Three days have passed by since half the party began to track down the deserters. Hellas leads the way, making calculated decisions whilst also trying to track the deserter's tale. The couple of days have passed by slowly but without any true problems. Norkian Piars have made it difficult to truly distinguish the tracks, their size, and unruly mannerisms leaving behind quite the destruction of their own. The cackling of crows continues to hang in the air as multiple flocks of them fly over.
"We're getting closer." Hellas says as he stands, wiping away the dirt from his hand. "To be more precise these footsteps no longer travel in a large group. So either we're dealing with some that were left behind or scouts."
"Do you believe them to have made their base here?" Cristal asks as she grabs her mace, a light representing the sun at its peak enlightening the mace.
"Well, they can't really go anywhere. Perhaps a bit more to the west but then chances are you're dealing with the Norkian knights or even Sytrichian raiders. The forest is full of wildlife and could be the ideal place for an ambush." The pink-haired ranger responds as he continues to lead the way, continuing to look for any other signs.
"To make things clear. We're supposed to find the deserters and "bring them to justice." I don't want to sound like a veteran mathematician, but we are quite outnumbered." Sol adds on whilst freely using his mana during the expedition. His strings of darkness pull away all the leaves that continue to fall near his feet.
"You're right. The grand duke probably had no idea what he was sending us to. He might not even truly care to be honest. We're probably no more than little toys to help him lighten his consciousness. But don't worry, we're more than enough to defeat a group of deserters." The light that surrounds the mace flickers wildly with every word Cristal speaks. Some nearby leaves start to sizzle as she walks past. "Deserters are after all deserters for a reason. Either they abandoned the battlefield for fear of their life or they couldn't align themselves with the order of their superior any longer. Anyway being a soldier is a hard task, and it seems that they weren't cut out for it. Which shows that they're not invincible."
"That still doesn't solve the mathematic problem."
"Do you honestly think that some wannabe soldier… No, wannabe thugs are a one-on-one exchange? Besides numbers only matter if you wish to face your opponent head-on. We will not be using such a fool's errand." The female paladin's mace shimmers with light with every passionate word. Even the surrounding wildlife listens, the mace looking like a small rising sun.
"And how would we go about "ignoring" this mathematic issue?" Sol asks whilst his dark aura covers him from the shimmers of light. Not allowing their opponents to touch their wielder.
"I have some ideas. However, I believe the expertise to be yours. Any suggestions?" The light surrounding Cristal's mace dims, the auras of both weakening as nature takes precedence again. The sound of crows cackling and the crunching of leaves accompanying them.
"We could use the cover of night. I'm quite... "capable" during that time. However, I don't believe that's the case for either of you." The emerald green eyes look at the back of the pink-haired ranger still leading the party.
"Don't look at me, it's annoying, but I'm confident of creating a decent amount of traps. My arsenal is not so limited that I'm completely reliant on my bow." Hellas replies, feeling the eyes facing his back resembling that of a predator stalking its prey. "And that goes for everyone in our group. You don't become a gold-ranked adventurer if you're not capable of adapting."
"What's Gunnir's hidden talent? Or adaptable skill? My interest is piqued." Sol immediately replies, not able to envision the big scary man do anything else but be a big scary man.
"Haha, well Gunnir can be used in quite some scenarios but more importantly he's a great singer."
"I don't believe you."
"Truly! He can sing like an angel if he truly tries."
"Yeah, right an angel that crawled out of the deepest hole and is unable to speak properly, perhaps." Sol replied, letting his eyes drift away from Hellas's back and into the calm surroundings.
"We can ask him when we return. Now focus." Cristal commands softly, not even raising her voice beyond the being crushed leaves.
A few hundred steps further, Hellas raises his hand in the air. Beckoning the others to stop. He crouches and looks around, his hands rummaging through the leaves and mud. Pulling something out of it.
In his hand sits the remains of an almost entirely whole head. The face wrinkled and dirtied.
"I saw some rather unusually large tracks from Norkian Piar's before. But I didn't suspect that they would have eaten human flesh. They're dying."
"The Piars or the deserters?"
"The deserters, Piars eat anything that doesn't resist. It's why they primarily reside in the grand duchies after the fall of the kingdom. Plenty of waste to go around. However, that's not the sole thing to worry."
"What is?"
"The neck was detached forcefully. The Piars leaving behind "food" is strange and the fact that their food was recently killed even stranger."
"Any guesses?"
"They're an instinctual beast if they saw the killer decapitate the head then perhaps they thought that the head could be considered the killer's prize or possession."
Only the sound of leaves being ruffled by the wind remain, some falling as some continue to hang. The speechless silent fueled by the three pairs of eyes scanning their surroundings. Their weapons drawn and summoned silently. Sol specifically summons a dark aura that covers himself and his companion. Only the mace remains uncovered as the light doesn't allow it's opposite to come closer.
"Do you have any idea what type of beast did it?" Cristal asks.
"No." The short, negative reply follows from the trained hunter's mouth.
"Let's keep our focus then." She simply adds, moving next to Hellas as she beckons him to continue.