"If anyone did see the fire, they'd probably be coming from the direction we were heading on the road," Aeldevan supposed.

Looking at the ruined forest, Ru had a thought. "The hydras made a path when they stomped through the woods. Maybe it'll lead back to a cave we could rest in and get out of this cold damp air."

"Good call," the druid agreed. "Hopefully we make it there before the sun sets."

While the others were deliberating, Feyre and Magra took the opportunity to cut off some of the uncharred meat from the monstrosities. The gnome sliced away some tenderloin almost the same size as her, and Magra slashed off a thick slab of neck meat.

"I'm going to make us a mighty fine meal when we get to this cave," the half-orc announced, starting to drool at the culinary thoughts simmering in her mind.

Once the Dilliah, Dante, and Kevin were retrieved with Nick's help, Haven's Blade carefully navigated through the forest so as to not get the cart stuck in any roots or mud. Still injured, Feyre led the way on Dilliah while Skamos tried to get in some more reading. Aeldevan and Magra followed behind, covering the wider tracks left by the animals with pine fronds and sticks. At the rear was Ru, laying on her carpet as it glided just above the ground so she could do a final sweep to cover any remaining footprints.

"Magra," Aeldevan said with concern as his eyes widened, "you're bleeding out!" 

The half-orc looked at her body, confused at the blood pooling on her clothes. "I don't feel like I am, " she replied. Inspecting closer, she realized it was in the same spot as her pocket. "False alarm! It's just the hydra meat." She chuckled as she patted the pocket, emitting an unsettling squelch with each tap. Aeldevan breathed a sigh of relief and laughed at the grotesque sound.

"I think we're here," Feyre weakly called back after several more minutes.

About a quarter mile into the forest was a small clearing and den big enough for the hydras partially obscured by leafy branches and shrubs. The setting sun shined beyond mountains and trees far off in the distance and glistened on the surface of the nearby lake. Diurnal animals were beginning to quiet and take shelter for the evening which allowed a small realm of quiet before the creatures of twilight began to stir.

Feyre directed her donkey into the cave as the others followed behind. While Skamos got the animals situated, Magra laid out Feyre's sleep mat before getting started on dinner. The rogue lazily slipped off her mount and fell in a heap on her bedding, instantly falling asleep.

Aeldevan and Ru were looking around the cave to make sure there would be no surprises when Ru suddenly stopped with a gasp. She quickly recovered and stepped towards the remains of an adventurer laying against the back wall while Aeldevan watched her speak softly to the man.

"I hope that chunk missing from your side was after you died since it looks really painful," she said to the corpse. "I'm not sure what your customs, culture, and beliefs were, but you deserve better than to rot in a cave. I hope burying you under the swaying trees in view of the serene pond is enough." She looked down and saw one of its hands clutching a healing potion, his life having passed before it could get used. She also spied a coin purse which was shortly thereafter open in her hand. "And I promise your potion and ten gold pieces will not go to waste. I'll be sure to do something fun with them." She stood up and packed her finds away before turning to her half-elven friend. "Do you mind helping me bury him?" Aeldevan nodded with a smile, and the two gently placed the body on her carpet to move him outside.

Coming back into the cave after the vigil, the pair was hit with a mouth-watering scent. They saw Magra spit roasting the hydra meat while searing some of it with rosemary, lemongrass, and garlic. She expertly basted it with butter over and over again, the smells mixing together in aromatic splendor.

"Dinner's ready!" Magra's shout not only brought the two back to their senses but woke Feyre who was luckily more interested in throwing food in her mouth than throwing a tantrum. Wanting to be completely present in the flavorful meal, Skamos set his book down and helped pass out the food to his friends. Magra came back around and sprinkled some fried scales over it, adding, "Something a little extra crispy."

"Magwa," Feyre said with her mouthful. "Thith ith amathing!"

"Yeah, this is flawless," Ru agreed.

"Where did you even find the stuff to make this?", Aeldevan inquired.

The half-orc barely finished swallowing before replying, "Back when you and I were in town."

"Well, it sure is nice having a meal like this without having to go back to the city," Skamos commented. "We'll need to have you cook for my mom sometime!"

The last ray of daylight disappeared behind the mountains as everyone finished their meal. Once dinner was cleaned up and the animals situated, the group got ready for bed.

"I'll take first watch," Skamos offered. "I'm hoping to finish my book before we get to the grove."

"Good idea," Ru said. "It looks like you're already two-thirds through!"

The Tiefling beamed as he settled in by the fire, book already opened.

◊◊◊

Once dawn's light peered into the cave, Ru's watch was over and she woke Skamos up first by gently rocking his shoulder. The bard's eyes snapped open and he sat up straight, almost poking Ru's eye out with his horn. Feeling a surge of energy, he jumped up and yodeled for his other allies to wake up. He danced around the cave with his lute as his music echoed off the walls, sounding like an entire band was playing. He only stopped when Feyre popped up in front of him, threatening him with one of her daggers. He quickly skipped away while humming and lightly strumming his instrument.

Once he pulled his boots on and donned his dark green cape, Aeldevan stepped out into the chilly air to see if anything had happened during the night. The gentle breeze and drizzling rain combined to create a light fog, but he was able to make out a cluster of white elderflower growing on the adventurer's grave he and Ru dug the night before. Scanning the ground for tracks, all he noticed was a lone set of small paw prints in the mud going to the pond's edge and then back into the forest. A slight rustle brought his attention to the owner - an adolescent fox with reddish brown fur who observed the half-elf before scampering back into the forest.

Had she not watched him leave the den, Ru wouldn't have been able to see Aeldevan standing in the clearing with his elven cape camouflaging him in the fog. She figured it wouldn't hurt to lend a second pair of eyes to make sure the scene was safe before they all got on their way, but she didn't notice anything unusual either. The morning air was silent except for the almost inaudible sound of tiny raindrops landing on leaves and echoes from a rambunctious bard yodeling from within the cave.

The dwarf walked back inside to see everyone else had almost finished packing. Either Skamos's voice was energizing them or they were rushing so that he would stop. "Skamos, as much as we've been enjoying this performance, your melodic voice might be heard by other creatures whose attention we don't want to attract."

"Yeah, shut up," Feyre joked.

Ru turned to her and added, "And let's not make any loud dying bird sounds that will attract giant multi-headed lizards again." She threw Feyre a glance that immediately silenced the gnome's snickering.

Once everything was ready to go, Ru watched Skamos hop into the cart and open his book. "Do we have anything we can put over the cart to help keep it hidden and protected from the rain?", she asked the group. "Oh! What about my carpet?" She removed it from the bag of holding that Aeldevan had lent her and unrolled the large rug, sending some dust from the floor into Feyre's face.

"Watch it!", the rogue coughed.

"I was actually thinking we could place the carpet directly underneath the wagon's bed," Aeldevan suggested. "That way it's lighter and doesn't sink into the mud."

"Yeah! I was thinking that too!", Magra shouted and high-fived him. The half-elf winced and turned away as he held his throbbing hand.

On their way back to the dead hydras, Skamos continued his reading despite the inconvenient weather; however, he used a cantrip to not only keep the book dry but to make it act as a handwarmer. Left of him, Magra sat high up on Dante, and Aeldevan and Nick took lead. To the wagon's right rode Ru on Dilliah while Feyre flew beside her.

With no one having said a word since they left, the fighter finally broke the silence. "I wanted to take this moment to let you all know I've had a lot of fun on our travels. Not only have I gotten to know each of you better, but I've also learned a lot about myself and my biological family."

Not used to hearing each other other speak so sincerely, the rest of the group smiled in acknowledgement and murmured similar sentiments. A small grin spread over Ru's face, understanding that they were just as grateful even if it was hard for them to say it.

About halfway back to the bodies, Nick began sniffing the ground vigorously, bringing Aeldevan's attention to two sets of humanoid footprints. The druid had everyone pause while he and Nick investigated the area further.

A minute later, he informed the team of his findings. "These footprints came from where we're heading and are about Magra's size, meaning they're most likely from orcs. Even though we covered our tracks, it looks like a couple of blood trails showed them the way." He gave Magra and Feyre a half accusatory look. "Probably from Feyre's wounds and the hydra meat she and Magra were carrying. Luckily the blood trail petered out here and it was getting dark anyway, so they milled around before heading back the way they came."

"Alright mister detective," Skamos replied, giving his partner an impressed smiled and a wink. 

"Good boy, Nick," praised Magra as she threw the wolfhound a piece of leftover meat.

Feyre chuckled, "I guess they weren't too smart 'cause all they had to do was keep following the giant path of broken trees." She resumed flying forward to scout ahead but went headfirst into a branch while trying to be sneaky. It warranted the following laughs from the group given the comment she had just made. In response, she pouted while rubbing her forehead, staying up front so they wouldn't see.

Finally reaching the draconic corpses, Feyre noticed there was more chunks of meat missing from the bodies than they had left with. "It looks like we weren't the only ones interested in eating these. The cuts are rough, but they're definitely not from an animal. Most likely whoever followed us." She flew closer to the road, following the same footprints Aeldevan had pointed out earlier. "And those tracks disappear here since the dirt on the road is too packed, but I can tell they went left."

"So the same direction we were originally heading," Aeldevan pointed out.

"Yup, I'm gonna say those were orcs then," Magra surmised. 

Ru directed Dilliah to continue up onto the road. "Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough. That grey structure is just around that curve and is probably the mile gate like Aarin said."

"Which also means we might find Pip!" Feyre was motioning for everyone to pick up the pace.

"Don't forget about Brin," Skamos teased, not even lifting his head from his book.

Just as the road began turning right, Haven's Blade parked their steeds on the inner part of the curve. "You stay here boy," Magra directed Nick. "I'll call you when it's time to bring everyone over, but bark if there's anything wrong." She gave him a couple more pieces of meat before patting his head and walking off with the others.

"From here on, we need to be especially quite," Aeldevan warned. "We don't know who or what we'll find, so stay close." As he walked, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. As he reopened them and exhaled, he brought his hands down and out as a wave of magic briefly distorted the space within thirty feet of him. "We've got some time now where we'll be harder to see, but we can still be heard."

Around the corner, the group saw the road turn into a gully with earth and forest rising up on both sides and an old but sturdy stone wall holding nature back from reclaiming the path. Farther away was the mile gate that Ru had seen with its stone structure only about fifteen feet tall. The fog prevented them from seeing anything specific around the structure or anyone who might be manning it, and it muffled any sounds that might have been coming from it. However, that also meant they were harder to see and hear. Moving quietly but with purpose, they could finally make out four figures on top of the wall about three hundred feet out. It had taken them longer to get there than expected, so Aeldevan hoped his spell lasted for them to do what they needed to.

As they got closer to the gully's manmade wall, Magra used tree roots sticking out from the road's and expertly scaled it, swiftly moving into the tree line. Noting her steps and footholds, Aeldevan followed her lead. Now that he was higher up, Feyre and Ru could ascend higher while still being covered by his stealth spell. Skamos remained on the road in case he found something but hugged the wall to stay within his partner's veil as well. With their heartbeats thumping loudly in their chests, they all tried to keep their bodies loose despite the tension they felt in the air, almost thick as the fog around them.

The group was now close enough to the wall to tell there was a wooden double door set into the left side of the gate's wall, just wide enough for a wagon to roll through. Feyre realized that the people on the wall were orc-shaped but didn't seem aware of the party's presence. They lazily stood around, and one disappeared down behind the wall. Feyre couldn't tell if it was the same one who came back up, but then another walked up as well. The rogue quickly flitted between her friends to whisper what she saw and that she couldn't tell how many more they would encounter.

Aeldevan got an idea and whispered for his friends to get closer. "I haven't used it before, but I think I have a spell that could really help." His friends looked at him with intrigue and a bit of excitement. "We'll all be turned into gaseous clouds, so won't be able to speak, but we should be able to indicate with our wisps if we need to." Feyre flopped her arms in a wave motion and stifled a giggle. "Although we can't do much, we can fly incredibly fast and should have a little resistance from their weapons. So, I'm thinking we split into groups and check things out. I'll stay up there," he pointed above the center of the gate, "so that you're all still covered by my cloaking spell, and the fog should help a little bit. Keep in mind our cloud forms takes a minute to take effect and to transform back, but we've got eight hours." 

"Sounds like plenty of time to me," Magra said confidently.

"Yes," the half-elf continued, "but we have maybe a half hour of my stealth spell left, so we should still hurry while staying quiet and out of sight as much as possible."

Once everyone confirmed they were in agreement and safely on the ground, Aeldevan's eyes shimmered silver. Gradually, the rest of his body began to fade into the fog along with the rest of the group. After a minute, they were entirely in a gaseous state, becoming one with the air. They spread out with Feyre and Ru returning to the sky, Magra and Skamos covering the road, and Aeldevan positioning himself between them with room for them to explore. Then they moved forward to discover what else the mile gate had in store for them.

◊◊◊

From his position above the wall, Aeldevan could now see six orcs on it, all with long bows and swords. Luckily, they hadn't been alerted to him or the others. At least not yet. One of the orcs above the wooden doors took a swig from his water skin, bringing Aeldevan's gaze down towards the crimson banner gently flapping in the breeze. On it was the black symbol of the One Eye. Not only were the orcs guarding the gate, but they had claimed it as their own. "We'll just have to take it back then," the druid thought to himself.

Skamos and Magra floated towards the double-door without noticing anything other than the tapestry above it. In their gaseous states, they effortlessly flowed through the gaps in the doors and found an open area with the road stretching ahead. Directly to their left was an orc larger than the others, leaning up against the wall. In addition to his tough plate mail, he held over his shoulder a unique cross between a maul and a warhammer, and its head shimmered with an otherworldly gleam. Fortunately, he was looking the other way as the two drifted further behind the wall, careful not to disturb the mist too much and give away their position. Behind some crates and barrels lingered a hefty grey version of the slaads they had fought before, but this one looked unwell almost like it was decaying. It had dark protrusions sticking out of its arms, head, and shoulders that glistened with the slime secreted from its pale body. It stood as if it was awaiting orders, but its twitching and snarling face showed it was itching for a fight. The friends sensed each other's apprehension but pushed on even more carefully. 

Meanwhile, Feyre and Ru flew above Aeldevan and towards a three-story stone tower that stood twenty feet behind the wall's right side. The square structure was thirty feet on each side with a pair of windows on the front and back sides of the second and third floors. Feyre floated closer to the open window on the top floor and saw a messy room with bunk beds - the living quarters. Looking down at the base of the tower, she saw two orcs guarding a metal door of high quality. "Even Magra would have a tough time with that one," she thought, "but I might be able to pick it if I could get close enough when I'm back to normal." Glancing around, she also spied the grey slaad as shivers went up her spine, recalling the ordeal she went through when their last slaad encounter resulted in her being the host of one of their eggs. She mimed a quick prayer to Chauntea, the goddess of agriculture whom the half-elf cleric Lyra who healed her prays to.

While Feyre was busy, Ru decided to investigate the second floor. Although all the shutters were closed, she could see whisps of smoke coming through the ones at the front. "Perfect cover for a beautiful cloud like me," she planned. After seeping through the shutters, she saw the cause of all the smoke. An orc wearing nothing but an apron was cooking - more like burning - some hydra meat. Ru came in from his right, but he was too focused on the meat that had turned into a ball of fire. She matched the billowing smoke's movement upwards and hugged the ceiling to get a better view. The mess hall was well lit, and there were stairs on the right leading up and stairs on the left heading down. She figured going up would be the better choice since she was already on that side of the room and on the ceiling. The wooden stairway led up to a closed rickety wooden door which she proceeded to phase through. On the other side was a sleeping area with disheveled bunk beds and nothing else of value that she could tell, but she planned to come back when she could pull out the nightstand drawers.

Ru drifted back down the steps and across the room, barely avoiding the orc's detection. He flipped his golden hair and happened to glance at the spot where the fighter had just been. With no smoke going downstairs, Ru remained extra cautious. The stairwell was dim compared to the kitchen, and she noticed only one torch burning at the bottom floor. The flickering flame reflected off three closed steel doors that acted as holding cells. While one of them seemed ordinary, the other two had a faint shimmer.

She panned around the room to find a large orc staring right back at her with a rough hand on a sounding horn. Using her increased speed, she quickly made notes of everything else in the room: the steel door the orc stood next to was the sturdy one leading outside and looked like it could be barred from within; all three cell doors had key holes; and there was a key hanging on the hook behind the orc that looked magical, but she wouldn't be able to grab it in her current form. Ru swiftly moved through the keyhole on the regular cell door, but it was empty save for a rusted pail. For the other two doors, she sensed a static energy and didn't want to get zapped while attempting to enter, so instead she just tried peering through their keyholes. Unfortunately, the magic sealing them prevented her from seeing anything. 

Not wanting to push her luck, Ru flew up the stairs as the orc brought his horn to his lips. She paid no mind to the chef and quickly percolated through the shutters to rendezvous with Aeldevan and the others. She found them waiting where he had been hovering, and just as she reunited with them, she heard the alarm horn echo out of the tower. To make matters worse, their hour of the concealing spell was up, leaving their five cloudy bodies completely visible to everyone who was just alerted to their presence.