The transition was shockingly smooth. Trace called a gathering in Shepherd's Square, and officially passed the title over to Keiren. A generally liked man, most people were happy to see him take the role. Of course, there were some rabble-rousers, some political rivals, but it was easy and seamless. After the short ceremony, Trace left town, and went back up to the estate with Natani and Keith. That evening, he gathered everyone in the living room and told them what had happened with the Templars, and how he had passed his title to Duke Keiren. Afterward, he, Red, Zen, Natani, and Keith talked about what to do. "It would be ideal if we took down a tower." Trace said, looking at a map of the region. "But the closest one is in Morlin Hall, and I'd rather avoid that one. If it's anything like what happened on the Basidian Isle, the city would be leveled, and that's the main tower. Too tough to take down."
"What about cutting supply lines?" Keith suggested. "There's a lot of soldiers coming from the west, and they would have to take them lots of food. A soldier with an empty stomach won't want to fight for long."
"No." Red said, shaking his head. "Like I told Zen earlier, a lot of those men are conscripts. They have no choice but to fight. I don't want to make them suffer if we don't have to."
"It might be inevitable." Natani frowned. "Like you also said earlier: That's war."
"You're both right." Trace said, stepping between them. "This is war, but there's no need to make those pressed into service suffer needlessly. They already are being forced to fight a war they didn't want to be a part of in the first place."
"Zen? You've been rather quiet about all of this. What are your thoughts?" Keith said, glancing over. Zen had a thousand yard stare, his mind elsewhere. Keith elbowed him. "Zen?"
"Gah! What? Oh, right. Uh… the war, yeah. I'm here now."
"What's on your mind?" Trace asked. Zen looked down at the map and sighed.
"Barret. He'd probably be near here by now." He pointed to the edge of the Great North Bay. "I wish I had gone with them. They could have used some help."
"Raine and Haelith can watch his back." Red said. "I'm surprised you're still thinking about it, it's been a few weeks."
"He's our friend, almost family. I'm shocked you aren't thinking about it."
"Who says I haven't considered it? Just packing my things and going until I can't anymore, and then pressing on still? I could probably catch up to them if I really tried. But it was her Fate to go with them. Not mine."
"Since when have you believed in Fate?" Natani folded her arms.
"Ever since Raine…" He stopped himself. They didn't know anything about Aruhn yet. "She encountered someone on the road to Valinos, and it changed her. Shook her to the core."
"Who was it?" Trace asked, suddenly curious.
"It's not my place to say. Just that is changed how she looked at the world."
"Fine. Back to the topic at hand, though, what are your thoughts about all this Zen?"
"I can't see what we can do against either side. We can't contest with the Templar strength, and we can't keep up with the Wolves speed. Both sides have overwhelming numbers, and have dug their heels in. Like Red said earlier-"
"Will you stop calling me that!" Red said, frustrated. "You could just ask my name!"
Zen smiled. "I know your name, Richard. It just makes you mad, and it's fun. Anyways, like you said earlier, the war will come back this way. Edinmire will be right on the front lines. What if, when it does, we try to force the armies away from each other?"
"Force them away? How?" Keith asked, leaning over the map.
"I'm not sure. But, if we can close off this gap from the sea to the mountains, then we can make them go the long way around, and delay the fighting for a long time."
"That could work to slow them down, but I don't think that would stop the fighting entirely." Natani said, looking over Keith.
"No, but it would buy us time to figure things out. There's not going to be an easy 'everyone wins' solution to this. People will be hurt, people already have been. But if we slow them down, then we can figure out the best way to stop this. By cutting off this area, anyone trying to launch an attack would be forced to either face the mountains, and we know how dangerous those are. If they don't' do that, going all the way around the mountains would take several months, or they would have to go by ship around the coast. It could work."
Trace looked over at the window. The sun had already set, and dark clouds loomed far to the north. "We can figure it all out some other time. It's getting late already. We should sleep, see if anything comes to us tomorrow."
…
The dark clouds overhead threatened rain. The building ahead was little more than a stopping point on the road, where it split to go north. A tavern where people could spend the night out of the cold, placed right where they would get a constant flow of visitors. The signs out front pointed down the roads, pointing west toward Valinos, east to Edinmire, and north to Hatchet's Harbor. 'Thirsty Boar' is what the sign out front said. Inside, it was just as plain as the outside. Very few people were downstairs, most of them humans. A few Templar soldiers were drinking by the bar, loudly proclaiming that they had personally defeated an entire army with nothing but their fists. Liars and drunkards. A tiger Keidran slave cleaned up the floor under them, only to be kicked as she tried. No one went to help her, not even the barkeep, who laughed as she was knocked to the floor. The door swung open quietly, and a tall figure wearing a concealing cloak came in. They didn't stop, but walked over to the corner, where a second cloaked figure sat, furred hand around a small tankard of ale. "Yer late. Ya was s'posed to be 'ere yesterday." the Keidran said.
"I was… delayed. Had some business to take care of. She didn't talk, but she didn't need to. I found out where she went." His voice was a solid tenor, smooth and articulate, with power behind each word, but soft, to avoid being overheard. One of the tavern wenches walked over, but a scaled hand told her to stay away. "And… what of our original quarry? Have you found them?"
The Keidran downed the rest of the ale, and slammed the mug down. "Nah. Slipped away from me. Trail went cold. Last I 'eard, they caused some mayhem in Uian few months ago, but I was too far away to catch up. They insisted on sendin' people with me after em. Slowed me down, they did. Made mistakes. Thems'll never make mistakes again though, saw to that personally." A wicked smile touched the old fox's lips. "You's lucky. Just happened to be in town when yer message came."
"Wasn't luck. I know you. You have to come to town sometimes, and I knew where you were going. So, I sent that message a week in advance. I have some new information that will benefit both of us." The fox looked over, his brown snout still smiling.
"Oh? Ya found the one you were after, and ya want me to chase 'er?"
The Ishtaer chuckled evilly. "Yes, and no. I received a report four days ago that she has been traveling north with him. I still want him alive, and now, she's with him. I want them both. I want to go with you this time. I have a plan for them."
"Well, 'e ain't gonna slip away this time."
"I hope not. You are The Hunter, after all."
"Well then, General Erisdar, welcome to the hunt."