Catching up to Nidra was nearly trivial. Hirrus and Cedril left the Hari Path and cut north across the wilderness. At first, Hirrus led them on a direct path towards Denstad, before he realized that he needed to reach Nidra, not the city. Instead, they moved northwest, to intercept her path.

It was in the forest almost on a direct southwest line from Denstad that they found the path. Nidra’s group had been doing nothing to cover their tracks, and with so many of them moving together, it was easy to find the places where the brush was flattened and the ground was marked by numerous boots.

Hirrus wanted to employ his movement speed abilities in sequence to catch up quickly, but he couldn’t guarantee that Cedril could keep up, and so he only set a grueling pace instead, pushing the two of them to just keep moving.

They caught up to the rear of the army before it reached Denstad. There was a brief panic among the back ranks as Hirrus stormed his way through them, but he was, perhaps, the most recognizable person among this group.

Even so, word of his arrival couldn’t reach the front faster than Hirrus.

“Nidra,” he said as soon as he saw her.

She whirled, a wide-bladed dagger flying to her hand. But the relief that hit her face as soon as she recognized him was worth the whole trip. She slammed her dagger back into its sheath a little harder than was strictly necessary and crossed her arms, trying to glare at him to hide how happy she was to see him.

“I’m sorry,” she snapped. She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ve been a bit stressed trying to figure out how to do this without you.”

“I’d be more worried if you weren’t,” Hirrus said.

“Why are you here?”

He tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for why he had been so resistant to helping initially, and why he turned around now. In the end, every possible thing he could say painted her in a spectacularly unflattering light as an untrustworthy manipulator, or else made him seem foolish or heartless.

Hirrus eventually decided to say nothing at all.

“You are here to help, right?” she said, fixing him with a suspicious look.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “I realized I was wrong.”

She nodded.

They both wordlessly agreed that that was all that needed to be said. She could have questioned why he’d let himself talk him into his little rebellion, and he could have questioned why she thought she could do this - more or less - alone. But they weren’t here to fight each other.

They had plenty of foes to fight in the city ahead.

The city of Denstad was in the valley below them after two more hilltops. The majestic walls were ancient, and the city had run out around them, clustering along the Cloud Road to the south that went down to eventually meet the Hari Path, and the river, which passed just northwest of the wall.

Looking at it now, Hirrus thought back to the sketchy drawing that Nidra and her closest followers had been plotting over.

It had been strangely accurate.

Nidra called the group to a halt on the far side of the hill, and brought up the handful of people who had become her captains - the ones who were in charge of the smaller divided squads.

“You all know the plan,” she said, though she paused to give an irritated glance at Hirrus. “But for the benefit of those with short memories, let’s go over it briefly.”

“Do you want me to draw the map again?” the red-headed child asked.

“No, thank you, Ten,” Nidra said, turning to the large woman with the square jaw. “We can do this without visual aids. Right, Deanna?”

The large woman gave a laugh at that, and Hirrus winced at how loud it was. “Never needed a map before. Don’t need one now.” She pointed instead at the city. “Well, maybe once. Did I tell you all about the illicit delivery I ran between the Upper Town and Timberrock?” She shook her head, laughing again. “Almost handed three hundred pounds of silk to a beggar on the street. ‘Course it wasn’t all silk. Half the weight was the drugs, but-”

“Deanna,” Nidra interrupted. “The plan, please.”

“Right-o,” the large woman said with another boisterous laugh. “Sorry, Ma’am.” She cleared her throat and began again. “To avoid raising the alarm, we’re going down into the city in squads. Small enough to blend, big enough that it won’t take all day and night.” She pointed down at the east end of town, where the buildings clung to the river. “My warehouse along the Rafeloux is our staging point and hideout.”

Hirrus recognized that she was pointing towards the spot that had been circled there on the dirt map back in Rumi’s camp. He expected her to continue, and point to the other circled places, outlining the entire plan, but she fell silent now.

“Deanna’s group will go first,” Nidra said, “as it is her warehouse, and she will be able to open the doors and make sure there’s room for the rest of us. With her return after a long absence, no one will raise any alarms at a lot of foot traffic, and there will be room enough for the whole group.”

“I left some things stored there,” Deanna said, “but it will be a scramble to make sure we can all be comfortable there.”

“Do you have cloth and straw?” Hirrus asked.

“Probably,” Deanna said with a laugh. “And if not, we can get some.”

She reached over and nudged the much smaller woman next to her. Despite the smaller woman’s carefully-manicured and professional appearance, she flinched at the sudden attention.

“Sarit here is a trader.”

“I know some people,” Sarit said quickly. Her voice was small, but firm. “I can find what we need. Whatever it is. I just need a little time. Reach out to people. See who is in town today. Tonight.” She appeared to be ready to keep on talking, but she snapped her mouth closed, forcing herself to stop.

“The man who traveled with me,” Hirrus said, pointing downhill at the group, taking a moment to pick him out. “Cedril. He is a clothier. With straw and cloth, he can assemble some simple mattresses. It won’t solve all our problems, but it will go a far way on comfort.”

“Good thinking,” Nidra said with a nod. “Sarit, he will go with your group. Talk to him, figure out what he needs, and as soon as everyone else is inside, do your thing.”

Sarit nodded. It seemed to take some effort on her part not to speak again. The woman was visibly anxious, and Hirrus wondered what Rumi had done to her to reduce someone who looked to be of nearly-noble bearing to this state.

“I was going to go with Deanna’s group,” Nidra said, looking over at Hirrus, “in case there was trouble. But now that you’re here, I’d like you to go with her. I can bring up the rear with Kamar’s group instead, to ensure that nothing happens to the forces here while we’re moving.”

She gestured at the poised older gentleman, who was looking at Hirrus with an expression of open contempt. Hirrus didn’t let it bother him. Most of the people Rumi had Awakened seemed to still be struggling with their decision trees, and whatever they told them to feel or think, even if the direct instruction on actions could be ignored. Kamar looked like a noble, and so he was likely predisposed to looking down on simple town guards. Especially someone from a backwater like Yenon.

Hirrus nodded. It seemed a sensible move. Counter to traditional strategy, their forces were most vulnerable where they were in highest concentration. Adventurers looking to defend their interests were more likely to identify them as freed of their decision trees while they were at rest. A small group moving through the town would be more likely to be dismissed or overlooked, especially in a city as busy as the capital.

“Great,” Deanna agreed with a laugh. “I’ve just about told you lot all my best stories already. It’ll be nice to have a fresh pair of ears.”

From the mixture of grimaces and eyerolls around the group, Hirrus had some idea of what he was in for.

“It can’t be worse than Alric’s singing,” Hirrus ventured.

Deanna laughed loud and hard at that, and Hirrus found himself struck by the separate responses all of these people had to Rumi’s torment. Had their treatment really been so dissimilar to each other? Deanna seemed to be intent on trying to drown out whatever had happened with laughter as a defense mechanism. Sarit was two steps shy of a nervous wreck. Cedril had seemed disconnected and isolated from his own life, and Moirna had been deeply involved in trying to help others. And to top it all off, Nidra was absolutely consumed by single-minded focus on her revenge.

Rumi had pulled these people from all walks of life, though. Couriers, traders, clothiers, assassins, nobles… He supposed their reactions to his torture was as different as they were.

“Get your squad together, Deanna,” Nidra said. “Move out the second you’re ready.” She turned and looked out over Denstad. Her hometown, locked in the iron grip of her enemies. “Tonight is the final planning phase. Once that’s done, the battle begins.”