"I wish you luck with the merfolk."
Vessin bid them farewell as Vaelith guided them towards the merfolk army. Waving goodbye, they had to maintain a jog to keep up with her.
"It will take us all day to reach their battle lines, but we won't approach them for negotiation until tomorrow morning by then the troll army will be within a half day's march of them." Vaelith told them.
"You're hoping they will be more open with an army on their doorstep?" Chronos asked.
"Yes, the troll army is more than twice their size. If they don't have time to accomplish their goals, they won't have any other choice but to compromise. The plan is to pick up others on the way and offer our services as a mercenary force."
"Won't they be suspicious of your help?" Gregory asked.
"Not likely, they believe the swamp tribes are not united even though we have told them several times that we work together. Their kingdom has existed for thousands of years uncontested and that has made them arrogant."
That was not comforting to hear. Chronos never did well with arrogant fools, their faces were far too punchable.
Feeling Gregory's gaze upon him he did his best to look innocent.
They traveled all day without encountering monsters and only had to avoid a few magic beast herds before they arrived at a point close to the battle lines.
After waiting for an hour Chronos couldn't help but ask, "What are we waiting for?"
"Our guide, the scouts and warriors have been living in movable camps that can be attached to an island and practically disappear. Even I cannot find it without one of the guides to take me in." Vaelith said.
"Movable camps can't be that large. Is there enough space for hundreds of warriors or are they arriving later?"
"Each camp can only sustain around 100 individuals; however their ability to hide in plain sight is truly impressive."
Chronos wasn't sure how many warriors they could hide in plain sight, but he didn't have any more time to discuss it. A reed boat came into view with a lizardman slowly pushing it along.
"Greetings Matriarch Vaelith, I'm here to guide you to the camp."
"Thank you."
Once everyone had boarded the reed boat the lizardman pushed off the shore gently and slowly guided them to the camp. He had to double back three times and dragged the boat through several small streams.
At one-point Chronos offered to get out and pull the boat but was informed in no uncertain terms that he couldn't help.
Gregory tapped Chronos' shoulder and gestured at the mud the lizardman had just walked through. It was only now that he realized the lizardman wasn't leaving any footprints behind and any trace of his passing was carefully erased by his tail.
These marsh hunters were incredible; it was no wonder he couldn't find any trails when they first started searching for them.
After traveling for an hour, they arrived at an island covered in reeds. In the distance they could see the rough outline of a dam being built, but Chronos couldn't see any camp.
"Is this the right place?" He asked no one in particular.
Gregory froze then started to carefully examine his surroundings.
"It's here, it's too quiet or rather the sound is muffled. Do you mind if I try to find it first?" he asked their guide.
The guide got a playful look in his eye and gestured for Gregory to continue.
Gregory carefully walked through the reeds in front of them searching for something that only he seemed to see. After crossing the small island twice, he went to a certain side of the island and dropped a pebble in the water.
After carefully watching the ripples, he walked a short distance and dropped another pebble, afterwards he took out a few nightweave threads and skimmed the surface of the water with them.
Nodding he walked towards a slightly drier portion before stopping and moving around the dry section.
At this point several lizardfolk had come out of the river behind Chronos and were watching Gregory's actions with growing anticipation.
Satisfied with what he had found he headed toward some fallen logs and disturbed some of the insects resting on them. Finally, he gently moved a single nightweave thread over and under the logs before retracting it and returning to the group.
"What's your judgement?" Chronos asked.
"There are a number of traps in the reeds across the entire island but using the same paths constantly causes slight repeated bruising across a large number of reeds. From there I found the correct path through the reeds then I noticed the ripples on the surface kept moving around planks and branches underwater.
The two pebbles and my nightweave threads confirmed that there were planks dropped at equal distances from each other underwater. Looking carefully, I could see scale marks on the planks and confirmed that one scale means left, two scales means right, and three scales means traps or possibly guards.
There are also shell fragments and driftwood with serpentine marks spread randomly across the island. I assume that has something to do with the matriarch's magic but can't be certain. The issue with them is that they aren't natural to this island, you can only find that type of shell closer to the ocean.
The entrance to the camp is hidden underneath the fallen logs. When I disturbed the insects, they flew in every direction except towards the logs and the smell coming from underneath the logs isn't as rotten as it should be. Finally, my threads were able to feel a hinge hidden underneath the logs." Gregory's assessment left all of them stunned with their mouths open.
They hadn't expected him to find so many flaws in their methods.
The guide took a few minutes to recover his voice before handing a dagger to one of the other lizardfolk.
"I lost the bet. That was impressive young man. I didn't think anybody could find our camp without a guide's help but you found almost everything. The only thing you couldn't identify was the scanning spell the matriarch uses to monitor the surroundings, even though you did find the shells that are a part of it. Are all land folk like you or are you unique?" He asked
Seeing an opportunity to increase the tribe's admiration, or fear, of the Leighla kingdom Chronos interrupted them.
"Not everyone is as skilled as Gregory. He's part of a special information-gathering faction that frequently supplies intelligence to the king of the Leighla kingdom. They rarely share information with outsiders unless there's a compelling reason, and the king has no interest in misusing it—unless you're considered an enemy.
That being said they're a rather large faction so it wouldn't be strange to run into one of them while travelling through the kingdom." Chronos said with a proud smile.
"Why are you so proud? Gregory is the amazing one." Sariah muttered while glaring at Chronos.
Gregory just smiled at their praise. The guide turned to him and started questioning him about methods that could hide their camp better as he didn't want it to be found by another like Gregory.
The other lizardfolk returned to guard duty as Matriarch Vaelith led the way to the hidden camp's entrance.
Touching the logs they raised up revealing a lily pad-like structure made from reeds that was partially buried underwater, the lily pad had a spiral shape with several rings.
The outer ring had dead logs and submerged entrances to keep most enemies away and for them to easily enter the base.
The middle ring was dry with small reed huts at various points and a clay pot with warming stones around its base. A stew was simmering away inside of it, but Chronos could barely smell it despite being so close to it.
The inner ring had several slate lined basins for the naga's to rest in and a naga matriarch was sitting over a pool of still water in the center of the lily pad. Behind her was a large hollow log that Chronos could smell medicine from.
"That was impressive work, human. If I hadn't been watching it happen I wouldn't have believed you could find the entrance so quickly." She greeted them before turning to Vaelith. "There has been a development that you should see. It is waiting for you in the infirmary."
"Understood."
Vaelith slithered past her and into the hollow log where she found a young mermaid sleeping in the bunk. She had bandages on her fins and one of her arms was in a sling but there weren't any serious injuries.
"How long has she been here? And how did she get injured?" She asked urgently
"The scouts found her southeast of here being chased by a deep sea razorjaw. It was a dark beast, but it was strangely mishappen, like it wasn't complete somehow."
"I see, this is troublesome. This necklace indicates high standing amongst the merfolk empire; we may have even more soldiers invading to find her. They may have been searching for her originally and only started building the dam when they found the tear."