|
|
He focused his attention back to the group of mages whom he'd been watching all day. Milady had expected that they were up to no good, and had sent Stanton to gather as much information as he could. So far in the day, nothing of importance had occured, and Stanton was beginning to lose faith that these mages had anything planned.
Then he rememembered that Milady was speaking not of her own means, but as the voice of Marawen, and if she said these mages were dabbling where they shouldn't be, then Stanton needed to be here. And so he watched, and listened, and strained to catch any information that might hint the purpose of the mages' sudden arrival in the forest.
At last came, though not in the form Stanton had expected. None of the mages spoke a word, but they revealed more to Stanton than if they had handed him a scroll with a list of their schedule. One of the mages lifted his hands high above his head, and the once earthly flame turned an unnatural shade of green.
Stanton cringed. He recognized the ceremony as that of the Illusionists of the Void, and where the IotV was present, so there was danger. Stanton waited, however, for more specific information that he could relate to his tribe.
It was all he could bear to watch the evil mages dancing around the fire, chanting incantations and throwing any living being into the fire out of spite. Stanton wanted to rise and fight off the awful beings, but knew he was no match for them. Instead he waited, and after what seemed an eternity the dark ritual was finished.
Two of the mages left the group and came close, too close, to where Stanton lay in the undergrowth. Apparently they wished to be alone, but they could not sense the eavesdropper who lay precariously close to their feet.
Stanton overheard snippets of their hushed conversation, for the majority of their talk was in a language the spy could not translate. It was enough, however. Key words had revealed to Stanton that the IotV was on a mission to take down the Magii of the Inner Flame, but that they would be using the forest's energy to do so.
This upset Stanton greatly. He was not one to delve in the affairs of others, but their apathy to the condition of the forest left Stanton seething.
Not waiting for the mages to return to the group, Stanton slipped unnoticed from under their noses to report his findings to Milady and the tribe.
When he arrived at camp, the group seemed to be eating. "Perfect timing," Stanton mused, as his stomach was growling like a bear.
But before he even thought about eating he conveyed his news to Milady. She seemed disturbed, but not frightened. Her questions and tone led Stanton to believe that she felt they had the upperhand. Milady's eyes seemed to say.. "The may be powerful, but they're in our turf now, and we are ten times as strong as them with Marawen's strength".
Stanton knew she was right, and as he devoured his
meal of berries and stew he thought about what the
next day would bring... Battle? Death? Destruction?
Most likely all of these, but Stanton could only
wait.....
