Chapter 27

Arhyvhynne surmised that Ghemella must have come in contact with the vhultard's tail and received a small amount of poison. The question was what to do about it. She wanted to teleport them back to the Towers, but Ghemella opposed the idea. The Guardian wanted nothing to do with anything that interfered with their mission. As they had discussed before, a return to the Towers could make things difficult for a subsequent journey.

Though it went against her better judgment, the High Witch decided to continue on. But before leaving, she performed another healing on the Guardian, this one being more complex and straining her a bit. Since they had already stopped, they ate their evening meal and left as soon as Ghemella felt well enough to ride.

By modifying their route slightly, the party could travel to the elven city of Qyntes'ah. There, Ghemella might receive care from professional healers. But it was a four day ride to the Sylvan Forest and an additional two days to Qyntes'ah. Arhyvhynne hoped her healing skills would hold out till then. The Sylvan Forest was a haven that was magically protected by the elves, not to the extent of the barrier that encompassed the Towers, but potent enough to limit the advance of most evildoers. Once within the confines of the forest, they would be safe. But she feared four days could prove to be too much time to sustain Ghemella and ample enough for another encounter with the vhultards or even SoulSlayers.

They rode on for several more hours, well into the evening, taking advantage of the long days of MidSummer. The terrain and weather remained unchanged and they had not seen any signs of the vhultards, either. Just before dusk settled down on the northland, the rain tapered off to a drizzle and finally stopped altogether. The Guardian searched for a suitable place to make camp but could find nothing that afforded any shelter. They ended up settling near some brush.