In spite of the fact that it was December in the north, the skies were remarkably clear and the land fairly dry. It was, however, very cold. Richmond had his men spread out and set up a perimeter, setting watch shifts and security, as several of his men set up his tent and stoked two viziers into a nice, warm blaze. Arissa and Emma had huddled around one of them while the tents went up, until Emma grew bored and began to speak of the winter blooms she had seen. She began to speak of pomades and oils, pulling Arissa into her excitement, and soon the two of them were out of the tent in search of the elusive winter blooms. That was fairly normal behavior for Arissa. Unbeknownst to Richmond, they wandered away from camp. But his clues came soon enough. Richmond heard a chorus of screams, faint and muffled against the damp trees, and he knew without a doubt the screams came from Arissa; he would know her voice anywhere. He had just located Gavan amongst the soldiers and was preparing to deliver the contents of the second missive when the air had been pierced by the unmistakable sounds of terror.
