Chapter 450
I strode through the streets of Nievtra, my people bowing as I walked past, preparing to receive “visitors”. The first snows had fallen but still refused to stick, and the days were now finally shorter than the nights. I had expected the Misti Hawar to make their approach earlier in the season, especially knowing that we’d taken captives and they hadn’t engaged in any real talks as of yet, but they also hadn’t reached out to us to discuss the surrender of our captives. I had no complaints, since while the furry foes would have a greater advantage in the dark, we could see more than well enough to keep ourselves in the fight. As such, I welcomed the opportunity to train and raise more of my people to be ready for the inevitable battles, expecting that numbers could cover for a whole host of difficulties.
Five days before, Ruskil had returned from the south, his pack having investigated some deliberate markings from the Misti Hawar. It was obvious that they'd left the marks for somebody’s benefit, but whose, we didn’t know. There weren’t any of the Misti Hawar that’d presented themselves recently, and the scouting expedition had remained in the south for an extra 10 days trying to find any particular reason for the marking, but to no avail. Finally, Ruskil had guided his pack to return through the Shandise to report their findings and lack of additional information. Most of my elites’ immediate reaction was to send more to the south to see what they could find, but I refused to allow it. With how little we understood, I wouldn’t permit my people to run around and get themselves killed while we searched for possibly unimportant information. Fortunately, we had a somewhat reliable source of information that bore surprising fruit.
With Ruskil’s discovery, I approached the Misti Hawar prisoners. The female, as always, was more compliant than her fellows when I approached. The other others bared their teeth and generally acted like untamed beasts, while the female, Maksulah, was much easier to talk to.
“I thank you for your presence here.” The dark furred creature bowed as I approached. “How may I serve you?”
The males started to snarl something, but were quickly muzzled by Brutus and several of his Alqat bodyguards. Once there was silence, I said, “I have something one of you might be able to explain to me. While on patrol on the border between our nations, one of my people encountered a small marking on the base of a tree. It was deliberately made with your magic, and in the deepest recesses of the cuts left in the tree, there were deeper pools of your magic there. It was no older than a few days, and we have every reason to believe that this was deliberate and intended for us to discover. Would you like to explain what this is?”
To my surprise, the thrashing males ceased their struggles as soon as they heard my explanation. They started struggling in a different way, their body language more desperate than angry. Even Maksulah, composed and soft spoken as she was, stiffened at my words, and she leaned forward as she asked, “May I ask some clarifying questions?”
I couldn’t mistake the thrum of emotion in her words, and I flared my frills for her to continue.
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“How many cuts were there? And do you know exactly how deep the furrows were? How dark was the hue of the magic?”