"Wasn't this village supposed to be abandoned?" I asked.
"Yes, great elf, it was abandoned a long time ago. The only reason the buildings and campground hasn't been reclaimed by the earth is because our armies keep using it as a base before crossing the border," said the demon scout leader.
"You're telling me you've used this place as a base before?" I asked.
"Yes, our armies always camp here before a campaign into the Singing Horde's lands," said the demon scout leader.
"There are camps like this one along every border between the Republic, the Kingdom, and the Horde," said the fairy scout leader. "The beastmen know we will be coming for the book, so the element of surprise is already lost."
"Right, but what about supply lines and logistics?" I asked. The army I had helped lead into the Lux Republic was on a rescue mission, so we had been expecting logistical support from the Republic. In the end, since all the cities had been abandoned and burnt down, we were able to rush straight to the capital before supplies became too much of an issue. But now that we were going to invade a country, we had to prepare for long sieges and careful battle plans. We couldn't count on receiving supplies from the cities and towns that we raided, either, since the beastmen were being influenced and controlled by an Immortal. I had a feeling the beastmen would rather burn down their own granaries than let us take their supplies, so a reliable supply line was essential.
"The beastmen are powerful warriors but they are not well-coordinated," said the demon scout leader, "for many generations, they have preferred fighting in open battle rather than making strategic attacks on supply lines and garrisons. Besides, their political and military structure is so decentralized and spread out, they've never had to fear attacks like that from us either. Both the Kingdom and the Republic have different fighting styles when facing each other and when facing the Horde."
I nodded. I already knew about the semi-nomadic, tribal structure of the Singing Horde. The Horde was really a collection of beastmen tribes that worked together against foreign threats but competed against one another for food and land on the steppes. The major tribes coordinated their armies through the council of chieftains, and the other tribes had to pledge fealty to the council or they'd get crushed by the major tribes. The beastmen were a proud, independent people, which was why the demons, fairies, and spirits were never able to divide up the tribes by pitting them against one another. Even if the beastmen seemed to be willing to betray their own kind for support from the Kingdom or Republic, they wouldn't stay loyal for long and would turn on the outsiders as soon as they thought they could get away with it. I had even experienced one of these relationships as they had broken down.
"Sir, there is urgent news," said a voice from outside the tent.
I was sitting inside the fairy scout leader's tent near the outskirts of the village. It had been a day since I'd slept on the grass on the hillside, and we were expecting to hear from the united army soon. The fairy scout leader told the other scout to enter the tent and a tall female fairy walked in and gave us a salute.
"Sir, the long distance scouting party has sent a messenger ahead of their return," she said.
"A messenger?" said the demon scout leader. The only reason they would do something like that would be if they were stuck in place and couldn't leave. "Are they okay? Should we send a rescue party or do we need to retreat?"
The scout shook her head. "No, sir, the party isn't in any danger. They are staying in place to treat an injured prisoner."
I exchanged glances with the two scout leaders. A prisoner? If the prisoner was an enemy scout, that would mean the main army wasn't too far behind. According to the scout leaders, the beastmen wouldn't send out scouts near the borders to confirm where our forces were stationed since they already knew we were probably gathering near this village and that sort of reconnaissance didn't fit the beastmen's fighting style. "If it's an enemy scout, we might have to retreat after all," I said.
"No, great elf, it is not an enemy scout," said the scout.
I frowned. "If the prisoner isn't a scout, then what are they? Did you capture a random civilian?"
"I think I know what's going on," said the demon scout leader, "something similar happened in the last border dispute. We caught a single beastman who was trying to approach our encampment. He said he'd come with information and offered to defect."
"So it was a trap?" I said.
"No, he provided valuable information that helped us beat back the horde's raiding party and became an important spy for the Kingdom," said the demon scout leader.
"But then why are you making that confused face?" I asked.
The demon scout leader turned to me with his brows furrowed and a perplexed look on his face. "That is because all of the demon spies that were connected to the Kingdom disappeared or returned to the Horde. We have not had contact with a beastman since the capital's isolation. We even lost Spot, our most valuable and trusted beastman spy."
Right, I remembered that doglike beastman. I still wasn't sure if he was a triple agent, a strange victim of an Immortal's machinations, or just a really bad spy. Nor did I know if he was dead or alive. "So you're saying you caught a defector?"
"Yes, great elf," said the scout.
"Well then, maybe I'll go take a look myself," I said.
"No, great elf, you mustn't!" said the fairy scout leader.
"Yes, it might be a trap!" said the demon scout leader.
"That's okay," I said, noting the unnatural apprehensiveness on their faces. "Where is the rest of the scouting party? I'll go meet them on my own."
The scout looked at her commander instead of answering my question. The fairy scout leader had a strange look in his eyes, as if he was trying to work out some sort of reason to have me stay instead of letting me act on my own.
I shook my head. "Whatever," I said as I walked out of the tent. I brushed past the fairy scout, who didn't move even as I left the tent. The scout leaders rushed out behind me, saying something about preparing an escort party to accompany me, but I didn't respond. Instead, I looked around the place and tried to remember the direction the scout had come from. I'd sensed her with my motion detection magic so I was able to guess the general direction of the scouting party.
I glanced over my shoulder. The scout looked in front of me, into the distance in the direction I was facing. The scout leaders reached out with their hands, as if they could keep me from leaving. I bent my knees, aimed one hand to the sky, and jumped.
Flying over the abandoned village, I realized there were no living beings for miles. No monsters or birds or anything else. I looked down at the village and saw the scout leaders staring up at me with their mouths closed and their faces grim. The entire encampment seemed to have come to a standstill, with everybody dropping what they were doing to see the elf flying in the sky. A few of them broke their silence and pointed up at me, but most of the demons and fairies looked up at me in eerie silence. I turned to the East, and flew away.
---
I arrived at the scouting party's camp in an hour. They hadn't been tough to find, since this was the one patch of land where there was no wildlife. I descended from the sky, behind the outer ring of lookouts. The scouting party was made up of only fairies, which meant there were a bunch of tall, burly figures walking about the place. Since these guys were scouts, they weren't as loud as most fairies were, which actually meant that they were a strange sight to behold. A group of silent giants with dainty little wings doing delicate tasks inside a quiet and well-hidden camp.
These scouts were just as surprised by my arrival as the main scouting group had been the night before. Thankfully, it was daytime and they could see who I was and led me to their captive without much trouble. They were keeping him in a tent in the middle of the camp. I brushed aside the opening of the tent and walked through.
I didn't step into the tent. "It's you?" I said out loud, surprised by the coincidence. "Spot?"