Urak treks through the forest, insensibly cheered by the travel. While some of the others no doubt felt more comfortable amongst the cobbled stones of the cities, to Urak, the simple beauty of nature was home. Tapping his staff along the earthen floor as he walked, he hums quietly to himself, more comfortable than he has been in days.

The return of Kriege and Sam is also reassuring. While the small, energetic halfling was often confusing to the pragmatic shaman, Krige's presence was a reliable comfort, reminding him of the trackers of the People. Funny, he muses, how one so different should remind him of those so familiar. Nevertheless, the ranger gives the party the opportunity to cross the wilderness with far greater assurance, allowing them the chance to avoid the more dangerous roads. Speaking of which...

Then the silence is broken. A faint cry drifts on the evening breeze which also brings a whiff of woodsmoke. Ahead, you catch a glimpse of flames rising beyond the trees. The sounds grow louder; shouts of men mingle with harsh, guttural warcries and the clash of battle, while all the time the flames grow higher, bathing the forest in a pink glow.

Urak's nose twitches as the first hint of smoke catches the breeze. Puzzled, comprehension comes swiftly as the sounds of battle are heard.Switching his staff for his bow, he tests the string, and selects one brown-fletched arrow.

Asif's keen senses mirror those of Urak. He listens with full concentration to the sounds of the engagement, as he draws with great calmness the bow given to him by Rhune.

"We need to move quickly," Urak says softly, his eyes darting for sounds of trouble, "If the flames get out of control, we could be facing a wildfire."

Surpressing a shudder at the thought of a major brush fire, he feels a sudden sharp anger at the carelessness of the combatants. Setting fires in the wilderness was no game, and the consequences could easily spiral out of control. Was this what Misha was trying to prevent?

Asif nods in reply, more aware of the consequences of combat than fire. Fires not being a common danger in the harsh desert climate of his homeland.

Rhune immediately gets her bow ready and looks at the others. "I think that we need to see what it is. If we are not far from Suskiskyn then they may be in trouble and if this is something else then we need to know it. Also with the forest on fire there will be many animals stampeding and the like. We may be caught up in this, whether we like it or not," she says, mumbling a quick prayer to her gods. She takes a small piece of cloth and pours water on it, wetting it throughly and then ties it around her mouth and nose.

"Damn." Marika is too tired to think up a more imaginative curse, but she manages to invest this simple one with considerable emotion. She shrugs her pack from her shoulders and lets it lie where it falls, keeping only her staff and the satchel with her most important posessions, strapped securely to her hip. Noticing Rhune's idea, Marika copies her, hastily tying a wet cloth over the lower half of her face. "We'll be lucky if both sides don't shoot us as bandits," she notes with a trace of amusement, hurrying with the group toward this latest disaster.

Once she has dropped her heavy pack, Marika's worries about being weighed down are over. She now can move quickly and freely.

Ullar curses, softly. "Why can't we never get somewhere without fighting. Jeez.. it's a f*cking Arena out here!"

"Ah! My kingdom calls me! I must fight amongst my fellow warriors! Kridge good man, hand me my sword and fetch my steed. It is time to face the wrath of Sir Samalot! Ahahhaa..." Sam gives a cynical laugh which almost sends you all into plumes of laughter at the comical sight of little Sam, waving his dagger in the air as he shouts his intentions.

"Sam!" says Krige "It is wrong time for joking! We should be cautious about this place!" With these words he gets his bow out of shoulder and peers toward the place where the shouts are at.

Sam looks up at Kridge with puzzled daze on his face. "But I am not joking! How dare you mock me puny mortal." Then as Sam starts to wave his dagger about once more.. he topples over with a dizzy stagger, one hand waving his dagger, one hand rubbing a knot on his head that no one seemed to notice before. It must have happened on one of the falls during the treacherous pony ride to catch up with the rest of the party. Although his actions were unexplainable until now, Sam stands up and seems to be more himself again; apologizing while he pats the dust off of his trousers. "You all must forgive me, I fear I do not know what has come over me. It must have been that head injury." With that Sam draws his bow.

Asif, still unable to decide to what to make of these totally foreign child-sized men looks upon Sam with some concern. He whispers under his breath..

"By the prophets matted beard, Aten protect him!"

He then turns ready to meet the approaching threat.

Jacobus notes the fire up ahead; "Looks like we're about to pass through a battle. I'm going to take a look." Jacobus notes which way the wind is blowing and decides to move around the battle until he is upwind of the smoke; he then sneaks forward to view what's going on. He draws his dagger and remains hidden observing the fight. He hides and observes, until he feels his services are required.

Rhune looks around at the others, "I will follow Jacobus's idea and go upwind of the fire and smoke." Then she looks over at Xania, "What of Xania? We can't just leave her here unprotected," she asks the others. Once a decision has been made about Xania she heads towards the sounds of battle being as sneaky and quiet as she can be.

Marika had been peering intently in the direction of the glow, her head cocked as she strained to pick up any meaningful information from the chaotic jumble of battle-sounds. At Urak's words, though, she turns back to the party. Obviously, a healer would have to stay to watch over Xania...and since Matteo understood war, and Urak understood wilderness, they would both be needed at the battle scene.

"I'll guard Xania," she says, dragging the makeshift litter a couple yards to one side to rest in a slight hollow. She begins to lay branches and leaves over the unconscious woman to hide her from sight. "If the fire goes out of control, try to get one or two people back here to help me carry her. And if any of you are being chased by more folks than you can handle, lead them to me. I'll try to cut down their numbers with a spell."

Asif looks toward Marika.

"If fate turns against us, fear not I shall do my best to return. It is my destiny!"

Turning to Urak, Marika says in a lower voice, "Be careful up there, friend. Most Italians have never seen one of the People up close; some half-witted recruit might panic and take a swing at your head. Try to stick close to the others."

Jacobus can't help but smile as Rhune follows him so that they appear upwind. "This is sound tactics, with your bow you can fire into the smoke unseen. Hopefully, we will remain undetected." He nods at her; "Come on my friend let's go take a look see." Jacobus leads the way.

Rhune's eyes appear to glitter in the starlight as she begins to follow the young human. She moves off to about 10 feet to his right though so that they are not right next to each other. She keeps an eye out for anyone that may be searching the woods or for anyone trying to get away from the battle.

Jacobus and Rhune head off further to the north of the path, hearing the combat off to the east. They begin moving northeast, as the wind is coming from the northwest. The others, with the exception of Marika and Xania begin slowly moving to the east to see what's what.

Rhune hears voices coming from ahead to the southeast, and then the two of them come upon an open area fronting a rivlet some twenty-five feet across. On the east side of the stream is a sturdy settlement made largely of logs tied together. The flames are coming from the southwest corner of the settlement, where a two-story structure of some nature is burning. The danger of it expanding into a forest fire is minimal, as the stream turns east right past the structure, forming two sides of the settlement, and this structure appears to be separated from the rest of those within the settlement. Past the burning structure, but impossible to see beyond the palisade surrounding the settlement, you both hear cries of horses and some other creatures whose language you do not recognize.

Meanwhile, the main group sees what appears to be an ambush set up on the other side of the path. Several small pointy eared, yellow-skinned humanoids dressed in what appears to be wolfskins sit just beyond the undergrowth some five yards ahead. Suddenly Asif steps on a branch awkwardly and it snaps. The little men look toward the group and leap to their feet. The are holding small spears, and come charging onto the path to throw them at you, yelling very loudly. There appear to be seven of them in total.

Asif curses the clumsiness of his feet, as he raises his bow with one smooth action to eye level and begins to fire at the onrushing humoniods. He continues to loosen arrows until they are within 10 feet where upon he drops his bow and meets their rush with his two flashing scimintars.

Asif fires two shots quickly, the first hitting a tree that was immediately to the right of one of the little men, the second whizzing by the head of another.

"MEET YOUR DESTINY!" Ullar cries out loud. The warrior is really fed up with all the bad luck the party has encountered thus far and finds the adrenaline floating through his veins.

He charges towards the little men, hovering his huge sword above his head, a determined grim on his face.

"SURRENDER NOW OR DIE!" he shouts, while still hovering his sword upon his head.

The little men do not appear to have any comprehension of what Ullar is saying, and in any event they charge to meet him without losing a step.

"Stop! Ullar!!! " shouts Krige "I can harm you with my bow! It will be better if we all group near Asif!" With these words Krige starts to move toward Asif to cover him if needed.

Ullar, stubborn as a rock, keeps charging. "I'm not going to wait for those puny spears they are carrying. They die for sure if they thrust it at me," he calls out to Krige.

Jacobus takes in the village and the structure that is set ablaze. "I don't think we need to worry about that fire spreading into the forest." he says to Rhune as they approach.

He turns to her; "Well what do you think?"

As he does so he listens out to the sounds of charging, he picks out a familiar voice; "MEET YOUR DESTINY!" followed shortly after by "SURRENDER NOW OR DIE!"

Jacobus turns to Rhune; "It would seem that Ullar, at least, has run into some trouble. Perhaps you should join them, I'll go take a look in the village to see what is happening."

At that, Jacobus tries to avoid the combat and move into the village trying to determine what is happening hoping to be of more help to the beleagured inhabitants.

Rhune looks at Jacobus. "Alright that sounds good. Perhaps whatever he has found will be so intent of facing him and the others that they will not notice little ole me coming at them from behind," she says with a grin, her twinkling in the fire light. She turns and begins making her way back to the sound of Ullar's voice. She has her bow notched and ready and is moving slowly enough so that she can sneak up on whatever is happening.

A smile flits across Marika's face as the familiar voice booms across the wilderness. The group had stayed out of trouble for even less time than she'd expected. She finishes camouflaging Xania's comatose form with vegetation, then takes a couple dozen cautious steps toward the sound of Ullar's voice, wondering exactly what sort of opposition her friends had run into. She won't move more than twenty or so yards from Xania, though, unless it seems that the others are in very grave danger.

Sam, who had been holding his dagger aloft previously, attempts to switch to his bow and arrow, but is unable to before Ullar goes charging out onto the path to meet them. Sam abandons the archery before he begins and charges to join the group now reinforcing Ullar.

Matteo draws his longsword and stiletto as he moves for what cover may be near. As no cover is available Matteo holds steady until the spears are thrown, then he dives to the side and rolls. Once the spears are thrown, he takes advantage of the moment to charge the little men, hoping that the others will follow his example.

"Oh my....." cries Krige, looking at small humanoids with round eyes. Then he aims his bow at nearest humanoid and shouts: "Surrender! Or we will smash you!!!" When the humanoids continues to charge, he shoots at them.

Seeing that his opportunity will be brief before Ullar is in the way, Krige looses a pair of arrows at the men as well. His first flies high above their heads into the woods. The second is high and to the left as well.

Urak also fires his readied bow at the little men, hoping to break the streak of bad luck the group has had so far. The first arrow hits the ground to the left of the little men. The second, however, takes one of them in the throat. He falls to the group with a sickening gurgle.

The remaining little men hurl their spears. The first is dead on target at the unwisely charging Ullar. The small spear takes him in the left shoulder, embedded deep, a nasty wound. Another fires his spear at this convenient target, but he trips and falls flat on his face in doing so, dropping the spear to the ground. One arcs quite a bit over Krige's head. A second takes Urak in the stomach, another nasty wound, but it appears nothing vital has been pierced. A third is well aimed, but the speedy Asif is able to dodge it, rolling to the right. Another flies high, as Matteo tumbles toward the path, very narrowly missing him. The last hits Sam in the left thigh squarely, though it is not terribly deep.

Sam screams in anger and pain as the spear finds its mark in his thigh. Then his scream turns to a laugh of totally no relation to what you have previously expected of Sam in combat. "You will pay for that one foul beings!" With that Sam rushes into the fray and interlocks in combat with one of the little men.

Asif has the angle to continue firing and does so as Ullar, Matteo, and Sam close with the sharp-toothed demons. However, his aim is affected by trying too hard not to hit his companions, and neither of his shots is anywhere close to the target. Krige sees that Ullar is too effectively blocking any shot of his, and thus draws his long sword to join the fray. Urak sees a similar situation now that most of the group have begun hand to hand, and grabs his quarterstaff to join in as well. One his arrows are fired, Asif sees that further shots would be impossible, so draws his scimitars to join the fight as well.

Rhune is making her way back to the party and the sounds of the rushing men. She is trying to come from behind them. She has her bow ready with an arrow in it and targets any of the stragglers first. When shooting into the melee proves more dangerous to her friends she switches to sword and joins the fray.

Ullar draws his great sword and sweeps it at the men, who dodge quickly out of the way. He catches one of them, but the fellows wolfskin is able to fend off the glancing blow. Matteo brings his weapons to bear, though his sword just barely fails to find purchase in the skin of one of the pointy-eared opponents. His stilleto has better luck, but it is unable to pierce deeply enough, pricking the humanoid's left arm. Sam attacks with his dagger, but has similarly poor luck, unable to pierce the skins the little men wear.

Two of the little fellows slash at Ullar with small axes, which appear to be the standard weapon for the whole group, but he is able to dodge them. As he wears no armor, he sees that he is in quite a bit of danger with these little fellows. Matteo draws a single opponent, who slashes at him with his good arm, but is way off the mark. Sam's opponent has better luck, as his overhand slash hits Sam in the right collarbone. The wound is quite bad, and you are surprised to see Sam still standing.

Sam gasps as the blade slices through his clothing and penetrates his skin. "Arrrgh! Damn you foul beings. I shall crush your skull and eat your life force for that one!" Sam screams a battle cry and continues to fight tooth and nail, to the bitter end.

Krige sees one opponent approaching and slashes low with his sword to make sure and hit him. This strategy is successful, as his sword chops cleanly into the leg of the little man, who falls to the leafy floor screaming in some guttural language. Urak's luck is not so good, as his staff sails cleanly over the fellow's head. He does not even bother to duck, slashing at Urak's left shoulder with an overhand strike and drawing blood, but only a glancing shot. However, Urak's two wounds combined with his previous injuries now have him in fairly bad shape.

Asif wields his two scimitars against his opponent, who has gone into the woods to attack him. His first attack, however, is enough, as he follows Krige's tack and slashes the creature's leg. It falls to the ground cursing and screaming in it's foul language.

Asif retorts.

"Speak not such false words infidel. Fortune is with you for but an hour and against you for ten. Think of that as you embrace your god."

Krige meanwhile doubles up with Urak against his opponent. Neither has any luck, however, as the creature is very quick. He slashes once again at the badly injured Urak, but has no joy.

Ullar, now quite angry, sweeps his great sword at his opponents again, this time catching his uninjured opponent in the head and smashing it like a melon. The creature bounces off the sword's impact like a line drive, hitting the ground some distance away. His remaining opponent's blow is high and to the left, but the momentum from his sword's weight carries him too far in that direction, and the axe draws a trace of blood from Ullar's ear, narrowly missing a terminal wound. Ullar's backwards sweep lacks force, and misses the creature by some distance.

Matteo's sword once again is confounded by the wolfskin, but his stilleto proves more accurate, this time penetrating the creatures right thigh and dropping him to the ground. Sam vainly slashes at his opponent, but his blow lacks any strength, and it misses a mile. The yellowskin looks at him nastily and sweeps his axe toward Sam, once again drawing blood from the right side of his stomach. The group marvels as Sam still stands. His wounds would have taken down a human warrior by now.

As Sam looks at his opponent once more, hoping for a miracle, his prayer is answered, as a sword point appears through the front of the creature's belly. Rhune smiles briefly over the creature's shoulder where she has crept silently.

Sam looks up at Rhune with a wide smile, all traces of his bitterness and evil thoughts are gone. "Thanks Rhune! I needed a little hand I suppose." Sam's smile soon turns to a grimace of pain however, as the adrenaline of the battle fades from his soul and the pain of his wounds take over.

Asif looks upon the man child with some concern. Surely the Gods smile upon the exotic creature.

The two remaing creatures standing hesitate for a moment, heavily outnumbered, and that is their doom. Matteo's long sword fells Ullar's remaining opponent while Krige's pierces the other's breastbone, felling him. Two of the creatures remain lying on the ground dying, but you are unable to do anything about this, hearing a man yell from somewhere very close to the east..

Asif calls to his two comrades.

"Italian swordmanship is indeed worthy of respect. It is as skilled as I imagined, more refined than that of the Germans and English who rely more on brute strength. Your speed is not unlike that of some arabic styles I have seen. What now Efendi, I fear these are not the only infidels who infest this place!"

Jacobus had begun to make his way toward the bridge he sees as the only means of crossing the river to the settlement. He takes his time, careful to avoid conflict or being detected. However, he wasn't cautious enough, as he hears a strong male human voice coming from across the bridge, "Look out!", the voice cries from what appears to be some sort of gatehouse on the other side of the river. Through the smoke, you see a squad of little yellowskinned men with wolfskins riding huge wolves from the south. They are moving at great speed toward the bridge. "Quick, before they cut you off!" the voice continues, and the gate starts to swing open. From here, Jacobus can see that the group has just finished off their encounter and is fairly close to the bridge, but Marika and Xania are still some distance away. There is not a moment to lose if the group wants to get across the bridge before the wolves arrive to stop them.