Oktavianus spoke quickly " No, no...she needs to lead us out of here! We will be ensnared in this forest's dark corners without her to guide us around safely. If she is caught by the soldiers, then she can say we kidnapped her and she suffers no punishment. There! " blasted the dwarf raising his fist " She has no excuse not to leave us!"

Roslyn was shocked and confused at this indoctrination of her future layout with this troop. She was honored to her city yet caught up in the chase for this significant artifact she knew little about. Yet, a fascination held her attention and the group tried to emphasize her importance to this latest guidance mission.

The druidess nodded her head " I will take you to where you wish, but I prefer not to be outside the confines of the woods. To this I owe you no allegiance thereafter and I will indeed view this as foul play should my charity be confused with Bethlun devotion."

All were pleased to hear this and they thanked her threefold. The fellowship prepared to hobble into the cover of the trees while Nanith and Aramil argued about the policies of Pinedroi and the motivation eachother had in this venture. Aramil claimed he was more forthright and pure in his views while the hobbit cautioned the mage to keep his consuming, negative viewpoints in check. It was clear that the pair didn't mix in close company despite the respect for their heralded talents.

1 PM: Aramil was the first to follow Roslyn into the northern grove and the rest followed tenderly behind. They slowly followed the druidess as she bushwacked along carefully moving past toppled trees and snagging berry bushes. Thw mage compared his raven tattoo to the others and noticed no change within its original homage. Oktavianus and Teflar breathed heavily while they stumbled through the undergrowth. It was clear they were a long way from reacquiring their original fighting strengths. Gailwind's eyes watered visibly when he blew his nose in his handkerchief. The lorist seemed to have calmed down a bit from his horrible ordeal.
Thunderous vibrations resounded along the forest floor indicating to the team that the battle was still being fought along the Grizzledane's slopes.

Aramil stepped up behind their guide. " Which way would the mercenaries fall back normally? For I would rather rest here and wait until the battle ends. If we are in the way of their retreat, then we must move to a safer locale or we may get spotted by some stragglers of either army."

Before Roslyn could answer, Gailwind told the others to keep quiet with hisses of breath. " Listen closely!" he said sharply. When the group fell silent under the elf's insistences, within moments, sounds of foliage being passed through and a scraping of clothing moved toward them. " It's heading this way at a quicken pace!"

" What is?" blasted the dwarf, unconvinced his silence would help.

Suddenly, the team watched as a dark figure broke from the undergrowth.