With Swords, Claws, and Teeth Bared

At this point, Eveningstar the Badger comes tramping across the scene leading a group of badgers chanting, "He got the thousandth post! He got the thousandth post!" And just as suddenly and explicably, they left stage right.

Flakefeather and Bronon both shake their heads in disbelief.
 
As does Sareg and Vermwood!

Sareg does see the bluejay and swears. The bird was no friend to the Queen, and is well-known to every member of the secret police, who have a very large file on the bluejay!

"No, I'm fine, thank you," says Bronon politely to Flakefeather. "There's something odd going on in these parts, though. However, this kind rat is escorting me to a safe place where I shall be amongst friends!"
 
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Cautiously keeping out of the rat's reach, Flakefeather points with a wingtip directly toward where Mauron's main hunting party is.

"If he's leading you in _that_ direction, he's leading you straight into the jaws of the White Witch's surviving wolf troops! I saw them! You'd be better off going in that other direction [not toward Sareg either] where there were some badgers."
 
Vermwood is furious at Flakefeather's interference and regrets not being in possession of a missile weapon of some kind. However, he is not ready to give up yet! He knows that if he can keep Bronon talking long enough, Mauron and his troops will arrive in force. "Listen, lad," he says, in a friendly tone, "I wouldn't do you any harm, because I like you. I just want to help you get somewhere safe. But if you follow his advice," (the rat points at the bluejay) "I cannot be responsible for the consequences. But know this, he is a known liar and traitor! Do what he says, and there will be "consequences"! Do you want to meet up with your sargeant again?" He asks Bronon persuasively. "For that's were he is sending you!"

Sareg has witnessed all that has happened, and nods approvingly at Vermwood's words. Meanwhile, Mauron and the hunting party are approaching stealthily. Bronon himself is confused. Although he likes the look of the bluejay, he has no wish to be anywhere near his former colleagues, especially his sargeant! He therefore hesitates, thinking over the options open to him.
 
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Something tells Bronon that Flakefeather is indeed telling him the truth, and that Vermwood, who had appeared so friendly, is actually not at all trustworthy. He therefore flees in the direction recommended by the bluejay, thereby avoiding Sareg, although the latter has witnessed everything that has transpired. Bronon has barely dashed out of sight when Mauron and the hunting party arrive.
"Hurry!" says Vermwood, and proceeds to give a brief account of what has happened, emphasising the fact that he had actually persuaded Bronon to trust him, until the arrival of "that interfering bluejay!" Mauron and the hunting party quickly pick up Bronon's scent, and Vermwood joins them. The dwarves select arrows for their small bows, with the intention of dealing with Flakefeather. Sareg follows Bronon, keeping to the cover of the woods.
 
Unknown to the hunters, Flakefeather had lingered behind to cover Bronon's escape. As the hunters are just getting reorganized, the heroic Bluejay emerges from treetop concealment, dive-bombs one evil dwarf from behind, draws blood from the back of his neck with a furious beak-stab, and makes it to the cover of trees before the other dwarfs can draw a bead on his tiny, elusive shape. This is the bird who has evaded attacking harpies. An enraged Hackroot tries to chase after Flakefeather.....
 
"Go with Hackroot, you dwarves, and kill that bird!" orders Mauron. "Everyone else, follow me after that Son of Adam! I want him alive but there's no need to be gentle!" Sareg, in accordance with his orders, continues to keep watch on Mauron. Bronon is running as fast as he can. He does not wish to encounter his fellow soldiers any more than he wishes to meet the wolf police, so decides to branch away from the path he is on, as soon as there is an opportunity to do so.
 
Less than two miles east of Bronon, a certain Sergeant Zimcar of the Archenlandish Army is riding in search of the useless boy. He is mounted on a brave Talking Mare named Pliffmifftiff, whose great-grandparents had escaped south from Narnia just before the takeover. With him are four other men-at-arms, riding ordinary but well-disciplined horses. All five men are trained horse archers, very nearly as accurate as dwarfs, and unlike dwarfs they can shoot effectively _while_ galloping. They are aware of the recent defection of the giantess Gruntabillary; therefore they also know that there are still unsurrendered Jadisites someplace.
 
O.O.C: Roughly how close will the Archenlanders be before the wolves can pick up their scent?

I.C: hACKROOT AND the dwarves hurry after the bluejay, led by Branevick, the dwarf whom Flakefeather attacked. He, and his comrades, are determined to kill the impudent bird.

Bronon, meanwhile, has joined a path heading in a westerly direction, as it seems to his way of thinking the safest option, as he wishes to avoid both his former comrades and the hunting party led by Mauron. Bronon naively things he is well clear of the latter, blissfully unaware that they are following his scent!
 
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OOC reply: If the wind is blowing from the Archenlanders to the wolves, the wolves should catch the scent NOW. But note that the Archenlanders are no fools, and in such a case they will be AWARE that they might be detected by smell. I suggest that you do something like tossing a coin to decide which way the wind is moving.

CORIN THUNDERFIST II said:
I.C: Hackroot and the dwarves hurry after the bluejay, led by Branevick, the dwarf whom Flakefeather attacked. He, and his comrades, are determined to kill the impudent bird.

Bronon, meanwhile, has joined a path heading in a westerly direction, as it seems to his way of thinking the safest option, as he wishes to avoid both his former comrades and the hunting party led by Mauron. Bronon naively things he is well clear of the latter, blissfully unaware that they are following his scent!
Click to expand...

Never one to underestimate a threat, Flakefeather makes sure he ALWAYS has at least one tree blocking the line of fire of the pursuing dwarfs. But this precaution being taken, he purposely maddens his foes by singing loudly and cheerfully about Aslan's victory.
 
O.O.C: I decided to roll a dice for wind direction: consequently i got a rather strange reading, north northeast! I say strange, because with the end of the White Witch's winter I'd have expected a warmer wind! Such things happen with dice rolls!

Bronon runs westwards until he can run no more. He decides to climb a tree to get an idea of how the land lies and to see how far he has managed to get from any who may be hunting him. Vermwood the rat, scouting ahead for Mauron's hunting party has discovered that the boy has left the main path and is now heading west, deeper into the Western wilds! Sareg is also aware of that fact!

Meanwhile, Hackroot and the dwarves far from appreciating Flakefeather's singing are now very angry with the bluejay, very angry indeed, and are even more determined to kill him. Thus they continue to follow him, waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
 
Putting more distance between himself and his foes, Flakefeather suddenly sights something to the north-WEST, thus not in a direction to alert Hackroot by smell. A mated pair of Talking Elephants, accompanied by a Talking Leopard, several Talking Bears and a dozen Satyrs who carry bows, are moving eastward, heading for Cair Paravel. One of the Bears is carrying a Lion banner.

The Bluejay darts toward these fellow Narnians, most of whom recognize him. Quietly, he tells them: "Some Jadisite holdouts are back that way, trying to catch me. If all of you can get out of sight behind that hill over there, maybe we can give them a surprise."

As the other creatures do what he asked them to, Flakefeather sings his taunting songs again for his pursuers to hear.


OOC: I suggest another chance-roll here, but not a simple fifty-fifty. I'd say odds of maybe two-to-one in favor of Hackroot's party falling into the trap. (I don't care if Hackroot gets killed.)
 
O.O.C: The roll was favourable for the purpose of Flakefeather's plan.

Hackroot charges forward followed by the dwarves. The latter fan out hoping to get the opportunity to shoot the bluejay as he flies from tree to tree.
 
The Dwarfs don't realize until too late that Flakefeather is actually signalling the Satyr archers behind the hill, so that they can get the drop on the normally more accurate Dwarfs. All at once, a volley of arrows comes over the hill on a high trajectory. One of the evil Dwarfs is wounded in his right arm, while another one -- who seems to be wearing a red shirt -- falls down dead with two arrows piercing him. The rest, and Hackroot, are untouched. But already there is a noise like larger creatures about to emerge around the sides of the hill.
 
Branevick, leader of the dwarves, although a Jadisite through and through and very brave, is no fool. He immediately realises the predicament he and his comrades are in, so orders an orderly retreat, a "tactical withdrawal" rather than fleeing in terror. His plan is to back off using whatever cover is available, but keeping arrows on bows so they can shoot anyone or anything that shows it's face, especially that irritating bird! This is apart from the wounded dwarf, who can do no more than simply retreat.

Bronon has now reached the top of his tree, and cautiously looks around to see what he can see.

Back at the main Jadisite camp, Zamron and Captain Ashraf have decided to fortify the approaches to their base by constructing man traps and increasing the range and numbers of scouts and other patrols.
 
The husband of the elephant couple says to Flakefeather, "You've done well; we'll pursue these dwarfs from here. You need to fly now to Cair Paravel, in case Aslan has not chosen to inform the Kings and Queens directly about these enemy holdouts."

Flakefeather accordingly takes off eastward, again cautiously keeping trees between himself and enemy arrows.

The leopard with the Narnian group runs out ahead of the others in pursuit. Hackroot, an older and more cunning fighter, ambushes the over-eager leopard from behind a tree, wounding him with his tusks. But the elephants charge to the wounded leopard's aid, so Hackroot quickly rejoins the orderly retreat.
 
The dwarves cover Hackroot's retreat by firing a couple of arrows at the elephants. This gives the warthog the opportunity to rejoin his comrades. They all then retreat in an orderly manner, keeping trees between them and the enemy archers. However, the dwarves are ever ready to shoot at anything that presents itself as a target.
 
Three Harpies had just joined Zamron back at the camp, and had been sent by the Minotaur to see how the scouting parties were doing. Seeing the party with the elephants, they help their friends' retreat by dropping rocks on the loyal Narnians. One Harpy is killed by arrows from the Satyrs; the other two pull back and join the Dwarfs and Hackroot.

One Harpy says to the Dwarfs, "We need to hurry. Besides those creatures chasing you, there's a squad of Archenlandish cavalry approaching from the east."
 
"That's all we need!" says Branevick. "Many thanks for the warning, friends! Right! You heard the Harpy! Time to make ourselves scarce! But make sure you leave no trail for the scum to follow!" Then, turning to the harpies again, Branevick adds, "Mauron and his wolves are nearby, on the trail of another Archenlander who, has deserted his comrades. They need to be warned too."
 
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