“I’ll see to that,” Kara replied as she finished securing her vest; having restored her modesty, if not her dignity. Standing back from the edge, she held a sprig of mistletoe in one hand and stretched the other toward the pit as she began an incantation in the secret tongue of the druids. Slowly, the surrounding ground began to ripple and undulate, then the sides of the pit slowly began to spread outward as the bottom rose upward until, after several minutes, all that remained was a gently slopping depression. “They will not be trapping anyone else in that,” she announced, ending the spell and allowing the ground to settle as she approached the clearly disturbed forest cat, kneeling to calm her by reassuringly scratching behind her ears. Had Sheera been any other cougar she would have bolted into the forest as soon as she could have leapt clear of the pit, but, being a druid’s bond animal companion, she only retreated clear of the shifting ground and paced nervously until the spell effect ended. Coran nodded approvingly, turning away to retrieve the pack he had discarded before intervening with the brigands, then turned back to the odd couple and introduced himself in a causal tone as it nothing unusual had happened; “Coran Dundragon at your service.” “Kara Starag,” she replied with a slightly anxious smile, “and this is Sheera. Thank you for your timely intervention. That was about to become decidedly unpleasant. Even if, as you pointed out, he really wasn’t that big of a threat.” “It was my honor,” he stated with a mock courtly bow, then, noting the amulet at her throat, the stars and eyes of the Moonmaiden, much like the one he wore, he added; “Druids of Selune are rare… In fact, I’ve never met one before.” “About as rare as monks, especially ones dedicated to her,” she observed, as she stood to face him. “But don’t most of the Sun Soul school serve Lathander?” “Most… but not all,” Coran answered pleasantly. He couldn’t help but be charmed by her; despite his long years of discipled training in a quest for harmony of mind, body and spirit, he was just a man after all, and she was a truly stunning beauty. “Although he has more adherents, he, Selune and Sune hold equal sway with in the school’s philosophy… and I have always found the Moonmaiden’s mysteries more appealing than the harsh light of the Morninglord. Not to change the subject, but perhaps we should continue this conversation somewhere else before those thugs return with more help and additional unpleasantries ensue.” “That’s probably a good idea,” Kara agreed readily, turning to retrieve the remainder of her gear. “But first… we should do something about him,” Coran added, his regret filled eyes lingering on the body of the brigand he had killed. “No,” she returned, but there was no malice in her voice, just a hint of sorrow. “Leave him. If his men don’t return for him the forest will take care of him. It’s nature’s way.” Understanding the druid’s point of view, Coran nodded in agreement. “By the way,” he inquired, joining her and her feline companion as they started down the trail, “exactly where are we headed?” “I don’t have a destination… we were just out hunting,” she replied. “Where were you going?” “Nowhere in particular,” he responded with an amused chuckle. “I go where the whims of fate, or the Moonmaiden, takes me.”