For what amount of time Skandranon and Kessrah dwelt by the ashes of their loved ones they could never say. In that surreal and perverse atmosphere time had no meaning. They comforted each other somewhat by being together, and after some time they were able to bury what scraps the fire had missed, daring not to communicate during their grisly task.

After some time an amount of discipline returned to the two, and they were able to think rationally about what happened, and what should be done next.

"In order to take over and destroy the whole town like this, they must have had at least double the men of those in the village; two to grab and restrain each person, and catch those that were running off." Kessrah paced a few steps back and forth.

Skandranon looked up from the ground. "Not necessarily. It's possible that they had Mages use mind magic to force them into surrender; take over their bodies. Every trace that this force left is laced with magic."

"What's clear is that they didn't want a single person to escape. Why would secrecy be so important, and why did they go after Lin'shala?"

"I don't know." Skandranon answered solemnly. "But this happened no more than a day ago; if we start tracking them now we might be able to catch up with them and get a better look."

"Their trail clearly leads to the North; why not just scry for them?" Kessrah asked.

"I can tell that some powerful magics were involved in this somehow, and if so, I don't want to be sticking my face down a snake hole by scrying for a mage more powerful then me. If he detects me, which he probably will, we will loose whatever cover we have. Besides, if he catches my mind while I'm out hunting for him, he would probably do some very nasty things to it." Skandranon spat, took a deep breath and flew North, back into the Pelagiris.

They both flew all night straight into the heart of the Pelagiris, deeper then they had ever been before. Then soon after daylight the great green sea below them vanished, and was replaced by horrifying valley of nothingness. Cut through the forest, as if by a huge knife, was a wide strip that stretched from the East and into the Southwest as far as the eye could see, and within it there were no living trees, animals or plants. It was completely devoid of life. Skandranon looked at it in mage site and it appeared as black nothingness, bordered by the lush green light of the living forest to each side of it.

"My Gods...." Kessrah breathed. "What could have done this...Marr?"

Skandranon growled. "This land was not burned or cut down; it had all of the life-energy sucked from it. Nothing will ever live or grow here, not for ages. I can't imagine the amount of Mages that you would need to tap this much energy..."

"Or the amounts of power that a forest as ancient as this would provide. And why would you need that energy?" When Skandranon shook his head, Kessrah replied, "fine then, we follow it West and see."

It didn't take too long before Skandranon and Kessrah found the end of the strip of dead forest. However, nothing could be seen at the end of it. There were no Mages, and no detectable use of the forest energy. Skandranon scoured the area with both natural and mage site, but could see nothing other than forest and trees. But then, through the corner of her eye, Kessrah spotted one single man in armor, apparently on patrol. The two Gryphons landed in a large tree, and waited. Another soon joined him, but there was no encampment to be seen. The soldiers moved back to where they came, and suddenly disappeared, as if they had walked behind a magical curtain.

Skan noted the magical residue that the two left behind, and once he knew what he was looking for, a small probe of energy caused the picture of forest in front of him to melt away. There, stretched out below him, was an enemy encampment that held a small army. He hissed in rage upon seeing his enemy. "Kess, can you see them?"

"See what?"

"That's what they have been using the energy for; to hide an army, right under our noses..."

Kessrah became understandably alarmed. "Skan, have you lost you mind! There is nothing there!"

"But there is," he hissed. "It can only be seen by mage site, and only when you are specifically looking for it, and right on top of it. Otherwise it tricks you into thinking that all you see is forest; it's just a huge illusion... Surely this is the slime that took Lin'shala."

She looked into his eyes searchingly for several moments, and then decided to trust him. "Fine, then, how many are there?"

Skandranon smiled at her in gratitude and then began reporting as best he could. "There are 30 rows of plain tents; soldiers. Then there are several considerably nicer ones, they must be for the mages." He searched as best he could, trying to count and identify all of the energy signatures from afar without following them, which would have clued off the Mages. "There are between 20 and 25 Mages, most of them Adepts. Then about 800 soldiers. The only other life is the livestock from..." He assumed that Kessrah knew what he was speaking of.

As another man stepped out of the illusion, Kessrah's eyes blazed with hate. "Well, I think it's about time we find out why they are here, yes?" Skandranon clicked his beak and nodded. She waited until the man wandered a little too far from his post before she swooped out of the tree in perfect silence. Before he could make a sound she had swooped him up and carried him back up into the boughs. A talon over his throat successfully kept him from alerting anyone else, and within a few minutes Skandranon was able to enter his mind and pick out all the information that he wished.

Skandranon had mercilessly shredded the man's mind in the process of searching for what he wanted. He could have done it with more finesse and a minimum of damage, but after he encountered the surface memories of what had been done to the villagers in Lin'shala, Skan did not find the man's sanity his primary concern. Kessrah gladly put the driveling mess out of his misery and hid the body up a higher branch, and then asked what Skan had learned.

"They are from Marr. They have been traveling West now for 4 months under magical cover. They planned to come out of the North and capture Ralendor through surprise, while other troops commanded our attention at the Eastern Pass. Those 8 Makarr were just scouts, but the one that I let get away told his..." Skandranon began to have difficulty speaking, but after a few breaths he was able to continue. "He told his commanders that they had encountered some hostility, from the only outpost for days around. Their Mages traced us back to Lin'shala... I didn't cover our tracks..." Skandranon had to take several more moments to regain control of himself. "Our village was the only one that might find them somehow. So... they made their way to the village and destroyed it, killed everyone..." He then lost the ability to speak coherently.

Kessrah did her best to soothe him, and after some time prompted; :Skan, Skan, did you find out when they are going to head South, when they are going to attack?:

He nodded his head and mindsent, :They are waiting for all of the troops to be out of the city, they were going to charge as soon as they got word.: He regained composure, and looked to the sky with pain-filled eyes, thinking.

"Kess, you have to get back to Ralendor. You have to get there as fast as you can to warn them. I'll have to stay here and trace their movements."

Kessrah's feathers rose defensively "If you think I'm leaving you out here you're crazy!"

Skandranon flashed a faint grin. "Who said I'm not crazy?" She looked at him anxiously. "Kess, you leave now and warn them. It will take weeks for troops to get back to the city. I'll stay here, and when these men start moving, I'll get to Ralendor first and let you know how much time you have left to prepare defenses."

She didn't buy his story, and stared stubbornly at him.

"...If you have to prepare defenses. I have a plan."