Snippet #2085468

Adrian watched the others, pushing the occasional debris with his foot to give the appearance of searching. He could see the dwarf moving with the footprints. For those without magical prowess, it was a common thing to learn, but harder to master. Luckily, the dwarf and the tribal both were only hinting at what had actually occurred. Out of the corner eye, he could see a figure moving in his direction. Adrian watched the half-elf approach him, his right arm relaxing as the blade underneath pressed against his forearm. The elf walked up friendly enough, but Adrian knew better than to believe such a ruse.

Since you seem to know more than I do, I'm referring to you. So what do you think we should do?"

Adrian looked at the elf, noticing the faint tint of blood than ran from his closed eye. Adrian let out a slight chuckle, his yellow eye looking at the elf coldly. Its gaze was unshakeable, telling a twisted and depraved story of what it had seen. He whispered, "You see too much, elf." Adrian turned around, away from the village and pointed toward the tip of the nearby mountain which separated where they were now from Bran. "We can't afford to go back. If we all continue on, not all of us will survive. But, we can't go back." Adrian was uncertain of what the elf's response would be, but their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the Captain rounding everyone up within the town square.

The Captain looked primarily at his men, who had clearly not found a thing. "Alright, did anyone else find anything of value to our mission?" Adrian looked around the group to see who would respond. No one seemed to be speaking up which Adrian met with a sigh of relief. The Captain sighed and scratched the back of his head, muttering the word 'useless' under his breath. "Well, since no one found anything useful, I guess we'll just move on." The Captain and guards mounted their horses again, ready to venture beyond the town. "Alright, move out!" The horse began their trout once again, traveling deeper into the mountains.

A few hours later...

The sun was setting, disappearing behind the mountains. It would be dark soon, but the group was not stopping for the night. The Captain was prepared to march until they found their targets. If his maps were correct, the bandits would eventually reach mountains too high to traverse and will likely head underneath, finding shelter in a cave. At least, that was the Captain's theory. "Captain! Captain!" The Captain turned to one of his guards, seeing the man's eyes wide and pointing down the path. The Captain squinted his eyes, seeing a large object hanging down from a tree down the path. The group continued forward, stopping twenty yards short of the now visible wreckage. The object hanging from the tree was one of his guards, the body dangling from an old rope. Five other guards laid around the area, along with their horses. Save for the one lynched, the other five had been decapitated, their heads lined up on spikes just a few feet further down the dirt road.

The Captain dismounted his horse, walking to the tree and cutting the base of the rope, causing the body to fall to the ground. He spoke a few words from the Chant of The Divines under his breath not wanting to show weakness in front of his men/ Adrian walked over to the spikes, looking at the heads with reserve. The eyes had been removed, likely to be taken as a warning. His left eye shot to the trees, a shadow watching them. It was not likely one of those they hunt, so Adrian decided not to mind it. Whether the figure decided to reveal itself was its choice alone.