Comissioned from the talented  jarts, also featuring  rebelsqurl"s characters Diana and Sandra! The following piece was written for it by RebelSqurl. Will there be a follow up? Hrm...

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The life of a wandering warrior can be erratic, to say the least, with each day bringing the possibility of new adventures, new challenges, and sometimes new friends made along the way.

Arix had found a village ravaged by a band of vicious ruffians, leaving several dead and injured in their wake and taking a few younger people prisoner. After hearing the survivors" tale, the dragonborn vowed to bring these villains to justice and recover their hostages.

The village, unfortunately, was on the verge of one of the great forests in the southwestern regions of the empire, and his quarry"s trail had led right into the thickest trees, where it soon vanished amid the foliage of wood and branch. Or at least, that"s what it seemed to Arix, whose skill in tracking in these environments wasn"t quite as good as his talent in battle.

Then, after two fruitless days of searching, he caught a stroke of luck. As he was setting up camp for the evening, he heard a soft rustle in the bushes nearby behind him. Taking up his nearby sword and spinning around to fight, he found himself face-to-face with two women -- a vixen archer and a younger squirrelle with a quarterstaff, both dressed in green and brown, with the vixen"s outfit trimmed in gold and a bright fire opal pendant sparkling upon her breast. Both ladies seemed quite attractive, but what held Arix"s attention most was the arrow fitted to the vixen"s drawn bowstring and aimed right at him!

"Who are you, and what is your purpose in these woods?" the vixen asked in a no-nonsense tone.

"My name is Arix. I am trying to track down bandits in these woods who raided a village just outside the forest. They killed and wounded many, and took others prisoner, along with much goods and coin."

Keeping one eye on Arix, the two women looked at each other and exchanged a brief glance -- the vixen giving a raised eyebrow of inquisition, the squirrelle answering with an affirmative wink. The vixen lowered her bow and returned the arrow to the quiver at her back.

"In that case, Mister Arix, I think we should talk shop. You see, my apprentice and I are scouting for a bandit gang very like the one you describe, and we think they"re not very far off."

Arix nodded and invited the female furs to join him. A bright campfire was soon burning as the twilight turned to full night, while the dragonborn talked with his guests. He learned that the vixen, Diana Artemis, was a ranking member of a druidic order of rangers. The young squirrel girl, Sandra Chastain, was her apprentice -- only 16 years of age, but already trained and experienced enough to accompany her mentor on field work.

Diana explained that about a week earlier, a small outpost of their order, located further north near a trade road, had been attacked by surprise. The sole survivor, badly wounded and who only lived through the ordeal by playing dead, said the perpetrators were a large band of outlaws led by a hulking and savage minotaur with blazing red eyes. Arix nodded as Diana spoke, her words confirming that these were the same bandits he was pursuing.

"Apparently," the vixen said, "this beast and his gang are trying to terrorize this whole forest and claim it -- and everyone and everything in and around it -- as theirs. Too bad for them, though, because their actions have stirred up a hornet"s nest."

"You can say that again!" exclaimed Sandra. "Our entire order is being mobilized, and a small army is being raised by the regional governor. These rotten so-and-so"s won"t stand a chance against them!"

"It will still take some time yet for them to assemble for the campaign, however," Diana continued with a nod of agreement with Sandra"s remarks. Meanwhile, mine and Sandy"s job, along with other scattered pairs of rangers, is to pin down the location of our enemy"s lair -- or lairs, if they in fact have more than one -- and report it to our superiors so they can plan an attack."

Arix considered this with an expression of worry. "They have prisoners from the village, youngsters mainly. They may have captured others beforehand as well. If your own people and the governor"s soldiers attack, especially if they are noticed beforehand, then the bandits" leader might order the prisoners killed out of hand in retribution. Or else use them as bargaining chips to save his own skin."

"Are you suggesting we try to rescue them first, then?"

Arix gave a toothy grin. "Why not? I"ve done a few such rescues before. It won"t be easy, but I think we could manage it"

"Do tell," Diana invited, leaning back against her bedroll while Sandra sat cross-legged opposite her. Her ears were clearly perked in anticipation of a story.

So Arix recounted -- with possibly a little embellishment for the sake of the raptured squirrel girl -- a couple of his earlier exploits of a similar nature. Diana could tell he was actually telling the truth, as there was a ring of honesty and accuracy in his voice that didn"t sound like a rehearsed fabrication. And the more he spoke, the more she began to think that his crazy idea might just work after all.

They went to sleep as the moon rose above the treetops. Arix took the first watch, his eyes and ears alert for any danger, and being careful not to let the dying light of the campfire illuminate him too much. Thankfully, no danger appeared, nor during Sandy"s watch after him, nor Diana"s after her. It was the vixen who watched the morning light come into the sky and roused her companions; and after a brief breakfast, they headed out in search of their foes.

Diana was in the lead, her trained senses scanning the forest floor and the foliage for signs of passage. At times she would stop and sniff the air while her large ears swiveled to catch any unusual sounds. Sandy came next, her eyes open and ears pricked as she looked from side to side for any ambushers. Arix was the rearguard. His heavy footfalls and clank of armor made any stealthy approach useless, so the rangers didn"t bother being sneaky either. They figured the large and well-protected dragonborn would be the target of any initial attack, giving the females an opportunity to take up positions to defend themselves while he took the brunt of the first assault.

Around midday, they were looking for a place to pause for a bit of lunch and a rest when they came upon a clearing. At once, Diana held up her hand to signal the others to stop; then she advanced cautiously into the open. No challenge or shaft greeted her, and she went into the center of the clearing before kneeling and examining the ground. Presently she signaled the others to join her.

"Find something, Diana?" asked Sandra.

"Yes, evidence of a campfire that"s been buried. The ashes are cold, but I can tell it"s a relatively recent fire. Probably not more than two days old. A big fire."

Sandra looked around. "Yeah, and there"s been a lot of trampling of the grass here. A whole lot of people were camped here. Forty or fifty, maybe more."

Diana smiled at her apprentice. "I was wondering when you"d notice that. And right next to the fire pit is a pair of large hoof prints of the bovine persuasion. Our minotaur chief, no doubt."

Sandra nodded, gripping her quarterstaff more tightly. "We"re on the right track, then!" she said anxiously.

"There"s more," Arix added as he sniffed the wind blowing from the east. "I can just catch a scent. Strong, musky. I think someone"s nearby, maybe watching us." He gripped his blade and raised his shield. Something was wrong here.

"Be ready for any surprises, then," Diana said grimly as she stood up and drew an arrow from her quiver.

She hadn"t yet fitted it to her bowstring when the first shafts started appearing from the trees in front of them....