Jarek: The Return to Daylight

"I'm glad we made it out of that creepy cavern," Gryffin muttered as we returned back to the town. The battle with Erylium took a toll on the eladrin wizard. It took a lot of mental concentration for Gryffin to see through the demon's illusion. He appeared weary, dragging his enchanted staff on the ground.

"Corellon help us," Guy muttered nervously. "We're dealing with demons."

There was a sense of fear and dread in the priest's voice. Among the five of us, he was the one who was most shaken from the encounter with Erylium. The disciple of Corellon must have an inkling of what we were dealing with, and it was that knowledge that terrified him.

Arao led us back to the Mayor's office. The dragonborn was silent. Despite the heavy gashes and his limping leg, the paladin walked with a noble stride. The villagers greeted him with awe and reverence, believing that he was their great champion -- the one what will save them from destruction.

As soon as we entered Mayor Kendra's office, Lloyd quickly recounted the events that transpired. The half-elf mentioned about the crypt, the sinspawns, and Erylium. I watched the others as the young warlord spoke. Arao kept a stoic facade. Guy was uttering a silent prayer for those soliders who have died. Gryffin closed his eyes and appeared to be meditating in silence.

"Hemlock will be back in a few days. Lets wait for him. It is pretty obvious that the goblins plan to attack us here en-masse." The Mayor replied after listening to Lloyd's tale.

"The journal you recovered from Tsuto makes that pretty clear. I only wished he was still here so that we could confirm such things. But someone broke him out of prison just a couple of hours ago."

My eyes flashed wide. "Tsuto escaped?"

"The guards watching over Tsuto were overpowered by a dark skinned female," Mayor Kendra replied.

"You let him escape!" I shouted, looking at the Mayor as if she was the one to blame. "We nearly died capturing him, and you let him escape?"

"Jarek!" the half-elf called out, hoping to calm me down.

Unfortunately this was the last straw.

"I should have known this would happen!" I answered back. "You should have posted more guards!"

"That's enough, woodsman!" Arao muttered. "It's not the Mayor's fault that Tsuto got away."

"Tsuto knows what happened to my sister," I muttered. "I should have stayed behind, kept a close watch on him."

Mayor Kendra raised her hand, signalling my companions to keep quiet and let her speak. "I am really sorry, Jarek." The Mayor walked towards me and took a deep breath. "You know we lack the man power here."

I shook my head, trying to shut out the anger and rage I was feeling inside. "I'm going to look for him."

"We can do this later," Lloyd advise. "We need to plan our strategy."

"You can do your planning," I snapped. "I'm going to track him down."

I walked out of Kendra's office and quickly headed to the clinic, hoping to find some clue as to where Tsuto went.