Arista glances over the fallen goblin, then back toward the path ahead, her expression settling into a calm, determined set. “We’re not here to scour every last goblin out of the forest,” she calls softly, shifting her grip on her staff. “If she was alone, then all the better for us. Let’s gather ourselves and move on—together. We have bigger tasks waiting.”

Brekka claps Kaelen heartily on the shoulder.

"What's done is done, and that was a mighty strike. You've got a good sword arm on you," he says, obviously impressed.

"Now, where'd she come from? If we're going to run into her kin, best to know beforehand."

"Yes. You too." Kaelen murmurs, his shoulder aching slightly though his demeanor doesn't show it. "It appears this one came alone. A scout perhaps; it's fortunate we caught her quickly. Arista is right, we should keep moving before any others she is missing."

Brekka bends down and respectfully positions the goblin's corpse in a more peaceful repose.

"We have been tasked to observe the keep," he agrees with a nod as he stands.

"But we also must look for signs of the previous groups, and the grandfather's sword. If we don't find either of those things at the keep, we should come back here and trace her steps—if they last until then."

"So be it. Onward then." the druid states. 

Kaelen nods, noting the location they encountered the goblin and her tracks in his book. He then returns to a path.

You all get up from your break and encounter and head down the trail.  I am going to roll the survival check to stay on the path for you. (Using Mathias’s +5 and advantage.) I will also be rolling for random encounters. 
Survival: 22
Encounter: 2

Your travel through the middle of the day is trouble free, this is turning out to be not so bad. Anyone doing anything different than the morning? I’m not making you roll anything skill checks for this section, but if you take other actions I might.

The sun has crept past its zenith a few hours ago and you all start considering taking another break. You hear the rushing of water and feel a little mist in the air, and see the ruins of a stone bridge across a churning river. There is a stone plaza on either side of the river where the path connects to it.

The decorations are a little odd. The plaza and part of the bridge are decorated with the broken remains of statues, just the feet remaining, and a fair amount of rubble. Asariel, with Arista's help you notice that the remains of the statues and much of the rubble is a different type of stone than the bridge and plaza.

(Can Kaelen use his background feature to determine what race built the bridge? It's pretty obvious what its purpose is though.)

Human, the statue bottoms are not of the same construction and are REALLY realistically detailed.

Kaelen makes a note of the bridge, but freezes uncomfortably upon studying the remains of the statues. "These statues...the detail is too perfect to be simple craftsmanship."

Brekka strides forward toward the bridge. The cool spray of mist over his scaled features is a pleasant, refreshing sensation in the warmth of the afternoon. The tumble of the crashing waters below is enticing to him, and a little piece of him yearns to throw caution to the wind and leap recklessly into the river.

But he doesn't. Instead, he joins Kaelen at one of the statues and peers at its surprising detail.

"Perhaps it was done by a master craftsman," he suggests, not imaginative enough to consider anything else.

Arista steps forward, quietly tapping the base of one battered statue with her staff. “This is still the path to the keep,” she muses, “but why add such ornate figures to a humble bridge? Could be someone tried to bring them to life—like golems—to guard this crossing, or had invaders turned to stone? Maybe the keep’s history has the answers.”

"In the interest of a great story to tell, I am hoping it is some form of Gorgon, turning people to stone for decoration. However in the interest of self-preservation, that is the last thing I want. They were clearly added at a later date though or at least with a different stone." Is the bridge still useable or is the condition deteriorated to the point that it no longer crosses the river and we need to find a different way across?

The central portion of the bridge has fallen and a semi-intact walkway leads down to the waters edge, you'd say there was a 15 foot gap of rapidly rushing water you would need to cross.

As if Asariel's words have brought it to life, a bizarre reptilian creature with eight legs and crystalline spines crawls out from beneath the ruins of the bridge. At the same time, you all notice two smaller creatures, looking like horrifying chicken/lizard hybrids approach from the other direction.

The lizard is roughly 30 feet in front of you, while the chicken things are 25 feet in the opposite direction.

Asariel, Brekka, and Kaelen go first.
Torban will follow, then the creatures.
After that, Arista and Mathias.

After a moment of shock, Brekka springs into action with a determined roar, charging down to meet the lizard-like creature with his sword in hand. He feet thump hard on the ground as he runs. He uses the momentum of his charge to swing his sword overhead and down toward the creature's neck. Should the blow land, a pulse of divine energy ripples through it, shaking the beast's resolve.

"For glory!" he yells.

[[Attack: 19. Damage: 9. If that hits then it has the Sap effect from Longsword mastery (Disadvantage on its next attack roll), plus he'll cast Wrathful Smite for an extra 5 necrotic and a DC 12 Wis save against being Frightened.]]

Brekka's sword strikes true. The strange creature rears back from the energies unleashed on it, it seems hurt and wary.

Brekka and the lizard are in melee range, rest of the party is 30 ft away or so, chickens 25 feet behind.

Kaelen looses an arrow at the lizard then moves to take cover behind the shrubs 30 ft away.

Bonus Action: Hunter's Mark on lizard

Action: longbow to hit 19, damage 5 + 1 HM

Asariel will shout at the nearest (or random if equidistant) 'chicken'. "You have a face not even a mother could love" (dc13 wis save or 1 damage) "Arista, it's time to use your staff!" (giving bardic inspiration)