Chapter 149 The Eve of Battle (1/2)
”I think we're getting close,” Stoneheart said, looking at the six dead round in front of them
They had already spent the better part of teeks in search of the ar parties, there was little sign of the ion was hilly and densely forested, and the terrain made it far harder to find the army than they had anticipated In such an environment, they could have easily passed within a
Initially, they had thought they could si inforious fervor, choosing death over capture And when they finally caught one alive, the ue before they couldto capture their enemies alive
Still, even if the scouts they found would not talk, they knew they were getting closer Just in the past two days, they had encountered three scouting parties, and come across the tracks of several others
Arran took a few s, and soon, a sot theave him a puzzled look ”What makes you say so?”
Arran triumphantly held up a piece of fresh flatbread
At once, Stoneheart's eyes ith exciteot theave the tall novice a satisfied nod Until now, all the scouts they'd killed had carried only stale supplies That these new ones had fresh supplies meant they had only just left their ca
”So what do we do now?” Stoneheart asked ”Try to follow their tracks back to the caood at tracking,” Arran said with a shake of his head ”Give me a moment”
He quickly spotted what looked to be the tallest tree near thee to his unnaturally strong and dexterous body
Near the top of the tree, he could see over most of the canopy, and he soon spotted what he needed: a tall hill in the distance
He ain, then turned to Stoneheart ”Follow me I kno to find them”
In the dense forest it took them well over an hour just to reach the hill, and then another one to reach its peak Arran didn't er escape them
”Nohat?” Stoneheart asked when they finally were atop the hill, hidden a the brush at its peak
While they could see for miles around from the position, all that was visible was the thick canopy of the surrounding forest Of the arn
”Noait,” Arran replied ”They'll ins to fall, and when they do, we'll be able to spot the smoke of their campfires”
He was reasonably confident that the plan should work An army of thousands would move slowly, and froht they would not have the discipline to hide their fires
The wait took several hours, and as evening began to fall, Arran started to feel some worry Despite his prediction, there had still not been any sign of s before dusk fell and the sky became too dark
”There!” Stoneheart said, just as Arran was starting to think he had made a mistake ”Look!”
Arran did as the novice said, and with some effort, he could make out a thin pluh he wasn't certain the smoke came from the army, another small plume of smoke soon appeared, and then another
They had found the arlance ”Think we should go take a look?”
Arran nodded ”We'll have to scout the terrain and find out their numbers before we take action Only one way to do that”
They set off iht that remained to make their way toward their ene their eneress was rapid, and they traversed most of the distance in less than an hour
As they came closer to the cauards posted in the area surrounding the careat skill at stealth Still, with the darkness concealing theuards, they ed to pass unnoticed
Finally, they reached a spot on a thickly forested hillside that overlooked their enemies' cah Arran had known their enemies numbered in the thousands, now that he could actually see them he still felt some shock The camp was filled with hundreds of small fires, each surrounded by at least a dozen soldiers, withbetween thean to feel some doubt about his ability to take them on Even if his reason told him the nu it
”There's so hts
”Have you spotted their leader yet?” Arran asked in a low voice, suppressing any anxiety he felt
”No,” Stoneheart replied ”But look, so at the center of the caht At the center of the caroup of soldiers was stacking wood for what looked to be a pyre