A stampede of strange, eight-legged creatures – dubbed "Abaddon mohra" by Kaalaas – charges towards a narrow valley. Three of the mohra had broken from the herd moments earlier to pursue the Drokar-mounted Elise, who was endeavoring to circle behind the stampede and re-join her companion on the far side. One of the pursuing mohra has been slowed, though not slain, by a graze from a crossbow bolt. But as Elise's Drokar gallops down one slope, it is forced to slow, and one of the two remaining mohra takes the opportunity to pounce. The poodle twists around in her saddle, a bolt held in one hand and the crossbow she was going to reload in the other, in time to see the mohra's body descending on top of them, long claws of its four forelegs extended and ready to tear.

With the strange creature descending upon her, Elise decides to spur her mount forward, an attempt to at least reduce the damage and give her time to draw a weapon more suited to close combat.

The Drokar springs forward at his rider's urgent demand, disregarding, for the moment, the difficulties he is having in navigating the downslope at speed. Happily, the mount manages the move both quickly and deftly, landing on his feet. The mohra's claws slice through air. Deprived of its target, the monster flails as it falls gracelessly to the ground, its legs tangling.

With her closest pursuer now in a heap behind her the lady proceeds forward on her course. Her thankfully unscathed mount is urged to continue forward towards what the Gallee hopes will lead to her reunion with Kaalaas, for she could certainly use her superior's help – and perhaps vice versa. As she does this Elise casts away the bolt in her hand, abandoning it for the strength of her steel blade that she might be better suited to strike back should another "mohra" grow near.

Of the three that started in pursuit of Elise, only one continues to do so closely. As her Drokar starts out of the narrow valley, stretching his legs on the upslope, he pulls yards away from even the unhindered mohra. The one who failed the pounce is half a dozen yards behind that one, while the injured one still limps after, with little hope of closing. The Drokar skirts the edge of the forest from which the stamped came, and the carnage done to the woods is remarkable at the close range. To the south, the rear edge of the stampede is visible as it boils into the ravine before the cliff face. The poodle can hear strange sounds from that direction, a squealing and shrieking unlike the stampede's earlier rumbling.

What a pleasant sound are pained cries of those who do accost me, thinks Elise as she listens to the herd thunder on their way to who-knows-where, possibly to their demise. At least the lady can hope that is the case. Sword in hand, the Executor Secundus glances about, attempting to gain her bearings and ascertain the location of her missing comrade.

A survey of her surroundings, taken while the Drokar continues his headlong rush away from danger, let's her spot Kaalaas. The Kavi has taken shelter in the stand of trees due north of the east-facing cliff. Still on her mount, it looks like the Majoris is scanning the cliff top. Also taken in while Elise searched for her superior was the sight of several mohra that have broken from the herd to move up the slope next to the ravine, instead of charging down into it. They are headed for the cliff top.

With Kaalaas spotted, Elise decides there is indeed safety in numbers, and so heads for the Majoris. She directs her mount on a path that will take it a bit southward and thus circumvent the steep decline that awaits her if she were to head on a direct route towards the Kavi. There is also a possible northern route around the slope, however Elise spurns this choice in favor of the more familiar southern path.

With most of the distance between her and the Kavi traversed, Elise is less than a dozen yards away when she sees the Majoris make frantic waving motions at her. The poodle has only a instant to try to figure out what Kaalaas is trying to tell her – and then the answer is obvious, as the head of an arrow thuds into the left rear flank of her Drokar. The mount falters mid-stride, screaming and crumpling forward.

With her mount wounded and down, Elise quickly moves to dismount and hobble towards Kaalaas. With her crossbow, she points directly behind herself with much vigor, gesturing for the Majoris that there is something pursuing the lady, though the lady herself keeps her eyes scanning for the location of the bowman in anticipation of a follow up shot against her.

Much to Elise's surprise, no new arrows wing their way towards her. As she scans the landscape, she spots a person who might have been the archer, moving through a stand of trees southwest of her. Meanwhile, the Executor Majoris grimaces as she sees the mohra racing their direction – but the monsters are more interested in the fallen Drokar than anything else. They descend upon it, ripping chunks of flesh from its flanks. Kaalaas steadies her crossbow, and takes careful aim before planting a bolt into the neck of one, as Elise reaches her side and the comparative cover of the trees.

"There is a figure moving within the trees southwest, there," relays Elise as she reaches cover, indicating the direction with a point of her hand. The Secundus then spares no time in putting herself behind a tree as cover, interposing it between her and the south. "I can take the archer, if you will finish those 'mohra'."

Even as Elise asserts that she can "take the archer" she loses sight of him among the trees. The Majoris doesn't question the poodle, however, focusing instead on reloading her crossbow. The second mohra lifts its head from the dead Drokar at its comrade's death throes, but its animal brain doesn't appear to make the connection as Kaalaas raises her crossbow a second time.

Elise lays her sword down against her cover, within easy reach, and begins the task of reloading her crossbow in preparation to fire. "When the mohra are dead, we can focus on the archer as a pair, one of us the distraction and the other ready to shoot when he makes himself known," explains Elise. As she goes about both speaking and reloading she keeps herself close to the tree for protection.

The archer doesn't reappear as Kaalaas plants a bolt into the chest of the second mohra. This one doesn't die so easily, unfortunately. Screaming, it charges the short distance between them while the Kavi curses, dropping her crossbow and going for her knives.

Trusting Kaalaas's ability to deal with a wounded "mohra", Elise instead focuses on her own target. She scans the tree line, anticipating that the archer may take advantage of the wounded creature's charge to snipe a shot off at her superior as she deals with it.

The Kavi drops into a knife fighter's crouch as the mohra comes for her. While Elise stands beside her, ignoring the raging monster in favor of looking from a much more distant, and not currently visible, enemy, the Majoris screams, "Dagh take you, girl! Shoot it!"

At her superior's command, Elise whips the crossbow around in favor of the "mohra", and fires as soon as she thinks she has the creature targeted.

The second bolt thuds home, higher on the mohra's chest. It labors forward despite the injuries, rearing back to claw at the Kavi. She twists to one side and stabs the creature with both knives, landing one in its throat and the other behind a shoulder blade. Hissing and squealing, it goes down in a puddle of blood while the Kavi pants, breathing hard from adrenaline.

Seeing the creature has fallen, and thus Elise need not reach for her sword, the Secundus returns to her cover to reload and bids Kaalaas to do the same. "Draw back – the archer remains hidden," she warns evenly.

The other only grunts in response. She wipes her blades off on the gray-black hide of the mohra before sheathing them and retrieving her crossbow. While Elise determinedly searches for their erstwhile two-legged assailant, she notices another curious sight – what looks like mohra, scaling the cliff face. A couple are moving up, out of the ravine, while one climbs down it. She can still hear echoing cries and squeals from the herd, but apart from the few on the cliff face, none are visible from her current location.

"Look there! The 'mohra' are scaling the cliff side," the lady tells her fellow Executor. "Should the archer remain hidden within those trees they may well fall upon him, and we shall have our shot when he flees … or our work done, should they impale him for us. Reload, we can distract him till then. And I have an idea."

The Kavi finishes reloading before the poodle does. "If he's moved to the cliff top, there's no way we can shoot him from here," Kaalaas observes. "Assuming we see him again at all." One of the climbing mohra disappears from view, apparently into a crevice or opening in the cliff face. "What's your idea?"

"We can follow the tree line to the west, and make a quarter-circle to flank him. This should provide him with but those groupings of trees to contend with, leaving him between the 'mohra' that climb and their cliff, and us on roughly the opposite side," suggests the Gallee.

The Majoris considers this briefly, then, grudgingly, assents. The two Executors circle though the stand of woods they have taken cover in, until they have a clear view of the trees at the top of the cliff. During this time, they see no figures moving.

"Do you think the man could have escaped us? I see but one path, south, that might have been hidden to us. Can you tell if he has fled that way?" inquires Elise as she takes cover behind a new tree. This time the barrier is interposed between herself and the southeast where the archer is thought to hide. "Also, if you are prepared, I have a bait planned for you to take advantage of."

"Not from this distance. It may be that the mohra have dispatched him already," the Kavi says. She taps her fingers against the stock of her crossbow impatiently. "Yes?"

Elise nods, then draws fully behind cover, placing her back to the tree. She shifts her crossbow to hold in her offhand and using her now free hand to removes her helmet which she lowers atop the end of her sword and extends out behind the trees, attempting to give the illusion of the Gallee abandoning her cover to get a better look.

The ruse attracts no attention. Eventually, after enough watching, Kaalaas concludes that if their former assailant is still waiting to shoot them, he's got more patience than she does. She steps cautiously into the open, where once again … nothing happens. Finally, the two cross the intervening slope to enter the stand of trees beyond. There, they find a single mohra, eating at the entrails of a very dead, male, Rhian. Kaalaas grimaces, giving a little shake of her head, then raises her crossbow. She glances to Elise so that they can fire together.

The lady gives a short, solemn, nod as she lifts her crossbow. As she takes aim she wonders for an instant at the fate men. If this is indeed Ordway, considers Elise, then fate is strange indeed. Devoured by one's own trap, killed not by justice, but by his own plotting. She pulls the trigger in time with her superior.

Like the earlier mohra, this one proves reluctant to die, but after two crossbow bolts, a thrust from Elise's sword, and a couple of stabbings, it is dispatched. The corpse, when they have a chance to identify it, isn't Ordway – but Nyorga. Kaalaas moves on to the cliff's edge, examining the scene below. There, the two Executors can finally see the fate of the bulk of the stampede. The "muddy ravine" wasn't filled with mud at all, but instead by semi-liquid tar. The herd of mohra charged into it and were caught by it like quicksand. Most of them have drowned in their thrashings, but a few still writhe and scream, thoroughly trapped.

The lady reaches over and nudges her partner, then points at a carefully concealed rope that lays hidden in the grass. Trailing from where it is tied to a nearby tree, the length of it extends down the cliff face.

The Kavi goes to the edge of the cliff where the rope hangs, then looks down. The rope hangs only about fifteen feet down, stopping at a ledge leading into a cave below them. In the cliff side, even Elise can discern the marks where the mohra were climbing it earlier. As they crouch, looking, the faint but unpleasant sounds of mohra devouring its prey can be heard. Kaalaas looks to Elise. "I suspect we have just found what happened to Ordway."

Frowning, the Secundus shakes her head. "No more gruesome a fate then they deserved, or that I had intended to see to their information." She casts a side-long glance Kaalaas, adding, "We shall likely need to search them; perhaps we can locate the girl still. I intend to find her if I can. And ma'am, you are truly skilled in tracking. I do not think I would have found them alone. If you would have it, I would be thankful to learn from you." She smiles, briefly, tiredly – a bittersweet smile.