“This is where I take my leave of you,” Elzabeth announced sharply, adding demandingly before turning on her heels and heading off on the steep trail down the cliff-face; “but you owe me your lives and one day I will call on you to repay that debt.” Galen was the only one of the five companions to feel even a ting of regret at the witch’s departure, having found himself strongly attracted to the beautiful wizardess, despite, or perhaps because of, the darkness that he knew dwelled within her. For her part, Tana, who sat on the rough hewed stairs that lead down from the tunnel entrance while she dressed, couldn’t be more pleased to see her go. “Good riddance,” the young warrioress scowled nearly under her breath. Although she knew Elzabeth was a reluctant participant, she had been party to the lich’s torments and humiliations of her, so she was glad to see the witch go. Throughout their flight from the collapsing lichdom, she’d carefully observed the others. She’d seen evil men stand against others of their ilk often enough in Zhentil Keep to know that just because they destroyed the vile creature that had held her under its dominance for days it didn’t necessarily mean they were any better, especially since there was a drow amongst them, but there were little things, subconscious traits, that spoke of their nature being more benign. There was an innocence about the mage, as if he’d lived a sheltered life, an honest jovial humor in the dwarf and a sly sarcastic one to the moon elf, who the archer’s eye seldom left, as if he harbored a smoldering affection for her, but it was the drow, who seemed genuinely caring, something she’d have never believed about one of her kind if she hadn’t seen it herself, that convinced her she was in good company. They’d tried to give her some sense of privacy while she dressed, despite the fact that she’d been naked the whole time, but now that she was decently garbed, the companions turned their attention to the beautiful young warrior. Clearly of Damaran decent, which meant she was likely one of the recent immigrants from the Moonsea who’d arrived in the Marches just a few years ago seeking to start a new life away from the oppression of Zhentil Keep, she had a body sculpted by many hours of hard exercise, fit and well-muscled. “So lass, who are you and how did you end up in such a horrid place?” Tarl gave voice to two of the many questions they all had in his typical jovial tone, while his eyes to freely roam over her delightful form… not that he hadn’t taken the opportunity to do so earlier. “I’m Tana Marsk of Winter Edge,” she began, her voice carrying a slightly defiant ting. “We’ve been harassed by orcs from the Hills for months so our cleric of Tempus ordered me to lead what men we could spare, which was far too few, to hunt them back to the liar. But it was a trap. The orcs and the lich’s hobgoblins overwhelmed us. The men were slaughtered in front of me, but they made sure to take me alive… delivering me to that foul monster to be its plaything. He in-spelled me so he could control my actions against my will and made me do things to degrade and humiliate me… if he weren’t dust already I’d tear him apart with my bare hands!” “If you had he’d reform and return just as powerful in a matter of days… only by destroying his phylactery could he truly be killed,” Galen advised her in his typically academic manor. “It doesn’t matter now… he’s gone and won’t be coming back,” Aeron injected, knowing that the sorcerer could be long winded in his explanations. “We’ll see that you get home safely.” ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Disclaimer: Some of the material presented here may be the property of Wizards of the Coast, LLC© taken from the Dungeons & Dragons® Forgotten Realms® Campaign Setting authored by Ed Greenwood & Sean Renyolds, the Dungeons & Dragons® Forgotten Realms® Campaign Accessory Silver Marches® authored by Ed Greenwood and Jason Carl and/or other sourcebooks registered to Wizards of the Coast, LLC©. This is unofficial “Fan Content” permitted under Wizards of the Coast, LLC© Fan Content Policy, it is not approved or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast, LLC©.