After the odd meeting with the child Nephesh and his impatient companion Colin, Hellstrom quickly made his way back through the city to collect his belongings and secure a horse to cart supplies to allow for faster travel. If he was right then his new companions would need all the haste that could be afforded.
As he approached the others at the gate he made a hasty apology for the time it took and strapped the other two travelers bags to the horses back. After a few seconds to make sure he had everything they headed out of the north gate. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Hellstrom started asking questions. "I need a general physical description of who I’m tracking" Hellstrom begins casually.
"She's a beautiful girl.. Brown wavy hair..." Colin replied dreamily. After some explanation that quality of character an beauty do not show in a footprint, Hellstrom finally got what he needed. Not that it mattered at that particular moment. The trail was well beaten and there was no picking an individual footprint out of it. Besides it was more than likely that the target was moving in a cart or some such vehicle.
Hellstrom tried not to pay too much attention to what the other two said. After all this was not his trek they were looking for a friend they believed to be in danger. These were not his friends and as soon as the job was done he would be on his way. Hellstrom thought about the payment that had been promised and he knew that in the end he would accept no payment, He had been headed north anyways and he had no need of the money.
After a short time they picked up the pace and started moving at a quick jog. Nephesh not able to keep the pace pulled himself up on the back of the horse and smiled happily at himself. Hellstrom chuckled politely and pulled off his traveling cloak stuffing it in a pocket of his backpack. Running felt good, it had been quite some time since he had gotten the chance to really stretch out and cover some ground. After a couple hours of running Hellstrom sees something on the ground and halts. "There was a struggle here," Hellstrom says evenly as he looks at the marks on the ground where two bodies had thrashed around."Can you tell what happened?" Colin asks worriedly."Two sets of footprints enter the path from this side,” Hellstrom says hesitantly. "Orc footprints."
"What else can you tell?" Colin asks as Nephesh falls off of the horses back obviously sleeping. Hellstrom walks around the area in a circle looking at the ground some more before saying, "One set of human footsteps. Human...Female by the shape, though she’s running so I cant tell weight." The other two look at Hellstrom as if asking what to do. Hellstrom adds "Followed by two sets of Orc footprints." Hellstrom points northward and says, "They are headed in that direction, I suggest we hurry." Hellstrom says as he grabs the lead ropes of the horse and sprints off to the north.
Colin is not far behind and to Hellstrom's surprise He is carrying Nephesh on his shoulders with little strain. Not too much further down the trail the trio run into another area of struggle and once again Hellstrom sets about figuring out what happened.
"Something was dragged off the trail here." Hellstrom says as he follows something into the woods a short ways. "A body of an Orc. It’s still warm." Hellstrom yells back to the other two. Hellstrom continues to search the area for more sign of what took place as Nephesh happily bounced up to the body of the orc and pulled out a small blue stone that he starts making symbols in the air with. "What type of weapon does your friend carry?" Hellstrom asks cryptically. "I ask because I found one more burnt corpse and two that were bludgeoned to death."
Colin looks at Hellstrom for a moment thinking and finally says "You know... I haven't seen any on her.", then with another moments thought he adds "I don't think she could inflict wounds like these."
At this time Nephesh grabs Colin by the wrist pointing out the ephemeral spirit of the orc hovering over the burned corpse it recently had been liberated from. Hellstrom makes a comment about the human Male footprints interspersed with the orc and female prints before wandering off to figure out where they went.
Nephesh jots a quick note on his notepad and hands it to Colin to which he replies "Gladly." Turning to the orcish spirit Colin says bluntly, "You are dead, creature. What happened here?" The orc growls and struggles against the magic holding his essence in place over his corpse before settling and saying, "Brown man, white woman... no give me food or weapons. Brown man bring out stick." A look of hatred crosses the orc's face as Colin asks, "The white woman. Was she small and thin?""Me break her in half if let. So small. Ho'ktar crush her. But dead now." The orc responds in kind looking down again at his ruined body."The better question you should be asking is how many were in his raiding party." Hellstrom says over his shoulder to Colin before standing up and walking over to where Nephesh was concentrating over the body of the orc. "How many were in your Party Orc?" Hellstrom demands of the orc.
"We four... plus two. She burn us. She whip us. She need die, suffer for Ho'ktar and comrades." the orc hissed hatefully. With this last reply Nephesh's energy is spent and the apparition blinks out of existence. After some argument about whether or not they should depart, Hellstrom points out that the only way that the woman could have left the area with no trace as she had appeared to do, was to use magic. Hellstrom utters a few words under his breath, a small spell the elves had taught him years ago to improve vision over distance. With the spell complete he leapt into the branches of a nearby tree quickly climbing out of sight to the top.
As he searched the horizon he picked out a figure flying quickly to the north at an incredible altitude. It was wearing a dark cloak and getting smaller by the second. Hellstrom climbed back down the tree hastily to inform his companions of what he had learned.
After some discussion and a quick argument about the intelligence of chasing a flying woman on foot, Nephesh pulls out two small vials from his bag and quickly jots down a note that says "Drink."
Hellstrom with a little hesitation drinks the fluid. Colin refused his so Nephesh shrugged and downed the fluid himself. As Nephesh quickly ascended to the tops of the trees Hellstrom realized what the vial was, a potion containing a flight spell. Hellstrom raised to the treetops himself to follow Nephesh as Colin gathered the supplies, shouldering the entire weight of the combined bags himself left the horse speeding off after the two on foot at full sprint.
As Nephesh descended into the woods just outside the perimeter of the camp Hellstrom stayed a few paces behind. After all this was their friend not his they were chasing. It would be better for her to see one of them first. As he walked into the camp and caught sight of the person he had been chasing for the whole day the breath in his throat caught and he could not breathe. He could only stand dumbfounded and speechless at the edge of the camp as Emalia's eyes fell on Nephesh first.
"How by the Gods did you get here..." Emalia says more than a little surprised to see the child. Then she notices Hellstrom standing behind Nephesh with his mouth hanging open in shock. Nephesh hastily scribbles a note and holds it out to Emalia who doesn’t even seem to notice as she slowly walks over to Hellstrom and whispers, "Hellstrom..." To which he replies in a shaky whisper of his own "Emalia...". Hellstrom looks over at Nephesh who looks as though he is confused by the events taking place before him before looking back to Emalia.
As the two looked at each other Colin came racing into the camp after seeing the small fire off in the distance. He threw down the packs and looked at Emalia and said, "Emalia! Are you alright?" Emalia looked at Colin shocked yet again to see another familiar face in this already unlikely group.
"I had no idea... I should have asked for a name..." Hellstrom mumbles more to himself than anything. "I was so worried for you." Colin says affectionately. "Why? I was in no danger... and had no idea you two of all people would have come together." Emalia replies. "I never thought I would see another guardian again much less you...." Hellstrom quietly says, still obviously quite shocked at what he is seeing. The others are too absorbed to notice Nephesh turn toward the edge of the camp and release a bolt of Pink lightning into the wood.
"You know each other?" Colin asks hesitantly. "Of course... this is Hellstrom." Emalia says as Hellstrom grabs something out of his bag and holds it up for the group to see. It is a different cloak than the one he wore. One with the emblem of the Crimson Guardians sewn to the breast.
A grim look crosses Colin's face as he hears the name again and finally understands who Hellstrom was. "I... didn’t know." Colin stutters.
Nephesh looked at Hellstrom with a new appreciation of who he was and scribbled a hasty thank you note to which Hellstrom replied, "No payment is necessary Nephesh... I had no idea...""How is everyone back home?" Emalia asked Hellstrom."I don’t know Emalia, I have not been to the clan hall in what seems like ages." Hellstrom replied still not quite sure what to think."But, why?" Emalia asks with a sound of concern tinting her voice."Remember that last time we saw eachother?" Hellstrom asks. Emalia nods and Hellstrom adds, "I left that day.""Hellstrom... they're probably worried sick about you..." Emalia responds."I couldn’t bear the problems i was causing with everyone I spoke to." Hellstrom said flatly. Emalia attempted to assure him that he had not caused problems, but Hellstrom was not so sure. After all what was Emalia doing in the middle of a distant continent being tracked by a mute child with a gift for magic and Colin.
Hellstrom could feel the tension in the air from Colin, he knew that Colin was looking at them now, stewing about the hand Emalia had placed on Hellstrom's arm as they spoke.
Nephesh hands Hellstrom a note reading "I am honored by your presence, and hope that this day dawns on a new friendship, Hellstrom."
Hellstrom responds with a noncommittal "Thank you Nephesh and You have been a good traveling companion indeed." before returning his attention to Colin.
"We appreciate your help Hellstrom. Where do you think you will go from here?" Colin says hastily, making it quite obvious he wished it to be other than with their party.
"I was headed northward. It was the only reason I accepted this job to begin with." Hellstrom explained. Nephesh quickly wrote a note asking him to join them on their journey and Emalia requested the same. Hellstrom could not help but look at Colin and see the distaste in his eyes for the idea.
After a hushed conversation between Emalia and Hellstrom, Emalia finally understood why Hellstrom was hesitant to join the party on the northward journey. Colin looked up at the group from his place on the ground and added. "Hellstrom... Your help has been invaluable in getting us this far... If you can help us to get Emalia where she is going in safety, then your presence will be welcomed."
Hellstrom could see sincerity on Colin's face but Hellstrom knew eventually his presence was going to cause problems. Colin approached Hellstrom and added quietly so that the others could not hear "We both know I care for Emalia... as more than a friend. Despite my greatest hopes, though, she doesn't seem to share my feelings... Don't leave on my account."
Hellstrom looks at Colin for a moment before nodding and the two part directions. Colin to pick blades of grass while sitting on the ground, and Hellstrom to stare into the woods contemplating the events of the day.
As Hellstrom strung his bow with a quick motion and silently slipped into the woods so as not to alert his prey his thoughts slipped away from thoughts of Emalia and the others back at the camp site. He stalked the sound further into the woods until he came to a small clearing and in the clearing was a deer feeding on the grass. Hellstrom crept up to the edge of the clearing and silently drew his arrow back to his ear and took aim.
He waited for the perfect moment and let the arrow fly. His aim was true and the arrow punctured the deer’s heart felling it within moments. Hellstrom walked to the corpse of the deer and knelt next to it saying a small prayer for the animal thanking it for its sacrifice before pulling out his knife and removing the internal organs for the wolves to eat.
A short time later Hellstrom re-entered the clearing with deer carcass in tow. He flopped it at the edge of the clearing and proceeded to hastily skin one hind quarter to get enough meat to make a meal for the 4 person group. With a few adjustments the small fire was perfect for coking and Hellstrom grabbed a small pan from his pack and proceeded to cook some of the Venison.
Nephesh came up beside Hellstrom and looking at the meat on the pan and then over at the carcass wrote a note and handed it to Hellstrom reading, "Teach me?" Hellstrom looked at the child with a look of surprise.
"You want to learn to skin an animal?" Hellstrom asked skeptically. Nephesh nodded his head and leaving the meat to cook a bit longer walked to the corpse of the deer and showing Nephesh how to hold the knife showed him by cutting away a few inches of the hide from the deer. Hellstrom handed the razor sharp knife to Nephesh and watched as he tried to duplicate the task.
Hellstrom satisfied that he would not completely ruin the hide then said. "Don’t make too many holes in the hide and I shall show you how to make a good warm shirt out of the hide," before turning back to the fire to check on the meat, which was done. Hellstrom divided the meat into 4 pieces and sharpening 4 sticks, placed a generous helping of the meat on each one.
After everyone had eaten Nephesh finished skinning the deer, he had made a few holes but nothing that could not be repaired. Hellstrom made a mental note to cure the hide on the next nights stop. Emalia fell asleep against a tree before she could even move to the tent that Hellstrom had offered her. Hellstrom would have no need of it this night. There was no sleep to be had for him.
After giving assurance that he would be back before the sun rose, Hellstrom slipped back into the forest to contemplate the day and decide for certain whether or not he wanted to be included in this group.
