With the Goblins dead, and the loot cleansed, thanks to the efforts of their cleric, the group started moving toward their destination again, but in a much larger formation. Rae stayed in the trees nearby, and Thor joined Bob at the front of the group, while the wood golems took up positions on the flanks and Karl brought up the rear of the convoy.
Nobody was saying anything, but it didn’t feel unfriendly, more like it just wasn’t necessary to say anything, since everyone understood their roles. If there was a threat, they would call orders, but while just walking, nobody was going to get lost or fall out of position unexpectedly, the way that a bunch of distractible students might.
The only one that was truly on edge was Bob, who kept catching glimpses of Rae in the trees, and thinking that they were going to be attacked until he realized that it was just her again.
“I think there is something up ahead. The ground here is more packed than small wildlife would account for, and there are broken branches above head height.” Bob quietly warned them an hour after they left the goblins behind.
Rae made a mental note of that. For a Bloodbath Spider, prey usually came to them,. They didn’t go out hunting things, so they had no inherited memory of tracking skills.
Hawk hunted by direct sensory input, and he had been guiding them down the trail, but he hadn’t seen anything concerning yet.
So, it was Karl’s use of Hawk’s eyesight that finally gave them the clue they needed.
“Everyone stop. Face right. I have enhanced eyesight, into the ranges that a Windspeed Hawk can see. That includes ultraviolet, and it makes urine and other bodily fluid traces glow in the light. There is a handprint in the ultraviolet spectrum on a tree in that direction, too large to be one of us. It’s even larger than Professor Tank’s hands, and that man is well over two metres tall.” Karl whispered.
[I will go look] Hawk replied.
He couldn’t see the handprint from above, as it was hidden under the canopy of the trees, but Hawk did his best to search for anything in the area anyhow.
[I think there is a cave up ahead. I can’t see it without landing, but something looks wrong.] He replied a few minutes later.
“Hawk says there might be a cave. It’s hidden from above, but he’s fairly certain it’s there.” Karl explained.
Bob nodded and led the team forward, following Karl’s guidance every time he saw a sign of the large creature. Then, Karl started to see the telltale signs of Goblins. Plenty of filth was visible to his enhanced eyesight, but it all stayed tight to the trees, where it wouldn’t be seen from above.
Bob noticed the signs only seconds after Karl did.
“I think they understand about the helicopters. They’re hiding from overhead surveillance. But the Goblins must have come past here in a large group. They might be under orders from the Ogre we have been tracking as well.
Goblins are cowards, and ogres are lazy. So, if an ogre comes across a Goblin tribe, it will often threaten them to make them work for it.” He explained.
The mages pulled closer together, ready for an attack, and Karl realized that he had no idea which one was which anymore. They had the same black hair, in the same haircut, and they were wearing the same uniform, with the same last name on their badges.
Someone had called Bob and Doug twins as well, but at least they were different sizes, and Doug’s hair was longer, while Bob’s was cut tight to his head.
The smell of burning wood came to them from the distance, and Karl smiled.
“We’ve found them. I smell campfire. So unless the forest is burning, there is someone up ahead.” He whispered.
Bob led them forward, with Thor doing his best to be silent beside the warrior, and they burst into a clearing with their weapons up.
[You vanished.] Hawk complained, then dove under the tree line to join them and protect Karl.
But there was nothing to protect them from.
In front of them stood a large cave entrance, giving off a slight plume of smoke from a cooking fire inside, and a full ten-person military team was sitting around on the rocks.
“Dammit, we thought we found an Ogre camp.” Bob sighed as he realized the situation.
The warrior at the fire smiled at him. “You did, but about six hours too late. We got four ogres and fifteen Goblins out of the cave. There should be more goblins nearby, but we are waiting for them to come back.”
Karl looked up and noticed the slight shimmer of a spell that had been hiding them from Hawk’s vision, as well as the obvious signs on the trees of a violent battle having taken place in the recent past.
Bob smiled at the warrior. “I think that we found the rest of your goblins. The beasts with our team cleared out an entire hunting party just an hour or so ago. We followed the game track they were on, and it led us here.”
The team looked immensely relieved, and began to relax a little. There were still plenty of dangers in the woods, but if Karl’s team had killed off the rest of the Goblins who lived here, then at least nothing would be looking for their resting spot tonight.
“Why don’t you all take a break here for a bit? It’s still early, but it gets dark fast in the hills, and there might be more monsters about.” The warrior suggested.
Bob shook his head. “We are headed for region one, and we should try to get closer to it tonight. There were a half dozen more fresh teams headed out today, so you might come across another if they know how to track. Try not to ambush them before realizing they are humans.”
The warrior nodded, and Bob gestured for his team to keep moving.
Once they were another kilometre down the road, Bob turned back to the group. “They are sitting in an empty ogre den. Something is going to notice that the ogre clan is gone soon, and then they will come looking to take over the cave.
We will swing by there again on our way back and see what has moved in.” He explained.
Hawk returned to his patrols high in the sky once he realized that his senses had been tricked by magic, while Bob led them through the woods to a small river.
From his limited experience, Karl recalled that rivers should be a gathering point for monsters needing a drink, but the area was quiet, with only a few small tree animals.
The rest had been scared off by the presence of Rae, who was still hiding in the trees, or by the noise that the group with Thor and the four tree golems was making. They weren’t going to win any stealth awards today, but nobody was seeing signs of large monsters, and they weren’t worried about the smaller native ones.
“Once we find a good way across the river, we will move into the hills and find a campsite for the night.” Bob explained.
It was only about ten metres wide, but it looked fairly deep, and none of them were looking forward to getting soaked right before the sun went down in the mountains.
[I will make a bridge for you.] Rae offered.
