Chapter 13 - Part 7

Delegado ran through the woods, Feather flying above. His chest was pounding trying to keep up with Thomas. The half-daelkyr was fast on his feet. It was very dark out, but their darkvision showed them safe footing.

Up ahead Thomas stopped, crouching. The half-daelkyr was fishing for a scroll. Delegado caught up to him and took his longbow out. “Care to let me catch up to you before you do something?” Delegado snapped irritably.

“I am sorry,” Thomas said, abashedly. The stormstalk swiveled within inches of Delegado’s face, then retreated when the half-orc bared his teeth. “I am not used to working as a team,” Thomas said. “I was alone for a very long time.”

Feather landed on Delegado’s shoulder and squawked. “Team?” Delegado asked. “Let’s not get carried away.”

“Carried by who?” Thomas asked in puzzlement.

Delegado was saved from trying to explain the metaphor by some singing in the distance. Thomas, Delegado, and Feather all peered towards the horizon. Even with darkvision things did not become clear until they were about sixty feet away. It did not take long before an odd spectacle came into their sphere of vision.

Iron Orphan was carrying a shifter boy with a splint on his leg. A shifter woman walked carrying another boy, a very small one, and holding a shifter girl’s hand. They were singing merry tunes to try to keep the children unafraid in the darkness.

“Orphan?” Delegado called, standing up and putting his boy away. Thomas pulled his hood up and covered his stormstalk. “What’s going on?”

“It’s okay,” the monk told the shifter family. “They’re friends. Hello, Delegado, I bear news of a cease-fire.”

“He bears news,” Delegado said.

“Of a cease-fire,” Thomas told him.

“Right,” Orphan said. “Delegado do you have any food on you? The children are hungry.”

“Sure,” Delegado said. He began to open his pack. “You’re going to want all your stuff back I guess.”

“Unless you want to be inducted into the Balanced Palm,” Orphan told him.

Delegado’s only response was to toss the elemental ring back at the warforged. Swearing in front of three scared kids just didn’t seem right.