Sarkon looked far out into the brush, his mind far removed from his wounds and his surroundings. A strong hand up on his shoulder brought him back to the moment.
"Sarkon, you are needed at the gathering," said Darvin, a veteran of the guards. Sarkon stood silent, still staring back into the trees.
"Very well. Let's get this over with," Sarkon mused.
"Yes, sir. I'll lead the way... The remaining groups would like your counsel on how to proceed. Most of the groups had their leaders killed or missing in the ambush," Darvin replied, leading Sarkon towards a gathering of the remaining caravaners. "My opinion, we take what we can and hoof it as lightly and quickly as possible to Nardth. Mobilize a recovery effort and try to find the missing or dead and all the supplies. Bandits be damned, we can't afford to waste time senselessly wiping out all the knaves in the surrounding area. We have to get to the mountain and make the delivery. Me and the boys get a share of the delivery as bonus, you know."
Sarkon nodded along as he walked. He was mildly interested but also concerned. Concerned for the caravan. Concerned about bandits following them to their current location. And concerned about Grüshnag and if he truly wouldn't fall back to darkness. Orcs are not easily tempted by the ways of men and elves, after all.
Sarkon edged into the circle of men, Darvin standing off to the side a few feet, listening intently to the discussion. The group paused a moment and all of them turned to Sarkon.
"Sarkon! I saw you fight those nasty bandits during the attack. We must show them the error of their ways and retrieve all the goods and valuables they so ruthlessly plundered from us. What say you?" Ray, speaker for the largest merchant guild, said to the group. Several others nodded, murmuring their agreement.
“Agreed. Those savages fell many of my companions and stole most of what we had to trade. How’s about we go and gather a group of local men in Nardth. I hear those men a strong and hardworking. Pay them out of what we recover while the remaining group and supplies wait for us. We could use the help and perhaps find a few lads to help take the spot of our dear friends we lost,” said Sam, another of the merchants guild members.
Sarkon was quite dismayed by what he heard. “My good men. Tell me, I’m an old but simple elf. Perhaps I’m not aware of what value your things have to you. Please enlighten me. Are things worth the lives of more men given the dire situation we are in? Do you understand the weight of the situation?” Sarkon let some anger slip into his voice. He values life too dearly to see it sold for mere worldly possessions and coin. “Let my years of wisdom help you here. Those bandits were organized and disciplined. They had had us from the word go. See this?” Sarkon gestures to his arm, still gleaming in fresh blood. “ I’m not so easily taken, especially in the woods. My instincts tell me something or more accurately someone is behind this. They are far more intelligent than the normal rabble that take from a lone merchant on the road or a farmer on his way to market. No, we must be extremely careful.” Sarkon let his message hang in the air several full seconds.
“Well, what then, Sarkon, what do you suggest?” Ray finally said. His indignation only stymied by the general respect Sarkon has with the group. “Really, most of us have staked everything on this being successful. My standing in the guild, my future, my fortune not only for my family but my heirs. I’m sure many here feel the same. Do you know family means everything to most of us? We want the best for them. Can you understand that as an elf? Men don’t have your long life to do all they want. We must take risks to ensure our future.”
Stunned silence. Sarkon stared at Ray, a newfound respect forming from the old elf for the young leader. Sarkon spoke carefully, considering the words and motivations of the men. “You may very well have a point but do you really think this group is up to the task? We are injured, disorganized, and short on supplies. I have as much to lose from not fighting as the next man here but I choose to not spend the lives of others needlessly… If we must fight, we must be smart and we must be prepared to abandon this if it turns into a fool's errand.”
Sarkon thought very carefully of how to proceed. “Ok here’s my plan and I think you lot may like to hear it…”
And so the group planned. The women and children, few as they were, were sent to Nardth with a couple of the more injured guard and injured merchants as much for protection as to get themselves tended. The remaining groups organized and planned for the coming fight. Sarkon knew, this may be a mistake but this was their only choice.
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