After Sonya had finished making her report to the entire group, the general consensus was that they needed to head to the dungeon right away, regardless of what other dangers might be present. That if Stanley and his group had arrived at the dungeon, that it was only a matter of time before he became aware of the book that he had in his possession being the wrong one. Since it was clear that he and his group really weren't in contact with Harold, even though Harold might have believed otherwise.
It wasn't so much that they suspected Stanley and his group didn't care, it was more likely that they hadn't anticipated that Harold might have failed and wanted to complete the challenge without him being present.
While Kim didn't like that idea, she couldn't say that it didn't sound like what little she'd learned about Stanley and Frank from when they had temporarily teamed up. The only one that it didn't really sound like was Thomas, but it wasn't like he was the leader. If anything, he seemed more like a willing accomplice than anything else to whatever Stanley, and sometimes Frank, came up with.
"So, what now?" Elin asked when Sonya had finished her short report. "Do we continue on without knowing where Stanley and his group is?"
"It doesn't look like we have much choice," Elwin said, sounding a little annoyed. "If we can't get into the dungeon to where we can pass by Stanley and his group, then we'll have to fight them for sure."
Kim wasn't so sure but didn't see the point in saying anything about it. If she did, it might spark an argument that wouldn't have any bearing on what they should do next. Nor would it serve any purpose but to risk breaking up their combined group. Which would raise the question of who would take the book. As there was only one book and if they split their group up, they might have a fight on their hands, which would only weaken them for whatever else might come up in the dungeon, Stanley and his group aside.
"Well, let's hope whatever is in the dungeon to keep us from getting to where we're supposed to take the book will be at least weakened by Stanley and his group," Jonas commented, putting a positive spin on the situation that Kim hadn't even thought of.
Not that she cared much. As it still didn't solve the current problem of Stanley and his group, unless they got themselves killed, which Kim didn't think was likely to happen. It would be too easy if that had happened. Which in turn would make it more likely that something was going to appear unexpectedly. Even if that 'something' wasn't currently in existence yet.
"Well, the sooner we get moving, the sooner we can get into the dungeon," Owen said, standing up, looking like he was ready to go right then, despite the fact that night was still settling in around them.
"It's dangerous to walk about these woods at night," Patrick remarked. "When Patricia and I first were here, we stayed into the night and the spiders that came out weren't so friendly, even though they roasted just as well as any other arachnid or insect out there."
"He's right," Patricia added, though she looked annoyed when Patrick had first spoken. "Even staying in a camp like this might not be very safe."
"Well, better to keep moving then," Owen replied. "The sooner we get out of here then, the sooner we won't have to worry about those spiders then." Owen paused as he looked around. "Uh, assuming they're still in this forest and you didn't roast all of them."
"I'm sure there's still more here," Patrick said with conviction. "While I don't like spiders, they're not suicidal. Or at least not all of them are. The ones who are probably got roasted quickly enough, but who's to say how long it takes for them to lay eggs or for those eggs to hatch. It's been at least two months since we were here, probably longer, and who's to say how many more of those creatures have hatched since then."
Kim nodded, that would be something she'd like to avoid, but given their circumstances, they might not be able to. "How late into the night do they appear?" Kim asked, hoping that there might still be time enough for them to get back to the dungeon. Especially since she wasn't sure exactly how far away it was. Just that it would probably take at least half the night still to get there.
"Couldn't say," Patrick admitted freely, almost as if the issue wasn't as serious as he had been making it out to be. "All I know is that the battle lasted most of the night before all the spiders were either roasted, squashed, or had run off."
"We didn't bother chasing the ones who ran off. The ones we were fighting were already a handful. Especially with how large they were. Plus, when they bit, they hurt," Patricia added, her tone emphatic as she spoke.
"Well, could we move then before they show up?" Elmo asked, looking a little green from the subject.
"Probably would be best," Kim admitted. "Though, only because we need to at least get into the dungeon before Stanely and his group come out. If we can get to a place where we might pass them by, we might be able to avoid a fight. After all, they know that we'd be coming to the dungeon regardless. If they create a defensive position where we can't get around, it'd make things much more difficult than if we could just slip by them without them even knowing that we'd passed them by." Kim paused, looking around at everyone, letting her words sink in before continuing. "There might be another place that they could wait for us, but I'm pretty sure that the entrance to the dungeon would be the best place for any defensive position."
"You forget that Stanley's system is the politician system," Jonas commented. "He doesn't strike me as a tactician or strategist. Maybe Frank has some of those skills, but I doubt it. Thomas certainly doesn't, but that could also make them even more dangerous. If you know someone has certain skills, then you can predict what they might do as a result of those skills. However, if they don't, you can't be sure what they'll do. What they do could be completely insane or downright stupid. Yet, they'd only know that in the first place if they had any kind of skills or knowledge in the matter." Jonas sighed, looking a little surprised at how much he'd said. "Their best advantage would be to be able to set up something that would allow them to keep us at bay while they whittle our numbers down as we do outnumber them and could easily overwhelm them by a simple charge or something."
"We might outnumber them, but that doesn't mean we have enough fighters for that," Elwin corrected. "We would need to have Elmo send spells at them in addition to anyone who could use ranged abilities or weapons, even if they didn't hit, just to keep them occupied while those of us that are good with melee weapons and abilities could make our way to them and overpower them that way."
"Whatever we do, we should wait for Heather to wake up," Sonya said, surprising Kim. She hadn't thought that Sonya would have added anything to the conversation, given she hadn't said anything since she'd finished her report. In fact, Kim had thought she'd pretty much checked out from the conversation altogether. "Otherwise I won't be able to help."
"Wait, why would that matter?" Elwin asked, looking a little surprised.
"Because if she's not awake, I'm not going to let anyone else look after her. Nor can I look after her if I'm on the front line," Sonya answered, a challenge in her tone. "I wouldn't be able to properly keep her from getting hurt if she's still tied to my back when the fight starts and I'm not going to use her as some kind of human armor." Sonya paused, looking at Elwin. "You on the other hand might be suitable for that. After all, you can fight yourself, so if you used me as your mount, I'd be able to have part of my body shielded wherever you were."
Elwin rolled his eyes, clearly not interested in Sonya's suggestion. Though, Kim had to admit that it had potential. She herself might have offered to take Sonya up on that, but she wasn't confident that she'd be able to stay on Sonya's back without falling off in a charge. It just felt like it'd be more dangerous to her than any enemies they'd be fighting. Whether or not it was Stanley's group that appeared.
"Keep in mind that there might be other creatures waiting for us," Kim said, pretty sure that it'd be an anti-climatic challenge if the people running this competition didn't have any 'surprises' in store for them.
"Whatever else we do, we should probably get going," Owen suggested. "I'm not sure, but I think I heard something moving over there." Owen motioned towards the distance where Harold's body had been left.
"Well, if there are spiders, maybe they'll go for him rather than us first," Bart suggested as they stated to continue on towards the dungeon.