No coffee afore swimmin for YOU anymore, eh mate?" Bloodsoaked and exhausted she flashed him a grin. "Hell mate..." She was near wobbled out of her litter as the horse she was hitched to nearly fell over "Woopfh! Hah! Hahaha! Piss'n'vinegar mates! Piss'n'vinegar! What a ride this is turning out to be!" She started to laugh aloud at their predicament as they hauled ass away from this latest mess they made.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

The path was narrow but discernable, Sis galloped down it. The good stone supported them, she dared to hope they were on a spur of the Kings road.

Soon the roaring of rock and beast behind them faded a bit, and it even seemed the rain was letting up. Her wounds bothered her, but she had complete faith in Nestor, who chose his footing carefully.

It was a long hellish ride for the wounded troop.

[tolkienfan]

Tfan galloped along with the rest of the group, doing her best to keep an eye on Sane and Nautipus in case the beast got too close. What she would do in that case she didn't know.
Tfan felt her horse tiring with the challenging ride while carrying two, but it seemed the beast was falling behind.

[hectorberlioz]

Hector, still riding with Tfan, peered from behind her back to try and see what was going on with the water beast that had risen from the depths.

"We should move under those rocks for now," said Hector, pointing to a high overhanging rock a few yards to their right. "We need to wait out this rain! Let's call everyone to stop."

[Grey_Wolf]

Sir Gw looked back to check that the travois was still bound securily to his sturdy warhorse - and it was.

[tolkienfan]

Tfan was unsure that it was safe to stop, but also unsure it was safe to push the group and the horses any farther. She rode to the head of the group and shouted to Sis and the rest, "Hector spotted some shelter! Should we take cover?"

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Sis smiled encouragingly at tfan.

"I have a fixed policy of avoiding caves during earth tremors " she shouted. "I think the rain is letting up, and if my guess is right, we're only a bit away from thr King's Road, which ought to have a little shelter on it. Hang in, hon."

The dogged crew continued North.

[hectorberlioz]

Hector, attempting to stay on tthe horse, gave out a long sigh. It seemed as if this try to disenchant him would take forever. Never before had he experienced such an acute sense of mal-being. What he wouldn't give for a warm bath and a nice blanket! Suddenly, his mental state went into overdrive and he started crying. "Whhhaaaaaaaaa!"

[tolkienfan]

"Just hold on Hector," Tfan shouted. "Sis said we're close to the King's Road. Don't let go yet." She fervently hoped he would stop crying soon, she didn't want to deal with hysterics.

[Mari]

Mari was in the rear on Aeran's back, keeping an eye out for her patients. When Hector burst out in hysterics she motioned for Aeran to run up to Tfan. She couldn't get too close because that would scare the horse, but from where she sat she yelled to Hector: "Hector stop your wailing! You are scaring the horses and they are scared enough what with that giant beastie behind us and all! We'll get to a safe spot soon enough and you can get some food and sleep then."
Her expression softened a bit and she shot Tfan an encouraging look before getting back to her original place.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Completely out of the reach, and even the sound, of the trapped and frustrated behemoth, the group entered a part of the forest where the light was filtered through high beeches. The rain had stopped. Their tired mounts slowed and they cantered along pretty easily, which the wounded, particularly, appreciated.

Many of them were wounded, of course. The quest which had started so lightly had had more serious moments than they had bargained for. Sir GW, always ready to help, cantered up to where Siscuz and Mari were having a quiet discussion.

"How can I help, ladies? " he asked politely.

Siscuz smiled at him gratefully. "I think we are about ready for a good rest and rearrangement. Could you go find us some small game and a clean watersource, not too far off the trail? We sent the remaining banditos out to scout the perimeter, so use the recognition signal, but you're our best provider. By my best guess we're only a couple of miles off the road, so I thought we'd meet there."

Sis glanced back at Mari, who was quietly restoring something to her pack. "Does that cover it, you think? "

[Mari]

"Yes I think so. I would like to give Sane and especially Nauti some more time to recover though. I'm worried about their wounds and I haven't had much time to look at Nauti's wounds. It would be great if Katt could do some healing, but apparently she can't take on big jobs without needing to recharge for quite a while."
She looked thoughtful.
"Someday you'll have to tell me what happened down there. But for now lets make a round and get some rest. Don't forget about your own wounds now!"

Mari smiled at Sis, happy that she and the others had made it back out alive. As Sis made to move away, Mari called her back while holding out one of the branded hazelnuts that had survived: "Welcome back Sis. Nut?"

[Grey_Wolf]

Sir Gw rode off to find good clean water and some small game, seeing to his little hunting horn, in case a recognition signal was necessary.

[hectorberlioz]

Hector, not being comforted by Mari's stern reprimands, dozed off. He had previously strapped himself to the saddle to avoid falling off.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

Hector, not being comforted by Mari's stern reprimands, dozed off. He had previously strapped himself to the saddle to avoid falling off.

And not at ALL because bondage was just a big part of his lifestyle.

[Grey_Wolf]

Sir GW soon found burrow where he scared up some coneys which he easily picked off with his expert bowmanship. He then went to nearest lake and filled all of the Gangs waterbottles.

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

Sas streched and yawned. "That was fun." he said sarcastically. "We should do that more often."