Making the most of their opportunity to escape, Krankos uses the bottom of the cart to shield the party. Although the Elmforge was reluctant to take the cart initially, the protection it provided certainly made it worthwhile. As to not risk losing cover, Krankos walks backwards through the forest with Borkin and Nibbles tugging on the machine, chirping and whistling to guide it.
Quarter of a mile trudging into the dense woodlands, Borkin spots a large ditch surrounded by trees and bushes. The ditch is about five feet deep, likely caused by an old, but small, sinkhole. This, along with the cover of the trees and bushes, provides a very good place to rest and remain undetected.
"Hey," Borkin whispers to Krankos with a bop of his head.
Cart in hand, Krankos angles itself to see Borkin. Nodding in acknowledgement, they proceed carefully and cautiously.
As they arrive at the edge of the ditch, Borkin squats down and pulls the bushes apart to get a better view. He looks into the ditch and around the area to make sure there is no immediate danger before climbing down. Krankos turns the cart and carefully slides it into the ditch with Borkin grabbing the bottom to stop it from crashing to the ground. With the cart safely transferred, Nibbles glides down, followed by Krankos who simply jumps in.
"Ey! Careful! If this is a sinkhole, don't want it swallowing us!" Borkin exclaims, trying to keep his voice down as to not alert any potential pursuers. Borkin, still tired from the journey, slumps down onto a collapsed tree with a sigh of relief. It isn't the cleanest but it's dry and his options are limited.
Krankos moves the cart closer to Borkin to give it more space. It then covers the gap using the nearby bushes whilst leaving a small hole so it can keep an eye out for anything approaching.
To their surprise, nobody can be seen or heard, "Huh... Where are they?" Krankos asks.
"I don't care. S'long as they ain't 'ere. We can stay for a while. Come nightfall, we'll try sneak past 'em 'n' back to road." Borkin lays down on the log, "With any luck, can get some decent shut eye too."
"Then I shall keep a lookout," Krankos affirms.
"As long as you actually wake me up before they arrive this time," Borkin teases in amusement.
"As long as you actually can be woke, I will."
Borkin chuckles as he slowly drifts off to sleep.
While Borkin rests, Krankos watches the forest through it's small window between the shrubbery. An hour passes before it hears something rustling.
Nibbles's head darts around whilst all sorts of strange noises escape its mouth, head flickering from tree to tree, a combination of curiosity and worry.
Focusing on the movements, Krankos tries to deduce what it could be but to no avail, "Show yourself," it commands.
Jumping down from high in one of the trees, the creature's entrance is a magical transition; in one moment she appeared to be a black eagle, in the next, something more.
She stands upright, taller than Borkin at five feet with very dark feathers allowing it to blend into pure darkness. There is a patch on her wing where the feathers have been ripped out. Her eyes yellow and beak grey with dark brown leather armour around her legs and torso. She has a number of pouches and pockets, full with an array of projectile weapons and a one-handed crossbow clipped to her right hand side. Her face is shaped like an eagle, toes unwebbed, with grey, sharp talons protruding from her hands and feet.
"You are the one that helped us escape," Krankos states.
The creature nods and gestures for Krankos to follow her.
Although her appearance is intimidating, its curiosity is much stronger. Krankos looks to Borkin who is still sound asleep. Not sensing any dwarfs nearby, it approaches the winged beast as she disappears through the trees. Climbing out from their encampment, the Elmforge pursues the creature and is led to somewhere more private.
They stand face to face, "Who are you?" Krankos asks.
"You first?" she replies, voice chirpy and accent unfamiliar, with an unusual focus on vowels.
Krankos's suspicion increases but sees no reason to hold back. "Well... I asked first, but... I am an Escort. My name is Krankos."
The bird doesn't react like everyone else. Instead she tries to peer around Krankos, seemingly looking for something far more interesting. Krankos continually adjusts, keeping its eyes fixed on the winged beast.
"What is it you have on your shoulder?" she asks finally.
It is ambiguous in its response, "What are you talking about?"
Nibbles then peaks its head from under the tattered cape with a little squeak and tilt of its head. Unfortunately, this doesn't help Krankos.
"What are you little one?" her eyes fixated on Nibbles.
"This is Nibbles, my… pet squirrel," Krankos replies; worry increasing that this creature believes Nibbles is a 'Warbringer.’
"Hmmm... It's certainly not just a squirrel," she says, still focused on it with koos of curiosity.
Suddenly, Krankos pulls it's swords from their scabbards, "You're not harming Nibbles!" It yells. Whilst the Elmforge is still curious about the creature, Nibbles’ safety comes first.
The winged beast jumps back a few feet and into a defensive stance, ready to retaliate should the Elmforge attack. Her head darts around, panicked, "Calm down! What's the matter with you?!?"
"Nibbles is not a 'Warbringer' and I will not let you harm it!"
Instead of reacting aggressively, a look of confusion covers the bird's face, "Warbringer?" She says, letting her guard down and standing upright, "Why would I hurt the squirrel? What is a 'Warbringer'?"
Krankos maintains it's guard, though it's stance lightens. Perhaps it overreacted and this creature didn't actually believe Nibbles was a 'Warbringer.’ "There were some dwarfs that ran from Nibbles, called it 'Warbringer' and came back to kill it."
"What was it doing?" the bird asks curiously.
"Well... I don't know, probably eating and planting, didn't see what it did to provoke them. I was running to greet them and by the time I got there, they all ran off shouting 'Warbringer.’”
The bird moves closer, slowly and cautiously, "I see... I think they may have been talking about you."
"What makes you say that?" Krankos replies, lowering its swords.
"Well, Warbringer? Elmforge? Both war related, no?" Nibbles stands tall on Krankos's shoulder. "But worry not, I wouldn't hurt the little one. There’s just... Something unusual about it..." She lifts a wing towards Nibbles who climbs onto her and begins crawling around her body, both equally as curious.
Seeing their joyful curiosity towards one another, Krankos puts its swords back into their scabbards, "So... Your turn... Who are you?"
"My name is..." - the name isn't directly translatable and sounds like a combination of bird noises, Kii and Too-k.
"Keetuk," Krankos replies, trying to intimidate the noises and pronunciation.
Keetuk nods, "That will do." - although the name isn't perfect, she understood the difficulty other races have pronouncing her name.
Krankos watches her and Nibbles carefully, "I'm not familiar with many other races, what are you?"
"We are known as Coori, we originate from the Air Domain. A few of us have been sent here to look into disturbances to the magical realms."
Only jealous comments fill it's mind and therefore holds back saying anything. It has been trying to find its purpose for months and yet Keetuk not only looks ready for her purpose but knows why she is here.
Then, one of Hordor's troops come rushing out from behind the trees, his axe high in the air, yelling, "Charge!"
Keetuk moves to her right as Krankos turns and Nibbles jumps back onto the machine, clinging to its chest. She throws a dart towards the dwarf, lodging in his neck as he falls to the ground.
As Krankos turns back around and Nibbles returns to the cover of the cape, Keetuk is gone; once again hidden in the tall trees eclipsing the forest. Krankos then runs back to their encampment, 'If a dwarf has seen them here, Borkin could be in danger.'
On arrival, Borkin is still sleeping but the cart is now on its side; empty of belongings nowhere to be seen. 'What happened? Did the dwarfs do this?... If so, where are they?'
With unknown time to spare, Krankos walks up to Borkin and lifts him up onto his feet.
"What the hell?! Can't ya jus leave a dwarf in peace!" He exclaims whilst rubbing his eyes so he can focus on his surroundings.
"We have to go," Krankos replies matter-of-factly.
Borkin doesn't need much of an explanation. After all, the last time Krankos was this serious the dwarfs were right behind them. "O'aight, let's grab the cart 'n' get a move on then." Turning to his cart before Krankos can say anything, "What the bloody hell!?!"
Krankos grabs him and pulls him away from the cart as an arrow lands a few feet to their right. "We have to go!" It repeats.
Borkin looks around again.
The Elmforge tugs his arm and snaps in urgency, "Now!"
They run, leaving the empty cart behind. Although the approaching dwarfs are stealthy, Krankos can feel their movements which allows the Elmforge to evade them as they run further into the forest.
Borkin is unable to get a word in while running, panting heavily and struggling to keep up. Instead, he runs all his questions about the cart over and over in his head, mainly, 'How did it get ransacked with a seven-foot Elmforge watching over it?!?'
Ahead of them, on their left, is a cave surrounded by bushes. Krankos points and calls to Borkin, "Perhaps we can lose them if we hide in there."
Borkin, out of breath, follows the machine's lead as they run inside.
The cave is dark however, unlike organic-beings, Elmforged eyes use their own light to pierce through the darkness. Although Borkin can't see, he sticks close to Krankos's radiating glow, still trying to catch his breath.
Inside, two resting molebears raise their heads and stand. They are the size of grizzly bears, but are infused with rock making their hide far stronger.
Although Nibbles cannot see through the darkness, it can detect their life-force and cowers under Krankos's cape, with nervous squeaks.
The two molebears growl at the intruders, slowly and menacingly walking towards them.
Krankos holds its arms out wide, "Okay calm down, we will leave in peace."
Although Borkin cannot see anything, the growling echoes throughout the cave. With this in mind he remains close behind the machine as they slowly exit.
On approaching the exit, there are two archers behind them, bows drawn. Feeling their movements to get into position, Krankos yells, "Don't shoot!"
"What the hell ya talkin' to ya daft git?" Borkin replies.
As the afternoon sun glimmers on the machine's back, the two dwarfs fire. Unfortunately for the bowmen, Krankos grabs Borkin and dives to their left.
The arrows collide with the two molebears, bouncing off their skin. The molebears then charge towards the dwarfs as they retreat. Although molebears are strong, they are much slower due to their thick hides and can be easily outrun.
Krankos and Borkin take this opportunity to escape, keeping their eyes focused on navigating the forest.
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