Captain Skalp is not at all pleased with the situation, and even less so with Cycek. He swings his greatsword and hacks at the unconscious ranger, inflicting another bloody wound. Dara lets out a yelp of dismay. Lieutenant Frightengale swings his weapon at her, but the nimble Dara scampers out of the way, only to be again accosted by Wicklow. At that moment the door flies open, and in strides none other than Krago. Sitting astride his shoulder is Fuzzidong, still adorned with Greasy Rag about his neck, like a filthy cape. Krago quickly takes the measure of the scene and runs toward the scrapping Wicklow and Dara. He throws himself between the two and tries to get his arms around his old friend, trying to get him to see reason. Dara takes the opportunity to run toward Cycek, and she drags the fallen hero out of harm’s way, depositing him near the barroom door.
Sartan runs forward, out of the worst of the fire, and attacks Captain Skalp. He is proving to be an effective fighter with a halberd, keeping his opponent at a distance, while dealing severe damage.
Mishok moves his spiritual weapon into range of the two hobgoblin officers. He swats at Frightengale, giving the lieutenant a hard bash over the head. But the battle is not yet won. Sartan and Mishok continue to engage the tough hobgoblins, while Davros sees an opportunity to dash into the bar and staunch Cycek’s bleeding. He manages to quickly stabilize his fallen comrade using hasty battlefield first aid.
The fight goes on, but the fire is spreading. In fact the east wall suddenly blossoms into a fall of flame, hastening what seems to be the inevitable demise of the “Salt of the Urth” tavern. When Captain Skalp falls to Sartan’s blade, Frightengale decides the time had come to vacate the premises. He heads for the door and encounters a bit of luck when a young girl steps across the threshold. This is Frieda, the brave girl that earlier had helped Sartan and Mishok dispatch the hobgoblins who had entered her home. Frightengale grabs her and drags her into the street, where he is met by one of his soldiers coming the other way. The soldier has dragged a woman from her home. The two hobgoblins make a stand, with their captives, near the well in the town square. Frightengale yells at the adventurers who have gathered around the front of the tavern, “Stand down or these two will die, here and now!”
The adventurers are distracted from this unfolding hostage crisis, by a movement to their left. The spell-casting goblin has appeared around the side of the building, and is preparing some kind of incantation. But before she can execute the spell, she is felled by a well-placed arrow from Davros’s bow, and a blow from Mishok’s spiritual weapon.
They turn their attention back to the drama at the well. The woman in the grasp of the hobgoblin soldier looks familiar. As Krago exists the burning building with Wicklow in his grasp, it suddenly becomes clear… it is Freyla Shadwick, Wicklow’s mother.
Sartan takes a gamble and fires an arrow at Frightengale, sinking the shaft into the hobgoblin’s neck, killing him. The girl escapes the failing grasp of the dying hobgoblin as the bleeding body flops backwards and tumbles down the well.
The soldier, desperate but defiant, threatens to cut Freyla’s throat. The captive woman struggles weakly, and then, seeing her son outside the bar, calls out to him. Wicklow seems befuddled. He shakes his head as if struggling to come out of a dream. Before he can speak or act, the callous hobgoblin makes good on his threat. With a quick swipe, he cuts the hapless woman’s throat and shoves her body toward the open well. In a blink she disappears into the dark shaft. The shocked adventurers start forward, instinctively wanting to save her, and the hobgoblin seizes the opportunity to make a run for it. Sartan fires an arrow, bringing down the vicious brute, sending him sprawling in the dusty street.
A brooding quiet settles on the scene, even as women from the neighborhood step out of their homes, wondering why their men have not been returned from the mine. Smoke billows from the “Salt of the Urth” as the building is engulfed in flame and begins to collapse upon itself. Krago grimly places an arm around Wicklow who, like the tavern, seems to have collapsed upon himself in the street. He holds his head in his hands and his shoulders shake with silent sobs.
Cycek has been dragged out of the building before it is consumed. Mishok calls upon Divoc to heal his companion, and shortly the elf is up on his feet, wondering what happened. The rest of the team tries to figure out a way to save Freyla. They retrieve her body from the well, but it is too late. She is dead, and there is nothing they can do about it.