Once the other sprite walked away, Hisako addressed Yoshi and said, “Finish your report.”
“There are no other hostiles in the immediate area,” Yoshi said. “Our forces are well hidden, and each sprite has at least fifty arrows.”
“Well done,” Hisako responded. “I am glad that we are prepared for battle, but we cannot have more than two hours until sunrise. Is your team ready?”
“We are.”
“Do you still think it prudent to add Lord Richter and Sion to your team?”
Yoshi looked appraisingly at the chaos seed, “The lord has accounted himself well thus far . Also, your son has only grown in power since last we saw him. In addition, there are ten meidon sprites who would have undergone Uddo Rengai soon. Now that the guard post has been subdued, I believe they could be an asset for this next phase of the attack.”
“They have sworn their allegiance to Lord Richter, so the decision is his,” Hisako stated
Richter headed off the inevitable question, “Of course.” Hisako nodded and then turned her attention to her sword adept.
“This is an important mission, Adept Yoshi.” Hisako’s voice was firm, and her gaze was steady. “I do not understand why so many different forces are arraying against us at this time. I do not know why goblin and bugbear tribes, tribes that hate each other almost as much as they do us, are suddenly coordinating incursions into the forest. This night we have an opportunity, however. We can crush one of their encampments, seize one of the goblins’ most powerful objects and take whatever else they have come for. This must happen. Do not fail me, Adept Yoshi.”
The half-sprite went down on one knee and bent his head, a knight kneeling before his liege, “Kva ti relada voe.”
“Ti voe reladii,” Hisako responded. She placed her hand on his head, almost in benediction.
Richter hadn’t heard the phrase for a while, but he remembered Sion saying it months ago after he made a grave mistake. His Companion had spoken the sprite words as a solemn vow. Yoshi had just done the same, pledging “My life for my word.” Hisako had accepted his pledge and responded with the ritual response, “Your word for your life.”
The sword adept got back up. He looked at Richter and said, “We need to leave.”
The chaos seed nodded, and said, “I’m ready.”
Richter ordered the snake to stay behind and guard the Hearth Mother. The strike team reformed and they bolstered their numbers with the other ten meidon sprites. Richter took the time to cast Night Vision on himself, Sion and the other members of the strike team that didn’t have enchanted bandanas. With that done, Yoshi took point.
They walked through the copse of trees until it ended, then moved as quickly as possible down the hill to the river. Yoshi had them wait for the clouds to block the moonlight before they crossed out into the open. Once they reached the riverbed, they sped up, moving at a fast but silent jog.
While they traveled the four miles to the goblin encampment, Richter went to each member of the strike team and offered his enchanting skills. They each handed over their climbing claws, and he used low level soul stones to replenish the charges. He also handed out more health, stamina and mana potions. His stocks were running low, and he thanked the gods again for the Dragon’s Cauldron. Alma flew just above his head.
All of their breaths came out in short huffs. The river flowed quietly along beside them. Sprite armor was made for stealth, so no jingling mail or loose metal gave away their position. Even their footfalls were magically quieted by their Reinforced Sprite Boots of Silence. Richter kept his eyes sharp for traps, but all he saw was water and mud.
In no time, they were beneath the goblin encampment. The embankment they stood beside was sixty feet of vertical rock, so they would be hidden from view unless a goblin peered over the edge and looked straight down. Even from their position far beneath the enemy settlement, Richter could smell a foul stink coming from above. It was a mix of rotting bodies, untended latrines, and a horrid funk that Richter had learned to just call “goblin.”
The chaos seed sent Alma high up to do recon and pulled his map out. Most of the strike team faced out to keep watch, but Yoshi leaned over the enchanted parchment. The entire view was in shades of black and green, showing that Alma was seeing with night vision. Soon the red triangle of an enemy appeared, though, then another, then dozens, then hundreds.
Richter’s mouth went slightly dry as he saw exactly what they were arrayed against. He lost count of all of the enemies above him, but it was at least three hundred. What made it worse was that he knew she was only showing the enemies that were outside. There were over two dozen wooden buildings constructed that could conceal two, three or even four times that number of enemies.
He forced his breathing to calm. The most important part of the info Alma was sending wasn’t about the enemies; it was about prisoners. The other reason that Yoshi had decided upon the river approach was that this edge of the camp they were standing beneath was also where the cages for the prisoners were located. Dozens of yellow squares appeared on the map, clustered in three cages. None of the cages were large, and it looked like most of the prisoners were forced to occupy less than three by three feet of space. They were filthy and abused. Many had festering sores on their faces, arms and other exposed skin. Disease was rampant among the prisoners.
There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to how the captives were imprisoned. Dwarves, elves, humans, sprites and gnomes were shoved into the cages like cattle. Goblin guards walked around the jails, despite the later hour. There were only ten guards, however. Seeing as how the prisoners were weak and sickened, it wasn’t hard to understand why the goblins didn’t consider them a threat. Even those ten should be able to slaughter all the prisoners in short order, especially if only one cage opened at a time. Still, it seemed a bit light on security to Richter.
The walls around the encampment looked much the same as before. It was erected in sections, leaving massive gaps. An inner wall had been erected around some central buildings, and the goblins guarding those two gates were both more alert and better equipped. Also within the inner encampment was the cave that Alma had seen before and the sacrificial area with the blood stone. It still sickened Richter to see the pit of bodies next to the artifact. Some of the details were hidden because they were seen through night vision, but the bodies of dozens of men, women, and children could still be seen.