Tortho's newest revelation had been a nasty little surprise. It was no disaster but still unpleasant. Well, at least we could now prepare, now that we were aware of this newest threat. Hopefully people would take it serious. We might have to make sure they would, one way or another. It wouldn't do for anyone to make light of it, since it was only slimes, like I had initially. What could we do though beyond making sure that the guards were always, well, on guard? Salt was one weakness. Sugar could be used to lure them out into the open. Fire supposedly worked pretty well too.

Could we surround the camp with a fiery moat? Something that would burn slowly so it would last all night? Would hot coals still be good enough? Getting enough salt to secure every camp, while we were still on the move, was not really an option. The caravans would be busy hauling salt alone and we would run out of other supplies. And even then it probably would still not be enough. No, that really wasn't a viable option. Fiery moats of some sort it would be then. What else could we do?

I almost bumped into one of the rangers accompanying me and Quu'za on our scouting mission while Tortho carried the news about the new wiggly threat to the rest of the army. He pointed at a slight haze over the road we had followed back southward at a distance. I nodded. “Lets hope its one of our supply caravans.” Even as I said that we spread out along the forest's edge on one side of the road, Quu'za, five rangers and I. We didn't venture too far forward to make sure we could go unnoticed should it be an enemy force coming up that road.

It was unlikely but not impossible. A small detachment we might be able to take care off. Any force of notable size we would have to let pass us by though. Quu'za could then outrun them to deliver a warning to the encamped army while the rest of us stayed behind. That was the theory anyway. Hopefully it wouldn't come to it though. I really would prefer some more good news instead of yet more problems rearing their heads. In the end that wasn't up to me though. I would have to make do with whatever hand life would deal me.

Meanwhile, as we waited, I looked around nervously. Tortho's quick lesson on slimes was still bothering me. So far we hadn't found any here, south of our encampment but that didn't necessarily mean that none were around. In theory they should be relatively easy to spot but none of us had eyes in the backs of our heads. I felt vulnerable, lying here and waiting. And while slime blobs were prominent on my mind right now they weren't the only things that could sneak up on us either. No, not by far.

My fears were unfounded though. Nothing jumped us as we lay there. And as the approaching group drew closer it quickly became apparent that it was not another human or ghoul army but indeed one of our own supply caravans. I could easily make out Leumina and her small band of horse archers ranging around the wagons, pack animals as well as their handlers. The gear Gash'zur put together for them certainly was distinctive. They weren't the only armed escort of the caravan though. There were Tora'pheer and some of her lancers and some more harpies flanking the wagons as well. Overall this was a pleasant surprise.

As they drew closer Quu'za called out to them without any of us revealing our positions. It was a soft cooing sound. A human could have easily mistaken it for the sound of one of the small owls that made their homes in these woods. Even for me it was hard to tell the difference although I had grown familiar with the harpies and their at times odd vocalization in general and Quu'za's voice especially. The rest of the rangers tensed briefly but relaxed again just as fast as they beheld the reaction from the caravan.

The harpies accompanying the supply train noticed Quu'za's call right away for what it was. One answered in kind while another hurried to notify both Tora'pheer and Leumina. She even pointed in our direction with surprising accuracy as she informed them of our presence. Quu'za was the first to reveal herself as Tora approached us together with one of her women. I followed suit. Only the rangers remained in hiding, just in case. The captain of my cavalry raised an eyebrow as she spotted me. “I thought your sister insisted that you don't risk yourself like that anymore?”

I rolled my eyes as I brushed off some twigs that had gotten caught on the scales of my armor. “Quu'za and I, we aren't exactly here on our own. The others are just a bit shy. Either that or quite cautious. It can be hard to tell with Tortho's rangers at times.”

That prompted Tora to laugh out loud as she slid from the back of her giant ibex mount. She pulled me into a brief hug before tousling Quu'za's feathers a little. She got serious again as she started talking. “I'm a little surprised to catch up with you this soon. I take, it has something to do with that thick smoke column we could still see all the way at the gap?”

I took a deep breath. “You're not wrong in that assumption.” My voice lost its playfulness as well. This wasn't a pleasant topic. “We ran into another army from Gothol'uin. Not just knights and warriors. Civilians as well. The young and the old. Almost all of them, except for the knights, had been turned into ghouls. It was a pretty bad fight.”

Tora blanched a little at my revelation but she tried to stay cheerful. “Don't tell me, that you'll send me back with another cursed crown right away again!”

I laughed but it was a bitter laugh. “I wish I could. This one was different though. It fled the battlefield with its personal guard before we could get at it after destroying its army. It didn't look like the people from around here either … even beyond the obvious.” Then my voice cracked a little. “And we lost Arngard. The melee with those ghouls was brutal.”

Now she really blanched. “You don't mean to tell me that that smoke column was from pyres for our fallen?”

I quickly shook my head. “We had losses but not that many. We have plenty of wounded to take care of right now though. No, that giant smoke column was from the enemy dead we incinerated. We couldn't move camp after the battle and we couldn't just leave them fouling up the place just a few paces beyond our defenses either.”

She seemed to still have some trouble wrapping her mind around it all. “It was a pretty big pyre. We aren't quite sure since counting them was a little tricky as many of the ghoulish infantry were trampled under the hooves of their cavalry but our best guess is somewhere between two and three thousand, including the turned civilians they tried to sneak around into our flanks and our back.”

She shook her head. “That is crazy. Madness! Utter madness!”

I patted her back and urged her to return to caravan. “I'm just glad your are back with some of the cavalry. We really need every man and woman right now to take some pressure off the camp guard and the scouts and rangers.” Everyone needs some more rest to help speed up their recovery after this battle, so we can move on Gothol'uin itself as soon as possible.

She nodded and we walked in silence for a moment before she spoke up again. “You won't like to hear it but if a strange Ghoul King turns even civilians to serve as sword fodder in his army it might be better to burn the city without getting too close.” She swallowed hard. “I doubt we will find anyone still alive there.”

She was right, that really wasn't something I wanted to hear. That wasn't her fault though. Her advice was only prudent. I could loose my whole army in the streets and alleys of a city if I were to rout out each and every ghoul the old fashioned way with weapon in hand. “You are right on both accoutns. Its not what I want to hear but it probably will be what we'll do. Its not the only troublesome thing plaguing us right now either. Say, have you come across any slimes on your way here?”

She looked at me with disbelief clear on her face. “Silmes. Slimes? Are you serious? Is the Devourer scraping the bottom of the barrel?”

I grunted. “Dead serious. Don't make light of them. They might, usually at least, be no serious threat in battle but things are different when you are unaware of their presence or possibly even asleep. Tortho seems to take the threat quite serious thus we should too.”