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Selephrion loosened his grip on the succubus enough that she could see what she wanted to. He had nothing to hide, after all, now that that game had come to its end. "Now now love, don't kill the messenger. I thought you might enjoy some privacy. Most of the ladies I entertain do. Though I would guess you've become accustomed to public displays out here," the fiend said with a grin. The hand that she touched remained where she found it, while his other began to roam her body until it found a gap in her clothing, whereupon it slipped beneath and continued over her soft skin.
"Getting straight to business, eh? You're no fun," he said with a sigh. "I suppose I'm running out of time to play anyhow. I'm here at the behest of Queen Malcanthet herself, to escort you back to Rivenheart. Seems she'd like a word with you..."

Selephrion gave a thoughtful-looking pause, as he pretended to consider the question before his grin widened and he responded, "I suppose I could spare a few more moments before Her Eminence would miss us." His fingers sought out the laces of the woman's clothing, and he tore them away.





Four hours later, Adustes groggily awoke. His eyes slowly blinked open, but he found himself content to lie there and stare up into the night sky for a time. He idly wondered if this journey would lead him to his goal. He silently prayed that it would. He fervently prayed that it would. He had searched for his answer for so long, toiled through so many dead ends, just to reach the solution that he now chased. It was a long shot. He'd known that from the beginning, yet he needed something to pin his hopes upon. Perhaps not the wisest course, but he had had enough of sitting in moldering old archives and sifting through scrolls and tomes. It was time to take action, and wisdom be damned. If his hopes were crushed at the end of this venture, so be it. So long as he survived, and he believed he would, he would pick up the pieces and begin again.
To that end, his thoughts turned to the previous night's developments, the new arrival in particular. Meeting a fellow traveler out in such remote wilderness was not something he had expected. Running afoul of the native barbarians had been a risk, but even they rarely ventured this far into the forest. And half dragons were a rarity to begin with. He had considered himself extremely fortunate to have acquired Matasoga's services. He never dreamed he would have the chance to walk alongside two dragon-kin in his lifetime, let alone at the same time. Especially not one as exotic as one born of an extraplanar dragon.
He knew little about pyroclastic dragons. However, he did know that all dragons are invariably tied to the elements, and are powerful forces of nature. And he knew the pyroclastic drakes' breath was utter ruin. Thus far, this half-dragon --Furian, hadn't lived up to his parent's reputation. To his credit though, that redcap had been unusually tough, and the man fought it with only claws and breath. With an enchanted weapon in his hands, who knew how threatening he could really be? He certainly held the potential to become a force of destruction.
It occurred to Adustes that, with a little guidance, the dragon-son could be a powerful tool in his divine patron's hands. He would have to be subtle. Or... would he? In their earlier conversation, he'd made several hints at his desire for the Gehennan to travel with his group, yet the man hadn't acknowledged the wish until he'd given it bluntly. He seemed not to comprehend the use of subtlety. Although, dragons --and by extension, half-dragons-- were exceptionally intelligent, so that seemed unlikely. Perhaps he simply detested it to such an extent that he refused to acknowledge it? Well, whatever the case may be, it was better to be safe than sorry, and take a route that could mask his intentions if need be. Though it would be difficult to convert the half-dragon without appearing to be actively doing so, or appearing to be attempting to manipulate him.
The priest wondered if his meeting Furian truly was a coincidence, or if it was his lord's will.
His train of thought continued on and touched on each of his companions in turn. The blue half-dragon Matasoga; fiery-haired Eliae; the outlaw Kal'ara; battle-scarred Vellek; and Vhael'iss, a child of night if ever he'd seen one. He nearly laughed aloud at the correlations he found. Destruction, dragon, fire, chaos, war, darkness... A brief moment's thought concerning himself, a scholarly cleric who'd spent decades researching new and ancient forms of magic, and he added 'magic' to the list. Each member of the group paralleled one of his deity's spheres of influence. It was almost as if he'd been informed firsthand that he and his enterprise met with his god's approval. A personal blessing. He hadn't even seen it when he picked them. But it appeared he had chosen his companions well.
Although, none of the party represented his lord's final sphere; blood. He wondered then if that held any significance. Perhaps there would soon be blood. But that raised another question; assuming the musing was correct, did that mean another corresponding companion, or would literal blood soon be shed? Of enough significance to warrant the notice of less-than-benign creatures such as himself and his lord. Would one among their number die? Would there be bad blood between the existing members?
After a moment he shoved the thought aside. His mind was still hazy with sleep. He would further consider it later, when his mind was sharper. He realized that his eyes had drifted to a close again as his mind had wandered. He opened them and found the night sky peering through gaps in the leafy canopy overhead.
Night had come. What few patches of sky he could make out told him the last traces of sun had already been lost below the horizon. Not that he begrudged its departure for itself, but it meant Eliae hadn't woken him at dusk as he had specified, when he had preferred to break camp and move out. More important than the hour or two lost, the appointed time for his daily prayers, wherein his deity placed spells into his head, had already passed. Luckily, Adustes' patron had designated two such times each day: twilight and midnight, and midnight hadn't passed as he slept. Unfortunately, it was still a couple hours off, which meant time on the move without his magic. He just hoped his spells wouldn't be needed until he could prepare them.
He rose and angrily cast about the campsite for the guard he had appointed. To his surprise, he found only his companions still sprawled on the ground, some beginning to rouse themselves while others appeared to still be sleeping. There was no sign of Eliae. He assumed she and Vellek had likely stolen away from camp for a tryst, but no... the mercenary still lay where Adustes had last seen him. And there was something else amiss. There was a presence, or perhaps the lingering traces of a presence, about the clearing. It was eerie. It filled him with a sense of... wrongness, for lack of a better word. It made him uneasy, anxious to move on. His hand unconsciously rose, and fingers gripped his draconic amulet. It eased his mind somewhat, but did nothing to remove his want to be on his way.
He moved to the remaining women and ensured that they were awake, asking that one of them see to the same regarding Matasoga, and to advise the half-dragon to take his meditation while he spoke with Vellek.
He then approached the mercenary's resting place. As he stood before the still-sleeping man, he noticed that Eliae's belongings no longer sat where they had been. Could it be that she'd abandoned the group? In the middle of the forest? Alone, no less. The encounter with the redcap may have made the trek seem unworthy of continuing, but he wouldn't think any of them --Furian excluded-- would run off alone. Or perhaps someone or something else had engineered the appearance that she had run off... Normally he would have dismissed such a notion as ridiculous paranoia, but the ominous aura in the camp lent credit to the thought.
He nudged Vellek awake with one foot, quickly stepping back out of reach when the man lashed out with a fist at his awakening. He blinked and squinted in the darkness, and visibly relaxed upon the realization that it was only Adustes who stood over him. He made certain his blanket covered himself below the waist and opened his mouth as if to speak, but before he could utter a sound, the priest cut him off.
"Where is Eliae?"
The man looked befuddled by the question, and began to look around, stopping himself when he recalled that he could barely see anything in the dark, and gave a shrug. "You c'n see a lot better'n I can. Can't you spot 'er?" he asked.
"Both she and her possessions are missing," Adustes responded. He paused to give Vellek a chance to offer a response, receiving only an even more bewildered expression from the mercenary as he looked about, trying to peer through the darkness for himself. After a few hearbeats the priest spoke again. "Gear up and prepare to move. We're leaving as soon as the mage finishes his meditation." He turned and started away.
"What about the lass?" Vellek asked.
Adustes stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "She's run off, likely back the way we came," he said, manufacturing a certainty in his words that couldn't find its way to his head. He had no idea what had really happened, but acknowledging that fact in front of his companions would not aid their resolve to move forward. To the contrary, it might give them misgivings at the prospect of continuing onward. He couldn't have that.
"We'll look about the edges of camp to see if anything can be found to indicate otherwise," he continued, "but if we find nothing to suggest she went anywhere but back, we continue on without her."
Vellek grimaced, clearly not pleased at the thought of leaving the woman behind, but he finally nodded his acceptance. Adustes turned to give the human some privacy, and returned to the others.

Furian woke in the same position he had drifted off in, he gripped his sword tightly to be sure it was there then stood stretching. He sheathed his sword and untied his horse while listening to the discussion about the missing woman. It was of no concern to him seeing how the failed watch didn't result in any harm as far as he could tell. He double checked his equipment just to be sure then waited for the group to move out. While he idled waiting for the others to get ready he went over the directions to the ruins in his head again and used the stars and any visible landmarks to get his bearings.

Matasoga woke to the nudge. It was not his favorite way to wake, but he ignored this, rubbed his eyes, and cleared his mind to begin his meditation.
When he was done, he went through his typical morning routine and noticed that their number was one smaller than the night before.
"Where's Eliae?" he asked the group, at large.

Vhael'iss stood and took a moment to brush off any dirt and grass from her slight form before settling the strap of her instrument's case over her shoulder, the weight comfortable against her back.
She hadn't much interest in scouting for signs of Eliae's departure, not much caring whether the woman was gone or dead. However, she still needed to secure her place in the group so laziness would be foolish, and so she dutifully moved to the treeline in the opposite direction as their leader. Besides, as much as she loathed the chance it would force them into some sort of rescue mission, it would be wise to know if it was some sort of nefarious occurrence that stole their companion. The more they knew, the less chance of it happening again.
Vhael'iss picked her way through the foliage, scanning for any signs of passing. Also, as unlikely as it was that Eliae or whatever took her (if it was something) would still be near, the girl let her sense flare around her in search for any feelings of interest that did not belong to the others around her.
Absently she began humming, music always being a help to her focus. A low tune she weaved from the uncertainty she could feel around her, dark and chilling with an undertone of mockery as she imagined the deep shadows of the trees hoarding their secrets of what they witnessed.

As Furian passed between the few trees amidst the clearing, his gaze passed over a faint depression in the soil. He stepped closer to inspect it, and discovered a print of a cloven hoof. He nearly dismissed it as that of a deer or other similar animal, but something about the size didn't quite seem right. It was too large for a deer, yet not quite large enough to have been left by an elk, moose, or caribou. He quickly managed to find a pair of other such prints, each a couple paces apart, and noticed another unusual detail. Whatever had left them walked on two legs, not four. What sort of creature had left them, he couldn't say. But it was clear that it was no mere animal. And the tracks were fresh. They couldn't have been left more than a few hours ago.
Furian frowned at his discovery. It seemed more likely that something had happened to the missing woman after all. He did not want to waste time looking for her but it may be a good opportunity to see what the group's priorities are. Standing over the tracks Furian motioned for the priest to come over once he re-entered the clearing.

Furian knelt down and pointed to the tracks he had found, "hoof prints" he said simply. "Not from any horse or deer, looks like it walked like a man." He then cast his gaze about the circle, keeping wary of what may have caused them or any more signs of it, but didn't notice anything out of place. He could care less about the woman, but if something had made it into the camp unnoticed it was a threat.