Stepping inside the barracks, Owin made haste towards Captain Alistair"s office. Avoiding the tables and benches scattered throughout the room with practiced familiarity. Knocking on the door, he entered without awaiting an answer.
"Lieutenant Owin Mills, Nova.n.a.lba Seventh Scout Unit reporting to the Commander," said Owin, snapping his hand up to his forehead in a quick salute.
"I aint a commander no more. And you should be more careful with how loud you are. This place aint as secure as Seacove was," Alistair growled.
"Aye commander. I come bearing grave news," said Owin, retrieving a scroll from a pouch hidden inside the lining of his vest. Alistair"s face grew grave as he reached across the table and grabbed the scroll.
"Standard encryption?" asked Alistair.
"Kingdom level."
"s.h.i.t."
Opening his desk drawer, Alistair pressed a hidden b.u.t.ton, triggering a small compartment that shot out to reveal a small wand. Taking the wand, Alistair cast a complex series of runes at a dizzying speed. As the last rune was cast, he stamped the wand directly in the middle of the formation: a gorgeous rune in the shape of roaring lion emerging from the wand.
Taking the scroll, Alistair pressed the seal on the front of the scroll to the rune formation. With a dull roar the seal broke, the scroll bursting open. As the scroll unfurled, a runic formation on the scroll activated, projecting an image of a bustling camp into the air above the desk.
Observing with interest, Alistair watched as the image panned across the camp, showing a large number of goblins bustling about, setting up tents and tending to weapons. Small groups of wolfriders patrolled the vicinity, preventing the image from getting any closer.
As the image panned over the camp again it jolted, suddenly moving back to hold the focus on a large tent in the middle of the camp. As Alistair watched, an enormous goblin emerged from the tent, followed by a wolf even larger than the one Eric had helped Owin kill the day before.
"A hobgoblin? With a direwolf mount?"
"Aye commander. We stayed as long as we could to observe. There are at least two more hobgoblins, though none as big as this one. Worse yet, the large one"s wolf isn"t just a direwolf. It"s a Black Direwolf."
"The royal guards?"
Owin nodded, "It seems so. The other two only have normal gray-maned wolves as their mounts."
"Even so, for there to be a Black Direwolf in the forest. The Ironfrost King has kept a firm grip on their breeding. Only royalty and members of the royal guard are allowed to ride them. Are you absolutely sure this isn"t just a rogue tribe with a chieftain that was once a royal guard?" Alistair asked, his face a grim mask as he stared at Owin. Owin gulped, the pressure the Lord Com- No the militia Captain was giving off was no laughing matter.
"Absolutely sure, my lord. Originally we were five, in order to obtain this we fought a wandering patrol. Unfortunately, Henry and James were overwhelmed after a second patrol joined the first. However, we were able to prevent the commotion from spreading. Afterwards we were noticed and had to flee for our lives, Wynnie sacrificed herself to divert our pursuers long enough for Wylls and I to escape. Unfortunately in our haste, we ran into an enormous red-maned wolf. Were it not for the timely intervention of a militia member who identified himself as Erick, we would have both died. As it is, Wylls was killed. But I escaped with the recording."
"Erick Kystfyr? The otherworlder? Half-elf with a bow slung over his back and torn clothing?" Alistair asked in surprise.
"That sounds like him. Was he an otherworlder?" said Owin in surprise.
"Aye, he only began his militia service yesterday. He brought in a large number of demonic rabbit pelts. Far more than I would have expected him to be able to obtain alone."
Owin nodded, "Well he saved me but unfortunately not Wylls, We burned his body and continued towards the village. Unfortunately the riders caught up after we were delayed by a different group of otherworlders with a grudge against Erick. Luckily he was able to convince them to help us repel the goblins after a brief tussle."
"Any idea why they held a grudge?"
"They said something about drops and player killing. I wasn"t listening all that well to be honest. I was paying more attention to whether or not our pursuers had caught up."
A lightbulb seemed to go off above Alistair"s head, "And after that?"
"We managed to kill the goblin wolfriders without any casualties. Afterwards, Erick and the others escorted me back to the village. I came to report as soon as I arrived."
"What about the encampment. Did you see anything else noteworthy apart from the hobgoblins and the Black Direwolf? Perhaps a tribal banner. Or a preference towards certain weapons. I know that the Rustblood Goblins favoured flails in the last war. And the Wolfgnawers had mounts that were larger than usual. Both those tribes were led by a member of the royal family in the war."
Owin thought hard for a moment, "They seemed to favour sabers. I saw very few bows. They had a large number of scouts. Like I said we were caught defeating a patrol by a second patrol that we weren"t expecting. They had at least double the usual number of guards but there didn"t seem to be any less soldiers setting up camp than there would be normally."
Alistair"s face hardened, "Did you see any sigils or banners with an eye, cut through the middle by a scar?"
Pondering for a moment Owin brightened, "Yes actually! Commander there were a few banners such as those. But they were outnumbered by banners bearing the standard goblin b.l.o.o.d.y hand insignia."
"So they"re still loyal to the goblin king if not necessarily the Ironfrost King," Alistair muttered. Taking notes on a small scroll.
"Which tribe uses the scarred eye?" said Owin, ignoring the temptation to sneak a peek at Alistair"s scrawls..
"The Whitescars. King Gobnil"s information unit. And one of the best advance units of the Ironfrost Horde. They specialize in subterfuge and misinformation. Them being here means that one of or perhaps even worse both the Goblin King and the Ironfrost King are planning to set up a forward base as a staging unit for an invasion of Nova.n.a.lba," Alistair explained, not looking up from his writings.
Owin paled, his blood draining from his face. Finishing his writing, Alistair looked up at the scout, "Was there anything else? Wrack your brain. I know you"re tired but this information is crucial."
Owin closed his eyes, trying to recall every moment of the scouting mission that had gone so wrong, "There was one small thing," he began.
Alistair leaned in, "Yes?"
"The big hobgoblin. The one with the Black Direwolf. There was a large greataxe hanging from his back. None of the other goblins used a greataxe. They mostly used sabers like I said."
Alistair nodded, "Does anyone else know about this?"
"Not unless Wynnie survived."
"Alright, go rest up. Do you have any healing potions left?" Owin shook his head at this, reaching down to his belt, Alistair snagged a vial of red liquid and tossed it to the scout.
"Unfortunately this isn"t Seacove and we"re not the Nalba Hawks Squadron. Tonbura doesn"t have any trained healers to patch you up right away, nor do I have many healing potions to spare. If you head to the church Maria the village priestess has some healing herbs and knows a few divine spells. Go rest there. Afterwards come see me and I"ll give you a report to deliver to Seacove. Got that?"
Snapping a salute Owin responded, "Yes, Commander!"
"Stop calling me that. Alright you"re dismissed," Alistair said wearily. With another salute, Owin made to leave the office, as he reached the doorway though he paused, turning back to Captain Alistair.
"Comman- I mean Captain."
"Yes?"
"The otherworlders. What do you think of them so far?"
Alistair paused, "Who"s asking? Owin Greencub, my former student? Or Sergeant Owin Keeneye of the Scout Corps?"
Owin shuffled nervously, "Sergeant Keeneye sir. There are concerns among some of the higher ups about whether or not we can trust them. I know the G.o.ds sent them here. But the G.o.ds were the ones who sat back and watched during the last war weren"t they?"
Alistair sighed at this, "How powerful is the faction that"s asking?"
"It"s the new Commander and at least one of the generals. General Polefax I believe."
"The second prince"s faction," Alistair rubbed his temples, "This is why I quit the army. Too much politicking when there should have been focus on more important matters. Let me ask you sergeant. What did you think of the otherworlders?"
Owin pondered for a moment, "They were brave. Like they didn"t care for their own lives. The half-elf left a great impression on me. The other three that helped were all valiant fighters once Kystfyr beat some sense into them. I would trust them in a fight, but I"m not sure how far I"d trust them outside of one."
"That"s about the best we can hope for at the moment. We need able bodies and strong fighters. The otherworlders provide that. Now go get healed, I need you fit to deliver a message back to Seacove by sundown."
Snapping another salute Owin left the office, leaving Alistair alone with his thoughts. His fingers drumming on the tabletop as he pondered the grim tidings.
"Hopefully he clashed with the Ironfrost King and left the royal guard. G.o.ds help us if Redclaw has the full support of the Ironfrost Horde," Alistair sighed heavily, shivering slightly. Despite the summer heat the room seemed colder than it had been moments previously.