Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 19: The Depths of the Forest

The trees were spaced farther apart this close to the edge of the forest, so the forty men had a relatively easy time so far. I sensed a few skaunters around the edges of my senses, but the rat-lizards had enough sense not to attack a heavily armed convoy. I watched from above, waiting for them to get farther ahead before I followed. After all, leaping from tree to tree wasn't subtle.

But neither was the convoy. They were loud, stamping through the forest with the rattle of weapons and armor. It wasn't difficult to trail them: they left trampled earth wherever they went. I wasn't a tracker by any means, but moving forty men and women stealthily was near impossible in their conditions.

One of the mages–the one with especially good senses who had nearly spotted me earlier–spoke to a woman with an ornate wand, gesturing to a nearby tree. Following the sentry's–for that was what he had to be–instructions, the woman took aim at a nearby tree. I watched as she sniped a barkskin grohd out of a tree from afar with a bullet of water. The long-tailed lizard tumbled from its perch, making no sound as it crashed to the ground.

Another reason to keep a bit of distance. I would probably have only one shot to do what I needed.

This continued on for several hours, and I noticed some of the men starting to flag. The convoy was keeping a brisk pace, and with the armor and gear each man had, no matter their wear, it had to be quite heavy.

Eventually, near mid-afternoon, a man near the center of the formation was forced to call a halt to the progress. I guessed he was the leader of this expedition considering his well-crafted armor and placement in the convoy. I watched some men drop in relief, massaging their legs and working feeling back into their limbs.

Taking quick note of the sentry, I was glad to realize he wasn't close to the leader. I edged closer on the treetops until I was nearly above the man. I couldn't strike yet; that would have to wait until nightfall. But I could learn more about these people by listening in.

The leader was a taller man with a full-face helmet and an ornate spear secured to his back. He was covered in sparse armor, but light enough to be able to trudge through the foliage that was yet to come.

I watched one of the mages–the woman who had been clearing barkskin grohds for the travelers–march up to the leader. With my ears enhanced by magic, I was able to eavesdrop on their conversation, even forty feet above them.

"Vaelum," the woman said in greeting, brushing a lock of chestnut brown hair out of her eyes. "Why are we stopping?" she asked, glancing at the weary men with obvious disdain. "Because they want to?"

"Meera," he said in reply. "I called a halt because the men need rest if they are to perform their duty. Joan invested a lot into this venture, so we won't let it fail."

Meera looked back at the huffing men. "Useless unads. Why does Blood Joan even make us bother with them? We should have an entire team of mages for this, not useless vritra-spurned."

The leader, Vaelum, pulled his teammate to the side, speaking in a whisper. I enhanced my ears even further, adding a bit of sound magic to try and amplify the noise for me even further. "Joan is having some tough times right now, Meera. They're being pressured by a few other Bloods harshly. This expedition? Instead of a full contingent of mages, we get these manaless men," he hissed. "They can't afford to lose any more mages, so these fools are going into the meat grinder instead."

I sucked in a breath, finally realizing why I couldn't sense mana from nearly two-thirds of the contingent. They simply weren't mages. How did they expect these men to survive at all? The depths of the Clarwood Forest nearly ate me alive, with its many dangers and traps. And the treetops were safer than the ground.