Wonderful 74.

The Principality Of Maladimbáh...

Lord Farque looks away to the left, to the east. Where a couple of miles south he can see the smaller maroon coloured wyvern that Mira Reinholt the mage is on.
The undead warlord senses in all directions, and again he can't find the rest of the group that they're searching for.
"Probably just a bit further away knowing them" mutters lord Farque in the ancient language of command, the language along with the language of the Greater Dragons, he tends to use when he's talking to himself.
"Huh?" says Dorc da Orc who then adds "What you fucken say?" as he sits at the back of the saddle on the large glossy green, black wyvern that he and the heavily armoured deathlord are flying on.
"Nothing cunt" says lord Farque in the ork language, which he and Dorkindle converse in when it's just the two of them around.
"Didn't sound like fucken nothing" mutters the ork warleader, who then falls silent when the lord and ruler of the lands Farque glances back at him. The large ork shrugs his massive shoulders, and then as usual as they're flying, he starts grinning again as he looks all around. Though not particularly looking down at the ground below, nor looking for who they're searching for.
The ork weaponsmith just enjoys the sensation of flying, and looking at the world from the perspective of being over five thousand feet up in the air.
Though he's irritated by the afternoon sunshine on what's a warm late summers day, Dorc da Orc couldn't care too much about that, as he's flying. Which not so secretly, is one of his favourite things to do.
Draugadrottin as he's known by the people of his lands, is just glad the large ork is pretty quiet whenever they're in the air upon the wyvern. For the most part the warleader of the ork race is pretty quiet enjoying the flight, apart from when he starts complaining that he's too hot.
The deathlord of Farque with his unique ultra vision looks far and wide, and as usual at not finding the rest of the group they've been searching for since they left the city of Falnic on the coast of Belinswae.
He also doesn't see any griffons in the air here in the north, of what is now the lands of lord Haldéilv that they've crossed into.
Des'tier as he's known by to an older generation of elven kind that may know who he is, isn't all that surprised. As he figures the local elven lord, and those of his extended family who are griffon riders, are probably in the skies, when they are up, are in the south of his lands, where his seat of power is located, and where more of the population is.
Lord Farque looks once more to where the mage Reinholt on the other wyvern is, and he sees the Vexilian mage in exile who is now even further east, is waving for them to come over. With a command in the dragon language, the undead warlord sends the large glossy green, black wyvern to where the smaller maroon one is circling.
A little while later and the two wyverns land in a clearing in a forest, the deathlord of Farque can already sense why the mage Reinholt beckoned him to land here.
As Dorc da Orc hurries to get in the shade beneath the trees at the edge of the clearing, the lord and ruler of the lands Farque and the once powerful mage walk towards the trees the large ork is now beneath, taking shelter from the afternoon sunshine.
"I know" says the lord of the death realm as he interrupts Mira Reinholt the mage who is saying "Just up ahead, there's a number" the exiled Vexilian mage dryly adds, of course you know.
The two of them make their way into the trees, and after a moments contemplation, Dorc da Orc after sniffing a few times, decides to follow them, though the ork warleader does keep beneath the branches of the taller trees, so that he's in as much shade as possible.
"There's a forest road or wagon track just up ahead" says the mage Reinholt in the elven language, the heavily armoured deathlord nods his full helmed head, as he caught sight of the road in question from the air "They're next to it" adds the spellcaster who is also a highly skilled swordmaster.
They keep walking amongst the trees for a little while, with Dorkindle following behind them, going from tall tree to tall tree, as he tries to keep beneath the canopy of the forest as much as possible.
They soon see the forest road, and walk out onto it, they turn left, and start walking south. The deathlord of Farque points at the ground, and the Vexilian mage in exile sees the indentation of horse shoes on the forest road, also heading south.
"Just up ahead" quietly says lord Farque, who a few moments later points to a fallen tree further along the road, behind the undead warlord and the once powerful mage, Dorkindle is slightly drooling as he has already caught wind of what's just ahead.
They stop at the fallen tree, and with a hand covering his nose after he takes a few steps off the road, the swordmaster Reinholt as he looks down, asks "How long ago?" the lord of the death realm who walks up beside the exiled Vexilian mage replies with "A day or so".
Draugadrottin gestures to further in amongst the trees, and he says "More of them there" the lord and ruler of the lands Farque turns and points to the trees on the opposite side of the forest road, and he adds "Four more that way".
"Ooohhh getting ripey" says Dorc da Orc when he walks up and looks down at the dead body that the other two are looking at. The large ork then spots another dead body a bit further away behind a tree, and after glancing at lord Farque and Mira Reinholt, he goes and checks out that dead body.
The spellcaster from south of the equator rolls his eyes as he knows what the warleader of the ork race is up to, then the swordmaster Reinholt follows the undead warlord who nods his full helmed head for him to follow him.
The two of them cross the forest road, and make their way amongst the trees there, they walk about thirty five yards or so, where they find the first body on this side of the road that winds through the forest.
As he looks down at the dead body, the mage Reinholt says "Mercenary by the looks of it" he spots another dead body lying on the forest floor, next to a bush, the spellcaster who was once the most powerful mage of his generation to be found anywhere in the Southlands, then asks "They all human?".
"Yes" replies lord Farque, who crouches down and looks closely at the dead mercenary infront of them, and he sees the dried blood in the ears, and in the nostrils in the man, who can't be much older than eighteen or nineteen.
"His mind was blasted" says the heavily armoured deathlord as he stands back up "Helbe?" asks the highly skilled swordmaster, as he knows the mind blast spell is a particular favourite of Helbe the elven thief "Probably" is the reply of the undead warlord, who then adds "Let's find out".
Mira Reinholt steps quickly back and out of the way as he slightly grimaces as he feels the intense coldness emanating from the lord of the death realm. Then slight tendrils of mist or fog roll off the heavily armoured deathlord, then a few moments later from the ground beneath the dead body, then from the dead mercenary too.
There's a momentary pause, then all of a sudden the dead mercenary stands bolt upright, lifting up off the ground in one unnatural movement, like a plank of wood being lifted up off the ground from one end, while the other end remains on the ground.
The head of the dead mercenary which is tilted to one side, straightens up, and a moment later the eyes that are closed, open up. Mira Reinholt glances away as the dead mercenary just stares at the lord of the death realm, who the once powerful mage figures is communicating with the dead mercenary, well that's undead mercenary now, telepathically.
After a little while, lord Farque slightly gestures with his right gauntleted hand, and the body of the mercenary drops to the ground, and the slight tendrils of fog disappear from it, as well as from the undead warlord.
Draugadrottin turns to the mage Reinholt and tells him "Helbe alright" the heavily armoured deathlord continues with "He caught sight of the thief" he then adds "He was the last to die, and the royal clepto appeared as he was dying".
The exiled Vexilian mage nods his hooded head, then asks "They just road bandits, or something else?". "Something else" says the lord and ruler of the lands Farque who continues with "She hired them, hoping to kill someone in the group, anyone really". "Bitch" mutters Mira Reinholt as the two of them walk back to the forest road, as they do, the once powerful mage quietly says "Pretty basic, and not to mention not a very inventive tactic form her" the swordmaster Reinholt who was a prisoner of Kaldeàlil Haldéilv the elven magic user for quite sometime, adds "I expected more from her".
"As do i" says the undead warlord as they stop at the edge of the forest road, Des'tier looks south for a little bit, then he adds "She's up to fucking something more, she's been after Helbe for three years, no way would she just hire mercs, and not very good one's at that, to ambush them, hoping just to kill one of them".
"Hopefully the thief and Zubutai, i mean Riley figure that out" quietly says the mage Reinholt, who after all these years that Zubutai Timaginson has been in different bodies, the last four and half of which have been in the mercenary ranger Riley Hait, he still thinks of him as the hordes outrider Zubutai.
Lord Farque nods his full helmed head in agreement with what the spellcaster from the city-state of Vexil just said, then with a gesture around them in the general area, he says "This happened yesterday around midday". "We're still a day or so behind them" murmurs the swordmaster Reinholt, the lord of the death realm nods in agreement again, then he quietly says "We'll keep flying late into the night" then after a brief pause, he adds "She's up to something, and these mercenaries here don't know what it is either".
"Probably hasn't told anyone" says the once powerful mage, who then adds "Or at anyone she doesn't trust, as she knows Helbe can find things out pretty easily" Draugadrottin says "More than likely" then he gets adds "Let's get going".
They start walking back north along the forest road, as they do, lord Farque glances back to the trees on the east side of the forest road, and he calls out in the common language "We're going cunt" he follows that up with "Don't bring any of that fucking body with you, eat what you're going to eat there" as Mira Reinholt rolls his eyes, the undead warlord mutters "It'll distract the stupid fucking wyvern".
Behind a tree, with a mouthful of thigh meat he's chewing as he sits on the ground, Dorc da Orc grunts when he hears what lord Farque just called out, the large ork gobbles up the meat in his mouth.
Then he takes the hand axe he's holding, and hacks into the other leg of the dead mercenary he's eating "Mmmmmm long pig" murmurs Dorkindle with a grin, who then adds "Get some!" . . . . . .