The child-like creature claps its hands in delight and begins to caper and do cartwheels.

"Oh gods," mutters the elf, and begins to climb a tree. To your surprise, you find that the warrioress and dwarf are similarly making their way up to sturdy branches well off of the ground.

"You'd better climb up here with me," calls out the warrioress. This earns her an incredulous glance from the dwarf.

"You're helping him?" the dwarf asks. "After what he's done to that poor, innocent band of merry thieves? Or what he's going to have done to them?"

At this point in time, you are somewhat alarmed. The sight of the child-like creature rummaging in its deceptively small pack and drawing out large objects (both blunt and pointy) of various kinds is not bolstering your sense of safety. With some aid from the warrioress, you clamber up a tree and perch precariously on a thick bough. The leaves and branches prevent you from getting a clear view of what is happening, but loud screams and the pounding footsteps seem to dominante.

"He's not a bad sort," the warrioress says by way of explanation. "It's just that he's rather... rambunctious. And over-fond of play-fighting. That's all it is, really. Play-fighting. He thinks that it's all in fun, and he really doesn't mean to hurt anyone. And he usually loses interest after a few hours. All in all, you can hardly be blamed."

As you sit on the bough, periodically dozing and being jolted awake by a particularly evil cackle, you ponder how long "a few hours" will be. Hopefully, the approaching evening will curtail the infantine demon's reign of terror.