"Alright then," he said firmly. Then he gave her a smack on the shoulder. Harder than he wanted to, shivering so.
"Come in a few seconds after me with an arrow ready. We don't really have any tactical superiority here, so I'd rather not advertise our strength. Stay hidden and if it sounds like someone gets a bit too forward, shoot him."
He stood to his full height and examined the size of his breath hanging there before him. And then he disappeared round the boulder.
It wasn't dark for very long. The cave was much more shallow than he'd expected. A narrow throat and one sharp pull to the right--then it opened up. Not a chasm by any means. He pressed his pack to the stone for a moment and tried to count voices. At least six. Probably more. Laughing loud.
"He'd have done it too, if he hadn't drank his dick soft!"
As good a moment as any.
Ithacles was in their midst so smoothly that for a moment no one even looked up.
Five of them round a fire, sitting on makeshift beds. Two more already asleep, sheltered up against the back wall. Most of the space was taken up by crates and boxes. There was really only one way out, and he was standing in it.
"That's too bad," he said. They jumped at the sudden voice. One fell off his crate. "About his dick, I mean."
He held his hand up suddenly. The mage had mvoed for his staff. The others had their hands on knives and hatchets, but had yet to fully realize what was happening.
"You're under arrest for theft, intimidation, and assault on the Queen's men. Surrender immediately."
His voice echoed off the walls, seemed larger than it was. And then there was a sudden shuffle of feet. A loud clang. A muffled blow and a groan.