Leaving my room, I headed towards the meeting point. Nira and Anala quickly followed behind me, Nira being more flustered about my sudden departure. Anala, on the other hand, was already used to my antics, so she just floated behind, with a wide smile, still happy about making a contract.
Arriving outside of the lord's house, I spotted Zale standing, already waiting. She wore a set of green leather armour. It was created using plates of leather, to give the wearer maximum mobility. Her elegant sword, resting on her hip. I noticed that she wasn't wearing a cloak, but then again, she didn't need to be incognito.
"Already?" She asked, as she noticed me walking towards her. And I nodded.
We waited for another ten or so minutes before I saw the small figure of Luralie running towards us. She was dressed in travelling shirt and trousers with knee high leather boots, with a small cloak wrapped around her shoulders.
I was a little concerned that she would make a fuss about the two spirits that I made a contract with. However, to my surprise, they have disappeared. Though, for some strange reason, I could still feel their presence. It was a strange and confusing situation, but one that I didn't really have time to think about at the moment.
"You're late." I said, pushing away my question for now.
"Sorry, I had trouble figuring out what to bring." Luralie said, stopping in front of us.
I just sighed and wondered how much she actually brought with her. Something told me that it would have been everything, but the kitchen sink.
"Let's head out, while we still have some sunlight." With that, marked the beginning of our journey towards the edge of the forest.
We didn't go at the same pace that Zale and I took to get to the elven village, as that was extreme. But the pace was still fast, fast enough that Luralie was surprised that I could keep up with them, without looking tired. Zale, who knew how fast I could actually go, just rolled her eyes at the obvious surprise.
"We're getting close to where we discovered the traces." Luralie spoke, after an hour or so of travelling.
I came to a stop next to Luralie, who stood looking at the debris on the forest floor, as if she remembered something terrible. Zale, on the other hand, stopped on a tree branch. She seemed to be surveying the area, and the gap in-between the trees towards the plains that bordered the forest.
"Luralie, where did you say the tracks were?" I asked, pulling her out of her dark thoughts.
"Oh, um, it was over here." She replied, blinking a few times, and pulling herself back together.
I followed her, and after a minute or two, I started to see the remains of tracks. It had been a few days, so a lot of the traces had vanished, however, the heavy boot prints didn't disappear so easily.
"Four to five men, judging by the deep depressions." I mumbled, as I knelt down to the patch of ground that looked disturbed.
"Oh, what's this?" I said, as I saw something that had been trodden into the ground. "It looks like rye. I know roughly where they are." I announced, as I looked up to Luralie, who was bent over, looking at the patch of ground in front of me.
"Where?" She asked. But before I could say anything, Zale emerged from behind a nearby tree.
"I've found trails in the grass leading towards the south." Zale spoke. A warden's eyesight was always a wonder to behold.
"Let me guess. In the same direction of that frontier village, we went through?" I asked, already certain of the answer.
"Yes. It seems that our original guess was correct." She nodded, having reached the same conclusion that I did.
Luralie looked confused, so we explained about the village we passed through on the way here. And as we left, I noticed that the village mainly grew rye gain, and seeing as it was the only village for miles, it seemed reasonable to think that our bandits were hiding out there.
With our destination planned, we headed out. Just as we left the forest, I noticed that our travel speed had decreased and couldn't help but smile to myself at how quickly the elves go from being superhuman, to normal.
Where we left the forest was north of the village, so we had to travel for a while until we could reach the village. The winter sun was already starting to wane in the sky, by the time we stopped the village on the horizon.
"Shall we set up base camp and survey the town and infiltrate at night?" I offered, as we stood far enough away so we weren't noticed.
"I think it'll be for our advantage if we snuck in during the night." Zale said, as she stood, looking at the village in the distance.
"We go now. Beat up the bandits, and head home before the sun completely sets." Luralie added her suggestion, and I saw the face of Zale crack slightly.
"I don't think it'll be as easy as that, matriarch." Zale said, hoping to convince Luralie not to be so brash.
"It'll be fine." Luralie, said dismissively as she walked towards to the village.
With a shared sigh, Zale and I followed after the impatient matriarch. I didn't really care how we went about it, but her nonchalant behaviour could get one of us hurt, or worse. I just hope that she wouldn't regret her decision in the future.