"Only the best for you," she says, kissing Lace's hair.

Happy snuggle!

She hums.

"Good..."

And a big yawn as her eyes drift shut.

She picks up her pace as much as she can while keeping her gait smooth and even.

And, near dawn -

Elana hears a collection of human heart beats on the road ahead. Probably something like six people clustered around the road. Not in the best of health conditions, but young and muscular.

Hm. Most likely bandits. She slows down.

Is Lace still sleeping?

Yup!

Let's see if she can keep it that way. Elana gently shifts her so she has a hand free for casting.

Lace stays asleep, nuzzling into Elana's neck for a moment before settling.

Then invisibility to cover the both of them, and she quietly moves up closer to the ambush.

They don't know she's there - and most of them are still groggy, two sleeping in with only a single guard watching the road. They have a makeshift barricade set up, but they haven't taken over a fort or anything.

She circles stealthily around to the back of the camp, draining both sleepers to death before they can wake.

They don't have much life to give, but they die silently.

She sets their tent on fire, and recasts invisibility.

That raises the alarm among the four survivors! They jump to their feet, three drawing weapons while one rushes over to possibly try to solve the 'tent on fire' problem.

She circles the edge to line up a shot and blasts the four with a fireball.

Only one of them stays alive long enough to scream, after that, and it's a short, sharp sound.

Lace stirs a bit, mumbling.

"Shhh," she soothes, continuing down the road again. "Go back to sleep."

Nuzzle nuzzle snooze.

Elana grins to herself.

At this rate, they should make it to the Dragon Bridge shortly after dawn.

They do, with no other interruptions. The world's still pretty cold, but some very stubborn and industrious birds are chirping at the sunrise, barely audible over the rush of water in the ravine between Dragon Bridge South (the outskirts of which they meet first; Dragon Bridge is a small town, tiny still by Lace's standards, but not the tiny village Morthal was) and Dragon Bridge North.

She might actually want to see this. Elana jostles Lace gently to wake her.

Yawn!

She rouses, blinking up at Elana a few times, and then smiles sleepily.

"Hi."

"Hi yourself, sleepyhead. I thought you might like a look at the bridge. People tell me it is impressive."

She hums. "Okay. Do I have to get up?"