The shortest route to Fallows takes Felix through Faedark Valley. Most merchants and nobles avoid this road, since it runs dangerously close to the camp of the notorious Bloody Fingers.
Those vicious cutthroats usually make a living by hiring themselves out as mercenary guerrillas in distant war torn lands. When outbreaks of peace force them to return to their native kingdom, they prey on wealthy looking travelers to earn a little coin through robbery or ransom. Under normal circumstances he would take another path. But time is of the essence, and he doubted whether even such hardened criminals as the Bloody Fingers would relish a fight with his doughty band of warriors.
However, Felix’s hopes of a peaceful journey quickly evaporate. The sounds of battle, now as familiar to him as his own heartbeat, come from around a bend in the road. And something else… Singing? He quicken his pace, and is greeted by the sight of the Bloody Fingers plying their trade. An ornate caravan lies damaged, its horses slain. Nearby are a few elven warriors, fighting for their lives against the bandits. The corpses of their kinsfolk litter the ground, showing that the battle hasn’t been going well for them.
Felix sighs. He had left enough bloodshed behind him in Burden’s Rest, and more awaits him in Fallows. But he could not leave the elves to their fate. He signals to his companions, and joins the battle.
The Bloody Fingers have stationed their bowmen atop a small ridge. They aren’t firing into the melee, to avoid hitting their own men, but will rain their shafts down upon his forces as it approaches. Felix assaults their position atop Solus.
The bandits brought along a few horsemen in case they had to chase down the caravan. They’re charging towards the remaining elves, spears leveled. Felix moves to intercept them. He wagered their mounts will think twice about charging a dragon.
In the thickest of the fighting dances an elf woman, somehow working a stringed instrument with one hand and a blade with the other. The song he heard was hers, the enchanting melody settling over the entire battle like a mantle. He fights to her side.
The bard acknowledges his aid with a brief nod. Though she does not pause, and the melody seems to flow unbroken, her song transforms into a stirring call to arms. As he hears it he yearn to revel in violence, to deal death to all the bandits.
Almost as soon as the last bandits fall, a war cry heralds reinforcements approaching from over the nearest hill. A scout or an unnoticed runner from the battle must have summoned them. There’s also a rumbling noise….
A gargantuan beast arises over the hill, a grey-skinned monstrosity with long horns jutting from its snout. Atop it is a palanquin, where the two bandits sit. One clutches a long pike, the other is holding a set of reins, directing the creature as if it were a mere horse. Felix had heard rumors about the Bloody Fingers bringing terrifying beasts of war back from their foreign exploits, threatening to unleash them if the king’s men ever tried to drive them out. It seems that an attack from a dragon-riding warrior also merits such emergency measures.
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The beast roars at the heavens and charges.Felix yell for his troops to scatter. To meet its rush would be certain death. The other bandits follow in its wake, hoping to take advantage of the situation and pick his people off while they’re out of formation.
Felix had to bring down the rampaging beast, before his forces were overwhelmed!
The beast bellows as it sustains a mortal wound. Solus takes to the air as it crashes around in its death throes. Either by good fortune, or because the dying beast wishes to exact its vengeance on those who brought it to this land, it gores and tramples a bloody path through the bandits before finally sinking to the ground.
Solus brings Felix back down, and he somehow manages to avoid being sick as his stomach convulses with the sudden descent. The elven bard approaches. Felix prepares to bask in her gratitude, as befits a newly minted hero. Instead she berates him, striking harsh chords on her harp to accompany her words.
“Idiot! Why didn’t you get here a few minutes sooner? They’ve taken the artifact!”
She finally calms down, the tone of her music changing along with that of her voice. She introduces herself as Medea and explains the situation. The elves have learned of the arrival of the dragons and are mustering their forces. For if his kingdom falls to the dark horde, the elves may well be their next victims.
While their armies mobilized, Medea was sent ahead with a powerful magical artifact. Her mission was to take it to Fallows, in case the dragons attacked before the rest of the elves could get there in force. But the caravan was ambushed on the road, and one of the Bloody Fingers managed to make off with the artifact whilst Medea and the other elves were locked in battle with his comrades.Felix knew little of elves, and less of sorcery. But if this item is so important, he had to retrieve it. For all he knew it might make the difference between survival and destruction for Fallows. Besides, someone has to deal with the Bloody Fingers once and for all. Felix could not allow them to disrupt supply lines vital to the war effort with their raiding.
Medea greets his decision with a cheerful strum of her harp, and her beautiful music accompanies the bawdy tavern songs of his troops as he march towards the Bloody Fingers’ encampment.