Although this is mostly a Lalucia solo, Todd, Becky, Summer and Wildfall stop in for an interum action scene.

It helps add variety, but Lalucia's definitely the star here.

 
Nikovi opening by Lalucia

 
Nikovi rushed through the forest as quickly as he could, desperately aware of how little energy he had remaining. A quiet sigh escaped his lips when he threw himself to the side, barely dodging the clawed hand seeking to kill or capture him again. With a pained groan he settled into a run once more, the small lead he had gained being eroded far too quickly.

This time he dropped to the ground on his back and slashed the lead pursuer's abdomen fiercely before rolling over and running in a slightly different direction. His pursuers were more cautious now, aware that he could still fight back. It would have to do; he finally recognized where he was, and it wouldn't be long now.

Hope shifted into despair as a rock slammed into his side; it wasn't enough to break a bone, barely, but it threw his stride off enough for his foes to catch up. Rage filled him at these slavers for capturing him before and taking him down now. After drawing in a desperate lungful of air, he released the most piercing scream he could to alert the camp to the trouble it was in.

Nikovi felt triumph surge through him when he gazed upon their disbelieving visages, and held onto the emotion even as their claws bit deeply into his flesh in retribution before hurrying towards the now warned camp. It wouldn't be long now, Nikovi thought morbidly as he slipped into the calming hold of unconsciousness.

Lalucia snapped awake when she heard the nearby cry. Taking just a moment to snatch up her trusty weapons she headed into the pre-dawn, desperately searching for the threat. Panic and more controlled reactions filled the camp; most had woken up when they heard the scream and the rest woken not long after by the demands for information. Moments later Lalucia's search was resolved; six slavers were attacking!

Her sling bullet was joined by several other ranged attacks: spears, sticks, and rocks creating an effective deterrent towards advancement. Cattaras and several other melee warriors joined the battle after the second volley, forcing a cessation of aggression on the part of the ranged warriors to prevent friendly fire. After briefly the situation was well in hand Lalucia darted into the forest towards where she heard the cry. She gasped lightly once she saw what had made it; a middle-aged feline had been ferociously wounded by claws.

After chastising herself for not grabbing the medical supplies she dropped down next to him and placed her hands over his damaged lung; while he was injured in several other locations none of the others would kill him even close to as quickly as this one. Healing energies poured into the damaged flesh, willing it to clear the blockages and repair the ravaged flesh. Knowing she had neither the time nor the energy to properly deal with the damage she focused on stabilising the area and moved on to the next threat. Several minutes later she finished her task and called for her kobold friends to come and finish the job before she ran back to the camp.

The camp was in barely controlled chaos with a small section of relative calm around Todd Blackpaws. Wildfall and a few of the other better fighters were there, too.

"What in the blazes is going on now?" Wildfall asked to no one in particular.

Todd sighed like a parent. "I'm not sure I want to know..."

"Slavers! They found us!" Someone called out.

"No sweat, we handled them before," Wildfall said confidently.

"Yeah," the same someone answered. "But there's a lot more of them now."

Todd stood up and looked off into the distance, as if he could see what was going on. "Doesn't matter. We know these guys, and nothin's gonna make us go with 'em! The big guy knows them really well. I've heard the story- he's out for alot of payback for his village." He chuckled. "If he wasn't such an asshole, he'd be a great guy."

"Me and Summer heard the tales about them growin' up in Ireaca," Wildfall said with a nod. "We're with ya on this one."

Todd looked a lot more serious than his usual self. "I was a gutter rat my whole life, but I've heard of these guys. Believe me, there is no freakin' way they're takin' me- and I'm sure that goes double for Cattaras." He started picking up his gear.

"Don't worry, foxy," Becky said, joining them. "We got this. I'll protect ya!"

Todd smiled a bit, caressing Becky's hair. "I've always wanted someone to want to protect me as much as I did them." He let his paw fall and shook his head. "C'mon, cutie. Time to go meet the boys."

Summer made her way from the front where the outer guards were stationed. "We need to put a stop to them once and for all." Summer pulled out her knives and let out a loud cry, strong enough to rally the others to battle. Wildfall rushed to follow her.

"Come on, Summer, let's kick some butt!" Wildfall said, pulling his wooden shillelagh out. He was ready for a fight. The two took the charge, rushing into the action at the edge of the camps.

As Becky whipped up an offensive ice storm designed to dull the blunt of the slaver attacks, Summer sprang into action, leaping on the back of one of the slavers and digging her knives into the slaver's back. The slaver attempted to grab for Summers. She quickly sliced the slaver's throat. Another slaver, even bigger, grabbed her, but Wildfall slammed the shillelagh into his knee. The slaver dropped to one knee, holding the injured knee. Wildfall slammed the butt end of his weapon into the slaver's throat. The slaver grabbed his throat, unable able draw a breath, and passed out, blood gurgling out of his mouth.

"This isn't so bad," Wildfall said when a large beast of a man grabbed Wildfall from behind, trapping both of his arms. "Ahh, crud."

Summer screamed "No!" She stabbed the slaver in the back. The slaver released Wildfall and turned, swinging a meaty forearm at her. Or he would have if he'd had seen her. He was currently dealing with a face full of fox as Todd, still acting strangely, leapt on him and … well whatever he was doing it was painful.

"There's a lot of them," Wildfall noted.

"More than we can handle, we may need to retreat for now," said Summer.

"Non option. Gotta protect the wounded!" Wildfall called out. He watched the fighting in the distance. The slavers were going about things methodically. They clearly knew what they were doing.

"Clear 'em out." said Todd, fangs bared. "I'll hold them for you."

"Let us take this one!" Wildfall insisted. "You've got the healing magic, you can help them move. We can fight the scuz patrol off."

For a second Todd looked like he was going to fight about it- then he turned about. "Fine. C'mon kids- time to leave." He then unslung his guitar and started playing healing musics.

Summer joined Todd, helping others back to safety and making sure no one was left behind. "We got couple of them real good, but you know they will keep coming for us; we need to have a plan of attack."

"What we need is a miracle, darlin'." Todd growled. "Right now I'd take a big black furry one."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the camp...

The battle had only started thirty five seconds ago, already fatigue was setting in, and it was becoming increasingly clear that their group wouldn't stand a chance sticking around. Luckily, several others had realized this as well and had organized the noncombatants to carry the wounded and the vital supplies while the others would form an outer shield.

Lalucia dearly hoped that they would make it out safely, but she knew she would be far more useful acting as a rearguard to buy time for the escape. After her guilty glance assured that there weren't any nearby threats, she knelt down next to a slaver she had incapacitated and, with knife and bowl, collected a pint of liquid fuel. Lalucia was well aware that she wouldn't be able to last the battle without more blood, there weren't any better sources available, and the slaver HAD been trying to kill her and those under her protection; it did very little to alleviate her guilt over taking blood without permission. With a start she realized that he was going to bleed out if she left him as is, and quickly bandaged his shallow wound.

Vitality restored, Lalucia observed the greater battlefield; the main offense was stalled by ludicrously large amounts of cryokinesis courtesy of Becky, and the screams coming from around told her that several slaver groups were trying, and failing, to flank them. Gambling that Becky would probably be able to hold the main offense quite effectively, she headed off to hunt for flankers.

Being ambushed works just as well, Lalucia rationalized as she stepped backwards and blocked another sword slash. I just have to win it, is all, she continued nervously.

Lalucia had managed to break three of her assailants' bones, but that had only weakened one and disabled another, leaving three and a half deadly adversaries. A crude scimitar slipped past her desperate defence and badly damaged her left shoulder. Her desperate counterstrike to his solar plexus and the followup bone-shattering blow to his shoulder left him on the ground screaming, but Lalucia knew that things were bad. She was far less proficient at using her quarterstaff one-handed, and she was still badly outnumbered.

Lalucia leapt backwards as the remaining slavers charged, thereby acquiring a precious second to slip into a proper spellcasting mindset. A solarflare to one opponent and thunderclaps for the other two allowed her to land a piercing blow to the lead one's right femur and to the last uninjured one's left knee. The last slaver settled into a guarding stance over one of his comrades. Lalucia spared him a respectful glance before subtly sinking him into the ground. By the time he noticed, he was completely unable to escape. After he was buried to mid-thigh she left without another word, already working on regenerating her shoulder.

Davrom watched the small child leave approvingly. He had almost stepped in when she had received the shoulder wound, but she had fought far more seriously and won despite that. After leaping down from his treetop perch he unleashed a spell upon the five to force them into a deep sleep. A few illusions to make them blend into the environment for all senses and they should be safe enough until he was prepared to collect later, Davrom mused while marking the location on his mental map.

After confirming the helpless slavers were well hidden, Davrom leapt back into the trees and shadowed the child mage. She was interesting, and had the marvelously useful talent of being absolutely pathetic at woodcraft, and thus a perfect beacon for drawing out his prey.

A group of eight slavers, clearly far more competent than the five she had fought previously, were judged to be far too much for her to handle without an unacceptably high chance of serious injury, and thus removing almost all utility she had for him. Decision made, he leapt into the midst of them with his two deer horn knives drawn. With a series of soft, quick blows charged with electricity the eight dropped with painfully spasming muscles. He dropped them into the arms of Morpheus and disguised them as well before returning to shadowing his newest asset.

After merely thirteen minutes he had acquired an astounding ninety-seven prisoners; far more than he had managed in the prior weeks. Davrom smiled before mentally dubbing the mage his lucky loadstone. They were also helping to defend that large weak group, which he tentatively labelled a plus.

Within ninety seconds he started to regret the child's abilities; she had managed to get surrounded by about thirty minions while he was disabling a similar strike team. She wouldn't stand a chance, but there was little chance he could even the odds without her noticing. Still, it wouldn't do for subtlety to be abandoned hastily.

Sedative darts punctured skin all around the circle. With their timing thrown off, she should be able to survive for the minute it will take for them to fall unconscious, Davrom reassured himself.

Twelve seconds later he was thinking very disparaging thoughts about her competence. After a quick sigh of regret he leapt down into the fray, disabling two slavers and parrying seven strikes from his... well, unknowing lackey. After she clued into the fact that he could have roasted her easily and hadn't, they settled into a moderately coordinated dance with their adversaries. Davrom nodded in satisfaction once the remaining slavers finally dropped to the ground from the sedative and turned to face the girl, who had taken the opportunity to drop him calf-deep into the ground and seal him there. Ungrateful brat... Davrom thought before breaking out of his attempted prison, idly noting that her mouth had been opening to speak.

"Well, it's been fun kid. Try not to get yourself killed; you've been very helpful lately." Message supplied and startled expression observed, Davrom leapt into the trees once more.

That’s some fun little action! We’re going to take a detour for Kadlin’s side trip, which helps set up the next mission nicely. Then it’s finally time for our two part Finale!