Portia chuckled some through all the antics and checked what was to the west out of there low lying spot. Seeing nothing but Argonox's horse, she followed it since it was going the right direction and slowing down. 

The group waits until the panicked orcs are well out of range, then creeps away, then runs for a good bit until their legs are too fatigued to continue. They see a thick stand of willows in the distance and make their way toward them to catch a short rest, well concealed in the low-hanging boughs.

As they rest, their legs stiffen, and an hour's respite turns into 3, then 5, until most of the group is sleeping soundly.

-----

You sleep well past sunrise and awaken to the sound of horse hooves. Perched high in the trees, Gaia reports that the Hellriders are returning... What's left of them. She can see them a few hundred feet away.

Kanon jolts awake with a start at Gaia's alert. He's alarmed to see the whole group passed out in a tangled mess of limbs, staying close for body warmth. Mara was already up, polishing her new shield. Kanon asks quietly, rubbing sleep from his eyes, "What is it? Orcs? Are they back?" There's a slight panic in his voice. 

Pettilaen awoke, as groggy and sore as ever, to Gaia's banshee wails. "Bloody hell." he murmured to himself. Squinting his eyes and blinking profusely, he slapped his cheek a few times, taking some deep breaths and coming fully to. Gaia was trained to shriek when someone approached. He grabbed his rapier and peered out of the grove of willow trees, his legs barely seeming to register.

Communicating with Gaia, he gets the details. The remainder of the Hellriders were riding west, in their direction. Remainder. The thought made him sorrowful, yet leaping with joy to know that they at least survived. "The Hellriders are inbound." he told the group frankly, and stepped out of the willow grove in an attempt to flag them down as they drew closer.

Kanon leaps to his feet and scrambles through the low willow limbs for a look. "It's them!" He calls, standing and flailing wildly for their attention.

Once he gets a clear view of them he says, "Some are injured.  Portia!!" He makes to run, stumbles, then regains his footing. His legs were like an old, bendy rapier. As he approaches he calls out, "Hellriders!  Bring forth your injured!" 

Though he wasn't nearly as good as Portia with his healing, he was willing to use all of the energy he had left to tend to their wounded. 

"What the farjin hell do you think happened, you braegfol?" Zina said to Mara groggily. The gnome was very clearly not a morning person, and she did not look happy to be awoken. "They... were... attacked... by... orcs. C'mon Mara, I took you for a fool, not a complete idiot."

For the sole purpose of proving she could, Zina cast prestidigitation on herself. The crust of the night removed, she appeared mostly in order now. Her hair was still a mess, but no mere cantrip could tame that mess.

Portia smirked. She had done a first since around the age of ten. She missed being up at dawn praising Lathander. It didn't help she had slept in her chainmail causing way more effort to get up. She tugged her tunic in place, rebound her hair and stepped out to assess the true damage to the Hellriders. Doing a quick look it appeared that maybe half of them lived and most of them injured to some level. She walked, because running was out of the question, to start checking the injured going to the more severely wounded to assess who would get the greater healing. She even refrained from some quip to Mara and Zina knowing that it should work itself out eventually and she had the Hellriders to attend to. Only good thing was that at the moment, no orcs could be seen.

When the riders reach the copse of willow, the lead rider, a First Serjeant, dismounts. 

"We were victorious," he says with a shake of his head and a sideways glance back at the survivors. "But the hobgoblins were prepared for us. Their pikes made ruin of our vanguard and we bogged down on top of the hill... What was left of the orcs, we sent running to the south. They'll regroup eventually, but there's nothing to worry about for a few days."

He takes a deep breath.

"To Right!" He shouts.

"To Ruin!" The remainder of the company responds, their volume and enthusiasm significantly diminished.

He nods to Portia.

"We lost our hospitalers. If you could patch up the wounded, we would much appreciate it, then we'll on to Candlekeep. There's work yet to do."

Kanon takes to tending the wounded with Portia. They would likely need to rest back in Candlekeep after this, but enough has happened to shed light on the current situation. As he's tending one of the wounded, he asks, "Did you guys kill the masters there? The Dark Knights with the dagger-skull emblem?"  He knew there were likely more of those knights about, but any of them that they could remove from the list of 'living' would be good. With the Orcs routed, there's a possibility Beregost would be safe. At least for the time being. 

"We slew the two on the hill, but there are doubtless many more," the First Serjeant responds to Kanon. "Their commander appeared to be a wizard and he and the giant escaped us."

He's distracted by Pettilaen looking over the dead and their gear.

"That equipment is the rightful property of Elturgard and the families of the fallen, master gnome. I am aware the Captain, may the gods keep him, granted you access to some of it earlier, but I am afraid that is the full extent to which I can allow the charity to go. I am sure you understand."

He gestures to Argonox.

"I also regret that I must reclaim our recruit from your midst. No doubt the Captain meant for his duty with you to extend beyond a day, but our numbers are too few now and we cannot afford such formalities. Come, Argo, you will be inducted as a Hellrider upon our arrival at Candlekeep."

Portia catches what the First Sergeant is saying in response to questions and the note of reclaiming Argonox into the ranks. At this point, she did not blame them for anything and couldn't stop herself from chuckling when Petti was told to leave things alone. One of the Hellriders noting her approach leads her to litters holding the living unable to ride. She says prayers to Lathander for the three critically wounded and applies her healing to them casting the spell at the highest power she can. She looked about the group after this and points out four that could walk, but were unable to even help with setting up anything for the short term camp. She administered a lighter healing to them with one of them being fully healed. 

She could smell coffee and food being prepared. The riders could use it. Despite winning none of them had slept during the night and they had gathered their dead when the enemy was routed. She looked east and south seeing nothing but the swaying grass over the rolling hills with only a few shrubs and stuff they had missed in the night. They indeed had run through the most barren spot she knew of in these parts. She turned back toward the fire wondering if Zina had smelled the coffee yet.

She grabbed her own coffee to drink and went about bandaging the ones who simply needed some clean bandages and minor medical anointing.

Zina was a gnome on a mission. 

The illusionist spent the better part of fifteen minutes on the prowl for coffee. "If you do not show me exactly where the coffee is," she grabbed one poor Hellrider. "I will use a dull spoon to scoop out your eye balls, and a rusty knife to saw off your balls. Then, I'll have them switch places." She used an illusion to illustrate just how gory a dismemberment it would be. 

The Hellrider's eyes widened and his face went ghostly whits at the threat. It didn't take long after that for Zina to find a piping hot cup of coffee in her hands.

After tending to as many of the Hellriders as he could with Portia, Kanon heads back over to the already-hot firepit they dug up. "They managed to kill two of the Knights, but there was a wizard with the group and he fled with the giant. The orcs are scattered," he says, turning to Mara, "Beregost might be free. We need to keep it that way. I think we have the intelligence that Orst is looking for, so it's a good thing they're heading back to Candlekeep. We need to plan for the next step, I think. And celebrate... This might have been a minor win, but it's a win." Kanon smiles as he says this. He knows that winning this fight won't save the lives that were already lost, but it's a step in the right direction.

"We know the group that attacked, we know they were originally from Amn, and so I think our journey may lead us there." He says this with a bit of apprehension. He's not sure if the group still has ties, but it would be good to find out.

With the Hellriders settled in for a bit, Pettilaen waded through the wounded and the dead. "So much death... so much blood." he muttered to himself as he perused through the items of those lost. Being called out for his actions, he only flashes a wide grin. "Huh? Oh... yes, yes, completely understood. They'll need to the gear more than we will." He curses under his breath, and makes his way back to the firepit where the rest of the group sat. He was going to have to earn something magical another time then, perhaps.

"You'd think after perfecting an illusory image of a gold dragon and causing a horde of one-hundred orcs to retreat in fear, they'd be a little more respectful of my wishes." he mentions openly as he sits down. "I'm gonna need some magic items if I'm going to kill Balagos one day." The gnome would never be known for not having any aspirations, as far-fetched and out-stretched as they might've been.

Listening in on Kanon's plans, nodding his head in agreement. "Yep. Amn is our next destination, without a doubt. Let's report back to Orst to let him know what we've found, and then see if we can commandeer a boat to take us to Athkatla. If the hobgoblins have secured the Cloud Peaks, then it might be easiest to just sail around them and land in Athkatla directly."

"If I may interject," the First Serjeant says after overhearing your discussions. "It may not hurt to have a look around Beregost first, if you have the ability, before returning to Candlekeep. I'm certain the threat is not eliminated and we could use information on the area. We were intending on doing that ourselves, but..." He motions to his men. "I need to get them to safety. We are no longer capable of fighting at an acceptable level. Your decision."

He nods to you and returns to his men.

"Mount up, Hellriders! Tonight we feast the victorious dead."