A soft sigh of pleasure escaped the half-elf's lips as Deon's hand traced from her stomach down to her crotch teasingly.  Admittedly, Lune was still dressed in studded leather so the sensation did not transfer as well as one might hope.  But for now, she seemed content to rest against Deon as the cleric could feel lines of silent stress and tension easing from the scout - like a spring relaxing after being wound too tight.  Of course, this little interlude was over all too soon as Elora gave her cry about fresh blood in the grass.  And in the span of a single breath, Lune had gone from relaxed to very alert, her eyes sharp as she scanned the surrounding area - stretching out her senses.  Sliding out of the saddle she shared with Deon, but not without one last, heated look - Lune had her shortbow in hand with an arrow notched and ready to go.<br/><br/>And as the party got ready to chase after the lizardmen, with Elora leading the way, Lune was the one who urged caution.<br/><br/><strong>"We should be wary of an ambush,</strong>" she spoke loudly, making sure the entire party heard her.  Inwardly, the half-elf did not agree with Deon's decision that Elora should be in front; if anything, it would have been wiser that Lune went first to prevent the scenario she was describing right now.  But she didn't want to be the one to<em>criticize</em>Deon's decision so she instead held her peace and tried a different tack.<strong>"We fought them only a day ago and I know that one or two of the former band escaped.  It could be this is a different tribe, but they also could be part of the same group.  They might be lying in wait and are using this as bait.  Plus they have superior numbers and this is their home - which means they know the area like the back of their scaly hands."</strong><br/><br/><strong>"Your concern is noted,"</strong>Elora stated in Lune's direction, her voice cool once more now that she was preparing for battle.  Inwardly, the elven paladin was glad, relieved even.  At last, this was something clear, something simple!  A clear, lawless evil that required assistance in vanquishing; surely, Torm was guiding this party in the path towards Daggerford by allowing them this type of opportunity.  Quickly, she signed and offered a quick prayer of thanks to the Loyal Fury.<strong>"We shall not be fools, but Torm compels us to rescue these unfortunate souls from these evil beings!  Onward, we ride!"</strong>And with that, the elven paladin booted her mount into action with the heavy horse taking the lead and setting the pace at a fast canter as she followed the bloody path.  In truth, Elora would have set everyone on a gallop, but Lune's words did seem wise to her.  The elven paladin looked like a fearful sight, dressed in her gleaming, polished full plate.<br/><br/><strong>"Who is Torm compelling?  <em>I</em> don't worship him..."</strong>Lune muttered this under her breath and in a single, swift motion she jumped up into the heavy horse containing Beatrice.  In that same motion, she hung her shortbow off the horse's saddle and put away her arrow back into her quiver as she took the reins.  Inwardly, she frowned - realizing that the tiefling witch made an excellent point earlier.  So long as she wore the collar and chains, Beatrice was a liability to the party - doubly so if they needed to protect her.  Not that Lune was going to say anything like that to the rest of the group - they could figure it out themselves.<br/><br/><strong>"So glad you could join me..."</strong>Beatrice said flirtatiously, seemingly uncaring about the danger as she wriggled back and forth to brush against the half-elf scout.<strong>"I didn't know you <em>cared</em>."</strong>Like all the other girls, there was no love lost between the tiefling witch and the half-elf scout - which made sharing a saddle together grating.<br/><br/>Lune did not bother responding to Beatrice's provocations, snapping the reins sharply as the heavy horse took off after Elora.  Admittedly, the pace she set was slower, around a slow canter, as she kept her eyes and ears open for any signs of something wrong.  It was obvious that the half-elf was expecting some kind of trap or trick waiting up ahead for them.  Her face looked like it was carved from stone, pointedly ignoring Beatrice and her actions, though the half-elf did give off an air of disgust.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, Misty gave a savage, bloodthirsty smile.  Battle at last!  And a chance to blot out the feelings of weakness hounding the back of her mind this morning with the blood of her foes!  Already her blood was singing to her as Misty could feel the thunder in her veins,  pounding with each breath that she took.  The whetstone was put away as the edge of the greataxe now gleamed with an ominous air.<strong>"Race you,"</strong>the female barbarian grunted at Deon in a challenging way before booting her heavy horse as she sent it off on a dead gallop.  It was obvious that her intention was to be the first in battle.  Quickly, she thundered past Lune and Beatrice - whooping wildly as she chased after Elora even as the half-elf swore loudly under her breath at her companion's recklessness.  So much for the element of surprise.<br/><br/>And so the hunt was on.  But it remained to be seen who was the hunter and who was the hunted.