“Did you notice?” I asked Lenore, slowly disentangling my mind from the scrying-construct we had created and used to observe the centaur-camp. It had worked quite a bit better than anticipated, either thanks to having experienced flight, albeit from inside my Hallow, or because I had crossed the second Divide, increasing my abilities. Or it was an effect of my new class, with its boost to my Darkness-Magic, that was another possibility.

But be that as it may, I had been able to quietly observe their camp, hopefully without being detected, and it had yielded some quite interesting facts. What might be most important was what I hadn’t seen, at least not at first. The centaurs had made another ordered camp, with a small trench and bern instead of a real wall, likely dug with magic, and lightly guarded by centaurs. Those few guards had been what made me suspicious, back when the wolves and my group had waged a campaign of attrition against the centaurs, their guards had mostly been top-notch, always using pairs and roving patrols. Here, not so much.

That could mean a few things, some of them good, others not so much. One of the possible reasons for their few guards was they they were confident in position, not fearing pursuit and attack. Obviously false, given that I was with a quite powerful pursuit-party, so their confidence might be something we’d be able to use to our advantage.

Or it might mean that their tactical command had made the decision to keep their troops fresh, not exhausting them by skimping on nightly guard duty, wanting to cover as much ground as possible during the day, hoping to escape pursuit that way. Which could be a problem, I had no doubt that the centaurs could escape, if they so choose, especially if they were willing to abandon their loot. Or use magical bags.

And finally, there was the option I feared most, that the visible centaur-guards were merely there because people observing the camp, either by physically scouting or by magical scrying, would expect them. If I had observed a camp without any guards, alarm-bells would be going off in my head, fearing a trap. but the few guards the centaurs had could be a plausible guard and if it wasn’t for the stark contrast between the lax, almost lazy-looking guards here and the sharp, coordinated patrols and guards around the camp further north, I might not have been more suspicious than my paranoia would make me.

Thus, I had decided to give the camp only a cursory glance, deciding that I’d be able to check more at a later time, instead focusing on the woods around the camp, looking for additional guards, maybe allies, ready to reinforce the centaur-camp, ready to encircle attackers, cutting off their retreat and any hope of survival.

And there I stumbled upon something I hadn’t quite expected, at least not in those numbers.

“They have quite a few canines guarding their camp, don’t you think?” Lenore replied, sarcasm strong in her voice.

“Indeed, maybe ten, twenty wovles in the camp but almost a hundred around it, scattered in small hunting-groups of eight. Why, that is the most impressive coincidence I’ve ever seen, all those wolves that just happen to rest around their camp, just not on the path the centaurs took or are most likely going to take tomorrow.” I replied, matching her sarcasm with my own.

“It’s a trap…” she muttered and somewhere in the back of my mind, I heard a certain fish-head exclaim just that. Lenore must have caught some of my thought, throwing her for a loop, to my amusement.

“A tale of a time long, long ago and in a far-distant galaxy.” I replied, chuckling to myself, even as my mind was trying to come up with a good scenario for the orcs. I didn’t really see one, their foes had them on numbers and mobility, both in the open field and especially in the difficult, sylvan terrain we found ourselves in. Maybe if the orcs had a prepared encampment, negating the mobility of their enemies and a way to bring the Firebringer’s magic to bear without burning what they wanted to reclaim, but otherwise it was nigh impossible.

“Let’s ask her what she thinks, at least after learning some more about her own methods of scrying.” I told Lenore, finally starting to regain perception of my body, only to realise that my position had changed and familiar arms were now encircling me. I made a mental note that I was utterly defenseless when using that particular method of scrying, making its use somewhat dangerous, as I’d always have to make sure that my body was guarded and safe.

“Thank you for having my back, Sigmir.” I quietly set, for a moment just enjoying the closeness.

“Always.” came the reply, whispered into my ear, pulling me just a little closer.

After we had our moment, and a little longer, I got up, Sigmir moving with me, towards the nearby fire where Adra was still talking, passing on information to the gathered staff of Dura Firebringer.

I waited for a few minutes, listening to Adra describe the fortifications we had seen further east and the tactics they had used to patrol until she got to an adequate stopping-point, at which I broke into the conversation.

“Shaman Firebringer, a few questions.” I spoke up, addressing her by what I thought was her title as a spellcaster. My questions were centered around a matter of magic, after all.

“You told me earlier that your method of information-acquisition uses intelligent spirits, just how intelligent are they?” I asked, when she nodded.

“How intelligent, you ask? They have their limits, obviously, but they work on intent and information supplied by my mind, maybe you should specify what you want to know?” she suggested, apparently not wanting to give away too much but telling me enough.

“In other words, if you were to tell them to follow the Centaurs, observe and maybe count them, you would know how many centaurs there are, whether they received centaur-reinforcements or maybe split their troops, one party moving away the plunder while the other leads us on a merry chase?” I asked, getting a bad feeling in my stomach, especially when I saw her nod to my question.

“What if they received other reinforcements, something you wouldn’t find odd in the area in general but in a suspiciously high concentration and distribution?” I continued, not yet wanting to give away everything I knew.

“That depends, if it were Orcs, beastmen, centaurs or the like, they would notice. Out with it, what did you find?” she asked, her voice now rather forceful, if worried.

For a moment, I considered leaving her hanging, to keep what I had learned to myself, trying to barter for an advantage down the road but as quick as I got the idea, I discarded it. Doing so would almost certainly sour the orcs towards my party, especially after trading for tangible supplies.

“In addition to the centaurs and wolves in their camp, there are a number of smaller groups of wolves scattered around their camp, all between six and nine wovles, none further than five-hundred meters from the camp, none closer than two-hundred. Nor are they near the access-path, well obscured by foliage and forest. If you were to attack the camp, you would instantly be in a trap, attacked from front and back by superior numbers.” I explained, watching her face fall for a second before an indecipherable poker face settled over her features.

“That does sound grave.” she said, her voice steady and calm, without excitement. “Miss Adra, could you continue your description with my staff? I would like to get some more information from Miss Morgana.” she continued, looking between Adra and me.

“Certainly, I think the important things to know, the big picture, I already told you about. The tactical and operational details, I can discuss with your staff.” Adra replied, silently and not very stealthily urging me to agree as well.

“I agree as well. Closer comparison of our methods might yield additional information that could be useful for you. Or they just might expose what I expect to be a centaur trap, ready to be sprung on someone, maybe prepared for you and your troops.” I agreed, noticing that Sigmir was sticking closely to me, obviously planning to join Dura Firehand and myself.

Dura Firehand led Sigmir and me away from the rest of the group, out of easy earshot and I noticed that her the confident, unconcerned mask slipped away from her face as the distance grew. Instead, she looked rather tired.

“What a mess.” she muttered, almost to herself. “Please, tell me in detail what you have observed.” she asked, even her voice sounding less secure, worried.

“Certainly.” I agreed, again, before starting to speak, telling her of my observations and the conclusions I had drawn from them. It painted a truly worrying picture.