The Long Inexperienced Path

Ielenia was scowling as she held the reigns that were attached to a set of oxen that was set up to a wagon. Luna was walking just ahead, scouting for 'danger' and supposedly the halfling was watching the mirror. Two days ago, somehow her and Luna were convinced to go with the halfling and escort the strange dwarf and human to a small town called Phandelvar south of Neverwinter.

Her mind wondered back to the conversation and sighed.

"I am Gundran Rockseeker!" The dwarf boomed once they were back at the House of Knowledge, sitting in one of the rooms that wasn't damaged by the chasm opening.

"And I am Sildar Hallwinter." The tall blond man bowed his head politely, his set jaw setting in a smile.

"We have been seeking employees with skill to escort us back to Phandalin. We're willing to pay 10 gold each." The dwarf continued, and Ielenia frowned.

"Why would you think we are in the business of escorting? I haven't left the temple since I was an adolescent, and Luna's never left Neverwinter." The acolyte raised her eyebrows and Gundran looked at her startled.

"Oh, you mean you're not a party of adventurers?"

"No!" Ielenia answered, and Andar cleared his throat.

"Well hold on. 10 gold each you say?"

"Yes! More if we must!" Gundran insisted and Sildar sighed.

"I told you we needed to go to the guild. We would be able to hire mercenaries straight away-" The man was surprisingly soft spoken for someone who was wearing full armor and holding weapons.

"You look perfectly capable." Luna pointed out and Ielenia nodded and the dwarf chuckled.

"What we need requires more finesse than what we have. We wanted the extra power. There may be more work in it for whoever escorts us back in Phandelvar. The kind of work that make your pockets heavy!" Gundran said and Andar grinned.

"I was heading back to Phandalin anyway." He said and Gundran grinned.

"Nia... we should go." Luna said, and Ielenia looked at the woman in surprise.

"Let's get out of this town. Your vision's have been haunting you, and I am desperate to get out of this town and prove myself. I need to get to Thundertree." Luna urged Ielenia. Golden eyes narrowed as they surveyed Luna's face.

Maybe it was time. She was over a century old. She'd spent a hundred years in the safety of the House of Knowledge, and she came to know powerful arcane magics, and never yet had she ever put it into reasonable practice.

"What use would we be?"

"Nia! You are a magical badass. And I an the reigning undefeated champion of the black market brawls!"

"We have no idea what life is like out there." Ielenia pressed, still not convinced it was a great idea.

"Exactly my point Nia." Luna said. "I want to go. With or without you, I'm going to Phandalin." Luna said and Ielenia groaned.

"Fine! Fine. We will go...."

When Ielenia caved there was a little shout of glee from Luna and Andar scowled, crossing his arms.

"Excellent! There is a timeline we must follow. Sildar and I will be leaving tonight but we must make a stop on the way so you should be able to catch up with us!"

That was two days ago. And now they were miles from Neverwinter, and they had yet to find their employers. The map they had didn't suggest where Sildar and Gundran would have needed to go. Ielenia had a bad feeling. Not to mention her meditations during the night were plagued by visions of a dark castle, deep in a dark wood.

An alter in a temple within the castle was shown to her, covered in blood, and the feeling of anger and defilement had filled her. Ielenia was still trying to figure out what it all meant, as she chewed her bottom lip, worry lining her stomach in the manifestation of pain.

She hated the feeling as it swelled within her when Luna raised a hand, giving the signal that the oxen should stop. When the oxen came to a stop, Andar came rushing up.

"What's going on?"

"Look... are those horses?" Luna pointed ahead of them. To the side of the path there were two masses on the ground. One was grey, which resembled the horse that Sildar had rode away on, and the brown pony that Gundran had been riding was a little further away.

Ielenia nodded, and stepped forward. Andar follows closely.

"Those are our employers rides." He whispered to Ielenia and in response, the elf nodded. They approached the corpses of the equines and noted tribal looking arrows sticking out of them. As Ielenia began to kneel down to grab one, the sound of an arrow shooting past her head makes her look up.

"They surrounded us!' Luna's voice could be heard, as three goblins emerge from the tree line around them. The trail to Phandalin ran along Neverwinter Woods, and it was dense around them.

Andar and Ielenia began to run for cover, while the goblins converge. Short, stocky, with ugly stained leather armor, the creatures gnashed large sharp teeth eagerly. Ielenia didn't quite make it before one of the goblins raised it's scimitar to slice at the delicate looking elf. Just as Ielenia was prepared to set off a spell, an arrow pierced through the back of the goblins head. When it fell, Ielenia saw Luna with a longbow in her hand, aiming.

"I hit it! Nia! Did you see that? I hit it!" Luna squealed excitedly as Ielenia turned to face another goblin.

"You did great! Very sexy." Answering her friend as fire erupted from Ielenia's hands in front of her, enveloping one of the goblins, Ielenia incinerating one of the enemies in front of her.

A shout is heard from Andar's direction and Ielenia turned to look as Andar fell to the ground, an arrow in his shoulder. Luna notched another arrow in her own bow and arrow, and Ielenia watched as the arrow sailed, hitting the goblin who had stayed back, embedding itself into its neck.

Going to Andar, they stoop down.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked, raising her eyebrows.

Andar pulls the arrow out and laughed.

"Yeah. My armor caught most of it. Just a small puncture. Hey, do you think those guys are the ones that killed our employers horses?"

"Could be! Why would they go off before us anyway? I thought the whole point was to ESCORT them?" Luna agreed, groaning. "There were no bodies though. Which means they've been taken. And probably around here somewhere..."

As Luna and Andar spoke, Ielenia was looking around. She was frowning, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

"What are you looking at, Nia?" Luna asked.

"I wonder where they came from?" Ielenia answered. Luna began to look around, and pointed after a moment.

"Hey. Is that a path?" Andar asked as they all approached, and indeed came upon a small hidden path that cut through the forest.

Andar ran and secured the oxen off the path to hide them, and the group went down the path. Upon following the path for a while, they come upon a clearing that leads to the entrance to a large cave. There are two guards posted. Andar tried to sneak up to them, as he was going to assassinate them, but he fell, cracking a twig.

Ielenia grinned and she and Luna pulled out their bows. As the goblins rushed their little friend, the two women let loose their arrows and down the ugly goblins went, landing on the ground in front of Andar.

As they approached him, Ielenia sighed.

"I'm glad we came with you. You'd be dead already if we hadn't." She said, frowning down at the 2 foot humanoid at her feet. He scowled at her and then stood up, while Luna looked toward the cave.

"We going in?" She asked, uneasily and Ielenia sighed.

"That is where our employers are most likely going to be found, dead or alive." She answered, and Andar grunted.

"Well we better hurry up then. If we let them die we won't get paid." He answered and Luna nodded.

"He's right. We need to at least try." Luna said and Ielenia nodded.

"Very well...." She answered, and together the group faced the cave, wondering what awaited them in the darkness.