Than man on the horse reigned his stead closer to Damea. The sell sword was well practiced at keeping his calm, even so with the man's intimidating presence his tension was high and it was all he could do to not reach for his swords. The water had refreshed him and brought him some semblance of balance and control. His mismatched gaze watched the man far above him wearily. Even as the man spoke, he wasn't sure he trusted him at all.
“Relax man, no need to be so tense. Rest assured, we’re just passing through on business.”
Damea lifted an eyebrow but didn't say anything more to the man that leaned forward in his saddle. As he watched him, the well dressed man on the horse smiled at him as he continued speaking.
“Damea, pleasure to meet you. I’m Miles Riverbend, though I’m sure you’re already aware of that. It sounds like you’re trying to meet someone. But, word of advice, I’d stop by a tavern or the city to look after yourself first. You’re no used to anyone dead.”
Damea's lips frowned as Miles turn his horse around and canter off into the direction opposite direction he was heading. The group of armed forces followed him, their armor and weapons chinking together softly as they went. It was definitely an elite group that he'd just run into and one that he didn't wish to run into again.
"Yeah, no clue who the hell you are," Damea whispered to himself and turned to look back down the road. He was a day from the city, if he hurried he could get to Reginald quite quickly. Refreshed with the bit of water he'd had and the food shoved at him, Damea started forward again at a quick pace. He finished the food given to him in a matter of minutes not wishing to carry any of it for too long. What a fool he'd been to leave Touya without thinking, mostly because he'd left without having any water or anything else packed on him. Their source of food and water had come from the Therian who had lived off the lands before.
Shaking his head slightly, Damea focused on getting to where he needed to be. At the back of his mind he wondered what kind of business required the attention of such intimidating people. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know the answer to that question though.
“You what?!”
Touya winced as her sharp voice reached him. He leaned back away from her, half startled as she whirled around on him. Her eyes were glittering with rage once again and he couldn't figure out why she was so angry. What had he done now? Was it something he said? The Therian couldn't put two and two together and sat in the saddle dumb founded, staring at her with confusion.
“Even despite knowing why I tricked him in the first place?” With a shake of her head, she turned away from him, grumbling. So that was the reason. He'd sent Damea to go get Reginald and she didn't wish for the man to be there at all. Sure Touya agreed with her not wanting to lose more men, but he hadn't planned on her releasing him and the other Therian's like she'd done. So, he'd sent Damea to get Reginald so that the two of them could figure out a plan to help release Touya and bring April back to her senses... or rather, that had been somewhat along the lines of what Touya had been thinking at the time.
“Val and a lot of his tribe are still missing. They killed dozens and escaped despite our numbers. I’m not sure how Altheim will respond now. Nothing is guaranteed. You may have to prepare yourself for a battle on three fronts, Touya.”
She took a breath hardly waiting for him to respond to her before she spoke again. All the while, Touya was more than prepared to do battle with many different factions of people, “More to the point, we should hurry to catch-up with the first convoy. It’s already the third day and I estimate that they’re two day’s worth travel from reaching Altheim. After they reach the city, all bets are off. Fortunately, they should stop mid-way for supplies. This should afford us a little more time, as well as a brief window of opportunity.”
Touya, in the midst of listening to her, pulled the reigns and began redirecting their steed. He would heed her words this time. Instead of going after the group of Therian's she'd released, he would take to the road and head for the city of Altheim. It wouldn't take him long to get back on the track of his kin. With a flick of his wrist he snapped the reigns and the horse moved accordingly, moving forward faster and slowly picking up speed. They were soon racing across the wilds heading towards the main road where they'd branched off from days ago. On horseback they would reach the road in a few hours. Touya hoped that before the end of the day they would reach the caravan that held his kin prisoner.
The caves had exited someways away from the battle front and that was where Val lead his people. Out in the open, he was grateful for the distance between him and the human army. Behind him, women, children and the elderly followed him in a soft commotion of noise. The forest of Creeid was no longer of any use to them and they would have to re-establish their settlement. Fortunately, the men he'd sent ahead of him to help the others leave had done a good job and gathering as much technology as they could to take with them. Mostly it was tools and metal scraps, some devices that the human's had either discarded or were experimenting on, or something that had once been of use to them.
Looking out across the expanse of open fields, the hills cut his vision of where the army lay, but he knew they were too far to be of any concern right then. In the meantime, he would have to find a new forest for them to settle in. Turning, he set his gaze to the south and eyed the horizon. The yellow light of the sun illuminated the hills making them look like gold. The days of summer were quickly turning to cold winter. A couple more months and he was sure they would see snow upon the earth.
"What do you have in mind, Val?"
"We head south. Find a forest or a good place with enough cover to re-fortify and settle our people. You'll lead them, Kaeo," Val said, turning and putting his hand on the other Therian's shoulder. The man named Kaeo nodded his head to Val, his eyes holding his determination steadily.
"I'll send word to you as soon as we find a place."
"Good. I'll be taking a group of fighters with me. I wish to see what those humans are up to."
"Don't engage in a fight with them. They're too many."
"You don't need to remind me of that. I'm simply curious as to what it is they were doing there and how easily they found us. I fear the worst though. To think that Touya might have unwittingly led that woman to us. It's possible she betrayed him and if she has... well we might just win another Therian to our side."
"And what of Ahmeil?"
"She's smart enough to figure out what happened. She won't blunder around into the forest when she see's the army. Besides, she is still busy with her own mission. I don't expect to hear from her for a little while longer. It is also half the reason to go back, I wish to make sure she makes it to us safely."
Kaeo looked off into the distance as Val did and nodded slowly, "Then we'll see you in a few days."
"Be careful and take care of yourselves until I return."
"We will, and you do the same, Val. We would be lost without you."
Val gave a soft grunt of a laugh and called out to a group of armed Therian's. With a slight beckon of his hand, he was surrounded by them and they set off back to the north to spy upon the human encampment that had attacked them. It would be a couple of days, but that didn't matter much. Val was sure the camp would be moving soon and he wished to know where they'd come from and tailing them was one thing the Therian's were very good at.