The next day was spent leisurely. Slept for long. Woke up a bit later and went about strolling in the city.

I spotted Arlene and Theko near the entrance to the city. From the distance, it appeared more like the ranger was leading and Theko was just playing along. I approached them both and after exchanging pleasantries, I handed some coins to them with instructions to gather food for our next campaign. If my predictions are correct, Vitalia would probably not leave Silvaniel’s office till she has the final contract at hand.

I further strolled through the commercial district of Sarenthill, but only to assert the prices of wares. In the end, in my present state frugality is the answer to most.

My wanderings took me to the poor quarters of the commercial district. The prices were cheaper and the quality of the wares was, in comparison, lower. As I passed through, I realised that some of the weapons were of a higher quality albeit with their wear and tear. I selected a sturdy pair of twin short swords and paid the price. Satisfied with my new weapons, I quickly exited the commercial district before indulging myself.

I reached the inn late in the afternoon. Vitalia was already waiting for me in the common room. She had forgone her typical fae appearance. She was seated on a chair and for all purposes appeared as a normal human. Though one could still mark the surreal air surrounding her.

“I have gotten the contract. Had to change a lot of terms and conditions. But I made sure that they are favourable to us.”

“I know I could rely on you. Thanks.”

“Could you give me a brief run-through? I take it that we should move fast now.” I suppressed the urgency in my voice.

“That is true. We have to meet up with Nemeash. He should be closer to Emeraldgrove. There lies our first problem.”

“Where exactly is Emeraldgrove?”

“Closer to Lord Korvanor’s lands.”

“I guess we have to be cautious then,”

Vitalia simply nodded.

“Now to the request itself. The whole quest is about opening a dwarven puzzle box. The only way to open is to align the correct symbols on the box. It is a dwarven measure, so without the knowledge of the correct symbols, will take aeons to open.“

“I remember the whole thing started with a will. Did the will gave any clues?”

“That is where it gets to an enigma. That is where the gypsies and the local villages come into play. The will also state that as a starting point to search for the dwarven runic symbols. Ten symbols are needed and so far Nemeash has already obtained seven. Most of the symbols were in the possession of gypsy families or some local peasants in the form of some family heirloom or such.”

Dwarven runic symbols. High elves searching those symbols. I cursed myself for not collecting enough information. I should have listened to Razzia more. To Theodore even more.

“If I were to take a guess, the one who made the will is Bevan Wysteria. correct?”

“I am impressed,” said Vitalia with a surprised expression.

“We have been wrong from the beginning. Let me explain it this way.” I continued to explain my meeting with Razzia and Theodore.

“So Nemeash has been trying to unlock and House Wysteria has been trying to kill us all along?”

“It is complicated. I don’t think It was Lady Jessbeth or any of her people who were after the two attacks. We went about it the wrong way. There are not two but rather three factions at play. “

“Explain,” The fae seemed intent on listening.

“I don’t think Wysteria is after Nemeash. For one, remember how fast the adversary could muster forces and their engraved heraldry armours. It is unlikely that Lady Jessbeth has a second hidden army at her disposal. Secondly, while we were in Westerleygates we were never openly attacked, except for Nemeash’s contact. Finally, I have seen Razzia fight. It would have been easy for her to knife Nemeash’s in the back but all my experience suggests that she was just observing and reporting. So there is a third unknown adversary at play.”

“Makes sense, any idea on who they might be?”

“I cannot say. It makes me wonder what Bevan hid?” I did not bother disguising my curiosity.

“About that, the terms of the will gets even more curious. The contents of the box belong to those who had the keys.”

“That explains why Bevan did not leave the correct symbols and instructions to open the box with Leyandur. He wants them assembled. I can now speculate on the contents of the box.”

“Share your thoughts. I am intrigued,” the fae remained calm but her voice betrayed.

“The box holds something that either Bevan took from some people and now it is time to return it to their rightful owners. Alternatively, it is probably something that he was asked to safeguard till the proper time and now is the right moment. The quest of collecting the symbols or keys is just a means to assure that the right persons are assembled.”

“Seems logical. So when are we departing?”

“Right now. We will even march through the night if we have to. Something tells me that Nemeash is in great trouble. The unknown opponent will not remain silent. I could feel that they are getting restless as Nemeash is nearing his goal.”

“Then let me make an entry in my journal.” Her words were out of place as their meaning.

“What?”

“Oh yes, remember I have my own research. I am keeping track of my progress. Would you care for a look?” Without waiting for my answer she flipped some of the pages on her tome. On the page that she selected were the words clearly highlighted.

The Aberrant Irregulars

Composition:

1 Dark elf

1 Ranger

2 Dire boars

20 goblins

“So this is?” I struggled to form a proper question.

“Call it like a sort of record of our growth. Serves as a proof for my esteemed colleagues.”

With that we broke our conversation, I went in to instruct the goblins to prepare for departure, while the fae set out to seek her Mentee.

*****

We marched through the night for the first two days but on the third day, the fatigue was obvious on the goblins. We camped and rested longer to conserve our strength. Arlene and Vitalia estimated at the beginning of our journey that it would take anywhere between twelve to fifteen days to reach Emeraldgrove. Once we reached there we would need to enquire about the current whereabouts of Nemeash. I added another five days to the trip. If luck would have it, Nemeash will have to keep his wits and survive for twenty days, that is if the unknown enemy hasn’t already gotten to him.

On the ninth day when the report came from goblins scouts in the early morning that they have spotted a travelling gypsy group, my only thought was to exchange food, share a campfire and get information on Nemeash’s whereabouts should they have the information. Arlene who was the fastest in navigating the thick forest volunteered to first meet with them.

The ranger returned as fast as she left. Her face was fully filled with panic as she stumbled in.

“We need to move fast. It is Ellie and Anselm. They are on the run. Hunted.” She uttered between her breath.

“Calm down first.” I held her trembling hand and motioned one of the goblins towards the waterskin.

Arlene took a mouthful from the offered waterskin and drowned the contents in a gulp.

“This time they are going all out. Thousands. They already hit a few small villages and settlements. Ellie and Anselm have taken a few of the survivors and they are on the run. But don’t think they can run for long.”

“Killing Nomads is one thing but villages? What did the local lords do? How did they allow it? That is a risky move even for them.”

“Not sure. All I could gather from Nemeash was that they have been pretty aggressive and now they are not just targeting Nemeash but whole groups.”

The opponent has found where the keys are and now they are going to extreme measures.

“Let us meet with them and discuss further proceedings. At least Nemeash is with them. That is good news.”

Urged by the latest news from Arlene, The Aberrant Irregulars picked pace.

*****

“Rylon, we are so glad that you came to our rescue,” cried Ellie as she saw me.

She ran towards me and clasped my arms till the elbows as one would do with a long last friend.

“Rylon, you have brought more armies. You know what to do, right?” she questioned with anticipation.

“I am sorry, Ellie. This is all the force I could muster now.” I answered with a low voice.

Soon a crowd surrounded us. Murmurs started spreading around. Their condition seemed worse than the last time we met. Their wagons were mostly stripped and most of their possessions seemed to have vanished. I noted the condition of the folks and finally spoke loudly,

“Provost Vitalia, I would greatly appreciate your presence here now. Please.”

The fae heeded my call and soon revealed herself. The crowd surrounding us were initially surprised but it soon gave way to whispers among themselves. I heard the words “great forest spirit” and “wood guardian” being whispered.

“Magistra, may I have word with you in private?”

I know what the fae wanted to say.

“Please Provost, Let us not have this debate here. I have given them what they needed the most now. We can settle things later.” I said firmly.

“Ellie, I need information. Who is pursuing you? how many are there?”

“Ask Rodo, He fought. Took blessing of the forest. still fights. Will tell you more.” It was Anselm who spoke this time. Without waiting for my answer, Anselm shouted, “Rodo, call Rodo. We need him.”

Soon a barrel-chested man of a head taller than me pushed through the crowd.

“Rodo, good to see you alive. Heard you took the blessing of the forest.” Arlene seemed to know the newcomer.

“Had to do what I thought was the best to protect. We took it. Thirty of us but still not sufficient against them” He gave a wry smile and then turned his attention towards me.

“I am Roderic but everyone calls me Rodo.”

“I am Rylonvirah, you can call me Rylon or Vera, either is fine.”

“We are outnumbered, unless you have a well-outfitted army, we do not stand a chance.” He said with eyes downcast.

“They might have the advantage in numbers, but I am not giving up without trying all options. I need information about them.”

“A lot. From the few times we hit them, I would say around three thousand.”

“But not all of them are trained army, correct? It would be impossible to muster such a huge army at such short notice.”

“That is true. Most of them are local thugs, outlaws, bandits and such. But they have a trained army. If I were to make a guess, around seven hundred to eight hundred were trained men.”

“Any Mage unit among them?”

“Saw some alchemists, if that counts.”

Even if he was not around, I still thanked Syrune for his show during the encounter. Seems that the mage left a deep scar that they are afraid to bring any mage to the fight. That is the first piece of good news I heard.

“And how many of you in any condition to fight?”

“Thirty of us. We have been doing hit and run at night. Apart from that most of us know basic hunting. We usually avoid fights.” completed Rodo.

“Why not move towards any of the crowded cities? Might offer refugee against them.”

“They have mounted cavalry, if we are on the road to Westerleygates, they would have the advantage. We hope to reach Westerleygates but we are sticking to the woods where they cannot use their charge,” explained Rodo.

“I take it that we are far from any city or town to either seek refugee or call for help,” I asked with irritation.

“We are deep inside the woods, all we could hope is to stall them. Do we still have any hope?” Rodo asked with disappointment evident in his tone.

“No, we cannot take them in the open. They outnumber us. We need to seek some advantageous positions. What about the nearby terrain?”

“Forest and dense woods,” answered Arlene.

“No mountainous or hilly terrain? or gorges?” I asked while mentally listing out all the areas where a huge army would have disadvantages.

“No, The closest mountain range is behind Sarenthill. We are locked here. In the woods, with an army on the back and the wetlands to the east.” answered the ranger.

“Wetlands?”

“Bogs. Dead vegetation. Even the air is dead there. We have elderly and children. No place we can seek retreat.” Arlene was a step ahead with thinking.

“Actually, that is the sort of place we need to retreat.” I formulated a plan.

“The enemy army can be split into three components. Their mounted cavalry, their ragtag irregulars and then the rest of their trained armies. The bulk of their army is composed of bandits, robbers and outlaws, looking for some easy coins. They are the easiest to scatter. They are like mobs. Hit a few of them and the rest will scatter. “ I paused to allow for any questions.

“The mounted knights will be seriously disadvantaged in the bog. Not the ideal terrain to manoeuvre the horses. Not easy to wade through the mud in heavy armour. But an ideal terrain for the goblins. With a bit of archery support, we could take the cavalry charge. No. We can wipe out their cavalry in the bog. I am sure of it and finally for the rest of their trained units. We will have to prolong the fight in the bog. But I might have some means to demoralise them.” I explained further.

“Don’t your people also participate in carnivals and tourneys? Do you have any fire breathers with you?” I asked.

“Armin and his brothers are still with us. What need do you have for them?” Ellie who was silent till now spoke.

“I am curious too,” added Arlene.

“We are going to fight the drow style.” I grimaced.

“You mean fight in the dark and hide?” Arlene asked with curiosity guiding her words.

“No, not saying we do not fight that way but the dark elves always fight with spreading misinformation and our mysterious pursuers are going to learn it the hard way.”

In the meantime, I spotted Vitalia scribbling in her note. I had no need to look into her writing. She would have probably written,

The battle in the bog

Defenders: 50 (approx.)

Attackers: 3,000 (approx.)