"What about Drummer?"
(the horse)

As Nadarresh moves a bit closer, he sees the wall is thick enough and tall enough for someone to stand upon but there is no ledge.  He quietly sighs, thinking of yet some other way to get past so many foes without getting killed in the process.  He moves back towards the others, so he can stretch out and as he stretches, he thinks of an idea that may actually work.

((Using nature he wants to forage and hunt for a large deer or boar.  He is going to trap it if possible and as a last resort kill it quickly and cleanly with as little blood as possible.  He will then hang it in a tree on the opposite side of the bridge about three-quarters of a mile, enough to be far enough away but close enough for them to smell it (If they are on the south east side, he will put it on the south west side or vice-versa) He will then create a blood trail leading to the creature, using smaller game.  The idea is to get the Drakes to seek out or catch the scent of the food and move away from the bridge.  As enough of them move away we try to get across as quickly as possible, avoid fighting and then as they get acorss then they can put down a cloud of daggers to block their escape or slow their enemies.))

He quickly relays his idea to the others to see what they think of this idea...

Luke: "Interesting.  I wonder how quickly you could find -- Hmm, no, wait, I don't think it's a good idea.

"I'm pretty sure there's at least one pack of needletooth drakes nesting near here, and maybe more.  The little guys that attacked us at night, remember?  I saw the swaths they cut through the undergrowth between here and the bridge.

"So if you start throwing blood around and trying to attract drakes, you might make those guys decide to show up and join the feast.  Make our odds even worse.

"Here's what I guess I think.  I know we're short on time, but let's watch and wait for a while.  Try not to move around too much or let anything know we're here.  Dayereth should get as much rest as possible.  Nadarresh and I should watch the bridge, see what the ogre and the lizards do.  Maybe they'll do something that gives us an opening.  Maybe they'll go to sleep -- I don't even know if these things are normally awake in the day or the night.

"If we're lucky, that'll give Aerandis a chance to follow our tracks and catch up to us.

"If we watch and wait for a while, and nothing seems to look any better, then I think we should just sneak as close to the bridge as possible, then run straight across it without trying to kill all the lizards.  We get to the other side and hope they don't chase us."

Luke shrugs.  "I know, it's kind of a crappy plan, but... well, sometimes you just don't have a lot of options."

Luke fiddles with his new hat, trying to get it to fit just right.  It's not as comfortable as the old one...

"Hey, wait, what about this?  Remember when the first bunch of needletooth drakes attacked us?  We had a fire going at night and they gathered all around us, like they were drawn to it.

"So what if we do the same thing here?  Somewhere up on this ridge, but where they can't see us from the bridge, we gather some sticks and build a fire.  We douse the sticks with oil to make sure it will start burning quick and brightly.  Then, come nightfall, we light it up.  The lizards will see that.  Maybe they'll go to it.  We could even kill a deer or something, like you said, and leave it by the fire for them to eat -- keep them busy for a while.  Then we sneak past in the dark and cross the bridge.

"...Oh, wait, no.  There's already a fire in that guard house in the middle of the bridge.  If it's true that they like fire, they might just stick close to that and not go to our fire.

"Feh... I wish I knew more about these damn lizards.  I have no idea what to expect from them, except that they're vicious."

Dayereth grits his teeth again.

"I hate to say this but there's one flaw to that plan.  Once the fire is lit, lizards will start coming toward it, particularly at night to inspect it.  That will leave anyone lighting the fire with a big column of lizards in between them and the bridge."

"The solution is for one person to light the fire off to one side of the bridge, while the other two hide off to the other side. Once the bulk of reptilian death walks past, the two in hiding make a run for it across the bridge while the one at the fire leads the lizards as far away as possible."

"I make the most sense to light the fire.  I can use spells to imitate a larger force (ghost sound) and my combat spells damage a larger number of weaker (cloud of daggers, fire shroud) opponents.  I also have a horse and can escape more quickly."

"You two, on the other hand, are better equipped to deal with a lesser number of more powerful foes, such as the ogre, who, assuming he's in charge, is the least likely one to abandon the bridge."

"If I'm very lucky, maybe I can circle around after distracting the smaller drakes and try to make the bridge after you two."

"Of course this plan could also lead to a retardedly quick death for all of us."

"This is going to be tough no matter what we do." Nadarresh plainly states.  "If we have one person light it, they will have to move quickly and quietly.  That, Dayereth, is not you.  Your spells are good from a distance but the drakes would tear into the horse before you could get very far and then you'd have them chasing you towards us and the bridge.  A horse makes too much noise on it's own and it's almost a wonder they have not yet heard him, although we are quite far away from them..."  Nadarresh shifts around, a stern look crossing his face.  "Although we are not as strong when divided, a distraction... or any distraction must be made.  There will be little chance of the three of us making it across by just walking across the bridge, just as much chance of us sneaking across with a horse in tow and even at a full charge, no way we'd make it past that huge creature down there without it or the drakes noticing."

He sighs and continues, "Our only chance will be to have as few of them on the bridge as possible and then push our way past them.  If only we could get those needletooth drakes to head across the bridge...that would make the big drakes think twice!" he smiled again as he said this.

"We'll figure out something."

Luke, in a growling voice: "Hey, I've never called you a fool.  You're a very learned man.  Of course, I might end up calling you a fool after you get killed, after we try doing this your way.

"My way's simple.  Light the fire, hope to draw the drakes off the bridge, then just run across the bridge, all three of us.  Forget about stealth when we're crossing the bridge -- at that point we'll have a head start and we can just get across the bridge and run away on the other side."