The reptile scouts paid Sonder no mind.
She skirted the outer ring of tents and moved to the fringes of the swamp, where mud clung to her shoes.
And then she circled the city, slowly and patiently, going through all the details of the walls.
They were high, but not as high as the ones in Gloam, made of wood and mud that had hardened through generations of layering and the shine of the sun.
The kobolds had shaped them well; they were smooth, with no cracks or footholds to climb.
Here and there, there were wooden lookouts, and on top of the walls, sharpened stakes jutted outward to discourage anyone from climbing in the first place.
A few times, Sonder stopped and watched. She crouched to look and stood on her toes to look, waiting to see if there was any movement or if she could spot any gaps.
She found nothing.
She walked farther around the city, past stagnant pools where flies buzzed.
It took her more than an two hours but she reached the other side of the city, where there was another gate. It was closed, and on the watchtowers, there was nobody.
She thought she had seen the silhouettes of patrols on the walls, but that could have been her imagination.
The Shemmi didn't challenge the Chackara in any way. No shouts, warnings or insults. No anything.
They were simply absent.
Sonder pressed on and climbed a low hill on the western side.
There was still nothing.
No hidden door, or tunnel, or loose stone.
It was an unbroken ring of fortified clay.
Of course.
If there were an easy way in, the Chackara would have found it already.
They had weeks, maybe months, of camps built around the city. Scouts on every watchtower. Patrols day and night. Soldiers everywhere.
But no breach.
She didn't know if they had attempted to storm the walls, but right now, they only waited.
A siege with no battle, and a city with no entrance.
And now Sonder, walking circles in the swamp, searching for what an entire army had already failed to find.
She stopped and stared hard at the walls again.
If she couldn't find a weakness, her gaze drifted to her staff, maybe she had to make one.
Then she lowered her staff. That would be too drastic.
And she didn't want to give the Chackara an opening to attack.
If she were go into the city, the way would only be for her, nobody else.
In any case, if there was no secret way into the city, and she didn't want to blast her way in, she could still go over the walls.