The others shared a few thoughts here and there. Things that Kre wasn’t aware of. Mostly about the weather shifting, based on the way the birds were flying or how the air smelled of some kind of metal. He barely followed the talk given how quickly as the group chattered and how often they talked over each other.
Talked over wasn’t really the right phrase though. The group seemed so cohesive and in sync that even though they a few of them were speaking at the same time, it always seemed that they were doing so respectfully and in a way that validated other’s comments and built on them. To Kre, at least, they truly seemed like a well-oiled machine of adventuring.
The break was soon over, and they were shortly back on the horses. The continued like that through the early afternoon and stopped once again after a few hours. “What’s going on?” Ras asked from behind Kre. He had been riding clean-up for the last couple of minutes, softly singing a song that Kre didn’t know.
“I’m not sure,” Kre responded as Ras pulled up alongside him. “It seems we’re assembling just up ahead.” They rode up to the small area together and Ortho nodded once, acknowledging their arrival.
“Quiet down now,” he said softly. “Back a bit ago, Kersath spotted some tracks…”
“… goblins, maybe a band of a dozen or so…” the dark elf interjected seamlessly.
“… vile critters…” Garth muttered as he spat on the ground. “A dozen is easy enough for the likes of us,” he added.
Talimar nodded, “… so we shifted course to track them to a small rocky area…”
“… about a hundred paces or so southeast of here.” Kersath finished.
Ortho cleared his throat, and his eyes took on a steely, far-off look. “We’ll have three groups. Beleg, Ras, and Kre will be the primary, to draw them out.”
“Ye olde woodcutter father and his two boys, eh?” Beleg said with a chuckle.
Ortho nodded and Kersath took up the next phase of the planning, “Ortho, Snagger, Gnore, Garth, and Talimar will plan to circle south, then hit them from the western side after they’ve engaged the primary team.”
“Leaving Kersath, Dain, and Druckner to hit them from behind and cut off their retreat.”
“Why would they retreat?” Kre asked, sensing enough of a lull to get a word in. “They have us outnumbered, right?”
The party turned to look at him all at once, some eyes narrowed and some blinking as if in disbelief. “The day we cannot take the lot five to one is the day I shave my beard,” Snagger muttered. Kre was fairly certain that it was the first time he had heard the dwarf speak.
“They’ll come at us fast,” Beleg said, as he unstrapped his riding leathers, tossing them to the ground. “Once they realize it’s a trap, they’ll pull back and try to incite us to chase them into the rocks. No doubt they have some small hiding holes there that they’ll try to lure us near and pick us off from the shadows.”
“That’s how they work,” Ras added with a small shrug. “But we’ll beat them at their game.”
“You know your roles,” Ortho growled, unstrapping a heavy mace from the side of his saddle. “Let’s get in position and crack some gobbo skulls.”