Manhunters (DragonSong)

[Kingfisher]

@DragonSong - Cont. from "Back to Dangerous Land"

The troop of riders had made good time through the Highlands, easily reaching the great forest in a few weeks.  Still, given their Connlaothian heritages, it was no surprise as many of the number grew tense; a forest that seemed to grow in the shadow of the surrounding mountains was truly unnatural - magic made manifest...or so they had been told.  After a few days, the novelty wore off and the soldiers' tention quickly melted away.  After all, what point was there in ogling the exotic when it all just seemed so...pedestrian.  One man even took up a flute and began blowing a marching hymn, his comrades becoming a bit of a chorus.

For much of their journey, Michael had remained at the formation's head, easily navigating the underbrush from atop his warhorse.  Between hunters and slavers, few settlements were designed to last, able to pack up and relocate at a moment's notice.  Still, the soldier seemed to be following a blazed trail toward...somewhere.

The pace could not keep up forever, though and eventually, Wolfram called his men to a halt, setting up a camp for the night.  He knew Tara would likely be impatient for them to reach their prey, her own vandetta far outweighing his interest in their hunt.  But, there was nothing more they could do for the day, so it would simply have to wait for morning.

The men took the horses and set them in picket line between two trees, tieing them up so they could not bolt, but also stripping them of their saddles to give the beasts a rest.  Then they set to work clearing ruffage with swords and axes.
Joshua was far less accustomed to riding a horse than his companions and he was visibly bowlegged when he slid from the back of the borrowed horse.  Those who noticed could not help but to chuckle at the smith's misfortune.  He ignored them, easing himself down as gently as he might to avoid further abusing his pelvis.

"We'll be eating cold tonight," Wolfram informed the troop.  "Don't want a fire to warn anyone we're coming.  That means two man watches tonight; starting with Koch and Lauer."  The two men easily acknowledged the order as they all found a place for their bedding.  "And if anything happens, wake Fisher first.  He's rather handy..."  The men chuckled a little at that, though few could reasonably argue with the officer's assessment.

[DragonSong]

"Sure, wake Fisher first, but if you wake me, I'm not responsible for your injuries," Tara piped up as she dismounted their horse and gave the animal a quick, affectionate pat before tying her loosely. She cast the two soldiers who'd been assigned to first watch a crooked smile and a mock salute.

Over the last few weeks, she'd at least become passingly familiar with Wolfram's men--by necessity, if nothing else. And, though the warning was playful, considering she and Joshua had been sharing sleeping space most of the trip, it wasn't entirely outside the realm of possibility.

That was something she'd been trying not to think too hard about. Just one more thing on a long list of what not to think about, actually. She couldn't afford to let herself get distracted, not this close.

That was sort of what had screwed her last time. Almost literally.

Shouldering her pack as she looked around for a place to set out a bedroll, she glanced toward the smith and smirked a bit. "No luck in becoming a more comfortable horseman, huh?" she teased lightly, but her attention was split, trying to pin Wolfram in the crowd. She needed to talk to him.

Yes, logically she knew they needed to make camp. But there were quite a few mercs along for this ride, surely they could send a scout or something.

[Kingfisher]

Joshua gave the bard a sheepish smile before she moved on to find the small band's commander, weaving around the men as they erected a barrier with the excess wood and piled earth, heaped up from a shallow trench.

The blond man had not had a chance to groom himself reliably since entering the woods and he had grown a full beard over the last leg of their journey.  It was a concern for another time as the mercenary got some help unhooking his cuirass, lifting it over his head in anticipation for the night and refastened his sword-belt.

He caught sight of Tara, who seemed concerned as she wandered toward him.  "You seem worried," he remarked.

[DragonSong]

"Commander." Tara dipped her head to him in brief acknowledgement before she actually responded to him, a habit she'd picked up from his men in the time they'd been traveling.

The formality dropped away quickly though and she gave him a wry, crooked smirk. "Can you blame me?" She looked around, watching the camp take shape around them for a moment before she spoke again. "I understand why we need to stop—but I think you should send out scouts. Secure a perimeter. And maybe get a better idea of the area." She looked back to him, mouth a hard line. "Our quarry is quite adept at turning hunters into hunted. Trust me."

[Kingfisher]

"Then it's a good think we're not hunting him at night," the mercenary rebuttled, slinging his black-stained helm over his shoulder by the chin-strap.  "If Karrian knows we're coming, sending out a handful of my men will either do nothing or get them killed.  If not, they'll do nothing more than reveal our presence and strip us of the element of surprise."

"Still," Michael continued, pulling a mattock from his saddlebags.  "If you're that worried, you can help dig trenches."  Gesturing at the work already being done, he admitted, "I know his games as well as he does; this way, if he wants to come after us, it will be on our terms."

His aim was to dig out two rings and fill them with wooden stakes.  Any attack on their camp would prove risky for their prey.

[DragonSong]

Tara bristled, and her eyes narrowed. “I’m not one of your soldiers. I don’t take orders from you.” She knew she was being ridiculous, but she balked at being ordered around, even when the orders made sense.

So she went to her default. “Your terms, huh? And how exactly have you accounted for magic?” She lifted one eyebrow. “Even a powerful mordecai’s aura doesn’t affect enchanted items—what if he’s got a stealth charm or something?” Sure that was a long shot—bordering on implausible—but she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “Pointed sticks are all well and good, but you just said it—Karrian knows this game. He’s too much of a crafty bastard for just that. If you’re so concerned about your men’s lives, I’ll go put up a warded perimeter.”

Which was risky, and she knew it—not to mention wards had never been her strongest spells—but she didn’t care. She couldn’t stay here around all these people, not like this. Ridiculous as she knew she was being, she couldn’t keep herself still. Every voice was too loud, even the smell was too much. “I’ll keep it far enough back that none it’ll serve as a warning if nothing else, alright?”

[Kingfisher]

The trouble with magic is that it offered so many safe and lucrative ways to make a living, it made little sense for them to resort to banditry.  Those who might work with Karrian would struggle to match the firepower of his troop.  But Tara was nervous and she had the right to be.  So, slinging the axe over his shoulder the warrior shrugged.  "If you must," he dismissed.  "Just take two of my men with you."

Michael moved away from the bard, calling for a pair of swordsmen to stop their work.  Joshua had recovered by now and, gripping a spare entrenching tool, found his attention drawn to the conversation.  He was mostly ignorant of the full nature of magic and the idea of magical wards intriguing.

"Mind if I go with?" he asked.  Even a hint of new knowledge seemed a valuable opportunity...

[DragonSong]

"What?" Tara snapped before she'd fully registered the question and who had asked it. Once she did, eyes widening slightly as they settled on Joshua, she winced. Some of the tension was forcibly sighed from her shoulders and her face softened a bit, tone apologetic as she quickly assured him, "Yeah, of course you can. More the merrier."

Her eyes flicked to the two men Michael had called, then rolled skyward. "I don't need babysitting," she grumbled as she started off into the trees, but made no other real protest. She found herself keeping Joshua between her body and the other two as they walked; habitual distrust, mostly, but also...well. She'd never say it out loud, but his presence had become comforting to her after traveling together for so long.

When they reached what seemed like a reasonable distance to set up a perimeter, she paused and glanced at the pyromancer. "You've never done one of these before?" She sort of phrased it like a question, but it was pretty clear she knew the answer. She held her hand out to him, palm up. "If you don't know a warding spell, just feed me magic. I usually channel through wind to set up wards, but fire works just as good. Better, if we can combine the two. I just need you to...open up, sort of. Draw a link between our magic."

[Kingfisher]

((@DragonSong Sorry for the delay))

Tara was not wrong to assume as she did.  Though a natural with heat and fire, Joshua had no familiarity with magic beyond his own niche; cut off from any magical study.

"Alright," replied, taking her hand.  Since he could only contribute power to the ward, the smith closed his eyes, channeling heat through their connection.  He'd always been good at that at least...

The two guards that had accompanied the pair took positions a bit away from the work, both to avoid the magic which they still found somewhat unnerving as well as to keep ready in case of an ambush.  One man even readied his carbine, charging the weapon as his partner scanned the woods...

[DragonSong]

Tara couldn't stop the soft gasp that slipped passed her lips as his magic moved with hers, the heat flaring quick and bright in the connection between their hands before spreading to suffuse her whole spell. She'd forgotten what it felt like, to cast with someone else.

Wind and fire.

Eyes closed, she began to sing softly in Old Serenian, a few properly Sylvan words thrown into the mix. Her ward took shape around the two of them: a steady, soft ring of fire-less firelight, fed and strengthened by the wind she sang into being that tugged playfully at their hair. Her grip on Joshua's hand tightened, and her brow furrowed as she pushed the ward outward, trilling up through an octave and holding the note until the magic had settled around the whole campsite--flickering and bending where it met mordecais' auras--and the visual indicators faded.

She sagged, exhausted, and nearly stumbled to her knees. "Woof. Okay. That...phew. Haven't done something that big in a while..." She glanced up a little vaguely at her companion. "You alright?"

[Kingfisher]

The mostly jaded band of mercenaries were caught off guard by the shimmer of magic.  They were awestruck, and occasionally horrified in the case of one of the mages' guards who tightened his grip on his sword as he passed a nervous glance toward the pair.  Luckily, Wolfram would keep his men under control.

Joshua, for his part, had always been rather subtle with his magic.  Seeing his fire turned toward such a spectacular display brought him a rather peculiar sense of wonder and for a moment, he had no words.  Still, he quickly noticed how shaky Tara had become and helped to support her as she stood.  "I'm...good?" he offered, unsure of how best to gauge his own condition.  He, at least, felt no different to how he did before.  Perhaps for the first time, the blacksmith wondered how his magic compared to other mages...

Clearing his throat, Joshua added, "We should head back so you can rest...right?"  He passed the mercenaries a probing glance, receiving a nod from the less terrified guard.

[DragonSong]

"That would, uh...that would be good," Tara replied, breathing just a little heavier than normal. She gave his shoulder a quick, companionable pat before straightening up and taking a step away from him, wanting to prove she could stand on her own. She gave him a small smile as she did though, for the first time in a long time wanting to reassure someone that she wasn't...pushing them away.

"Well don't you look chipper," she chuckled dryly as she looked him up and down. "That didn't drain you at all, did it? Damn, you must have a hell of a reserve for your power, huh."

She'd not really given it much thought before, but it abruptly occurred to her that she didn't actually know just how powerful the pyromancer was. It was always difficult to gauge an untrained mage, but she'd just assumed he'd have the same level of power as most people like him—a modicum of magical energy on reserve and enough know-how not to get himself killed.

But if powering a spell like that—even only half of it, using her as the conduit and caster—didn't seem to affect him much at all...well.

Surprises, surprises, Master Blacksmith...

[Kingfisher]

"I guess?" Joshua offered.  Was he strange?  Dangerous, even by the standards of mages?  Or were his worries merely the lingering sense of taboo that still followed magic in his Connlaothian eyes?  Of course, whether here or Connlaoth, he would find no answers to such questions, and he still had a job to do for the time being.

The quartet were soon back among the band of mercenaries.  In the time they had been gone, a pair of trenches had been carved into the earth.  The earth from the trenches had been piled into mounds to act as a ward for the space within.  Two gaps had been left in the defenses, which could be used as choke points against any attack in the night.  A handful of the mercenaries had even taken position in trees to provide a better vantage should anything attack.  The band was already taking this opportunity to eat a meal of wild fruits and nuts.

Wolfram stood near the center of the space, partially armored in his black harness.  Glancing toward the mages, he asked, "You done scaring my men?"  He, personally, had no issue with spell craft, offering only a good-humored smirk, which helped maintain the soldiers' discipline.  "We'll be ready if anything decides to come after us tonight, to grab something to eat and get some rest."  The officer meant for it to sound like a suggestion, but despite himself, he had learned too well the tone of a commander...

[DragonSong]

"Oh, darling, I've just gotten started scaring your men," Tara laughed tiredly in response to his quip. Her hackles raised a bit at the command in his voice—but maybe it was the time traveling with other people for a change, or maybe it was just that she was too tired after setting up the magical shield, but she found she just didn't have it in her to snap at him for it.

"Right. Good and rest. Good plan." She gave Wolfram a blithe half-salute before glancing to her companion. "Want something to eat?"

She felt clingy asking, but the smith really was the only person in the group she felt...more comfortable with. She would have been hard pressed to admit it aloud, but having him near made navigating the soldiers around them easier.

[Kingfisher]

Night came rather quickly from then on.  The soldiers had mostly taken their fill of fruit and, with the campsite now encircled with a pair of deep trenches, the mercenaries began to settle into their nightly routine, keeping watch in shifts while the rest were allowed to sleep.

Joshua was no strangers to sleeping on the ground and was easily able to fall into a shallow slumber, kept safe from the creeping crawlers by a wide, plain blanket he was ready to share with Tara.

Michael, on the other hand, seemed to waver between sleeping and waking, keeping his eye on the rest of the camp.  He paid particular attention to the bard, waiting to see when she would fall asleep; when he was sure she had, the swordsman began to dress down into a relatively plain blue doublet and crept off through the brush.  Even his sentries had managed to miss him; after all, they were watching for a group of bandits coming in, not their own commander sneaking out.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness easily and once he was out of view of his men, he was able to pick up his pace, moving with almost practiced ease through the forest as he honed in on the Karrian's camp.  The bandits were far less disciplined than Wolfram's jaegers; the mercenary spotted the glow of the bandits' campfires long before he was close enough to see the camp itself and he even spotted a few wandering guards who failed to see him amid the trees thanks to their own self-induced blindness.

[DragonSong]

Tara was exhausted. That spell had taken more out of her than she wanted to admit, and that was on top of several days of relatively hard riding. She was plenty used to life on the road, but life on the hunt was a different thing altogether.

So was so tired that she didn't think twice before crawling under the blanket with her companion—most nights she would hem and haw a bit, insisting on sleeping near but not with him, at least not when there was half a camp's worth of mercenaries with their eyes constantly on her back. But tonight she didn't care, curling up beside him and allowing her eyes to close heavily with a low sigh.

"Nobody better wake me unless they're actively dying," she grumbled as she began to drift off.

Unfortunately, no one needed to. Despite her exhaustion, her sleep was fitful, plagued by strange, unsettling dreams. The third time she found herself waking from them, she admitted defeat and carefully climbed out from under the blanket, doing her best not to wake her pyromancer friend as she did.

Maybe she would just walk the perimeter. Perhaps assuring herself that the camp was indeed safe would help her get some sleep.

[Kingfisher]

The swordsman stood beyond the firelight as he studied the band, weighing the value of his options.  After a time, he caught an inebriated guard stumbling toward him, and the mercenary ducked backward into the brush.  Luckily the man had not noticed him, instead looking for a secluded space to do his business.

As the man began to undo his trousers, the swordsman was able to slip behind him, drawing his long dagger.  The unprotected bandit had little chance to protect himself as he was silenced, first by a hand covering his mouth and then by the length of steel that sank behind his collarbone.

The dying bandit struggled to reach his own knife, but he could not reach the weapon pinned up by his assassin.  Every panicked heartbeat only served to hasten his demise as the fight rapidly drained out of him and he soon sagged in the mercenary's grasp.

He thought briefly on the idea of leaving the body to be found in the morning, then decided that uncertainty might prove a better weapon.  Michael wiped his blade clean on the corpse's pantleg before heaving him over his shoulder and heading back toward his own camp.  He would find a place to leave the poor body on the way...

[DragonSong]

Movement to her left drew Tara up short from his listless pacing at the outskirts of their camp. Her hand was already moving for a weapon as she instinctively started to sink into a defense crouch and called in a low, sharp voice, "Who goes?"