We had swapped about some of our gear before getting going again. Kaele and I now carried most of Khuzan's things. My sister had stuffed most of the contents of his bag into hers. I on the other hand now had his second sword on my belt in addition to the sword I had looted from the human warriors after the fight at our campsite. We didn't burden Eld'tide with any of it. We needed her quick, silent and on the lookout. I didn't fancy the possibility of running into another patrol without preparation. If that were to happen, they could kill us as quickly as we had the trio of headhunters. We probably wouldn't even get a chance to regret any mistakes we might have made.

In addition Kaele and I alternately supported Khuzan, offering him a shoulder to lean on, as we made out way through the forest. He wasn't terribly fond of the idea, but it took a little pressure off him. We were quicker to notice just when he would need a little break like that as well. Like now. We stopped after climbing a slope made slippery by old leaves and the recent rain. I put the thick trunk of an old oak in between us and the direction we had been coming from, slumping against it myself. “You should have left me at the campsite. I'm just slowing you down.” He choked out his words while at the same time trying to suck air back into his lungs.

I could see why he would say that but his words made me angry anyway. “No. Not an option. Without you one of us probably would be dead after that fight with the headhunter patrol.” I took a deep breath to calm back down. My nostrils were trembling. “And we don't leave friends behind. Not back then and there. Not here and now. No way. No how.” Despite my brave words I was worried. I put the back of my hand against his forehead to check his temperature. His fever wasn't getting any better. Some of the stories his mother had told during training were on my mind. A fever like that could kill the strongest of warriors. Properly treating any wounds should minimize the risk but even a minimal risk was still a risk.

Kaele rested a few steps away, squatting in between the widely fanned roots of another tree. She had tears in her eyes. She was probably blaming herself. She really shouldn't. She had done the best she could which was a damn lot better than anything I could have done. I wanted to crawl over there, to give her a hug. Eld'tide, who had been almost literally running circles around us, returning kept me from acting on that impulse. “We should set an ambush here. The spot isn't perfect but I doubt we will find a better one if we keep moving. At least until we leave the forest again, entering the pastures of the farmsteads beyond it. In addition we should take the chance to eat something and get some proper rest while we still can.”

“Are you sure?” Doubt clouded my words, but it wasn't her I was doubting. If she said this was a good spot for an ambush I could take those words for facts. I doubted myself first and foremost. She probably knew that much and just nodded. I got back to my feet and looked around, taking stock of our surroundings. Sure the place had some potential. Not the least would be that and attackers following on their tracks would have to climb the slippery slope as well but would that be enough? After killing a patrol of three any hunting party put on their track would be larger for sure. How many there would be I couldn't say, that depended on the actual size of the enemy force, but it certainly would be more than three. I winced. This would be messy.

Eld'tide pointed down the way we had come from. “Most of them will follow our trail. If it is humans they might have dogs along.” The she pointed to our left and our right. “We will set some traps up here to protect our flanks. Something simple. Shallow pits with pointy sticks hidden under all those old leaves.” Then she pointed in the direction we had been heading for. “You and Kaele should head a little further in that direction. Make it look like you were still dragging Khuzan along. Then return in your own tracks best you can. That should provide a little distraction should they have some headhunters or others flanking the main group. Maybe we can trap that direction as well. Given we have enough time.”

“No traps down there?” I pointed down the slope. She just shook her head. “Ah, of course. That would just give away our ambush.” She nodded with a little smile on her lips now. She seemed pleased that I understood her intentions. I probably would never turn into a proper ranger, but I would gladly take any lesson she had to offer. I just wished I could have learned these lessons under different circumstances, without our lives on the line. I returned her smile. Then I pulled Kaele back to her feet and into a quick hug. “Come on sis, lets see about laying a false trails to fool our pursuers. Two hundred, maybe three hundred paces?” That question had been directed at our ranger companion again.

“Make it three hundred. Just in case.” She pushed Khuzan, who had been about to get up back down. “You wait here. I will scrounge up something to eat. It won't be much, but I think I saw some Sweet Grass growing around a clearing a little further along the way. The sweet marrow should provide us with some energy we will certainly need.” We didn't wait for her to elaborate any further and set about creating our false trail, Kaele leaning heavily onto me, like our Darkelf friend had before. A little sugary treat would certainly be nice though. The water from the plant's marrow would be much welcome as well, as our water skins were empty. Especially Khuzan needed something like that.

It didn't take us too long. As we returned to the spot where we had left our two companions, Khuzan was already suckling on a piece of Sweet Grass. It might not be much but it certainly improved his mood. It had been cut down to a handy size. The actual grass could grow as tall as some trees after all. The pieces our Gorgon ranger had brought were from a younger plant though. If it grew too tall and old it lost much of its sweetness after all. We received a piece each as well. There was even enough for seconds and thirds. I would hold myself back though. Khuzan needed this little treat more than I. Eld'tide was suckling the sweet and soft marrow from a piece as well. At the same time she was already busy sharpening some sticks though.

Suckling on a piece of Sweet Grass as thick as two of my fingers I got busy sharpening sticks as well. I felt a little guilty. Sweat treats like this were not something I had received often. They were almost something like a guilty pleasure for me. They could rot your teeth after all if you didn't take care. Right now we had bigger problems though. I would worry about my teeth on another day. Preferably on a day I didn't have to worry about strangers killing me and my friends. Eld'tide paused briefly at her task, simply dropping the spent piece of Sweet Grass from her lips. “Eat up. I can get us some more. And leave the crossbow and the bolts with Khuzan. He probably will be able to make better use of it all things considered.”

“Oh?” That came as a surprise. She was right though. Even lying down he would be able to use the looted weapon. I undid my belt and pulled the quiver with the remaining quarrels from it. I dropped it together with the crossbow at Khuzan's feet. Before I could fasten the belt again though Eld'tide stopped me. She handed me a quiver with arrows and one of the bows the headhunters from earlier had been using. I looked at her questioningly. “Are you sure? I'm not terribly good with a bow. And my collarbone could give me trouble again if I pull the string too hard.”

She just shrugged my worries off. “I'll snipe at the ones further back or in cover. You focus on the ones in the open and especially the ones getting close.” She paused briefly, picking up a second piece of our sweet treat for herself. “You will manage. It is good enough if you wound and slow them. Khuzan will shoot the ones that actually get up here with the crossbow.” She sighed. “We just have to get any edge we can get. And if you can put a few arrows in some of them before facing them in close combat, that is good enough for me. Anyway. You take up position here, using this oak for cover. Kaele will climb the tree and hide up there using Invisibility. She is our ace. Khuzan will be in between these wide roots, where Kaele was resting before. And I'll be over there, behind that tree.”

We all nodded. That sounded good enough. We would have overlapping fields of fire that way. We might even be able to watch each others back. I bit my lip. “First we have to dig some holes and put some of those spikes in them though. Not too deep? Cover everything, including the loose earth with dead leaves afterwards?” Our ranger seemed satisfied with my grasp of the concept. She set out with a bunch of spikes in one direction. I took the other, silently sending a prayer to the Moon Maidens. Hopefully our luck would hold out a little longer. Luck preferred the prepared, didn't it? Well we were well enough prepared to show our pursuers that we most certainly weren't the mice in our little game of cat and mouse.