KHAZUUL

Readying her sling as the owl-beast comes after her, Sow narrowly escapes harm and then twists away from the creature as Freki trips it. Samir then leaps forward, looking to gut the thing with his blade. The little warden is not normally one for an even-odds fight, but she knows an opening when she sees one. Instead of loading a bullet and flinging it at such close range, the girl instead brandishes her axe, grits her teeth and joins Samir, striking at the thing on the ground!

The Owl-thing writes on the ground. Dodging Samir's thrust leaves it no room to maneuver against Sow's axe, which drives deep in its shoulder. Screaching, it climbs to its feet clutching its wound, then lurches with its beak, taking a dark, spurting red chunk out of Samir's side.

The young man falls over, dropping his dagger, his face contorted on pain. Though he makes no noise, his sister screams his name. Charging forward, she draws the oversized sword as if it were light as a feather, and swings it wildly at the Beast man.

The force of her attack knocks the owl-beast into the mud, and it lies there, gasping, the air whistling through its now-broken beak.

Sow's axe rises and comes down again, and again, ending the owl-monster's life with a spray of its blood. Then, almost as if she realizes what she's doing, and how close she is to the beast, the girl retreats back, wild-eyed, now holding her hatchet with two hands as she searches for other foes...

With the immediate danger gone, Freki catches his breath and watches Sow finish the job with satisfaction, initially, and then apprehension at the young warden's vehemence, until he remembers she was almost another decoration on the end of the creature's spear. Seeing her wild look, he puts a comforting arm on her shoulder, "You got it Kiddo. You got it good. I think that's all of them, for now."

He slowly coils his whip and hooks it back on his hip before glancing over at the fallen brother. He stays back to give Saffron and Cutwell space.

"Best to finish off that other one, ain’t it?" Cutwell says, pointing the tip of his knife at the downed tentacle creature.

He puts a hand to his pack to grab the bandages and can’t help but think of the price. 10 gold coins, two days pay, for what he was about to wrap around the boy in a moment. It does make him pause… but he did take the Butcher’s Oath.

He kneels in the wet sludge that makes up the path, careful to block the man from dirt and blood as best he could. He uses the knife to cut away fabric and get a look at the wound.

"Well, could be worse, couldn’t it? You won’t sleep well for at least two weeks, I can tell you that!" he says, eyeing the bloody mess. He uses bits of the cut away fabric to clean the blood away. Then he uses some of the dry parts to dab it dry before lifting the man’s shirt up to his chest.

"This’ll hurt, won’t it?" he says, before starting to wrap the man’s abdomen tightly with the bandage!

Thorn would have celebrated with a roar had Samir not been injured or Sow had become crazed. Still, he couldn't help but admire Cutwell's handiwork with his blade.

"Seems like you cut that creature as well as you cut hair, Cutwell, and I mean that as a compliment!"

As Thorn took in the aftermath, he could see that Saffron who was entirely devoted to her brother, and was understandably upset by his injuries. "Don't worry. Cutwell has everything under control. Your brother will be fine." Seeing the writhing owlbeast he added, "Would you like to finish it off, Saffron?"

Sow's tremendous rage had surprised the marchguard but Freki's reassuring words would hopefully calm her down.

We did well, all of us, in this battle. We should take the heads of the beastmen and gain the coins for them. Who would like the honors?" he asks.

Freki celebrates with Thorn with a brief clasp of hands and fist bump, "Yeah, well done everyone! I don't think we're too far from camp now, so I can try to lug one of the heads for us." He picks up the owl head by a tuft of feathers. It feels much heavier than it looks, although that's partially the fatigue of the day talking. He manages to strap it to the outside of his pack with the help of his net to keep his hands free and to minimize any blood dripping all over his stuff.As Cutwell is finishing tending to Samir, Freki wanders over to investigate the bundles that the beastmen dropped before charging them.

"What do you think they were carrying?"

Sow finishes the owlish foeman in a spray of blood and feathers. She scouts for more trouble, but her efforts reveal no nearby reinforcements. The wall of rain and driving wind make it hard to be certain, however. She finds the two sacks the beastmen were dragging, and both wriggle as if something is alive inside.

Samir is pale as a sheet, but whether it is from the pain of his side being torn into or it is from Cutwell's bedside manner, who can say? Cutwell sets up a quick tarp to operate in relative dryness, and stitches and bandages Samir's wound. Samir grunts and groans at first, but colour returns to his face as he grows hale. He is impressed with Cutwell's work, and affirms Thorn's compliment to him.

Saffron is in a bit of a daze. Water runs down the large blade, washing it of the beastman's blood. Anyone who looks upon the sword sees that it is a kingly weapon; the keen blade appears to be made of multiple alloys that have melted together in an iridescent, curved blade. Near the hilt is stamped some regal symbol. The hilt to the pommel is wrapped in crude leather strapping, but it has worn away in patches. Beneath it, you see a hint of gold.

Once Saffron comes out of her daze, she is quick to sheath the blade. She declines the honour to finish the Beastman and instead comes to Samir's side. She assists Cutwell if he will allow it. If so, he will notice she is bright - not just able to follow instructions but also anticipates what needs doing. You are certain she has training.

Catching her breath and trying to steady her nerves, Sow is trying to not throw up as Freki comes closer to the two sacks -- which are moving.

"Captives?" she says with her broken voice to the man, kneeling down near the burdens in the mud. She is clearly waiting for the man to open the bags, just in case there's something dangerous inside...

As he waits to see who wants to do the beheading, he frowns at the moving sacks as Freki pokes at one of them.

"I am wondering the same thing, Sow. I'll be half afraid to know the answer." As his brain roils at the idea of what might be inside the bundles, he wonders about the sword Saffron had used. That was no ordinary sword and it wasn't something the girl wanted them to know about, judging by the way she quickly sheathed it.

Discovering the bundles contain something living sends a shiver down Freki's spine, "Could have be us," he mutters.

If it was him, he'd be thankful to be rescued, but having heard about the hostility between gangs he's a bit tentative to open the bundle. He gives Sow and Thorn a look to communicate that he thinks they should have their weapons ready and then prepares to open one of the bundles.

"Easy there, easy, we took care of those beasts. I'm going to let you out," he says calmly as he puts some weight on the bundle to encourage whatever's inside to stop thrashing. It also puts him in a good position to pin them if necessary. Then he opens the head end of the bundle, to see what's inside ...

Thunder booms as Freki opens the sack. He reveals a man, a shaggy-bearded Northerner, bound and gagged. His temple is bleeding all over his feathered headdress. At the bottom of bag is the man's pack. His eyes are wide and fearful, and he makes desperate pleading noises through his gag as the rain pelts his face.

The other sack also contains a bound man in a feathered headdress, though this man is Gurkish and unconscious.

Rain streaking down her mud-stained face, Sow secures her hand axe on her worn weapon belt and comes forward to pull down the first man's gag.

"Who are ye, and what happened?" she asks simply.

The man scrambles to face the sky, sucking in breath as if there wasn't enough air in the whole world to fill his lungs. Although covered in bruises and gashes, he is full of exuberance, and soon starts laughing uncontrollably. When he overcomes his fit, he answers your question.

"The Great Leveller awaits us all, but to die in a beastman's cook pot - there's no worse way to go back to the mud! My friend Hassan and I, we were tracking a pair of Anzu, and they caught us off guard in a patch of mist. Many thanks to you."

Noticing you haven't untied the rest of his bonds, he looks up at you, blinking in the rain.

"What's the deal, then?"

Freki notices the feathered headdresses that the men are wearing and remembers that the Dreadwing gang were described to wear feathered regalia ... Chasing Anzu in Black Skull territory? My ass! What were they really up to? Freki wonders, but decides he better not jump to conclusions.

He ignores the captive a moment and asks Saffron, "Have you seen these feathers before? What do they represent?"

"Best just to leave them here, ain’t it? Let them cut themselves loose on that spear over there! Plausible deniability, and all that. Maybe they made it, maybe they didn’t!"

Cutwell says, stooping to pool some of the water into his hands to clean off the man’s blood. He fixes his medical pack tight again, before walking over to look at the rescued prisoners.

"You know what that means," Saffron says quietly, sadness in her voice.

When Cutwell suggests leaving them, she vigorously agrees. Samir looked like he was going to suggest otherwise, but he doesn't look like he has the heart to go against his sister.