Chapter 25: Waiting Amid Confrontations!
The Sixth of Solentide, D.Y. 500
-----The rest of the night passed quietly and Whisper found his camp as he left it. Shortly before dawn, he could hear movement along the road from the town. Recognizing the movement of the two people, the wood elf waited patiently for them to appear.
-----Just as the long absent light began to break through a partly cloudy sky, Whisper saw Crane and Jules enter the camp looking around for him.
-----Whisper inclined his head in greeting to the pair, but continued to sit, content to remain at ease.
-----Crane still looks enthusiastic though his eyes reflect his need for sleep. He waves to Whisper and trots over to the wood elf, chuckling as he approaches.
-----Jules appears a bit more composed, though her demeanor seems lighter than when she left earlier the day before.
-----“Boy!” Crane says as quietly as his throaty voice can muster, “am I glad we’re outta there!” Oddly, he smiles as he says this. “Say,” he suddenly adds, “you wouldn’t happen t’ have a bit o’ breakfast, would you?”
-----Jules rolls her eyes in the dawning light. “I’d say you’ve already had your share of food for one night,” she says to the dwarf. Turning to Whisper, she reports, “We did find out a lot of information and most I think you’d be interested in.” She then sighs, revealing her own need to rest.
-----Whisper leant back, his eyes traveling from the Dwarf to the Human girl. He gestured for them both to sit, then dipped into his pack for a packet of his dried field rations.
-----He threw the packet at Crane with a lazy flick of his wrist, and then intently focused his attention on Jules.
-----As the dwarf greedily tore into the rations (first with a nod of thanks to Whisper), Jules smoothed her cloak around her as she sat. Clearing her throat she looked at the wood elf after first giving Crane a disapproving look.
-----“It seems there are many of the humanoids who have been run out of Kulendra camping on the other side of the Town of Black Bog,” She says gesturing toward the southeast where the town would lie. “In the town there are a few of the beastly ‘commanders’ who were admitted so they could counsel with the troop leaders stationed there.”
-----Jules leans forward as if to make an important point. “Last night a troop left the town to head north. They may have been set out to scout conditions around Kulendra.”
-----After casting another glance at Crane, she adds, “We definitely saw some orcs and humans that were ganging together.”
-----Crane suddenly stopped his assault on the rations to look up with wide eyes. “Tell ‘em!” he said whispering, almost choking on the food in his mouth. “Tell ‘em ‘bout th’t blasted half-orc we saw!”
-----A frightened hush came over Jules before she turned back to Whisper. Blinking and then quickly collecting her thoughts, she quietly began, “We were watching from a balcony that overlooked a festhall. There we saw some orcs and humans who were huddled close together in one corner of the hall at a long table. At the end of the table there was this huge half-orc that carried one of those large curved bladed swords.”
-----“Nobody messed with them ‘though we saw plenty of fights in the festhall and that bunch looked like they were more interested in keepin’ to themselves,” Crane added, his attention fully on the conversation now.
-----Whisper sat quietly, his eyes moving between Jules and Crane as they reported their findings. At the last from Crane, he leaned back slightly, frown furrowing his brow while his eyes stared off into the distance.
-----He remained that way for quite a few breaths before nodding at Jules and Crane. His hand rose and half hesitated as he sought the waterskin holding his rapidly dwindling supply of soothing herbal remedy, finally diving into the satchel at his side.
-----Taking a swig, he resettled himself, and nodded again, this time into the space between his two companions.
-----"Good. Rest."
-----The dwarf gives a sigh of relief. He chuckles to himself again, repeating, “Am I glad we’re outta there!” He slowly moves to his pack to retrieve his blanket which he rolls into a pillow and snuggles down on the ground.
-----Jules watches Whisper quietly trying to read his expression. About the time the dwarf begins a low rumbling snore, she says, “Are you planning on going into the town? You don’t even know if this half-orc we saw is the one you’re after.”
-----Whisper turned his head to regard the young woman, face now devoid of the slight frown. After a moment he cocked his head, cold blue eyes glittering.
-----"Many... years." He lowered the hood, settling it, and the thistledown scarf, around his neck and upper shoulder. "Searching." His lips twitched up into a smile that did not reach his eyes. "From years... to... heartbeats."