Back at camp.

Ria, Josk, and Hanna returned to camp with Karn in tow. The red-haired sorcerer had come to during their trek and was now being pulled along by a rope tied to his wrists. Hanna had also shoved a gag into his mouth to keep him from using magic.

The group made it back to camp as the sun was setting. Yolna, Denni, and Brudd sat around a freshly-lit campfire. All three of them seemed quite pleased. In fact, Denni had a bigger grin on his boyish face than Ria had ever seen before. When they saw Karn, however, Yolna stood, worried.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Bastard turned on us," Ria said. She tossed Denni his bow and set his quiver down by his tent. "Tried to... he tried to **** me."

"What?" Yolna gasped. "And you let him live?"

"He's part of the Spear," Hanna said. "That's a magical bond we all share. We can't kill him."

"Hanna is confident she can keep him in line with magic," Josk said. "We didn't find any game. I'm going to sleep."

"Me too," Ria said. "Can you three watch him?"

"Sure," said Denni.

"What did you three do while we were gone, anyway?"

Denni... giggled. Brudd and Yolna just shrugged. "We got to know each other," Yolna said.

Ria just grunted, not really interested. She still felt a faint stirring of arousal from the stone circle's magic, combined with her fear of Karn and embarrassment at herself for nearly... it had been a long day, she decided. And it was time to sleep.