“It’s possible that our conclusions here are colored by our own paranoia,” I admitted, raising a hand to hold back the wave of questions and comments I saw starting to form on the faces before me. “It’s also possible that the prisoner is playing a game with us somehow, being able to somehow outwit Dyre’s ability to sense lies in what he’s told us—or ten thousand other equally likely scenarios. But the problem that we’re faced with here is that for the last three days, the Dread Crew have been at loose ends doing who knows what, and it’s past time we changed that.”
A rumble of resigned agreement intermixed with a tinge of concern rose up from the audience at my statement.
“I understand that this is a lot to take in on short notice,” I said, pitching my voice loud enough to be heard over the mumbling voices, completely understanding their reactions. Unlike them, we’d already had nearly an hour to process everything that Phillion had told us and work out our next steps. For everyone else, this information was fresh and would take time to fully process. “But, unfortunately, we’re going to be playing catch-up now that we’ve discovered this information and take steps to react to it. So, to that end, we’re proposing a short-term plan until we know more of what we are dealing with.
“Starting now, everyone will be going on alert, and we will be sending scouting teams out into the region to the west and northwest of the plains in an attempt to make sure that we aren’t missing anything out there. As we do that, the Hallowguarde guild will be sending out a force to recon the area north of Shadow’s Fall as well as put eyes on this second fallback camp that the Dread Crew have established. Given the alliance that Carver and the orcs seem to have struck with one another, the sooner that we can get an idea of what’s happening in the region, the better—especially if the orcs decide that the time has come for them to get involved in our war.”
I paused again to allow for my words to sink in, seeing several of the other adventurers in the room nod approvingly at my statement.
“Then, following immediately after this meeting, I will be taking a team of Virtus guild members to investigate the closer of the two camps within the Hartwyld,” I stated, slowly playing my gaze across the audience as I spoke, ensuring that everyone heard me. “Our goal will be to see if we can find the place and hopefully either spring whatever trap that the Dread Crew may have waiting for us, or failing that, confirm that it’s been abandoned. If for some reason complications arise, we will regroup and come up with another plan, letting everyone know via our offline chat.”
I paused for one final time as I let everyone process the plan that I’d just laid out before saying the words that I knew were going to open the flood gates.
“Now I know that was a lot. But I think that’s all I have for the moment, so at this point, I’d like to open up the floor for any questions that you may all have.”
Almost at once, the room erupted into a deafening cacophony of voices as everyone tried to speak at once. The questions asked me everything from the identity of the prisoner, which we had purposefully left out, to our plans if the Dread Crew attacked Aldford while we were gone. Answering them as best as I could, the next half hour disappeared in the blink of an eye as I, and eventually Freya, began to talk ourselves hoarse, only to be rescued by the timely arrival of Constantine.
“Everyone’s ready to go, Lyr,” the rogue suddenly whispered into my ear, appearing by my side as if by magic. “We’re just waiting on you two.”
“All right, great,” I replied, reaching out to tap Freya on the shoulder while glancing back at Dunedin who I’d been talking to. “Okay, it’s time to go. We’re going to be heading out momentarily.”
“That’s fine, Lyr,” the dwarf replied, having spent the last few minutes asking me if he should pull back his workers from the Hartwyld’s edge closest to Aldford. “Everyone knows what needs to be done. Hopefully, this’ll finally let us get a lead on these bastards and help us put this war to bed for good.”
“Here’s to hoping,” I agreed, stepping to the side to make my escape.
Apologizing to those that were still waiting to ask questions, Freya and I extricated ourselves from the rushed meeting as fast as we could, promising everyone that we’d follow up once we knew what we were dealing with. Given the distances that we had to travel in order to get to the area that Phillion said that the Dread Crew camp was, and the fact that it was already almost mid-afternoon, the sooner that we got moving, the better. It would take us close to five hours alone to make the trek northward across the plains, then however long it took afterward to navigate a path through the forest and actually find the camp that we were looking for.
Shame that there’s no rain tonight, I thought, reflexively glancing up at the sky and the single thick cloud that loomed overhead. Ever since I’d ended up here in Aldford, I’d yet to see it go longer than a week without some sort of rain, becoming steadily more frequent now that we’d fully entered the region’s version of summer. A thunderstorm would have been perfect to hide any noise we make and help keep us hidden if the camp is occupied, even if it made us a little miserable in the process.
Arriving at the northern gate to Aldford in good time, I immediately spotted the bulk of Virtus milling about as a group of spellcasters moved through their ranks, ensuring that everyone was fully buffed and ready for the journey. Standing a few steps away from the guild was our core group, including Lazarus, Sawyer, and Ransom. With their tentative plan being to begin their journey back to Eberia tomorrow morning, the group was more than willing to help us out one last time in investigating the Dread Crew camp.
“Lyr, Freya,” Sierra said by way of greeting as the three of us came into range. “How’d they take it?”
“Fairly good,” I replied, glancing over at Freya who nodded in agreement. “They were caught off guard as we were at first, but by the time we left, they were all starting to take things in stride. Hopefully, putting everyone on alert is all just paranoia on our part.”
“Man, if I’m going to run for four or five hours straight, it better not be paranoia,” Constantine grumbled. “I hate running for nothing.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll take a few hours of running if it keeps us from getting blindsided where we least expect it,” Drace retorted, turning to look at me as he spoke. “Anyway, Lyr, we’ve already sent the screening scouts ahead to blaze our path. We’re going to angle our route north at first until we’re out of sight of the forest’s tree line, then swing back east once we’ve made it far enough out. It should hopefully keep our approach out of sight if anyone’s hiding in the trees.”
“Sounds good to me,” I replied, checking raid sense briefly and sensing that the scouts had already managed to gain a healthy head start on us. “Then unless someone else has something to add, let’s get moving. We have a camp to find.”
Chapter 14
The Plains
“So what are we dealing with?” I found myself asking Huxley nearly five hours later while crouched behind a thick cluster of wild bushes and overgrown grass that bordered a small river flowing into the Hartwyld. Our long run across the plains had passed by in a blur with little to break it up, save for a single rest break to renew our buffs and continue moving.
“Sweet nothing as far as we can tell,” the elf replied, inclining his head towards the distant thicket ahead. “We got here easily and managed to comb the surrounding area for a few miles. There’s no sign at all of anyone mustering or even passing through. Just the handful of the countryside critters, which if I may also add, are everywhere. That’s another pretty big sign that no one’s been around here. Else they’d have killed them for food or cleared them out of the way.”
“Hm,” I grunted thoughtfully, glancing over at the rushing river flowing past us. “And the tree line? Any chance someone’s watching?”
“Cerril’s crawled up and down the forest’s edge here and has found nothing,” Huxley answered, shaking his head. “So unless Carver’s goons have suddenly managed to bec
ome master sneaks, I’m pretty sure we’re not about to walk into a trap. At least, not here at any rate.”
“And knowing Cerril’s skill, I doubt that’s the case too,” I replied, giving the man a knowing nod. Our time in the Twilight Grove had given all the adventurers in Aldford a crash course in keeping an eye out for hiding enemies. But out of all our people, Cerril in particular had taken that lesson to heart, becoming easily the sharpest eye we had in the guild. If he couldn’t see something hiding in the bush, it was because there was nothing there to see. “All right, I guess that makes our approach into the forest easier. We can follow the river until we’re into the woods and under cover, then turn towards the southeast and blaze a path that way. Unfortunately, I have no idea how far we need to go from there, so we’re likely going to be groping around blind for a while until we either trip over the camp or find some clues along the way.”
“So just like every other day,” Huxley said, completely deadpan. “Good to know.”
“Pretty much,” I agreed with a sigh before turning to look behind me where the guild was waiting. “All right, you guys go on ahead, and I’ll tell the others to move forward into the trees. We’ll regroup there.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Huxley said, giving me a brief wave as we parted ways.
Making my way back to the raid at a jog, it didn’t take me long to spot the group standing at the head of it.
“So?” Freya asked as I came into range, her eyebrow raised inquisitively.
“All quiet on the northern front,” I replied, seeing several guildmembers turn their heads in my direction as I answered. “Huxley and his group haven’t seen anything, and the surrounding area looks completely untouched. We’re all clear to push forward all the way into the forest until we’re under cover. From there, our sneaky folk will branch out ahead with the scouts while the rest of the raid hangs back and follows slowly. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find the camp without letting the entire forest know we’re coming.”
“Yeah, and maybe we’ll find a couple unicorns in there while we’re at it too,” Drace commented with a snort, purposefully shaking an arm so that the armor protecting it jingled loudly.
“Maybe,” I replied amid a chorus of chuckles from the group before we all broke apart and set about the task of getting the raid moving. Fortunately, though, the members of Virtus were well used to moving at the drop of the hat now, and it only took us a few minutes before we found ourselves passing through the forest’s edge and into the Hartwyld.
“Okay, I guess this is where we split up for the time being,” I announced once we were all under cover, turning my head to look towards the group as I spoke. “Amaranth and I are going to take point along with Huxley’s group and see if we can spot anything interesting with an ætherscope. Not to mention try and figure out just where we’re going while we’re at that too.”
“Mind if I tag along too, Lyr?” Lazarus asked, the man’s voice sounding much more rested than it had been earlier in the morning. “I like to think I can be quiet and stealthy when the occasion calls.”
“More like you don’t want to slowpoke it back here with us,” Sawyer promptly grumbled at the half-giant.
“Dang, you saw straight through me,” Lazarus replied, flashing the warrior an unapologetic grin.
“Yeah, works for me,” I said, looking over towards Sierra and Constantine. “Unless you two have an objection?”
“Nope,” Sierra stated, shaking her head in response. “Constantine and I are going to take a group each and cover the flanks in case something tries to surprise us.”
“Then I guess that means we’ll sit on our thumbs and follow slowly while we wait for the screaming to start,” Halcyon said in a mildly sarcastic tone. “And maybe come rushing to your rescue if we’re not bored completely stiff.”
“See? You know how this works. Everyone has their part to play,” I replied, giving the mage a brief grin before motioning for Lazarus to follow me as I turned away from the group. “All right, we’re off. Catch you all up ahead.”
Leaving the gang behind, the three of us caught up with Huxley and Cerril, the others of the scouting group having split up to join Constantine and Sierra. Unfortunately, from here on out, all we had to work off of was the vague location of the camp that Phillion had given us. From his point of view, he’d only ever reached the place by way of the forest, following along hidden paths that the Dread Crew had used to travel by to and from its southeastern edge. But since we’d first ambushed them the month earlier, they’d been forced to abandon those routes, allowing the Hartwyld and its creatures to reclaim them. The only specific details that he’d been able to pass along was that the camp was somewhere north of the fallen Irovian tower but south of the river cutting through the forest that we’d followed into it.
Which I realize is a lot less helpful now in practice than I thought it’d be, I mused as I carefully followed Cerril and Huxley’s lead, hoping that I wasn’t embarrassing myself with my stealthiness—or potential lack thereof. Given that spellswords weren’t primarily stealth classes, it’d been all I could do to keep the skill reasonably trained, but compared to the abilities that rogues or scouts enjoyed to keep themselves concealed, I knew I’d always be behind.
Your skill in Stealth has increased to Level 23!
Okay, maybe not too far behind, I thought with a relieved smile after seeing the skill increase notification appear in my vision.
Pressing onwards through the forest, the next hour passed slowly as we began our search for the Dread Crew camp, our eyes watching the trees carefully for any signs of watching eyes, or in my case, signs of magic. Clutching an Irovian ætherscope in hand as I stalked forward with the scouts, I made liberal use of the artifact, using it to extend True Sight’s range drastically and see if there was anything lying in wait for us. While not sensitive enough to pick up small levels of weaker magic at a distance, such as the buffs and enhancements that we each bore, the device was instead more useful for detecting more potent uses of magic. It was able to enhance the aura given off by sources that my regular magical vision would otherwise miss, such as magical creatures, ley lines, mana sources, or more permanent enchantments that were fixed to a specific area.
In our case, there was nothing of note that I could see on the magical spectrum as we pushed deeper into the Hartwyld, leaving us to deal with only the mundane creatures that called the Hartwyld their home. Ranging from the high teens to the mid-twenties in level, the wildlife in this particular area was far from something that we could ignore as we traveled, the challenge that they posed steadily increasing the deeper into the woods that we journeyed. However, given our numbers, it wasn’t these regular run-of-the-mill monsters that we were concerned about running into as we forged a path through the forest.
But rather the rarer and, consequently, much deadlier ones.
Starting at a minimum level of twenty-five and going upwards from there, the Hartwyld consisted of a rather healthy amount of rare boss-ranked creatures roaming through its innermost reaches, occasionally ambushing those who pressed too deep into it. As such, it made travel through the depths of the forest both slow and risky, which contributed to the reason why our war with the Dread Crew had been fought by majority on the plains. It was already hard enough to fight one another on equal terms, and neither of our two sides wanted to risk raid-wide death penalties and be forced to recover lost Soul Fragments if a horde of creatures happened to get involved in our conflict.
Which then has me wondering how they’ve managed to keep this camp safe since they shifted their forces over to Shadow’s Fall, I thought not for the first time as I brought Splinter’s edge down heavily on the neck of an [Emerald Boa Constrictor] that Amaranth had managed to pin, the blade slicing straight through and putting an end to the creature’s struggles. By Phillion’s admission, they only had a small group of Carver’s own watching the place, which couldn’t have been enough to keep it safe long-term. Especially not with them gettin
g caught near the Irovian tower on occasion and getting chased away by our scouts. Maybe they’re getting help from the orcs in manning—
I asked, a little confused by my familiar’s question at first. But just as I finished speaking, I caught a faint rotting stench flow across our enhanced link before fading away, its brief presence enough to turn my stomach.
my familiar replied as we resumed our movement through the forest, continuing to stalk on the heels of Huxley, Lazarus, and Cerril who had continued onwards while Amaranth and I dealt with the snake.
Glory to the Brave (Ascend Online Book 4) Page 18