When the girls returned from their bath, the bodies had been tidied away, Kressle had been released from her bindings, and she was watching over Silas while whittling a long branch into the haft of a replacement spear with a sharpened boar tusk for a spearhead. The smell of sweat and sex and semen was strong on her body, not that anyone should have expected otherwise.<br/><br/>"Nyrissa," she replied to Oriana, "is greatest guardian and most feared foe. She is the fickle nature of the jungle. With one hand she gives life and with the other she takes it away. The jungle is her domain and we huntresses are her worshippers. Now-"<br/><br/>Kressle held up one hand for silence as she caught the sound of the returning bandits' singing. She slithered silently between the trees, surprising them by suddenly appearing in front of them. "I have news for you, boys," she told them. "We are breaking away from the Stag Lord and joining a new pack. Or, in your own words, working under new management."<br/><br/>The bandits stared at her dumbstruck for several seconds before one of them finally spoke up. "Aye, I had enough of workin' for that ungrateful drunk! Three cheers for our new bosses! So, uh, who are they?"<br/>