There was only so much we could do when we had no idea what kind of ambush our enemies were preparing for us. After all, if they were looking to attack us while we were in the paths following the trail they'd left, they wouldn't be open to an attack by setting a further encirclement around them or something like that. If, instead of attempting to surround us, they were looking to allow us to "stumble" across them to then lull us into a false sense of security before ambushing us while we were preparing to attack the supposedly unaware hunters, then we would have to do something else entirely.
Thus, just like I'd known would be the case and still frustrated me, we would have to have more information before we could do anything. More and more, I was coming to the conclusion that, more than anything else, war was not a proving ground merely of morale or ferocity, but instead of logistics and information. The Misti Hawar seemed to be pulling back at least partially because they had no way to feed themselves, among any other attempts at sneaking. After all, with all of our preparation and access to farms and fields, I was constantly hearing reports about how different parts of the city were struggling to feed themselves as much as they needed, at least, without the Union's assistance.
One of the few consolations I had was that the two best Sik'Tal were leading the scouting pack. Foire and Silf continued to be the stand out best companions in this venture. Hala was still trying to find her stride as a leader of any sort, and I found myself frustrated by her reticence. Once she got in a fight, she was fine, but she wasn't much of a leader outside of times where she was forced to make decisions, too afraid of making a mistake to make any choice at all.
"There's something that I have picked up on." Foire reported. "When they travel and their magic leaves their marks, there's a slight tilt in the… magical scuffs, I'll call them. The way that their shadows scar the land is largely undetectable, but with better familiarity with the signs of their passage, I'm finding that I can tell a particular 'signature' to each mark left behind. Today, where they seem to have set up camp, I'm getting a series of much deeper cuts. Or at least, the magical signature is much stronger."
"So you're thinking that this is their 'Nyust'taa'?"
"Or, if not that, then at least another clan head." Foire agreed with a flare of his frills. "I didn't fight one myself, but I've seen the marks left behind by your fight with the leader in Nievtra as well as in the forest against the other one you killed. This seems to be somewhere in that same general vicinity of power."
Foire's certainty was enough for me. He'd never take so firm a declaration without being as positive as he could manage to be, and if he had much in the way of doubt, he wouldn't speak.
"So we are looking at our next contact being soon? Because this new, strong one hasn't been leaving their mark until now, right?"
"Correct, Zaaktif."
"So they have someone they either met up with, or someone who has made themself evident now. That means plenty of opportunities for us to ambush their superior, but I hesitate to just assume that now is the time that they will rush into combat. Have there been any sightings of prey hunted or some of their number splitting off? Because if they're just fleeing, I don't know if we should change anything."
Foire clacked his teeth together as a negative confirmation. As he did so, though, Silf raised his voice. "I'm not positive, but I do suspect that I found a small trail of people who were leaving and the direction that they left in. They're inconclusive though."
It made me smile to see the two males working together in different aspects. Foire with his certainty and Silf with his willingness to make assumptions came together to lead me towards the best paths forward.
"Explain it." I demanded, though I deliberately put on an easy-going tilt of my head for the benefit of the other watchers.
"There's just a couple small shreds of their magic in the forest looping around in this direction, but I suspect that they split into two groups, one continuing to go south on the path we're already treading, the other gone to loop around behind us. I don't think that the more powerful magical signature looped around, so I'm not sure if they intended for us to follow the harder to notice and follow looping group, or to pursue those continuing forward. It could be that the Misti Hawar gone to circle around are looking to escape from us entirely on a different path, or perhaps both these guesses are completely off the mark."
"I say we, as all 50 of us," I said, making the decision, "investigate the looping for just an hour or so, see what we can find with a bit of dedicated searching. Instead of all of us treading that same path, though, we'll all spread out here as if we partially lost the trail. I want at least ten following the looping trail together, with the rest of us a little bit further away but still in communication while you ten are following the trail. I want there to be no way that the rest of us miss it if you get into a fight. Brutus, you're with them, making sure they have the muscle to survive if necessary."
He rumbled a little in disagreement, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he flared his frills and stepped forward to exit from out of my shadow. As Brutus did so, Foire leaned in towards Silf and gestured for the other male Sik'Tal to take the lead.
"Both of you go together." I commanded. "The rest of us aren't actually looking for anything, this is the lead we're following for now. I want both of you working together to ensure we're getting as good of results as we can manage. Now go."
The males bowed slightly as they flared their frills as they turned and jogged away. I gesture for Hala to accompany them as well. She didn't say anything as she turned and immediately fell in line, just ensuring that she'd be present to help ensure that, if they managed to catch up to any of the Misti Hawar, she could keep the shadow magic in check. Myself, I resolved to go about halfway towards where the real investigations would take place. From there, I could react to anything on either side, given that there was a pretty good chance that the enemy was going to then ambush the side that had no markings. As prepared as I could be, I squatted down and waited, ready to do whatever was necessary.
When I settled into position, squatting down, my body heat started to melt the snow, and I watched my breaths puff into mist in front of me. It was still cold, but I could feel the air becoming more moist instead of bone-chillingly cold. Spring was coming, though it was still at least a month off from making any meaningful headway in melting the snow off, but the days of heavy snow were numbered, and I was looking forward to it. Not having to struggle to feed my people would be a blessing. As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I heard a sound off in the distance. I stood up, stretching my awareness as much as I could to understand what was happening. My people were talking. Loudly. I ran to find out what was happening.
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