The Homecoming 82.

The Road...

Dalinvardél Tanith the elven spy rolls his eyes, after muttering "Shit" and slightly jumping in fright when Helbe the elven thief suddenly appears beside him saying "Boo".
"Do you mind?" dryly says the elf from the principality of Alínlae "Oh i don't mind in the least" says the young elven noble with a tight grin upon his face as the two of them look down to the trade road below.
They're up a hill, a vineyard to be exact, one of many dotted throughout not just the Lé Dic fief, but much of the east of Druvic.
And as they stand amongst the rows of vines, on what began as a cool morning, and turned into a warm, early spring day.
The elven spy asks the elven princeling "They all that far away?". "Still a bit away" replies the elven magic user, who then nods away to the left, and adds "I've found some more of them".
"Scouts again?" asks the spy Tanith, who is often referred to as Dalin by the rest of the group "Scouts" answers the elven masterthief.
Dalin nods and starts walking that way with the grandson of the ruling prince of Laerel, and when the two hooded figures get to a wide gap between the rows of vines, they disappear as the young elven noble teleports them away.
The spy Tanith lifts an eyebrow as he looks at all the bodies lying amongst the trees. They're on a farm, just to the west of the hill with the vineyard.
It's all part of one estate belonging to a local noble. Who died just a few days ago when the Lé Dic army crossed the border, and entered the Harkonin fief, and was wiped out.
Those who lived and worked on the estate, abandoned it yesterday morning, when word reached them that an invading army from the Harkonin fief was heading this way. They've taken off to castle Lé Dic, and with good reason. As the estate is right next to the trade road that goes through the Lé Dic fief. It runs just to the south of the estate. With a couple of side roads, and numerous tracks connecting it to the trade road.
By the forest gods, his highness can be a bit ruthless at times, Dalinvardél Tanith thinks to himself as he looks at the half a dozen dead soldiers in the Harkonin army, then the elven spy asks the elven magic user from the island principality of Laerel "Get any useful info from them before you killed them all?".
The young elven noble gestures away to their right, and starts walking towards a couple of trees that are close together. Dalin follows him, and spots another Harkonin scout lying behind the two trees.
"They're under the direct command of that dark druid" says prince Helbenthril Raendril, who continues with "They're out specifically looking for Tovis".
"Really?" says a slightly surprised elven spy, the elven master assassin nods his hooded head, then says "Seems the baron wants his war engineer found" followed by "And he's ordered the dark druid to find him".
Helbe the elven thief gestures at the Harkonin scout lying next to the two trees, who wakes as he's only unconscious.
"What were your orders?" the young elven noble asks in common to the Harkonin soldier lying on the ground.
"To find the war engineer Tovis" replies the scout who is under the influence of a spell cast by the elven magic user, forcing him to answer truthfully.
"Why?" asks the elven masterthief "Because the baron wants him found, and Palvarc the dark druid has been tasked to do so" replies the prone soldier on the ground, who can't move, apart from being able to talk.
"My squad and a few others have be assigned to the baron's advisor, the dark druid" continues the scout in the Harkonin army, who when he pauses, the elven magic user prompts him with "And?". "Which is a little strange, since everyone knows Palvarc doesn't particularly like young Tovis".
"Strange alright" murmurs Dalin, who speaks in elven with the princeling from Laerel, the spy Tanith then asks the elven master archer "Anything else?".
"Not much" replies Helbenthril Raendril in the same language, who then adds "Just that he thinks the army will get here just before midday".
The spy from the elven principality Alínlae nods his hooded head, then he looks at the enscrolled scout in the Harkonin army lying on the ground. The elven spy looks at the young elven noble and slightly shrugs his shoulders.
The youngest grandchild of Prince Raendril turns and walks away, Dalin heads that way with him, as the Harkonin scout briefly spasms, then goes still, dead.
They walk between the trees, and stop at the edge of them. Looking across some pastures, towards the trade road a couple hundred yards away.
"This would be a whole lot easier if you'd kill the baron" says Dalinvardél Tanith, who then adds "Or this dark druid too".
"I know" says Helbe the elven thief, who continues on with "Not so easy though".
"I know, you've told me" says Dalin, as the elven magic user has explained to him it might be more than a little difficult to kill either baron Harkonin, or his advisor, the dark druid Palvarc.
He would of done so already if he could. Doing it when he first joined them after the rest of the group, found and took the war engineer, would of been ideal.
Unfortunately that's when the elven magic user found out killing either the dark druid or the baron would be a difficult task.
"So it's his staff" says the spy Tanith, who continues with "Can you destroy it, or nullify it in anyway, so that you can get to him?".
"That's the problem" says the highly skilled spellcaster, who goes on and explains "Doing so will alert him, even i can't stay undetected from it" the young elven noble then murmurs "That's a pretty smart fucking staff" as he wonders how it exactly works.
Narladene the ground pixie has informed him of it, and how it basically detects anyone magical. Even the elven princeling who has the ability to go undetected around other practitioners of magic.
But she doesn't know the mechanics of it, which isn't surprising. As she like all naturally magical creatures, knows the basics of anything magical. But not in detail about specific things. Unless it's a subject they're specifically knowledgeable about.
Which for Narladene since she's a ground pixie, is anything and everything that comes from beneath the ground. From spell gems, to magical weapons made from steel and everything in between.
And when the young elven noble she's attached to, asked her for more detail about the dark druid's staff. Since it's made of wood, and wood is from trees, and trees grow in the ground.
She got all huffy with him, and told him she's not a silly dyrad. And if he wanted to know about trees, and wood and the like. He should go and ask one of them.
And that he as an elf of all people should know that. The elven princeling left it at that. Since he doesn't want an annoyed Narladene around him. As she can be more than a little vengeful at times.
Not that she'd do anything to him, just that she might not respond to him if he wants her to do something. Which can get bothersome when only she can do something that no one else can do.
"Maybe attack the baron when he's not around his advisor?" asks Dalin, Helbe the elven thief shakes his hooded head, and says "The druid has linked it to the baron" he then silently adds, well according to Narladene he has.
"It's also why a lot of the other nobles are always close to the baron when they travel" explains the elven magic user, who continues with "Any spellcasting in his vicinity will alert the staff, and the dark druid".
Prince Helbenthril Raendril rubs his chin, then quietly says "Might have to take them out one at a time when they're some distance away from either the baron and the dark druid" the highly skilled spellcaster, who doesn't like to be thwarted by anything magical, then adds in a murmur "I'll figure something out".
The two of them watch the empty trade road for a time, then the young elven noble waves away behind them, and asks "You checked those farm buildings out back there?".
"Not yet" replies Dalinvardél Tanith "Might as well do it now" says the elven masterthief, and the two of them walk along the front of the trees until they get to one of the roads that leads off to the north from the trade road. The elven magic user teleports the two of them the couple hundred yards to the farm buildings.
As he wanders around an empty barn, then looks into a storage shed, Dalin spots a flat circular stone on the ground behind the barn.
He steps towards it, then says "Might of found something back here" knowing that the elven princeling will be able to hear him, wherever he may be.
The elven master assassin turns out to be in the farmhouse itself, and he walks outside, and makes his way around the empty barn to where the spy Tanith is standing.
"Sacrificing stone isn't it?" asks the elven spy from Alínlae, who like Helbe the elven thief and all elf kind, detests live sacrifices.
"Sure looks like it" says the elven magic user "For humans?" asks Dalin, who even gets a sick feeling thinking about it.
"Nah" says the young elven noble from the island principality of Laerel, who looks behind them at the empty barn, and adds "For animals".
The grandson of Prince Raendril then continues with "Besides Percy's family banned the old ways of the dark druids from their lands centuries ago. Probably when they converted to worshiping the gods of Volunell".
The elven master archer, gestures at the flat stone that's about twelve feet wide, then says "They still allow the normal druids to sacrifice animals, since quite a few of the commoners here in the east of the kingdom still follow the druidic ways".
The elven spy nods his hooded head, then the elven princeling kneels down next to the flat stone, looking at something along the edge of it. Dalinvardél Tanith notices Helbe the elven thief glancing at his right shoulder. The elf from the principality of Alínlae suspects the young elven noble is listening to the pixie that's attached to him.
Dalin hasn't seen it all that often, it only rarely shows itself to him. And has only spoken to him a handful of times. Usually to tell him something in that imperious tone of voice of hers.
The elven spy tries to listen carefully, but even with his naturally enhanced hearing he can't hear what the invisible ground pixie, well invisible to him at least, is saying to the young elven noble.
Prince Helbenthril Raendril touches something along the edge of the flat stone circle. Then he quickly gets up, and steps back from it.
There's a slight rumbling sound, and the ground shakes for a little bit. What follows is a grinding sound of stone on stone, then the flat stone circle starts to slowly rotate, and rise up.
Dalin lifts an eyebrow is surprise as he sees the stone circle, is a flat disc, a couple inches thick, as well as being ten feet wide. It comes up to about three feet off the ground, and a large stone pedestal has risen up out of the ground supporting it.
"That" says the spy Tanith once the stone sacrificial table has come to a stop "Is some pretty damn fine engineering for a bunch of druids".
"Especially for something that's older than both of us combined" says the elven magic user "Hmmm dwarven made?" asks the spy who once served in one of the more prominent noble houses in his homeland of Alínlae.
"Gnomish perhaps?" adds Dalinvardél Tanith, Helbenthril Raendril glances at Narladene who is standing upon his right shoulder, who nods her head to what the spy Tanith just said as she looks on with curiosity at the druidic sacrificing table.
"Gnomish" says the elven princeling, who then looks at Dalin, and asks him "Notice anything about the stone itself?" followed by "The type of stone?".
"Doesn't look like the type they use for those standing stones we've seen here in east" murmurs the elven spy, who then frowns, then quietly says "Looks a bit like a lot of what the castle is made out of".
Dalinvardél Tanith looks at the elven magic user, then asks him "Has that castle got some secrets we don't know about?". "It might do" quietly says the young elven noble, who quickly glances at the tiny winged creature sitting on his right shoulder, who once again nods yes to what the spy Tanith just said "Actually it does" says the elven master assassin, who then adds "What? I'm not exactly sure".
Then Narladene whispers something to the elven princeling from the island of Laerel, and he tells Dalin "Come on, they'll be here in a bit" he then adds "Let's go and cause some mischief".
After Helbe the elven thief presses the same bit of stone, that lowers down the sacrificing table of the local druids. The two of them walk back around the empty barn, and start walking down the farm road that connects to the trade road about four hundred yards away. As they walk, the two of them disappear as the young elven noble blurs the two of them from sight . . . . . .