Duendewood: Children of Ruin, part thirteen

"We're getting closer, I think," said Skyflower, studying the path ahead. 

Morrigan bent down and sniffed at the ground. "Yes. The scent is stronger. Best to move quietly from here." 

Rose nodded to them and dropped back, light-footed as she waved the others closer. She had the features of a classical elf, a blend of her mother's half-elven ancestry and her father's True Elf bloodline. "Okay," she said gently. "Time to slow down and go carefully. Morrigan and Skyflower both think we're getting pretty close, and gnolls... well, they can be pretty hard to sneak up on."

"Should we wait until after dark?" asked Risk. 

"Not all of us can see in the dark," Rose reminded him. "And the gnolls all can." 

"Oh," he said. "Right."

The battle-cleric Tybalt glanced around the group. "I say we wait here and let Morrigan and Skyflower scout ahead -- or Rose can scout from the air."

Jacques, the nobleman, nodded and set a hand on his rapier. "Seconded."

Rose nodded. "Let's do both. Stay here, stay quiet, and I'll let them know."

"You said she was the oldest?" Jacques asked quietly, as Rose walked away. 

Tybalt nodded. "And the most experienced. Watch this."

Rose spoke briefly with the other two women, then shimmered and transformed into an eagle. Wide wings shoved her into the air, and she circled as she rose, slipping through the trees and into the sky. 

"I should..." Risk made to start after Skyflower and Morrigan, but his half-dragon sister put a hand on his shoulder. "Stay here," she said, looking past him at the two woman who were slipping into the woods alongside the trail they'd been following. 

Jacques followed her gaze, just in time to see a pair of wolves and... was that a wolverine? He legitimately didn't know. The three animals followed the women, and Risk said, "Oh. Right."

"...What were those?" asked Yvette. 

The paladin Ash chuckled. "Rose is the most experienced of us. Brick is her companion and protector, a wolverine. He's not wearing his barding because Rose wants him to be mistaken for an ordinary animal. Morrigan and Skyflower are both training as rangers, and part of that includes companion animals for them as well; those are the two wolves, Geri and Freki." 

"So we aren't just twelve," Julien observed. "We're fifteen." He looked over at Risk. "Oh, this is going to be fun, New Cousin."

Risk smiled back at him. "Oh, yes it is."