NOVEL WEB Chapter 418: Nightbird
As orders were given to troops in one region, Horhir's attention was also required elsewhere, the people of the east and north could prove difficult to track down, but as undeads, following trails of life was a simple affair, and the headhunters had already discovered the dwellings of the livings there, but in the west, despite the same thing being very much true as well, the right hand had failed to locate the dreaded sharpshooters, it seems like they had a way to hide themselves that could even fool the life hounds into running in circles, not to mention that the Western Cliffs were not thriving with notable landmarks.
The plan had been to enact famine and pestilence upon them as well, by targeting their cacti which they relied upon to quench their thirst, which would then force them to consume the blood of preys, which would be affected by a sanguine plague, bringing them all down without the need for any conflict, however, if Horhir could not pinpoint their approximate location, then he would never know which cacti to target, he needed to be precise with his orders.
He controlled small forces, the general did not mean for him to just be capable of widescaled actions, the knight had to act with great focus, like a surgeon cutting open a patient's heart, as such, he needed to find out where Jaral Cribler and his people were hiding, had they used some unknown means to hide their presence? Some sort of grand illusion? Esoteric arts that they had hidden until now?
Could the eye transplants not be the only thing they wielded? Or perhaps…
'Could they have… Gotten deeper into the ravines?' the west held a rather dangerous set of creatures, the desertic flat tops were the dwellings of the drylurkers, a group of various creatures with emaciated appearances, rather fond of sandy environments.
They were not much of a threat however, the real danger laid at the bottom of the cliffs, which dug into the earth much further than one might expect, there, the bottom-prowlers thrived.
Experience exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire
Horhir had paid close attention to all denizens, and indeed, even he had to admit that the creatures that dwelled down there were problematic, it seemed like they were affected by something that pooled and stagnated within the ravines, the western folks never delved into the ravines, but what if they had?
This required further examination, the right hand would have wanted to begin actions again this region at the same time as in the east, but he had to change his plans, and begin with the mountain people first, there at least, the plan of enacting famine and pestilence was not compromised, Tilmiel and the nightbirds could get to work as planned.
As for the Northern Swamp, Horhir's plan was certainly bolder, the people there lived rather frugal lives, leaving mostly on marshpears and meat of poisonous animals, although feeble in appearance, they had most definitely earned quite a bit of resistance to ailments, it was humid all year round and they spent their time with their legs deep in the swamp, not to mention that they kept those sources of food close at hand, with their pyromancers, they could defend themselves with overwhelming firepower, so the idea of using the same method as planned for the other two seemed less reliable.
Emerging from the underground chamber through one of its many tunnels, Horhir rose to the surface, right within the undead camp set there, although large and great in appearance, it did not house many troops at all, naught but a smokescreen to imply that a large scaled assault could come at any moment, most of the undeads present were nightbirds, life hounds and only a handful of rank and file.
Hand upon the hilt of his blade, Horhir was planning, hoping, to manage an incredible feat, win dominion over the north, by talking.
As he went to meet with Irlke Combuscrus, the operation started in the east was well underway, Tilmiel watching her nightbirds pour pestilent concoctions into the flow of rivers, or injecting the content of needles into unsuspecting beasts and monsters, their purpose was rather simple, brewed by the plague and disease alchemists, the water would cause one consuming it to immediately puke it right out, and if they somehow managed to forcefully keep it in anyways, it would start consuming the gastric liquids within the stomach, making it impossible to properly digest anything.
As for what was given the livings, it was nothing grandiose either, in fact, it might look like a bad joke as it caused them to suffer from severe diarrhoea as well as uncontrollable sweating, both serving well to dehydrate them.
In no time, all those afflicted would see a steep decline in their weight, growing weak and unfit for consumption, although it could not pass over to people, it could definitely be naturally passed over to other beasts and monsters, just in case some creatures moved closer than they should, they too would be infected.
Famine definitely ought to take hold sooner than later, Tilmiel was not exactly an experts of poisons and such things, but her training included all sorts of ways to slay a target, although she did nothing but follow Horhir's orders, this war was also a way for her to prove herself to Loimos, the nightbirds were not planned at first, the Fin-Limier assassins turned undead already filling in this repertoire, it was because she had showed great promise and talent that the nightbirds were established as their own caste, every mission given to them had to be fulfilled to perfection.
Tilmiel felt the need to show that it was not a mistake for the champion to put his trust in her, as the elder nightbird, she watched over all of her fellows intently, they were talented, but had not received the guidance of Loimos and Maliah like herself, nor had they been sent on missions on their own, lacking in experience, although competent warriors, they were much more fragile than most as their training focuses on infiltration, information gathering and assassinating targets in one fell swoop.
True combat was not their forte.
The skeleton's keen attention was rewarded as she sensed something laying eyes on her back, a dire mistake from the onlooker, directing their sense toward a nightbird was certain to give yourself away.
'Something that could see me…' grabbing the handle of the massively lengthy blade on her back, even large proportionally to Timriel's imposing frame.
'Gone already' had she not been nothing but bones, Tilmiel would have frowned, her scouting had never yielded result on something capable of seeing right through her stealth, this a mistake on her part.
"Remain vigilant" her whisper travelled to the other nightbirds.
It may be a bit excessive to think so, but the presence of such a creature, or being, might put a dent in Horhir's plan, or at least she assumed so, going with the worst option was perhaps a pessimistic trait, but it also allowed to be prepared for said worst.
She went to grab a communication device, wishing to report to Horhir immediately, stooping right in her track as she remembered what time it was.
'Crap… The lieutenant should be meeting with the northern king, I can't disturb him during such moments…'
Tilmiel could not just stand by and wait, however, she had to move away from the given orders and make judgments of her own during a war.
'It's not a problem… It's an opportunity, yes, an opportunity to show Sir Loimos that I am trustworthy, competent, and was not a waste of time…'
'I'll find out what it was, analyse its every aspect, and slay it if possible' taking charge when she was just supposed to follow directives was somewhat stressful, but also felt natural somehow.