CHAPTER 115 Tracking the Lead

CHAPTER 115

Tracking the Lead

Rufus

“We have found the drop-off location,” Chikli reported over Cast Crystal. The army had a few to use between units, and I was standing on top of the wall to the outer city as it trailed off into the dungeon tree roots. Behind Green Oak, there were trails and a lake and a small hill that could be seen peeking out of the regular forest.

“And?” I asked, looking out over the wood. Chikli’s unit had spread out to search in a grid pattern North of the Hollow since yesterday. The group consisted primarily of lizardkin, who enjoyed the magical rain. They’d arrived too late to watch the Green Oak assault.

“We can’t sssee anything,” Chikli said. “It is as warned. The cave is hidden. Mage Lina is trying to find a way through the illusion now.”

“Good.” I nodded, turning and looking back at the city. It was in full festival mode, and I resisted a sigh. “I am going to check in with Mistress Puma.”

I silenced the crystal then opened up the connection it had to the Tracker’s unit. The Cast Crystals were designed to be able to connect to any other crystal that had been cast in the spell with it. You could connect to multiple crystals at once, but it was difficult to manage conversation. You could also pick and choose the crystal you wanted to call. Each crystal had its own small symbol that represented it, and you just needed to activate the symbol.

“Mistress Puma, reporting.” The feline beastwoman’s voice was rough, for all she was in her thirties. Gravelly and fierce. “I am still tracking the lead.”

“Excellent.” I had given Puma a bunch of poisons that had previously been picked up from the Dark Enchanted Forest when Donna was doing her deliveries. How had I found a bunch of poisons that were never delivered from the poisoner in the Dark Enchanted Forest? Easy, Donna had stolen them .

That horse had a real problem; she wasn’t paying taxes on her stolen wares. That was going to be more paperwork for me, and an audit for the murder horse conducted by some poor unsuspecting member of the Dark Horde’s accounting unit.

I resisted another sigh.

“Where is it taking you?” I used my [Keen Senses] to focus my sight on movement far off. Puma’s unit was mostly hidden behind the giant roots of the forest, as she’d started near the suspected drop-off location on the northeast side of Green Oak and then tracked her way west.

I was going to need to head that way myself.

“West. The trail is sticking very closely to the roots and heading towards the Hollow,” Puma said.

“Less likely to suddenly find yourself in some other part of the forest,” I agreed. “I’ll swing around from the front of the tree, and we can meet up en route.”

“Alright, Commander General.”

I cut the connection before pocketing the crystal in my dimensional storage. To better travel in comfort, I shifted into my beast form. The fact that the poisoner didn’t just run there from across another kingdom to pick up and drop off like Donna did was a stroke of luck. Also that it wasn’t a flying creature who wouldn’t leave much of a trail.

Puma could track a flying foe, but it would have taken a lot more time.

I jumped off the city wall and onto the roof of a nearby house. If I wanted to cross the city quickly, I wasn’t going to be running through the city streets. The idea of navigating festival crowds made me want to vomit. Instead, I bounded across rooftops and leapt high over the city square. My landing was gentle as I kicked off again, making my way to the western wall.

Since Puma wasn’t just running at full speed to get into position and instead carefully tracking the poisoner through the woods, I arrived at the wall well in advance of the beastwoman. I changed back into my usual beastman form, resisting the urge to sit on the edge of the wall and take a break before they arrived.

I was the commander general of the Dark Enchanted Forest, and that meant I should probably be ready to meet them properly.

Not relaxing with a romance novel.

When Puma arrived a few minutes later, assisted by two other beastfolk, I was still waiting on the wall, feet apart, shoulders back, and hands on my hips.

“I’ve sent the rest back to do a second sweep,” she explained when I stared at her two assistants.

“Alright, what did you find?”

Mistress Puma and the others leapt onto the wall with ease. This would normally be the point where thirty Hollow elf soldiers descended on anyone who even got close to the wall, but they were on official business. The beastwoman pulled out a frayed, muddy piece of string and let me examine it. “I found this half buried in dead leaves and caught on a fallen branch. It has the same faint trace as the poison bottles.”

“Then lead on.” I took a step aside and waved her forward.

She nodded, jumping down into the outskirts of the Hollow. There was one big street lined with stunning wooden architecture and a mix of living treehouses that stretched in an arc with the roots of the Green Oak, but there were some smaller houses and shops two to four streets deep on the inner circle side.

Puma trekked through the smaller streets, around a local food stall with a vendor who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else—probably the festival—and then to a half-moon house built around an oak tree.

The beastwoman walked up to a door and sniffed. “This is it. I’m certain of it.”

I reached out and knocked on the door.

Nothing.

I knocked again, louder.

“Mia isn’t home,” the food vendor called out from three doors down. She stressed the beginning, the name sounding like “My-ah.”

We all turned to look at the elf woman, who seemed a little intimidated despite being a healthy distance away. She said, “Mia’s dungeon delving right now. She won’t be back for at least an hour, maybe more.”

“She’s an adventurer?” I asked, slowly walking over to the elf. I was much taller than her, and I sighed when she shrank back. She suddenly squinted at me, and I thought that my occupation was probably the only thing keeping her from running away.

“N-no, Commander General.” She shook her head a few times. She didn’t bow or nod her head in greeting. The elves were a proud race, and they considered themselves equal to the most powerful members of the Dark Horde. Even food shopkeepers. It was one of my favorite cultural nuances about the Hollow. The elf continued. “She’s a porter.”

I raised my eyebrows at that but smiled. “Thank you.”

She blushed, but I only nodded and turned back to the group. The pit in my stomach tightened as I ordered, “Everyone, we will wait at the dungeon gate. And someone go tell Slake that we’ve got something.”