Sylvia took a couple of breaths, as she could feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins. Before she could fully calm down however, Shortfang pointed towards the path and mentioned people were coming. Right! The reinforcements!
She looked to Pylia, and nods in agreement, answering "Right!"

At first Sylvia had trouble finding a good place to hide, until she spotted the tree. Man, was she lucky that the tree was here! She hid behind the tree, and readied her quarterstaff. No doubt that the reinforcements will not be too pleased with seeing their compatriots dead here...

Shortly after you hid, Pylia did a better job using her cloak to make herself look like one of the stones around the tree. The rain made everything look wet, and from a distance the textures of her cloak were indistinguishable from rock. Shortfang himself was small enough to hide in the tall grass, loading a bolt into his crossbow as he waited for the enemy to come into sight. And sure enough soon five more men arrived. Four of the brigands were armed with crossbows looking for the enemy, but one looked bigger and more threatening than them. Unlike the other men, he wore a proper breastplate instead of just a harden leather shirt, and he had a large sword over his shoulders. Upon seeing the bodies he scoffed. "Well shit. I see my men, but I don't see what killed them. Hopefully these dumbasses at least managed to do some damage! Look around you fools, they can't have gone far." The brigands looked around, however they were on edge. They seemed to mainly be waiting for someone to come out first instead of actually, actively looking for anyone. Even the one calling the shots seemed to be readying for an attack to come at him rather than looking for danger.

Sylvia kept her breaths silent as she watched the brigand reinforcements appear. The larger and breastplate wearing man...was that the leader of the Iron Hammers? Was he the one who put Dirk and a lot of other people through so much...? She watched carefully, noting that he looked pretty dang strong. She wasn't sure if she could take him on directly. Not to mention, he and the rest of the brigands are expecting someone to attack.

That's when a thought came to her. They may be expecting a person to appear, but they're probably not expecting pottery. The sound of it shattering would be the only warning sign and by the time they'd hear it, it'd be too late if she threw it right.

Sylvia quietly took out the clay jar of Dragon Spit, and braced herself. As soon as the backs of the brigands were facing towards her, she threw the jar, hoping to land it so that the big guy and at least one other brigand will be engulfed in flames. She just hoped that this would work.

Though they didn't know what hit them, they did know they were going to get hit by something. As the group moved closer to investigate, the dragon split exploded between one of the brigands and the big guy. The dragon spit exploded into a large ball of flame even during this torrential downpour, though perhaps because of that the two failed to 'burst into flames' and only get burnt. Still it hurt them, and from the steam a bolt flew and struck the burning bandit in the back as Shortfang rose from his hidden location.

The big guy looked towards the kobold, seeing you in the tree. "There they are! Get em!" Pylia however had her own ideas. "Hey ugly, eat dirt!" She shouted as magic condensed around her warclub before she flung it at the unsuspecting brigand. ^Radiant Bolt!^ The ball of light and magic slammed against the brigand and illuminated his body clearly even as the rain picked up and cut visibility. The nearest brigand who got hit by the dragonspit tried to take aim at Pylia, only for Shortfang's arrow to catch him in the throat. "Over here humies! YOU FIGHT SHORTFANG!"

The big guy seemed to accept his challenge. "Damn lizard! I'll turn you into a goddamn belt!" He charged the kobold expecting him to be an easy enemy, cleaving his greatsword right through Shortfang. It looked like the little guy was done for until he revealed to still be standing, but coughed up blood and defiance. "You hit like a kitten!" He shouted back. This angered the man as he tried to cut down Shortfang again, but in a surprisingly show of skill he was able to use his shortsword to deflect the blade just in time for the man's own sword to block a crossbow bolt from one of his cronies. The other brigands started shooting at the party, one who's shot was foiled by Shortfang, another who aimed at Pylia, and one who fired a bolt at you. Pylia was quick enough to raise her shield to block the bolt, but the one heading towards you would fly straight towards your leg.

Sylvia cursed under her breath "Rats!" when she saw that the Dragon Spit didn't work as she had hoped. But it did give Shortfang and Pylia a chance at least. She jumped down the tree as the others attacked. She gasped in fear when she saw that Shortfang took a huge hit from the Big Guy's greatsword. She was impressed that Shortfang was still alive, but she knew that the big guy could not be allowed another chance to attack.

The weakness is leadership...!

Hopefully by taking down the big guy, the other bandits will be cowed and back off from the three of them! Plus, she just couldn't waste the opportunity Pylia just gave her!

Her thoughts were interrupted when a crossbow bolt pierced her leg. She let out a cry in pain. She took a couple of breaths to grit herself through the pain, and she focused on the target. The big guy.

Right now, it doesn't matter if he was bigger than her or not! She just couldn't let him have another chance to hurt her friends!

She shouted through the pain, and with the crossbow bolt still sticking out of her leg, she darted towards the big guy. Once she reached him, she powered through, and gave her usual attack with the quarterstaff. But this time, she felt a power...something different than normal, and she uses it to allow her to make two unarmed strikes against the big man. One to the face, and the other towards a nearby pressure point.

As you went to attack the biggest brigand, Pylia charged into the fray and smashed her club into one of the crossbow baring brigands, however he managed to block her attack using his bowgun as a shield. Shortfang took advantage of the opening and fired a Bolt right into the man’s chest, causing massive wounds just as the big guy staggered back. His face was bloodied and he had a twisted grin on his face. “Oh you’re feisty! Don’t worry girlie, I’ll make sure to... Tah... What-“

The brigand raised his sword to cut you down, but your last stroke literally hit a nerve. His eyes rolled back into his head as his body swayed and fell to the ground. Shortfang wasted no time rushing forward, picking up a scimitar from one of the dead bandits and trying to slash at the brigand he attacked, though the brigand managed to avoid the attacks.

But sure enough many of these bandits lost their nerves. The two furthest away turned tailed and ran away, even jumping down the hill. Only the brigand fighting Pylia and Shortfang stayed, and that was largely due to being attacked. He took out his sword and slashed at Shortfang. The little warrior tried to dodge but his wounds made him sluggish as he took the slash across the face. But even despite that, he was still standing. “Weak. Weak!”

Sylvia simply watched when the big guy started trying to be intimidating and to cut her down with the sword, only for him to finally fall from the pressure point strike. She stared at him coldly before shaking her head.

She turned her attention to the bandits to see that they were indeed running for their lives, just as she thought. Well, except for one Bandit. After seeing the bandit strike at Shortfang once more, she darted over and finished the fight with a Quarterstaff strike to his stomach, and a kick to push him back.

Pylia and Shortfang were about to crush the final bandit before you charged in, staggering him with your staff strike before kicking him down the hill. He tumbled lifelessly to the ground. The battle was over, at least for now. Ferric and Mica soon rolled up with Mica holding the reins and Ferric armed with his crossbow. Pylia went to the girl and administered some first aid, removing the bolt in her shoulder and helping her heal up. Though her injury was sever, the girl would life. Shortfang went to the bodies, finishing them off with a knife to their throat before picking off their loot.

“I see you’ve dealt with the bandits.” Ferric pointed out. “What about the girl? Is she okay? What about her family?” The girl was unconscious as she was carried over to Ferric Cart by Pylia. “I’m sure they’re up ahead, let’s move quickly!” She shouted. Shortfang nodded and looked to you. “Let’s go boss! We be ready in case there’s more baddies!” Shortfang pounded his chest and gave you a toothy grin. Despite his heavy wounds he almost seemed perky.

After Sylvia sent the bandit tumbling, she breathed rapidly as she looked around. With the battle now over, she saw the dead bodies, and the shock came over her. She....She and her friends did this much carnage? She felt guilty, but she told herself over and over that the bandits were going to kill her and her friends, if nothing else worse, if they hadn't fought as they did. She felt kind of sick to her stomach...

When she heard that the girl was going to live thanks to Pylia's first aid, Sylvia let out a breath of relief. She took a quick moment to yank the crossbow bolt out of her leg. She'll hang onto that in case Shortfang needed extra ammunition.

She looked to see Mica and Ferric arrive with the cart. She nodded in agreement with Pylia, and she looked to Shortfang with a smile and answered "Alright, let's go,"

Along the way, she ate a goodberry for a quick healing before possibly running into more bandits.

Rushing forward the party came across a horrid sight. A wagon was tossed over, the contents scattered across the ground. Two people were laid out on the ground that didn't look like bandits. And hidden among the wreckage was a young boy holding a bloodied knife, and near him a dead brigand. If there were any horses or beasts of burden, they were gone now. Pylia jumped out of the wagon and rushed towards the two bodies. "Sylvia, come help me! We can still save them!" Pylia took her own goodberries and crushed them into a juice in her hand, pouring them down the mouths of the two bodies as she took out her healer's kit and tried to operate on their wounds. The man suffered many bruises, broken bones, and seemed to have been stabbed through the stomach. The woman had less but still sever injuries, as well as a large gash across her arms. The young boy just sat there, staring at the ground.

Sylvia gasped at the sight of the overturned cart and the two people who were hurt. She answered as she too hopped out of the cart with Pylia, "I'll help!"
She hurried with Pylia over to the two and helped out wherever she can. However, Sylvia is not a medic, nor has any medical practice. She simply followed Pylia's directions, since she knew how to help the both of them in healing. She just hoped that they weren't too late.

Together you and Pylia began to operate on the two. Shortfang stood on watch to make sure no other bandits or monsters came by while Ferric went to get the boy who was entirely unresponsive. It took the two of you a good thirty minutes in the pouring rain. Pylia had a serious look the entire time, tending to the wounds of the man before getting to the woman. But soon she stopped and shook her head. "It's... It's no good. I did everything I can for the man and he might be able to make it but..." Pylia gulped hard, standing up and wiping the blood off her hands. "It's too late for her. The gashes on her arms bleed her out quickly." Going to the cart, Pylia secured a large tarp and covered the body in it.

Ferric looked at the scene with a grim look. "Well... Let nothing go to waste. There's still some supplies here, not to mention the equipment off the brigands. We can take the three in the back of the cart, if the rest of you don't mind walking. I suppose we could... Bury the body nearby." Shortfang looked at everyone and points up towards the skies. "Got to move. Rain harder. Everyone get sick if we stay." Pylia was quiet as she prayed over the body.

Sylvia was relieved that the man and boy were saved, but the news of the woman's death hit her hard. There was nothing they could do. She shook her head and she quietly cursed "God dammit...!"
At Ferric's suggestion, she nodded and answered "I don't mind walking. They need the ride more than we do," At the mention of the burying the body as a funeral, and Shortfang's notice of worse weather coming, Sylvia's mind came to a quick compromise.

She asked them, "How about a funeral pyre? It'll be quick, and while we're at it..." She then looks to the bandits' bodies with a hardened glare and finished, "We'll be making sure that those damned bandits don't come back as undead,"

Pylia gave you a mirthless chuckle. "A pyre? In this weather? You're crazy." That being said Pylia did go to move the bodies, though she made sure the woman's body was separated from the brigands. With everyone helping it wasn't long before the brigand's equipment were stripped off their bodies, leaving them only in their regular clothing. Pylia had put the woman underneath a tree where it was relatively dry. "I'll be doing her final rites. I'll need to call upon my sacred flame, so this may take a while. I'm not going to bother doing the same courtesy to the brigands." She looked at you for a moment before turning to Shortfang. {I need you to cut off their heads. That's the most reliable way to make sure they don't become undead. Bury their heads in a different hole or something.} The kobold nodded grimly as he retrieved a scimitar.

"Sylvia, I know you're... Not familiar with how these things work. Could you come over here? Just try and repeat my words. More people helps the process." This was a lie. Pylia just wanted Sylvia to not watch Shortfang go about the grisly work of undead prevention. If/when you were distracted, Pylia would begin to chant slowly but loudly. "What do I want to do? What am I searching for? Chasing an answer that doesn't exist, you ask of a single star shining in the sky." Holding one hand strait in front of her chest, Pylia extended a hand out towards the woman's body as a white flame formed and floated to the corpse. "Light and shadow begin to split paths, driven away by the future's footsteps. I wake to your voice, resounding through the silence. The you of that day was no different than so long before" The flames began to spread over the tarp, slowly at first. "It overlapped with the cry of a miracle." And then the entire tarp was lit aflame with white, radiant fire. Both you and Pylia could feel the heat, but despite how close it was to the tree, there was no smoke and the tree was never burnt as the flames started to cremate the body.

"We continued dreaming of the moment the world would change. So that we never forget, we'll hand down this story..."

After Pylia gave her mirthless chuckle and comment, Sylvia shrugged and gave a sad smile, "It's better than nothing...right?"

She helped everyone as best as she could, but it was clear that the battle and the death of the woman was weighing on her mind. She nodded to Pylia when she stated that she would be doing the woman's final rites. She had noted that she spoke to Shortfang in Draconic once more, but she had no idea as to what she said.

When Pylia called her over, she did so. She let herself get distracted while Shortfang worked to severed the bandits' heads from the bodies. She followed Pylia's instructions and repeated the hand gestures and the words of the prayer. She doubted her words and gestures were actually helping the fire, but still it was something she could do. As the body burned, Sylvia lowered her head and let out a quiet sigh.

As soon as the group was ready to go, Sylvia would leave with them and continue their journey.

Shortly after the woman's body was burn away, Pylia collected the ashes in a clay jar that Ferric loaned to her, putting it in the wagon. With everything done the group moved onward through the rain. A few hours would pass in silence before the rain finally let up, and once it did the second camp was in sight. Compared to the first encampment, this one barely had anything except a few large tents and guardsmen manning a defensive position at a bridge. There were very few people here sans a couple of travelers, not even merchants. The girl and who is presumably her father still wasn't awake, but Pylia made sure to check on them and keep them as warm as possible. The boy fell asleep next to his family.

It took a total of eight hours, two more over the original six. Thanks to leaving early however, there was still plenty of daylight. That being said, Ferric recommended staying at camp for a short while to rest up, tend to their wounds, and check on the family members. There was a camp area that they were allowed to utilize for a short while, which allowed Pylia to set up a campfire and lay the two travelers nearby to rest and recover. As she was doing that, Ferric came over to you and handed you a hefty sack filled with assorted coins. "Me and Shortfang managed to find roughly 160 sovereigns worth of coins. Figured since you all did all the fighting, it's only right that you keep the coin. Not to mention those brigands had an assortment of items that might interest you, again you're free to pick whatever you want from them. I'll gladly buy whatever you don't want off your hands. And... You did your best, Sylvia. These roads are dangerous but you made them safer today."

Sylvia was noticeably much quieter as the group made their way to the camp, she was somewhat lost in thought as she kept an eye out for any more dangers. Thankfully by the time they did, the rain had let up on them. After they did, Sylvia decided to help check on the family, and tend to her own wounds, as Ferric had suggested.

She blinked when Ferric approached, and handed her a hefty sack of gold. After he spoke, she nodded and gave a small smile, "Thank you, Ferric. I appreciate that. I'm glad that the roads are at least a little safer now..." She silently added that she wished she could have done more. She couldn't help but think that maybe if they hadn't been so cautious at the stone house, they would have reached the hill sooner, and would have saved the family sooner...

Ferric patted you in the back, as he was too short to put a reassuring hand on your shoulder. “I know what you might be thinking. What if we were faster, what if we had left earlier, lotta hypotheticals that could have prevented this. It’s okay that you feel sad, but remember that you saved that man and his children. You didn’t lose anyone Sylvia, you saved lives.” With those words Ferric left to go tend to his mules.

The other two begin to stir, with the little boy sitting nearby very unresponsive. Shortfang tried to talk to him but the kid just wouldn’t say anything. Pylia motioned for you to come over as the young girl started to wake up. “Sylvia, could you make some food and tea for six people?” Pylia handed you a small cloth sack filled with a bitter yellow-green powder. “Boil some water and mix this herb mixture into it. It’ll help strength out bodies against the cold. And now that it’s not raining... Why aren’t you wet?”

Sylvia looked to Ferric as he reassured her. He had hit the nail right on the head when it came to what she was thinking. She was silent as he listened. When he finished she nodded and answered, "I will. Thank you again, Ferric,"

She then turned her attention to Pylia when she called her over. She answered as she walked over to the campfire, "Of course!" She was glad to have the opportunity to take her mind off of death through cooking. She took the herb mixture and nodded. She started boiling the water as Pylia asked her question.

"I'm not sure. I think it's because of this ring," She showed the water walking ring to Pylia, with it remaining on her hand.

As she boiled the water for the tea, she thought about what to cook for everyone. She once again recalled her past, when there were rainy days or times when she was sad or upset. She remembered how her grandparents made her tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich on those days. With those memories in mind, Sylvia decided to see if she can make a kind of soup and sandwiches for everyone.

Grilled cheese and tomato soup. Easy enough in the modern age, but here you were certain you didn’t have everything you may need. The sandwich would be easy enough, you had bread and cheese, though with no butter or mayo you’ll have to make due with some grease you could skim from your dried meats. But as you looked though your rations you could spot something that wasn’t there before: chicken bones from this mornings breakfast. Shortfang was suppose to have disposed of it, but it seemed that he kept some wing tips and other bones. Either he knew their uses as soup stock, or maybe he was going to make bolts out of them. Either way with these left overs you had an idea of how to make some passable tomato soup.

Gathering some water from a rain barrel you were able to simmer the chicken left overs into a pot, which would create a chicken broth. You sliced up a few whole tomatoes and an onion, which would later be put into the soup. Again without any butter this wouldn’t make a very creamy soup, but you still had enough cheese that it could have some creaminess. After about forty minutes the broth was done, so after removing the remains and adding a dash of salt you would put in the tomatoes, onions, and cheese, and it just needed to simmer some more before it would be ready.

In the meantime you needed to make grilled cheese. Oiling up the pan with lard you sliced up some bread and could easily grill them to a crisp golden color with warm melted cheese in the middle. By the time you made enough sandwiches for six, the soup was ready as well. Pylia came over with a cup and a wooden ladle to scoop some hot tea. She sniffed the air and smiled a little. “That smells great Sylvia, is it ready?”