If I'd been alone, I'd have turned to mist and gone right back in. That wasn't an option with Warn, Maks and Ander with me. We ended up walking down to the stand of trees to see if we could find anything. The other three missed the hoof prints because of darkness, but I didn't. I also sniffed out the trees where they'd stopped to relieve themselves while they waited three or four marks to do their murderous misdeeds. Three Red Hand troops had come—their scents were clear to me. They were likely well trained in hand-to-hand combat, too. No wonder they'd beaten the two guards so badly. We walked back to the camp afterward, waiting at a table in the officers' mess tent while the Captains and General finished their meeting.
"Ready to go?" The General seemed to be in better spirits when he came out with Solis and the others. I stood with the others and we all walked toward Windle. Halfway there, the breeze carried a scent to me, which worried me greatly.
"Something's burning," I said, starting to trot and then to run. Solis was beside me in seconds, with Warn and the General coming behind at a slower pace. I was cursing when we raced into town—our inn was aflame.
"Someone's cut the well rope!" A man shouted. Things were chaotic as precious minutes slipped by.
"Get another rope," Solis yelled. "Find buckets now!" Some brave souls had gone inside the inn and pulled the bodies of the innkeeper, his wife and daughter out. All dead. My group was the only one staying at the inn, and we'd been away when the fire started.
The great room inside the inn was mostly what was burning, but the wing with the guestrooms was beginning to catch.
"What do you need out of there?" I shouted at the General and Solis over the din while we passed buckets of water along. Those buckets were too little and much too late—I realized that quickly, but an attempt had to be made.
"Almost everything," the General shouted. I nodded. "I'll go," I said, and stepped out of the line. That night the entire town watched me shimmy up a tree that stood near the guest quarters of the inn, and then swing on a branch to kick out a window before climbing inside the burning building.
Smoke choked me immediately so I went to mist, gathered all our belongings quickly and then stayed mist as long as I could to account for the proper passage of time. Rematerializing, then, I began throwing things onto the ground below the window. We'd been on the second floor at the General's insistence—the better rooms were there.
Warn and Solis were beneath the window quickly, gathering our things and taking them out of harm's way. I was coughing hard when I got the last of it out, while soot and sparks flew around me. The smoke was too thick, almost, to see through and I had to climb over the windowsill, leaping for the tree limb I'd jumped from to begin with. My arms barely caught hold of it while I coughed and gagged. I dangled there, still coughing my lungs out and hanging on in desperation. The smoke had nearly gotten me and it took a while for me to stop coughing long enough to realize that Solis was shouting for me to drop down—the entire building was burning and the tree had caught as well. I let go of the limb and Solis and Warn caught me.
Our night was spent in the stable where we gratefully cleaned ourselves up in buckets of water after the fire was doused. The inn was a complete loss, however. The fire was extinguished merely to keep other buildings nearby from suffering the same fate.
Horse blankets laid on hay served as beds for us and we all slept. I was almost too tired to put up a shield around the stable, but I made sure it was done before I dropped off in complete exhaustion.
"Liss, wake up, girl," Solis tugged on my elbow. I'd been dreaming that I was in bed at home, my head on Roff's shoulder. Light filtering through the stable window was blindingly bright as I blinked my eyes open.
"I'm awake," I muttered, sitting up on my horse blanket and rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands. Dust motes and tiny bits of hay were suspended in the early morning light inside the stable. I smelled all of it, along with the remnants of a smoky haze left over from the burning of the inn.
"The General wants to see the bodies of the innkeeper and his family before they're buried," Solis said. I stopped rubbing my eyes and looked up at him.
"I want to see them, too." I stood quickly and went to find my boots. I'd slept in my clothes, so I pulled my boots on as fast as I could and clattered down the ladder right behind Solis. The General and Warn were waiting below for us, and we headed toward the healer's house quickly.
The bodies were in a shed behind the healer's home—all three victims were lined up on rough, makeshift tables inside it. They were all burned, but less so than the ones who'd murdered them hoped.
All three throats had been cut and they'd likely been dead already, bleeding out while the fire was set. The General saw the knife wounds right away and growled. Solis sighed. The fire had destroyed any scent of the attackers—none of it remained with the bodies, but I figured I had a good guess as to who'd done this. The same ones who'd beaten two others who lay in comas yards away inside the healer's home.
When we went looking for other lodging after examining the bodies, we learned that the HC's messengers had arrived. They hadn't spoken to anyone upon arrival and were now closeted inside the HC's rooms at the other inn. Would we find out what their messages contained? My money was on the negative.
* * *
"This one tried to kill himself after he was caught." Lisster had the man by the collar, shoving him into a chair beside Lissa's desk inside her study. Aryn sat behind the Queen's desk, his fingertips pressed together while he examined the intruder. He was young, like all the others, and Lisster and Rush had captured him as he scaled the wall to get away from Lissia.
"How?" Aryn wasn't looking at Lisster—he was still examining the young male, who swallowed uncomfortably.
"Poison—Lindis seeds."
"I see. Did the ones who hired you supply these?" Aryn's voice held strong compulsion. Grant sat nearby, recording notes on his handheld computer.
"Yes," the young man bobbed his head.
"Who hired you?"
"Said his name was Ibbett. Offered me a lot of money if I could get maps for him. Maps of this place plus some of the other cities."
"Did he say what the maps were for?"
"Said he wanted to sell them."
"Where did you meet Ibbett?"
"Hraede."
"I have a suggestion," Tony folded in with Gavin. Kiarra had given them the ability when they agreed to be alternate Spawn Hunters. They'd already gone to help with two batches of Ra'Ak spawn during Lissa's absence.
"What is the suggestion?" Aurelius and Garde walked through the door—they'd come quickly when Lisster called for them.
"Let's place compulsion on our boyo, here, and follow him back to Hraede." Tony grinned. He'd only gotten better over the years at espionage.
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Lisster shrugged and grinned.
"How quickly can we get counterfeit maps drawn up?" Gavin asked.
"Not long at all," Lisster said. "Lynx, one of Conner's mates, was an artist before he became Saa Thalarr. He still paints and draws. I'll ask him." Lynx showed up moments later and was given information on the maps required. "Let's see your drawing skills, young man," he laid an artist's tablet and pencils in front of the spy. The young man, shivering and blinking in astonishment at all the people who were simply appearing inside the room from thin air, lifted a pencil and began to draw.
* * *
"We're moving out tomorrow morning?" I asked, unsure whether I understood this turn of events. The HC held the ceremony with his seven bodyguards the night before—they'd bought four bottles of the best wine to be had in Windle for it. We hadn't been invited.
"We're moving out tomorrow morning," Solis confirmed. "Everything needs to be packed up; we'll leave here before dawn just to make sure the army is ready to head out at the right time."
"All right," I sighed and turned back to my tea. We'd rented a house—the widow who lived there had gone to visit her sister for two days while we needed a place in town.
* * *
Morning arrived, mist-covered and muffled as I stuffed the last of my belongings into my duffle and slung it over a shoulder. I hadn't missed riding, either, although Brownie was happy to get out of the stable. The General rode before me, with Solis beside him and Warn next to me. It didn't take long to get to camp, where everything had been taken down, loaded up and made ready to go.
Red Hand was mounting up already when we arrived; the HC and his henchguards had gotten there shortly before we did. The two injured men had been left behind in Windle and honestly, the physician didn't expect them to live much longer. I blew out a sigh at the thought.
The army moved as quickly as they could but the ground began to rise into the mountains and it was harder going for the wagons. "We'll be through the pass in another week," the General sighed as we stopped at midday to water the animals at a stream. "It'll be better after that, with a downward trail until we get to the first of the valleys. If we're lucky, they'll be there, waiting for us. If we're not lucky, they'll retreat to the farthest valley, which means at least another week."
I nodded at the General's assessment. Wherever we met up with Green Birth, I'd have to make a decision as to what to do. I still hadn't come up with a good solution to this dilemma and it worried me. It rained as the day wound down, too—enough to make everyone wet and miserable in the gradually cooling temperatures. It was going to be a cold night.
The General called a halt at a likely camping spot—at least it was mostly level ground, though we were flanked by thick stands of trees on both sides. The HC got his troops stopped a little way ahead of us on the trail. He, with his seven bodyguards, came to eat in the officer's tent. While he was there, he never said a word to anyone other than his sycophants. He did glance our way several times while he was eating; his gaze wasn't friendly by any stretch. It made me wonder what the jerk was up to. The General breathed a relieved sigh when the HC and his mini-horde left.
The following day was steeper, higher and colder. I had my leather jacket on; nearly everybody was breathing misty breaths during the early morning. We rode into a thick fog around mid-afternoon, making it difficult to navigate. The fog was almost a light rain at times, which made all of us soggy and out of sorts. Four fights broke out after we camped because everybody's temper was so short. At one point, Solis left Warn with the General and took me with him to see if we could sort out one of the fights.
"He cut me off!" One Regular, who had a black eye and split lip, was accusing the one he'd fought with, who was nearly as bad off. He also sported a black eye and a bruised cheek.
"In this fog, that wouldn't be difficult," Solis barked, causing both to take a step back. Two Sergeants were there already, the female Sergeant being one of them. She didn't look happy with the men.
"Do we have to put you in chains, or will this stop?" Solis went on.
"I'm done," the first one muttered. The other merely nodded, hanging his head.
"Put them on guard duty, on opposite sides of camp," Solis ordered, and the female Sergeant nodded, issuing the command as Solis stalked off with me following at his heels. He cursed softly as we walked toward the General's tent in thickening fog.
Dinner was a sad affair, with the fog penetrating the cooking tents. Campfires were impossible and everyone was grumbling. Even I was finding it difficult to deal with the situation, but placed my usual shields around the officers' tents before going to bed. A hit against the shield on the southern edge had me awake and shivering three hours before dawn. I misted outward, to find what had triggered the alert.
The fog was even thicker, now, and I hadn't thought that possible. Fortunately, my mist could see right through it, and my scenting ability hadn't gone away, either. Three Red Hand spies, who'd used the cover the fog provided, carefully made their way through camp and right toward the General's tent. Armed with knives, they cautiously placed their feet, intent on making little noise. Of course, the fog helped with that particular strategy, as far as the humanoids were concerned. I heard them just fine.
As mist I followed along behind, just to make sure of their intent, and when they pulled knives and started cutting into the back of the General's tent, that's when I grabbed them.
* * *
Cordus, Solis and Desmun glared at our three prisoners, who were quaking as the General paced before them. So far, no information had come, but that was about to change. I stood in the far corner of the General's portion of the tent, watching and listening as the men were questioned. No useful information had been offered.
Pulling out my knife—the one Glinda had lent me, I walked toward the man in the center—he was the tallest at nearly six feet. I carefully placed the sharp tip of the knife beneath his chin. "You will tell the General exactly what he wants to know," I said, placing more compulsion. I laid it on his two companions, as well. They talked, but didn't know much.
"We were sent to kill the General," the one on the left whined. "We weren't told why. We follow orders." He had dark hair going gray and looked like one of the HC's mercenaries. More than likely an assassin, brought along to eliminate unwanted allies and adversaries alike. I was standing in my spot in the corner again while the General and the Captains did the questioning.