Pathfinder: The Trio: Two plus one equals...

Author’s note; Guess my muse wasnt quite done with this yet...

The next morning, Goruza, Emerald, and their new friend Milah had a bite of breakfast, then searched the cave more. While they looked around Milah told them about how the axe beaks had come into the cave through a tunnel that came out in the fields nearby.

“Whoever made this place was pretty busy. I didn’t get a chance to do any exploring, but i saw several tunnels while I was tracking the birds.”

“Once we rescue Besh, maybe we could come back here, and explore more fully.” Emerald suggested.
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Goruza replied.

“If you go back out the way I came in, its will put us very close to the Road. If you’d rather climb the cliff, I’ll have to call Ajax, my animal companion. I left him guarding the tunnel entrance.” Milah suggested

“Might be easier than climbing the cliff. Let me grab Champ, my mule, and we’ll follow you.” Emerald agreed.
The three of them went down the tunnel, and as Milah had promised, they came up in a field not far from the Road. Once they reached the Road, they began to follow it toward the river, and Goruza noticed something.

“The Road is going downhill, isnt it?” she asked.

Milah nodded, and said, “The land is sloping downward, as we get away from the cliff. And the Road is sloping slightly more, so that by the time we get to the river crossing, we’ll be not far above the river. There is bridge across the river run by the lord of Fiddler’s Vale. Dont worry, they dont overcharge to cross. In fact, I’ll pay for all of us.” Milah replied.

“Nonsense. Goruza and I can pay for ourselves, I’m sure” Emerald stated.

Just then, a javelin flew out from their left, missing them all, and sticking into a tree behind them. The three barely got a chance to recover from that when a large ogre burst out from where the javelin came from, and rushed at the three.

Goruza swung her axe twice striking the ogre causing it to bellow. Milah dived in from the side, raking the ogre with her razer claws which were covered by steel blades. Her wolf Ajax came in as well, but missed with a bite.

Emerald cast her ear-piercing scream, but the ogre shook off its effects, and swung with its greatclub, missing Goruza.

Goruza swung again with her axe, but missed. However, in dodging the axe, the ogre allowed itself to be wide open for another rake by Milah’s claws, which struck causing the creature to bleed.

Finally, Ajax came in again, and bit the ogre in the throat, and the creature fell to the ground, dead.

Rolling over the creature, Goruza found a pouch at its waist with some gold, some copper, and three gems, and gave one to each of the other girls, as well as splitting the gold between them. Milah took the copper, saying that it would probably pay for their toll at the bridge, as well as entry into town. Emerald took the greatclub and the javelin and secured them onto the bags being carried by Champ, saying “We might get a few extra gold in town from selling these.”

Then Goruza took the body and pushed it off the road into the bushes near where it had come from, saying “Let whatever beasts find it enjoy its flesh, if they can stomach it.”

Although the three were tired and hungry, they decided they wanted to try and reach the bridge and stop on the other side, if they could, so they carried on, and they indeed reached the bridge just after midday. As Milah had predicted, the toll at the bridge was a single copper each, plus one copper each for the animals, and she payed, telling the others that what was left of the copper would no doubt pay for the entry fee at the town’s gates.

Once across, they found a spot just off the road, and stopped and had some lunch, and rested for about an hour before carrying on.

Luckily, they were able to reach the town gates before sunset, paid their entry fee, and hurried inside, looking for a decent inn. Fortunately, near the gate there were several establishments, and they soon found a place that suited them, and even had a very decent stable for the wolf and the mule, and accepted both without question.

Once checked in, they went to the inn’s common area, had a decent meal, and went up to their respective rooms to sleep.

Little did they know what adventures would await them in the future ...

The End ... for now ...