The basilisk shrugged off two more arrow hits and a crossbow bolt from Shin as it spun back around, drew its head above the warrior it had grazed, and spewed a glob of venomous sludge, enveloping him completely. The warrior convulsed, finally freezing in a grotesquely contorted pose.
“We shall surely be defeated at this rate,” said Lady Isylnoir.
“Got anything stronger, now’s the time to use it,” barked Gnebnik.
Lady Isylnoir again sidestepped, this time directing both palms in front of her. Arcane energy surged from the ground below, crackling around her body. A subtle flick of her wrists, and a lightning bolt shot toward the creature. The strike was imprecise, a dancing bolt of energy like a gnarled tree branch brought to life. It struck the creature’s neck, shoulders, and finally head. The basilisk writhed, jerked and collapsed, tongue lolling from a twisted mouth, clouds of steam from its partially cooked innards venting from snout, ears, and a dozen arrow punctures.
Lady Isylnoir dropped to her knees, then onto her hands and knees.
“Is that… it?” said Sam.
“Aye. I’d say so.” Gnebnik lowered his shield.
Sam inspected hands, arms, legs, and upon finding no poison splatter, straightened her posture. “Lady Isylnoir, regardless of our personal relationship, I found your display of magical prowess quite momentous.”
Lee extended a hand to Lady Isylnoir, lifting the willowy elf to her feet. “What she means to say, is that you may be an overbearing, arrogant bitch, but you kick some serious ass.”
“Lee, you idio—” Sam bit back her words. “Actually, Lee’s assessment is more concise.”
Lady Isylnoir glared at the hand that Lee had just grasped, finally letting out a deep sigh. “And you shielded me most satisfactorily. For humans.”
Chapter 21
Both parties agreed to spend the remainder of the night where they were, rather than risk proceeding in darkness. For both Sam and Lee, camping next to the corpse of a basilisk ranked at the top of their ‘worst accommodations ever’ lists.
They parted ways at daybreak, Lady Isylnoir determining that there was now a single, clear direction in which a large aura might be found, leaving Teodrune’s party to the unpleasant task of slicing open the basilisk to determine if it contained the remains of the missing woodsmen.
Midafternoon the following day Shin returned from an advance scouting run with a somber expression.
“It’s them. Caught sight of their camp from the next bluff.”
“And?”
“You may view for yourself.”
“Is this another one of those good news/bad news things?” said Lee. “Because I’m getting sick of them.”
“No,” said Shin.
“Good,” said Lee.
“When dealing with ogres, it is almost exclusively bad news,” said Lady Isylnoir.
“And here I thought you had no sense of humor,” said Lee.
The party proceeded mounted until just below the crest of the hill, before dismounting and continuing on foot. The terrain below dipped sharply, forming a three-quarter bowl several miles across with a trail of smoke from a clearing at the center. It was thickly wooded, with a scattering of clearings and foliage more vibrant and lush than the forest above.
Gnebnik pressed his trusty spyglass to his eye, grumbling and muttering several minutes long as he scrutinized the camp.
Lady Isylnoir used her own spyglass to observe the camp, though with considerably less grumbling.
Sam and Lee glanced at both, hoping one or the other would relinquish a spyglass. Gnebnik finally assented to Lee’s puppy dog eyes and handed him a leather-padded enameled tube nearly as long as Lee’s arm.
“Woah.”
“Woah?” said Sam.
Lee pulled the telescope from his eye, squinted, looked back into it. “Is that right?”
“Come on, let me have a look,” said Sam.
“Yup. Took me a bit to put things in perspective. To get a sense of scale. Everything on this world seems so out of scale compared to what we know.”
“If you’re gonna make me wait, you could at least describe it, you oaf.”
“Dinosaur horses, giant snails… giant birds, I should be used to it. But these things…” He handed the telescope to Sam.
“Oh dear.”
“They really are twenty-feet tall,” said Lee. “And… wide… stout… their head looks like it belongs on a creature twice the size of their body.”
“Eeeesh,” said Sam, in an uncharacteristic display of non-eloquence. “Arms are like legs, and legs are like… like an elephant. An elephant would be a house pet for one of these things.”
Lee took the spyglass back.
“Hang on, do they even have houses? I didn’t really look.” She grabbed the spyglass.
“What are elephants?” asked Shin.
“Big four-legged creatures from our world,” said Lee.
“Big?” said Sam. “They’d be nothing on this world.”
“And ogres really can talk, just like us?”
“Yup.”
“Are we safe here?” said Sam. “I feel like I’m watching a tiger at the zoo, except without the cage.”
“Safety is a relative concept,” said Lady Isylnoir. “However our current position relative to the encampment should not represent an unreasonable risk.”
Sam grumbled.
“Ogres are not known for exceptional endurance,” said Shin. “A typical clan would not venture far from their camp’s center without good reason.”
“Fine,” said Sam.
The group traversed the edge of the bowl for almost an hour, before locating a spot Shin and Lady Isylnoir agreed upon as reasonably concealed from the ogre encampment, yet offering a good view. They set camp a few dozen paces back from the edge of the bowl in a slight depression, their tents concealed from the ogres’ view.
“You remember our first quest, when I said there were advantages and disadvantages to setting a campfire?” said Gnebnik.
Lee nodded. “I’m guessing this is one of those situations where the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.”
“Yup.”
“Good thing I packed my long underwear,” said Lee.
The group settled down for the evening. Supper consisted of cold trail rations, and cautionary words from Gnebnik not to use glow stones in line of sight of the ogres’ camp.
Lee joined Sam on the bluff overlooking the ogres’ encampment. A myriad of stars shone down on the little valley that cloudless night.
“Shouldn’t you get to bed?” said Sam. “You’re on second watch.”
“I should. Didn’t sleep well last night, and… you know what happened the night before.”
“You’re going to let a little basilisk attack rattle you? That doesn’t sound like the Lee I know.”
“The Lee you know is an over-confident idiot.”
Sam lifted the spyglass to her eye and scanned the ogre encampment. “We sit up here and freeze, while they roast boar on a cozy bonfire.”
Lee fidgeted with a light wand Gnebnik had lent him—a wooden handled wand with a retractable sheath covering the glow stone at the tip.
“Seems we’ve switched roles. I’m now the one spooked by monsters.”
“You’re not spooked, Lee. You never wavered. You protected Shin and Lady Isylnoir—allowing them to concentrate on their attacks.”
A scattering of faint blue and green lights flickered in the depression below them.
“Biolumenescent insects still active,” said Sam. “I guess it’s a little warmer down in the valley.”
“Anyway, I should get to sleep. If I wait too long, Gnebnik will be snoring.”
“Goodnight, Lee.”
“Good luck on watch, Sam.”
◊ ◊ ◊
Frost covered tree and stone alike the next morning, a sheet of ice covered the party’s water casks. Cold trail rations were made all the worse by the scent of smoke and roast boar wafting up from t
he valley below.
Lady Isylnoir spoke. “Our purpose here is to determine how much a threat these ogres are to the city or local trade routes. Observe and make careful notes.” She removed a set of drafting instruments, and placed them next to a notebook on the folding field desk. “We need to know how many, how they are equipped, and what their intentions are. The first two we may observe, the latter we must infer.”
Shin continued, “Consider not just the ogres, but the details of their camp, any wildlife or livestock in the valley. You may find it helpful to name individual ogres for easy identification.”
“What, you mean like Archibald?” said Lee.
“It seems someone is in a better mood this morning,” said Sam. “And for the record, I would like to name one Priscilla.”
“As long as you don’t name one Lee, we’re good.”
“You two, a hundred paces that way. An’ remember the sun position when ya use a spyglass,” said Gnebnik. “Don’t wanna give away our position with a reflection.”
The two took position behind a hazel tree at the edge of the valley, leaving Gnebnik and Lady Isylnoir to observe from a different angle, while Shin scouted a wide circle behind them to ensure the group weren’t jumped by some other beast as they observed the ogres.
Nervous tension wore off over the course of the morning, no doubt helped by Lee assigning the names Clifford, Duncan, and Matilda.
Lee handed the spyglass to Sam and rubbed his temples. “I’m gonna go cross-eyed staring through this thing.”
“It’s easier if you steady it against a branch,” said Sam.
“Yeah.” Lee shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “You’re used to using one. Your university had an observatory, didn’t it?”
“It did. But it was a different principle. Let’s see, Matilda is still chopping firewood. They’ve got a huge stack.”
“It’s funny seeing monsters go about their daily business.”
“Do you think the huts are a good sign or a bad sign,” said Sam.
“Good, I’d think,” said Lee. “Shin says they’re nomadic, so if they build huts, it must mean there’s enough game in the valley to sustain them for the winter.”
Sam turned as footsteps behind them crunched through a thin scattering of fallen leaves.
“Shin, you’re not very stealthy today,” she said.
“Or perhaps you have learned to become more observant.” Shin smiled, his flash of elongated fangs and twitching tail now completely familiar to Sam and Lee. “Come, let us return to camp to share observations.”
They exchanged notebooks, spending almost an hour comparing notes. Lee made several comments, complimenting both Lady Isylnoir’s sketching and Shin’s mapping skills. Lady Isylnoir noted that the reports were acceptable, although Lee needed to work on his penmanship. There was some disagreement on the naming of a particularly stout ogre who had been spotted by both Lady Isylnoir and Lee, with Lady Isylnoir finally assenting to the name ‘Frederic’ to speed the discussion along.
“So, we have observed nineteen ogres. They have two trebuchets, a pair of siege ladders, and three flatbed wagons, one of which mounts a prisoner cage.”
“I s’ppose we should be thankful that the moerko destroyed one of the cages in their escape,” said Gnebnik. “Ogres like to put what they have to use, and an empty prisoner cage begs to be filled with people.”
“Yes,” said Shin. “I also noted a livestock pen. So perhaps the clan will content themselves with the flesh of boar and caprids, rather than seeking more exotic meat this winter.”
“Perhaps,” said Lady Isylnoir.
They refilled casks with fresh water, fed the animals, and were about to partake in a meal of cold rations when Lee interrupted them.
“Just give me a couple minutes.” He placed a number of flat, plate-sized stones in a circle.
“Lee, you know we’re not supposed to set a fire. What are you doing?”
“An’ that’s a lousy fire ring ta boot.”
Lee simply grinned, and when satisfied with the position of the stones, whispered something to Lady Isylnoir.
She thrust both fists against her hips, glared at him for thirty seconds, before rolling her eyes, shaking her head and handing him a leather sack.
He fished in the sack, placing a number of marble-sized stones atop his arrangement of flat ones.
“Glow stones?” said Sam. “What’s the point of that? They’re dim and they don’t generate any heat.”
“No,” said Lee. “But they also don’t generate any smoke. And they might generate a better mood for supper.”
“Lee, you’re an idiot,” said Sam. She turned away to hide a wide smile.
“Not a bad idea, lad,” said Gnebnik. “Never underestimate a good attitude.”
Lady Isylnoir rolled her eyes again, but finally poured a cup of cold brewed tea into a tin mug, and sat next to the ‘campfire.’
“So, the clan is smaller than you expected, Gnebnik said something about that,” said Lee.
“Correct. We have counted nineteen. There may be a few more we have not yet spotted, but the number is well below average for an ogre clan.”
“That’s good news, right? The fewer ogres, the better.”
“Aye,” said Gnebnik. “It does mean they’ll need less game ta sustain the group.”
“And should they elect to raid nearby settlements, they will be less capable of doing so. For example, they would have no chance against Irondale’s city defenses.”
“And against Hazelhearth?” said Sam.
“Let us hope we do not find out.”
“Right,” said Lee, moving to poke the embers with a stick, but catching himself before he did so. “And if they do, at least we have you. That second spell of yours was damn impressive. It was like you hit the basilisk with a blast of lightning.”
“Your commendation is appreciated, but unwarranted. I am still working on that particular spell. My aim is imprecise and it takes a lot out of me.”
“But practice makes perfect, right? And better out here, than destroying your house again”
Lady Isylnoir grimaced and shook her head.
“I mean damaged. Not destroyed, damaged.”
“Lee, quit while you’re ahead,” said Sam. “Or at least before you get further behind.”
“Your colleague’s colorful assessment aside, even if I do perfect it, I shall realistically be able to take out but a single of their number with it.”
“But the town does have other defenses,” said Lee. “The ballista towers, city militia, and every citizen has some sort of weapon, don’t they?”
“Aye,” said Gnebnik. “But not a lot’ll do much against an ogre. Even without armor they’re damn tough.”
“But Lady Isylnoir may have other options,” said Sam. “There were plans to mount a lightning thrower on one of the city’s towers.”
“And the ogres may be tough,” said Lady Isylnoir. “However, they are not uniformly ferocious. These here may be dissuaded with a sufficient show of force. A defense that looks formidable may not be put to the test.”
“Guess that’s why we need to build a dossier on each one of them,” said Lee.
Lady Isylnoir finished the remainder of her cold tea and stood. “I shall retire to meditate for the evening. I trust that you will not lose any of my glow stones and will return them to me in the morning.”
Chapter 22
Another night passed uneventfully. The knowledge that they were close enough to a clan of ogres to frighten away most other predators definitely fell into the category ‘mixed blessing.’
“I believe we have sufficient information on their encampment,” said Lady Isylnoir. “It would be prudent to monitor their activities as well. A group of four seems to be forming a scouting party.” Lady Isylnoir glanced at a map of the valley she had been sketching, measuring the distance between the ogre encampment and a couple points of interest between her thumb and forefinger. “I do not believe they will
venture as far as our camp, but ascertaining their radius of operations would be advantageous. Shin and Sam, as the stealthiest of the party, it is up to you to follow them.”
“Me?” said Sam. “You want me to get closer to the ogres?”
“Their camp may be visible, yet most of the valley is forested, much of it evergreen. Their movements are concealed.”
Shin put a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “You’ll do fine. We’ll ride Sally as close as we can. Even if it all goes wrong, she can outrun them.”
“Do be careful, though,” said Lady Isylnoir. “Ogres are known to set traps.”
“Which nekos are skilled at avoiding,” said Shin. “Come on.”
Sam and Shin rode along the edge of the valley just below the crest to remain out of sight. The two dismounted from time to time, trying to catch a glimpse of the ogre scouts position. Shin examined a hand-drawn map of the valley. “We want to approach them from a different direction than our camp lies, just in case they spot us.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that they are scouts? It’s like trying to spy on a spy.”
“We don’t know that they’re scouts. They could be hunters or trappers, out looking for game.”
“You and I are game to them!” snapped Sam.
“Maybe. But to use your words, you and I are also much better at ‘spying’ than they are. Let’s go.”
The two dropped into the valley, following a dry creek bed to stay out of sight.
They dismounted just below a wooded rise. Shin nodded at Sam. “They’ve split up. I need you to scout left while I take the right path.”
“Now we’re splitting up?” Sam’s voice cracked as she spoke. “I thought that was a bad idea.”
“You’re ready for this, don’t worry.” Shin placed a hand on her shoulder, the vertically slitted pupils of his ice-blue eyes fixed on hers. “This looks dangerous—very dangerous. And it is. But not if you’re smart. And you, more than anyone else in our party, are.”
“I’ll do my best. But ogres, I mean…”
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