Lieutenant Donovan Ten-names, Sergeant Rudy Nine-names, and Corporal Alden Eight-names tended the fire that consumed the Shapechangers and Kobolds’ bodies. Rhiann Klarje had read about Tuscon feathers in the tomes of Thynna’s libraries and cautioned the Gnomes and Iyaca to avoid contact with the ash created by the fire. The grass beneath the bodies more than burned. It withered and all signs of life disappeared. When the fire went out only a circle of thirteen-foot diameter of bare black dirt sat where the bodies had been. Donovan caught a grasshopper as it flew by and tossed the insect onto the burned ground. The bug died and withered instantly. Longbeard organized the party into a column of twos and the riders rapidly rode westward toward Jack’s Refuge. They found Roro, the two merchants, and ten other Gnomes with the wagons in defensive positions off the southern side of the road. Lieutenant Donovan took command of the wagon p-Mayard and Rhiann had brought from Thynna. The merchants nervously climbed aboard the second wagon. Longbeard added “Wagon driver” to his loyal lieutenant’s list of monikers, and Donovan was henceforth known as Donovan Eleven-names.
Longbeard updated Roro Seven-names about the battle and the demise of pseudo Mayard Klarje. Roro’s group had seen kobolds in the woods and assumed defensive positions to assess the situation. In the best of circumstances, the wagons would not make Dry Creek by nightfall. The status of the walled community was unknown. Longbeard and Donovan debated whether to return to Jack’s Refuge, hunker down for the night, or travel into the night. They chose to pull a bit further off the road and bed down in the woods for a fireless night. Rhiann offered to cast defensive spells and used his limited healing skills to help three Gnomes injured in the battle. Rhiann Klarje had cast more spells in the past day than any earlier time in his young life. He’d tasted hand-to-hand combat and taken lives… many lives. Lieutenant Donovan jokingly referred to Rhiann as “kobold’s bane.” Longbeard Nineteen-names assigned watch shifts. Rhiann and Iyaca Vassi hunkered down in the center of the makeshift camp.
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