The chaos of the bandit camp left little time for Hafred to truly realize just what he had been facing. All he knew was that Jenrea was calling for help, and the idea of her being in peril sent a surge of strength through his body. Everything - between the moment he spotted Jenrea and tore away from Elthyne's side, to the moment the twisted monstrosity lay twitching at his feet - was a blur.
It had been a strange feeling, as if his body had been operating automatically. Part of him felt he was being guided by some outside force, and part already seemed to instinctively know the motions. Where to aim each blow, how to position his blade, what stance to use for best effect, everything had come to him as if from some half remembered dream. Or perhaps some whispered hint from an unseen entity.
Hafred knew he should be concerned, yet somehow he wasn't. Whatever had seized him during the fight seemed to have left him none the worse for wear. The deed was done, and Jenrea was safe. As the tall blonde woman lead them across the camp, he slipped one arm about the raven tressed innkeeper's daughter. When she leaned into his side, a thrill shot through him.
The four moved swiftly, though not at a dead run. The bandit queen only stopped long enough to duck into one tent, and soon came out with a sword in hand, the long blade resting at her shoulder. The rest of the camp seemed deathly silent. Even those few bandits Hafred had glimpsed during his approach were no where to be seen.
The woman who had called herself Zara lead them all into the trees, on the opposite side from where Marissa was working her foul magic. While the trunks were as thick as any he had seen during the night's trek through the wilder parts of the forest, and the canopy above blotted out the stars, the ground cover and undergrowth were as clear as those wooded lands near the village proper. The bandits had done a fair job scouring the area near their camp for fallen branches and troublesome underbrush.
It made for surer steps and faster progress.
By necessity, Hafred released Jenrea, opting instead to take her hand in his, to help her over the roughest terrain. He needn't have worried, for she was agile enough that the uneven ground and clutching roots they encountered posed little challenge.
More troublesome was their guide. Hafred had thought trailing the shadow nymph through the darkness had been difficult, but trying to keep up with the blonde warrior woman was something else entirely. Her long legged stride and familiarity with the terrain gave her a substantial advantage, and he was certain that she only occasionally recalled the fact they were following her. Fortunately, the redheaded Cordelia was taking up the rear, and seemed far more patient with the task of escorting them through the woods.
Every time Hafred thought they had lost whatever Marissa was sending after them, a crash of wood or an unsettling, unwholesome howl echoed through the trees. Each horrible sound inspired a new surge of strength and speed.
After a fair amount of time, as the smith's apprentice began to wonder just how far they were expected to flee, the babbling of water over stone betrayed the presence of a brook of some sort. Zara dashed out before them, erupting from the tree line, and across a flat outcropping of rock. The fast flowing brook passed beneath it, wending about its base before coursing off into the trees once more.
The blonde hesitated only long enough to look back over her shoulder. When she saw Hafred and Jenrea clear the trees, she hopped off of the rock's edge, and down out of sight. There was no splash, only the whisper of rustling leaves and the crunch of shifting gravel.
Hafred dashed out to the edge of the rock, but a glance downward only revealed vine-covered stone and the brook itself, some ten feet below. Utterly confused, he stood there in bewilderment, before Jenrea squeezed his hand, and pointed to the vines.
Zara's hand emerged from behind the sheet of foliage, and parted the leafy vines like a curtain, revealing a hollow within the rock itself.
"Well? Are you coming in?"
Not nearly as confident as Zara had been in the footing offered by the wet gravel bank of the brook below, Hafred released Jenrea's hand at last, and scooted to sit on the edge. As he lowered himself clumsily into that hidden cave, he called up, "Just one moment, Miss Jenrea. I'll help you down shortly."
Fortunately, the ground inside the cave was quite stable, and Cordelia showed up but a few heartbeats afterward. She lowered Jenrea into Hafred's waiting arms, and all the while the raven haired beauty protested that she could manage it on her own.
Still, in a matter of moments, all four were safely hidden inside that concealed cave. It wasn't until he heard Zara's tall frame shuffling further within, and then the strike of steel and flint lighting a small lamp, that he got a real sense for how big the place was.
Easily as large as his own room back at Garn's smithy, the cave had a pair of cots laying next to an empty firepit. A lone exit in the rear lead into another cavern that seemed stocked with barrels and boxes. It was into that cavern that Zara lead them. Much more cluttered, it was easy to stay out of sight from the entrance of the cave, tucked behind a stack of goods.
"It's an old smuggler's hideout," Zara finally explained. "We use it now. It should be safe enough for you two to hide in, at least until morning. Cordelia and I will head out and try to lead the magic bitch as far away as we can."
She glanced across to her lieutenant for confirmation, and the redhead simply shrugged. "If that is your wish, my lady."
"It is," Zara answered before any could protest, and then her eyes fixed on Hafred, as a hawk might its prey.
"I have no idea what that girl is capable of, but then I don't think she knows herself. What I do know is that Cordelia and I know this area inside and out. We'll lead her on a merry chase. I suggest you two get some rest. It's still a couple hours before dawn. Once the sun's up, just follow the brook, if it's quiet out there. That'll take you down in sight of the village."
Hafred glanced to Jenrea for confirmation, and she just offered a gentle smile in return. He had to guess that was approval, so he nodded. "I'll do my best to lay low here. Thank you, Lady Blade, for all your help." It felt odd, referring to a bandit with such deference, especially one who had done so much to instigate the very situation they found themselves in. At least she seemed to want to set things right.
Zara started to offer a response, when Jenrea cut in, "Oh yes, Miss Blade! You've been so brave, protecting us from what Miss Marissa made." She then grew serious. "I know she tried to hurt you, and I know that she cost you at least one of your men, maybe more. But she's not a bad person. I think she's just been in a bad place."
The way the innkeeper's daughter stuck up for a woman who most likely despised her was not particularly surprising to Hafred. Part of Jenrea's charm was how she always seemed to see the best in people. He'd chalk it up to naievity if it weren't for how accurate she usually was.
