Caulder spoke up and said they were ready, “All of the guards seem alert. They are ready to fight for you and their morale is high.”
“Good,” Richter said with a nod. He took some extra health and stamina potions from his bag. “Hand these out to any of our people who had to use their potions during the koolari attack.”
“It will be done, my lord.”
The two started walking off, but Richter reached out a hand, and they stopped. He took out the Belt of Agility he had taken from the Warrior the day before and handed it to Terrod. Just like Caulder’s had the day before, the captain’s eyes widened in shock. Before he could speak, Richter cut him off, “Don’t bother protesting. You deserve it. Use it well.”
For your generous gift, you have gained 311 Relationship Points with Terrod. Total Relationship Points: 28,186
The captain nodded gratefully and walked off with Caulder to take care of the troops. Richter decided to take a moment to do the same. He spoke with his villagers and joked lightly with them when possible. Many of the men and women were nervous, but they still met his eye. That was enough.
An hour later, he received word from Alma. The guard post had been pacified. Their army remained undetected. Richter gave an order, and Terrod and Caulder got the guards moving. Sion took charge of the meidon sprites. Together with Hisako, they all marched down the ravine, each secretly hoping to see the sun rise once more.
CHAPTER 30 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 15,386 EBG
The army approached the guard post cautiously. Torches still burned to either side of the gate, and after marching in darkness for hours, entering a field of light made Richter feel exposed. Damien, Yoshi’s second in command, came out of the gate though and waved them through. As the army passed through the gate, Damien walked towards them.
“Greetings, Hearth Mother. The guard post has been secured. The other members of the strike team are now searching the woods that line this side of the valley.”
Hisako nodded and walked through the gate. Richter dismissed his night vision and followed her. The bodies of dozens of goblins lay piled in heaps. Many had arrow holes in their eyes, throats, and chests. Black blood stained the faces of the dead and more than a few had ragged tears in their necks. It was obvious that while some had died without even feeling the arrows that claimed their lives, others had died choking, as their own blood filled their lungs.
The campfires were still burning. Damien explained that to keep the fiction going that the guard post was still manned, they had to keep everything looking as similar as possible. It should keep anyone in the main encampment from getting suspicious. That was why the torches on top of the gate were still lit. It was also why three sprites were now on top of the parapet, pretending to be the recently killed goblin sentries.
Richter walked forward and looked upon the valley with his own eyes. Like Alma had shown him, a large grove of trees grew on this side of the vale. Richter walked through them until he crossed over into grassland that dominated most of the valley. The land dipped down from where he was standing, giving a clear view. Though clouds still floated across the sky, the light from three moons illuminated much of the land.
From his position, he could see the goblin encampment. It had been built on a hill along the northern bank of the river that crossed the valley, flowing east to west. The end of the river entered a cliff face that was a quarter mile south of where he was standing. Other copses of trees dotted the vale, but for the most part, it was open country. The valley floor was comprised of lightly rolling hills. Making it to the goblin’s base would have been a nightmare, even for the strike team, but the walls of the river bank were high. It would be tight, but from what Alma had seen, there was just enough dry land along the river for the team to make it to the hill beneath the camp.
Richter looked back at the copse of trees and then forward at the valley before him. An idea occurred to him. He knew time was of the essence, but this could change everything. The chaos seed activated Stealth and moved forward as quickly as he could. Richter stopped periodically, making a broad arc in front of where his people lay hidden. Fifteen minutes later, he walked back into the trees.
Yoshi had started arraying their forces. The Mist Village guards had been divided into two distinct groups. Melee fighters were in front of each fifty-man block and casters were kept to the middle. Terrod and Caulder were in charge of each group. Both the captain and the sergeant were unhappy with the fact that Richter would be going into the encampment without them. They understood they lacked the stealth capabilities required for this phase of the mission. Richter walked up to Hisako and Yoshi.
“Where have you been?” the adept asked.
Richter took out his map and showed the half-sprite exactly where he had stopped. With a small flexion of will, he made red dots appear on the parchment at all the places he had stopped. They were placed so that a clear path could be wended through them without endangering members of the warband.
“And all of these are traps?” Hisako asked.
“Yup,” Richter said with a little smile.
“What do they do?” Yoshi asked, frowning at the map. “And are you sure you were not spotted?”
Richter shook his head, “I was in Stealth the whole time, and these are all high level web traps created by an assengai queen. Acid, constricting and razor webs will fire out if triggered. I made sure to place them within bow range, but still far enough away that none of our forces will be caught when they go off. If we can draw the goblins to us as we planned, we can start shooting the goblins as they approach. Once they rush forward in a group, they should trigger the traps.”
“They will come for us,” Yoshi said definitively. “All goblins fear our imbued arrows, but also know that their best chance for survival is closing to melee range as quickly as possible.”
“Good,” Richter said. “Now, as Scout, I can make everyone in the war party see enemies that I have spotted. I’m assuming you can do the same with traps?”
A sadistic little smile appeared on Yoshi’s face. He concentrated for a moment, accessing his War Leader interface. Then he turned to Richter and spoke in a stern voice that was somewhat undercut by the residual smile, “It is done. In the future, it would be best if you made us aware of all possible resources prior to the eve of battle.”
Richter didn’t believe the adept’s tough guy act for a second. He shrugged and said, “What can I say? I’m a man of hidden depths.”
“Hmpf,” was Yoshi’s only reply. Hisako smiled at Richter, though and just shook her head. The adept called his second in command over and gave an order that every member of the war party was to be notified that the glowing red dots they could now see were traps to be avoided.