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Telkhe, Jasi, and Thukkos paused and surveyed the scene. Sclavus corpses lay strewn around them, steam rising from the bodies in the brisk morning air. The Preceptor's corpse lay at Thukkos' feet, its tail still twitching.
"A well-fought battle," Thukkos declared. He smirked. "Are the both of you still alive?" He followed this with a sound Telkhe had become very familiar with since joining their fellowship: a boisterous laugh. Expressive and animated, Thukkos wasn't quite like any Lugian Telkhe had met before-others he had met tended to be impassive and serious.
"I'm fine," grumbled Jasi. "No thanks to you, charging into a cabal of Sclavus like that."
Telkhe did have to agree with her sentiment. The battle had been quite intense, and if not for the timely healing spell from Jasi, he might just now be waking up at his Lifestone. He and Jasi had been traveling together for some time now; the temporary companionship they had forged to push back the Drudge threat had evolved into a close friendship. Many times already they had saved each other's lives. "I'm fine as well," he nodded.
"Bah! A battle such as that makes one feel alive… To appreciate life!" Thukkos bellowed, then turned his attention to the corpse that lay before him. He knelt next to it, planting the point of his sword in the swampy ground. It stood swaying as he looked up at his companions. "Let's see if this fellow has what we are looking for."
Thukkos began ripping off sections of the Preceptor's armor, throwing them in no particular direction. One piece, a notched and blood-soaked shred of breastplate, flew straight toward Jasi and struck her in the lower leg, leaving a sizeable stain. Jasi jumped back and let out a yelp.
Apparently not noticing, Thukkos continued searching the corpse. Finally he reached down and held up an item so Telkhe could see it. "Here we go. This is it, isn't it, my friend?"
Telkhe stepped closer. It certainly looked to him like the item that Seskri had described.
"I believe so," Telkhe said. "We should bring it to Seskri and see what insights it can give her into the Sclavus activity."
Ever since the Drudges had overrun portions of Osteth, the voices of the land had sounded uneasy to Telkhe, but he couldn't define exactly why. Now that the creatures on Omishan, his ancestral home, seemed to be following the direction of some unseen hand, the land's spirits seemed even more troubled.
"Agreed!" Thukkos nodded, then grasped the hilt of his sword and used it to brace himself as he got to his feet. He pulled his sword from the ground, then said, "While we are in the village, perhaps I can transmute some of that treasure we found and improve this sword of mine."
"And perhaps I can get a new robe dyed," Jasi muttered under her breath as she summoned a portal.
Telkhe shook his head and stepped through.