Your party goes on a hunt for a Centaur

You hastily swat at your neck but are too slow as you see the mosquito fly off in the corner of your eye. You scratch at what is now your twentieth mosquito bit of the day. Not to mention the two ticks Seamus plucked off you earlier. Your party has been wandering through the forest for hours. Ash is leading the way as she's spotted the Centaur's tracks in the dirt. With her keen elf eyes she follows the tracks through a narrow dirt trail . A fork in the road leaves your party with a dilemma, Ash claims the tracks lead down to the river but Seamus who has a highly developed sense of smell due to his lycanthropy swears the centaur's scent leads deeper into the forest. The group decides to split up. Seamus and Olympia go deeper into the woods while you and Ash head down to the riverbank. If Seamus and Olympia find the centaur, Olympia will use her staff to shoot a flare into the sky. However if you and Ash were to find the centaur, Ash would instead fire an enchanted arrow Olympia provided her into the sky that would alert the others to your location.

You complain about the mosquitoes, ticks and now leeches all the way down to the river. Ash seems to ignore you as she's concentrating on the trail. "They say the Centaur attacked the caravan without warning or hesitation, if we find him first, you should get behind me until the others get here." You say to Ash but she's still focused on the trail. "If he charges at us I'm pretty sure I can cut its legs out from beneath it if-" Ash covers your mouth with her hand and motions for you to lower yourself onto the ground. The two of you crawl behind a downed tree and peak over the log. On the edge of the riverbank lies the stolen supplies from the caravan as well as an over-sized rusty long sword. Just a few meters away, in the river stands the half-human half-horse beast. He's halfway submerged in the river, splashing water onto his dirt covered face and bald head. He appeared to be an older centaur, he has a rounded belly and streaks of grey in his long beard. Any further away and you wouldn't be able to tell he were a centaur but his backside and tail were exposed just barely above the water's surface.

Ash gently lowers her quiver onto the ground and hands you her bow and the enchanted arrow. " Go back up the hill and alert the others." She whispers.

'What? What are you gonna do?" You awkwardly try to shout and whisper at the same time.

"I'm going to approach him unarmed, maybe I can convince him to surrender peacefully."

"That sounds really dangerous."

"He's unarmed, if he goes for the sword, I'll run. He's not going to catch a wood elf in a chase through the forest. Don't worry about me, I promise I can keep him distracted until everyone else gets here."

Even as you continue to protest, she starts walking down to the riverbank. You start your uphill walk but find yourself hesitating to leave her on her own. As you contemplate your dilemma you hear a piercing whistle sound in the distance and see a bright crimson flare burst in the sky. It's Olympia's flare but you're not sure why they would be sending out a flare when you and Ash have the Centaur in sight.