Chapter Twenty-Five #2
“Did you see the way they fought together?” One asks the other.
“Commander had no idea that there were two of them, or he would have sent more of The Hunt to capture them,” the other one replies as they noisily make their way through the trees, completely oblivious that they are being stalked by us.
I recognize them, in the sense that they look to be the same sort of creatures that attacked us before The Hunt arrived, and I got pulled away.
I’m reasonably certain that they’re talking about that, but I’m not one hundred percent sure.
If they are though, that means that the imp definitely knew more than he let on, and I understand why Neith doesn’t like the little fuckers.
I don’t know what harm it would have done to tell us that yes, he did know who I was talking about, and he’ll send us somewhere in the realm that will mean that we can find him.
I’m going to have to remember in the future that the imps need to be handled with caution, because although they do help, they don’t give all of the information that they have. Information that would make a big difference to the situation.
I should already know better. They are, after all, a part of the Trickster Fae.
The two supernatural soldiers carry on speaking.
“And now we’re out here searching for the one that disappeared through a portal. They can’t honestly think that we would be able to do anything if we did find him, do they? He had swords of pure magic!”
I grin. Well, that confirmed it for me. They are definitely talking about me.
“I don’t understand why the one that we captured won’t just give up the other ones' location.”
“He’s been tortured enough. He should have.”
I hold back the growl in my throat and only just manage to stop myself from launching one of my swords at them.
Raiden shakes his head in disbelief at their stupidity and then mouths to us, “Are we following them?”
“They have no idea that we’re here, hopefully they’ll lead us to where he is,” Coen replies, and I simply nod in agreement.
With that decided, we carry on following the two supernaturals, and I learn far more about their love lives, or lack thereof, than I ever wished to know. They are by far some of the worst scouts I have ever come across.
Their stupidity is actually amusing.
We are all very aware that we don’t have that long to find who we’re looking for before the portal shows up and takes us back home.
Two hours is not a long time.
It does occur to me that we should have probably let the guys know that we were going, but none of us are particularly good at thinking ahead like that, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity that the imps were giving me.
It’ll be fine, two hours isn’t that long, they probably won’t even notice that we aren’t back yet within that time.
Fortunately, the two that we’re following really are oblivious to the fact that they have three deadly supernaturals stalking them through the woods, and they lead us straight to their camp.
While they were walking, we heard them say that they’re supposed to be packing down the camp today, and that they should be back at the stronghold in a day or two.
All extremely interesting information, and information that means that we need to get the supernatural out now.
We can’t risk not managing it, putting these fuckers on high alert, and then by the time that Flint can send us back here, coming up against an army on high alert and prepared for us, or have them be at the stronghold, where we are far less likely to be able to rescue the supernatural.
I really wish I had a name for him. Calling him the supernatural is just odd, but until I have an actual name for him, I’m at a loss as to what else to call him.
The camp is basic, but huge.
There have to be at least fifty tents here. There are horses, people, and random animals all milling around. These people sure as hell don’t travel light.
I motion for Raiden and Coen to follow me, and we move further back into the trees and away from the camp.
Once we’re far enough away, I throw up a ward that will block sound so that no one can hear us talk. The two soldiers who we followed here may have been incompetent, but I know for a fact that not all of them are.
“What’s the plan?” Raiden asks as soon as the barrier is up.
“Normally, I would suggest that we do some scouting and figure out what we’re up against, but we can’t really do that here, since we’re short on time,” Coen replies with a slight frown.
“I don’t think we should split up. We have no idea how it would affect the portal getting to us to take us home, I have no idea if we all have to be in the same place or not for it to work,” I reply.
“No, I don’t think we should split up. I’ve been timing us, and we’ve already lost thirty minutes following them here. Who knows how long it’s going to take us to get him out from whatever they’re holding him,” Raiden adds.
“Good thinking on the timer, I hadn’t even considered that,” I reply.
“Okay, so they are unlikely to keep him near the main sleeping areas, so these tents are out. They’re scared of him, so I would wager that they are keeping him on the outskirts of the camp, even though strategically it would be better to keep him in the middle of it, where it would be harder for anyone to get to him.
Especially since they know that I exist.”
“Agreed,” Coen says. “Let’s scout around the edge of the camp and listen for any hints to where he is.”