The closer they got to the fort the more Chronos could sense wrong with it.
The soldiers were muttering complaints about the bugs and leeches, the outer wall was creaking, their supplies had become a mess from the mud and...
Zap. "Gyaa."
Someone had just been zapped by the eels they had brought with them, they were escaping from their pits and catching them again wouldn't be easy when you couldn't see them hiding beneath the mud.
The best thing this fort had going for it was that the river isolated it and the reservoir to the north was completely full. Everything else would need to be reconstructed or reinforced before the fort could be considered usable.
When they reached the river a small reed boat was waiting for them which Lysira would pull to the island. After setting foot on the island the guards of the west gate called out to them.
"Halt. Warden-singer Lysira, why have you brought outsiders to our camp?" The merfolk guards glared at them.
Lysira rose from the water and cast a spell that split her tail fin in two, allowing her to walk on land. Her lower body was covered by a flexible coral skirt that went down to her knees giving her both protection and ease of use in water.
"I decided that I couldn't stand around and watch our fort collapse. The tribes of the swamp are not our enemy and know more about swamp construction than we do so I've convinced one of their leaders to come here for negotiations."
"Hmph, we do not need some savage's help. Especially a blind wolf." One of the guards dismissively stated.
Chronos had never taken off his blindfold and half the time forgot he was even wearing it. His training had given him great results, and he had no intention of stopping just yet.
"You sure about that? Even from here I can hear the northwestern corner creaking. If nothing is done it will collapse soon." Chronos said.
"Nonsense, merfolk construction is beyond the comprehension of you land dwellers..."
Creeaak. Crash.
Just as he was speaking the northwestern corner collapsed into the river taking the mounted harpoon and the harpoon team with it.
The guard turned a deep blue. Well, that is interesting, when a merfolk blushed they turned blue instead of red.
Sighing, the guard said, "If you cause any problems the Warden-singer will be held responsible."
He waved them in while waiting for the harpoon team to come out of the water.
Walking through the camp Chronos could feel the pathway under his feet but it was too close together causing the mud to come up between the boards and there were several spots where there was no ground underneath the boards.
The path was held together by ropes, which was never a safe setup for troops hurrying through. And just as he had heard from outside, several merfolk were trying to capture eels that had escaped from an eel pit nearby.
Passing by the supply tent he saw that the merfolk kept their supplies inside of a water basin but hadn't quite worked out how to keep the mud and bugs from getting into the basin.
Off to one side behind some tents, he sensed some soldiers trying to clean their armor for an inspection later, but they weren't having much success.
"Looks like your troops are suffering more than I thought." He whispered to Lysira.
"Hah, the swamp is more unforgiving than we anticipated and while no one is willing to admit it, the constant bugs and leeches are wearing away our morale. Unless we can fix this issue soon, we'll start seeing deserters."
"Is the Admiral not looking for solutions or just failing to find them?"
"Admiral Kaelvar is seeking solutions but our normal methods are not working. It is like the swamp itself is fighting against us. The Admiral also holds great pride in the Marshward host, he views it as a blow to his honor to ask for help from those he considers savages. No offense meant for your tribe's Matriarch."
Vaelith's eyes sparkled in amusement at such pride. In the swamps if you didn't work together, you would most likely end up in some beast's stomach.
"None taken, facing the bias of other races is nothing new to the tribes of Dracon Fen. But this gives us an opportunity for an equal negotiation and since we are coming to negotiate with Admiral Kaelvar he can save some of his honor." Vaelith said.
As they were passing the seal theater Chronos could hear singing from inside. The songs were slowing the transformation of the tear, but what really surprised him was that the tear felt like a door to him.
That same scent that he could smell around entrance ways covered the entire area then retreated as the song reached a crescendo. He got a faint sense of a border from the shoreline as well, maybe his training was making him attuned to passages or borders?
He would have to think about that later, right now the tear had been pushed back but Chronos got the sense that it was building up to something, and he could clearly sense someone was directing it from the inside.
Then he saw a smile form in the darkness just before it retreated deeper into the tear.
"Chronos, please keep up with us." Lysira called out.
He had stopped moving when he saw the smile, it gave him a terrible feeling. Like something that he should hate with all of his heart.
Shaking his head he continued to follow Lysira to the edge of the inner section of the camp where they were once again stopped by the guards.
These guards looked much stronger than the gate guards. The gate guards had only been around 180 cm tall, but these guards were over 2 meters. They also had black skin with patches of white throughout their body and pitch-black eyes.
Their armor was made of a black coral formed into plates set over an undersuit made of some type of sea silk. They had fin-guards on their bracers and greaves and even their dorsal fin and tail had protective plates on them that wouldn't hinder their movement in or out of the water. On their waist was a helm in a sleek, predatory design resembling an orca's skull.
In their hands was a large, barbed war trident with the central barb extending further than the two-side barbs which were slightly curved towards the central one.
That looked like it could pin or restrain an opponent easily but wasn't suitable for killing. No, the curved blades at their waist looked like they had shark teeth on them and were more suitable for killing blows.
They would probably restrain their target with the trident first then cut them down with the curved blades. Or crush them with brute strength, their forearms were certainly large enough for that.
He could also see a small anchor chained to the back of their waists, but the chain wasn't long enough for them to throw it at an enemy. He wasn't sure how that was used.
"Warden-singer Lysira, who are these outsiders?" Asked a guard that had come from deeper in the inner section.
"Keelwarden, these are representatives of Dracon Fen. They are here to discuss an alliance against the troll army our scouts reported several days ago."
Lysira showed a calm front despite panicking inside. The Keelwarden was in charge of the inner camp's guards and reported directly to Captain Varkesh. He would definitely tell the captain, and the captain would be here soon.
For the Keelwarden to be here right when they arrived was just bad luck or perhaps the captain didn't trust her as much as he claimed to.
"It doesn't matter who they represent. You cannot just bring outsiders into the camp without permission. Especially when it is in such a condition."
"The construction of the seal theater is under my jurisdiction and with the camp falling apart it will affect the seal theater. It is within my authority to bring them here for a negotiation about the reconstruction of the camp. Negotiating an alliance is their own idea." She interrupted him before he could try to send them away.
The Keelwarden got a sour look on his face. He couldn't fault her for seeking help if the sealing of the tear was brought into question, authority over the sealing process belonged solely to her and the only one who could question it was the Admiral.
"Still bringing them into the inner camp isn't necessary." He tried once more.
"How is it not necessary? Not showing hospitality to a Matriarch of the naga race would be a slight upon merfolk honor. Or are you saying that the elite orca guard cannot even defeat a small group of warriors when you have them surrounded." She accused him.
"That is not it at all, but I must be informed of anyone entering the inner camp." A voice echoed from around the corner.
A 2.5-meter orca stepped into view as Lysira cursed under her breath.