In the morning, following the celebration that lasted well into the night, the camp was unusually quiet. Unlike usual, most were still asleep or still dragging their legs about. As for the warriors and scouts, they didn't have the sa luxury and were already up and about, the sa could be said for those in the working category.
Lance sat at the central fire, a map spread out before him, his eyes scanning the markings Zarra had left on it. Her scouts had returned late the day before, but he hadn't been able to check the map to study the problem. Sure enough, it was a troubling news concerning the surrounding territories.
"You're frowning again," Rynne said as she approached, her spear resting against her shoulder. "Should I be worried?" He said with a smirk.
Lance glanced up, a warm expression on his face, looking at Rynne before it morphed into a more serious one. "Rynne… well, probably."
Rynne's smirk faded. "I was only joking. Is there really sothing? What is it this ti?"
Before Lance could answer, Zarra erged from the shadows, her green eyes sharp and her movents brisk. "We need to talk," she said.
Zarra leaned over the map, pointing to several locations marked with simple Xs made with charcoal sticks. "The new tribes we discovered, both goblin and ogres around these areas have beco restless, and we also found so that seed to have been massacred, perhaps, so kind of battle between the different tribes."
"So sort of war." Lance said, his brows raised slightly.
"Sounds like it, probably over resources," Zarra replied. "But there's more. Strange things… we snuck close to so tribes to gather information, and though we didn't learn anything about the deaths, the tribes are claiming to see figures in the dark, supplies vanishing without explanation, even reports of strange wild animals attacking."
"Well, that doesn't sound very good. It suddenly doesn't sound like a simple war anymore." Lia said.
"Soone is most likely behind this." Lance said, pulling back a little.
"So, a different party with sothing to gain from all this…" Rynne said as she looked at the map.
Lance tapped the map thoughtfully. 'If it's the work of a third party, then it would an these rivalries are being stoked intentionally. If soone stands to benefit from the chaos, who?'
"Have we seen any direct involvent? Outsiders, other races?" Lance asked.
"Not yet," Zarra said, her tone clipped. "But there's sothing strange about the way things are escalating. It's too sudden, too…"
"Organised?" Lance said.
"Yes."
Rynne folded her arms after placing her spear in the ground. "Whatever is trying to weaken these tribes, they well co for us next, no need to even try and avoid it, we're already involved." she said.
"You're right." Lance said. It seed like trouble was never too far away from his tribe.
Lance relaxed his posture a bit, "Zarra, I'm sure you know what to do. Our scouts will be keeping a close eye on the affected tribes and surrounding areas. Once anything suspicious is spotted, report back imdiately."
"Already on it," Zarra replied.
"If there's a third party, we'll need to be extra careful, don't go too close."
"Mn."
"And the rest of us?" Rynne asked, her golden eyes glinting with anticipation.
"Our warriors are always ready for anything, you just make sure it stays that way."
"Of course."
…
The day continued rather uneventfully, but just when everything seed too calm and the camp began to settle for the night, a shout rang out from the periter. Lance shot to his feet, his heart racing slightly more as he grabbed his sword and rushed toward the source of the commotion. He had made it a habit to always walk with his daggers, so those were with him already.
At the edge of the camp, Rynne and her warriors stood ready, their weapons drawn as a group of wild animals, mutated and unnatural, charged from the forest.
"These aren't ordinary beasts," Rynne called out, her spear flashing as she struck down a massive wolf-like creature.
'Isn't this similar to the strange feline creature from before?' Lance thought to himself, recalling the beast they had killed when marking resources.
Leaving his thoughts aside, he charged in with the frontline attackers as they engaged the beasts. These beasts were just as coordinated as wolves, perhaps even more so than the usual beasts. It was quite unnatural, as one would expect mutated beasts to be more frantic and disorganized.
"Lance!" Rynne shouted briefly before her attention was called back to a heavy attack that she had to block using her spear.
These beasts even seed to have a higher level of intelligence, their strategies and tactics severely improved. Lance didn't hesitate, ordering more than half of the warriors to fall back and protect the camp, making sure he asked five to survey the camp from within to make sure this wasn't just a decoy.
"These beasts, didn't we fight sothing similar recently?" Rynne questioned after swiping her spear at a beast, injuring it badly.
"We did, but it would appear there's an entire pack of them out there." Lance responded.
Both of them alongside the few who remained in the frontline did their best, taking down as many of these strange creatures as they could, slowly reducing their numbers from eight to five.
The beasts were eventually driven back, leaving behind four of their fallen brethren, disappearing into the shadows of the forest.
As Lance surveyed the aftermath, he felt a growing sense of unease. It was clear now that whoever was behind the unrest wasn't just targeting the other tribes—they were coming for his. 'With the way the beasts behaved, they were under control, and if so, then that person would have to be nearby, right?' He thought to himself. But then, he also thought about the possibility of the one responsible controlling them from afar.
"This is just the beginning," he said quietly, his eyes narrowing.
Quickly, he ordered for the injured to be taken back to Mira quickly. He could heal them there himself, but just in case the one controlling the beasts was close by, he didn't want to show his hand. Following behind them, he left to do the healing where needed.
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