Etienne and Kaileer fought with the monster on the boat, barely taking it down before it could deal one or the other of them a fatal blow. Aloysius tried desperately to staunch the flow of blood from Jana's throat, but his inexperience with the healing arts showed as she bled through the hat he was trying to use as a bandage. She collapsed to the bottom of the barge in a pool of blood mostly, although not entirely, her own.
The barge continued to float back down the river the way they had just come. Nothing else tried to board, but a few splashes in the now red water reminded them that they were not alone. Something began scratching on the bottom of the boat, then knocking against it loudly.
Etienne dropped to his knees beside Jana. He was covered in blood, some from the monster, but most of it was his. His hands were shaking as he cupped them around the wounds on her neck. He started chanting, calling upon the healing powers of his goddess. Once he stopped chanting, he quickly ripped the sleeve off his shirt to wipe her throat clean and tie off the wound.
He looked to Kaileer and noticed the elf was bleeding badly also. "Come.......come here and I'll take care of that....." His breathing was ragged and he looked extremely weak. "Aloysius, where's Jyothki and the boatman?"
Aloysius moved aside as Etienne stepped in to attend to Jana. "The boatman is . . .in the water. Somewhere. I just heard a splash and he was gone. I believe Jyothki swam ashore after Horse." The mage drew a pair of daggers and remained down on all fours, listening to the sounds from under the boat.
"Etienne, we need to disembark NOW," he said nervously. "Kaileer, Stargazer will try to row us towards the shore. Kindly cover me with thy spear as I do so."
The mage grabbed one of the tiny oars and moved over to the side of the barge, paddling with what little might he had in an attempt to get the barge closer to the nearest bank.
Etienne prayed over Jana's wound. Luckily for her, the divine magic stopped the bleeding. It didn't do much for the injury itself though.
Aloysius started trying to paddle the boat toward the closer riverbank. He was making very little progress as the knocking on the boat grew louder and finally a sharply clawed hand made its way through some of the timbers making up the bottom. Water began to slow filter in through the hole.
Kaileer moved to the edge of the boat with his spear and jabbed at the water where the creature might be a few times to discourage it from continuing it's attack.
Etienne breathed a sigh of relief when the Jana's bleeding had stopped. He looked over at Kaileer as he was prodding the water. He stood weakly and yelled toward shore, "Jyothki! Come out! We need yours and horse's help." He then looked to Kaileer, "Tie that rope to your spear. When horse and Jyothki come, throw it at the bank, but keep the rope out of the water. She can tie the rope to horse and pull us to shore.....hopefully."
He sank back to one knee near Jana to look her over.
"Damn!" exclaimed Aloysius. He tossed the paddle into the water and headed for the handle of the rudder. He turned the rudder in an attempt to direct the barge closer to the nearest bank.
Jyothki reappeared at the river's edge. "Throw me the rope," she yelled to those on the barge. "I'll tie it to a tree and you'll float against the bank."
Etienne tossed the rope to the river bank, barely managing to get it to the edge. Jyothki quickly tied it to a tree. Horse had yet to reappear. Kaileer, who was still bleeding badly, stabbed ineffectually at the water while the creature continued to work a larger hole in the boat with its claw.
Etienne looked up to Kaileer, "Kaileer, I'm going to need your help carrying Jana and I need to stop your bleeding or we'll be carrying you too. Aloysius keep watch please."
Kaileer moved closer to the hole and with all his strength drove the spear down at the claw with both hands.
Aloysius moved over next to the larger of the two chests. Gripping it by the handles, he tried to ascertain whether or not he would be able to carry it ashore once the boat got close to the bank. "Jyothki!" he called in elvish, "we will need you at the bank when we arrive."
