Jaina the Sex Slave Ch. 61

"It couldn't be helped," Santos said to try and soothe the tense feeling being shared by the group.

"We have to hurry," Evalynn said, trying to be strong. "I broke my statue, so the bridge will remain only as long as somebody stands on it. We have to get over it before the players show up."

Zoric nodded and led the way to a stone arch that spanned the chasm between two hills. The nearby hill was a bit lower than the village, so the lower slope was a series of steps taking the ramp down. Gisley was the only one still on the bridge as she could fly if something went wrong, but she lingered to keep the bridge alive so they could cross. Jaina and Chandice were on the far side, waving them to hurry as a ball of fire rose into the air. One of the outer buildings was burning, signaling the players had reached the village.

"Go," Zorac shouted and sent them running across. He took the rear, trusting in his mass of health should anyone attack from behind. They were halfway across when Roric't tent was rent asunder by some kind of lightning spell. As it collapsed in flames, he looked back to see angry faces and pointing fingers. They saw the bridged and knew the girls were escaping but had created a barrier of fire between them. Zorac was about to thank his luck when a shadow descended from the sky and dropped before the group, the angel-like woman spreading her wings.

"Your escape is over," the blond woman said as she raised a sword glowing with golden light. She wore white armor etched with golden runes and hung with white ornaments. She was about to say something more when Gisley leaped into the air and unleashed a beam of glittering light that cut the sky like a laser. The woman blocked the beam with her sword, causing an explosion of rays in every color of the rainbow. However, the blast was too much, and it succeeded in pushing her from the bridge. She was forced to spread her wings and take to the air as the group ran on. She went to cast a spell, but Gisley rushed her, a fey sword in hand. The two locked in a spiraling conflict of blows as they flew in circles around one another. The battle looked nearly even until a red spear lodged in the woman's side. Evalynn used her powers to throw magical copies of her weapon, forcing the angel woman to retreat or be skewered.

"Gisley, let her go!" Evalynn shouted when the fairy went to pursue. "Get to the other side with the others!"

Gisley growled and flew back as spells began to streak by. The fire still barred the players on the hill, but they were taking random shots at Gisley. She weaved and darted while dropping down, hoping to get below their line of sight. A magical dart went through a wing, and an arrow clipped her arm, but she fluttered below the bridge and up the other side as they finally ran down the steps.

"We are almost across," Zorac shouted as they closed the final gap. Desperate to be off the bridge before a hunter could get on it. He jumped the final distance, dropping to the hill with a roll, and came to his feet to see players had used spells to quell the fire. They were seconds from reaching the bridge when Evalynn's control failed, and it vanished in a rumble, nothing but dust to fall away.

"That was an inspired idea," Grom said and looked at Evalynn. "Using the terrain mechanics to create a collapsing bridge only you can cross. You are a very clever tactician."

"And thinking to shatter the spawns to shift where Roric will respawn," Zorac agreed. "You may have saved him a lot of suffering."

"And the girls seem to follow your lead," Grom added.

"Evalynn takes charge of the girls when Roric isn't around," Chandice said. "She ensures they are cared for and safe."

"A second in command," Zorac said approvingly. "And a skilled warrior."

"I appreciate the compliments, but we are a long way from being safe," Evalynn said. "We need to move before they find a way to cross the gap." She pointed to a narrow trail and explained she knew where it led. She had taken the opportunity to use her statue to scour the hills ahead of them and knew exactly where to go.

Jaina felt comforted that Evalynn was in charge and leading the way. She had done so on several occasions, always displaying good sound logic and reasoning. This time was no different as Evalynn laid out the struggle ahead. The problem now was that Roric was due to spawn any minute. He was going to spawn alone, nearly half a day's journey away. She reasoned that he would assume their base had been overrun and the girls killed. Thus he would linger near the spawn point and that unfriendly town, waiting to see if any of the others respawned there. After four hours, he would move to Jaina's hidden anchor assuming that if they had escaped, they would go there.

"So what's the plan?" Zorac asked.

"We get out of the steep hills and get on Gisley's disk so she can fly us at speed to Jaina's hidden cube," Evalynn replied. "If Roric isn't there, we make a straight line for the town, hoping to run into him."

"And if we don't find him?" Grom asked.

"We assume he was caught and is either dead or being held in the town," Evalynn replied. "Santos and Jaina will go in and see if they can learn anything, while Gisley uses her invisibility to hide us nearby. If we have to, we will rescue him and then flee straight to Rajeen, where we will finally be safe."

It was a sound plan but one filled with a lot of unknowns. Still, Evalynn proved Chandice's words accurate as the elf woman laid out their only options and took charge of saving Roric like she did weeks ago. She led them to the base of the cliff and then to the edge of a stream. Gisley could fly down the stream to avoid the trees while they followed on the disk. Even if the druid woman used her tracking, there would be no tracks to find, and they would be long gone.

Gisley was quick to summon her disk, and they all climbed aboard. She flew off in her fluttering way as the rest looked back to see black smoke rising over the hills. Everything they had worked for was being reduced to ash, and the dream of the love wood was over. It was a dark moment made darker still by the worry over Roric's safety. They could only hope they found him first, or Roric would suffer.