43- Camping

— what? You had already come? And you encountered her machines and survived? —Dels says very impressed—

—Yes, it was a horrible experience, but I managed to escape.

—Seriously, the gray one must be looking after you, I can't find any other explanation for that. Well, we will avoid running into those damn machines and we'll go through the forest with caution since they usually set many traps.

Sherek and Dels pack up their camp and start heading towards the mountains. The hike is long, and along the way, Dels explains to Sherek a bit about the knots and techniques he should keep in mind for the planned surprise attack. "The main thing is to locate them. Once we know their position well, we must understand our boundaries and know when to become invisible. Unfortunately, as there are small skirmishes happening everywhere at the moment, we must stay vigilant and be even more cautious when passing by."

"Wouldn't it be better to go around them?" Sherek says, surprised.

"That way you wouldn't learn anything. Besides, outside their camps, they have many traps and their tedious machines. When we're close to them, we'll climb trees, you throw a rock or whatever from your tree, creating a distraction. I'll hang one of their guards from above, and we'll change positions. Then it will be your turn, and this way we'll make progress little by little. If we're lucky, we'll take control of their camp and maybe even steal some of their information and supplies."

"Is this training or a mission, Thornblade?" Sherek says, surprised and fearful.

"Both. Now be quiet and keep walking, stay alert."

After a few hours and having eaten some of the remaining meat, they continue their journey. It seems to be midday already, but the cold in the mountains gets more intense. Finally, in the distance, they hear laughter and conversations.

"Let's leave the horse here," Dels says as she quickly gets off. "Let's climb these trees to locate all our enemies."

Both start climbing, but Sherek can't see anything, neither can Thornblade. The forest is dense, and they still can't clearly see any targets, so they climb down and continue approaching slowly. After a couple of meters and hearing the voices closer, they climb the nearest trees again. Sherek can only see one of the machines sticking out, seemingly turned off and unmanned. Thornblade manages to spot a small clearing where there's a bonfire and three guards from Jalagh eating.

After climbing down, they discuss what they saw and start heading towards the clearing Thornblade spotted. When they're quite close, they climb other trees, and from up there, they can get a good view of the camp. One machine, eight guards with spears, and four with bows. Sherek, from the tree he's on, looks to where Thornblade climbed and waits for the signal to throw his stone as a distraction. Thornblade looks at her targets and manages to approach one of the archers who seems to be guarding one of the camp's entrances. After a few minutes, Sherek impatiently looks at Thornblade, who doesn't take her eyes off her target. Finally, at one point, the guards who were eating stand up, and Thornblade gives the signal. Sherek throws a small stone towards the metallic machine, and when it hits, everyone quickly turns to look at it, including the archer who was guarding the entrance. At that moment, Thornblade throws her lianas and easily hangs the guard, signaling Sherek to come down immediately.

After hiding the body, both manage to enter the camp and hide behind one of the tents. They wait there for several minutes until they realize that one guard is missing. Time passes, and nothing happens until one of the guards discreetly comments, "Hey, where is Sermo?" Another guard responds, somewhat agitated, "He should be guarding that entrance, check outside." Some guards leave, and Thornblade and Sherek take the opportunity to climb the camp's palisade and climb up another tree. When they're at the top, they can see everything, the guards are now on high alert because they just found the dead guard. Thornblade whispers to Sherek, "Well, kid, this is the boring part of the mission. We have to stay silent for a while until they let their guard down again, so get comfortable and try not to fall until I tell you to move."

Sherek nods his head and only watches.

The guards below were wandering everywhere looking for the killer, they turn on the machine and some guards go on patrol around the camp, leaving only two archers and four spear soldiers. Thornblade whispers again, "Now it's your turn. I hope you observed well how I used the lianas. Kill the one guarding that entrance," Thornblade points, "and I'll take care of the rest."

Sherek becomes somewhat nervous and sees Thornblade starting to descend and enter the camp again. He waits for a signal, but there's nothing. He looks at Thornblade, and she gestures for him to hurry. Sherek, without any other choice, positions himself towards the archer guarding the designated entrance and throws the liana to strangle him. At the same time, Thornblade hides behind the tent and with a swift movement, stabs one of the guards who was conversing on the other side. Everyone inside the camp is stunned and heads towards the tent. At that moment, Sherek had grabbed the archer with the liana and starts choking him. He doesn't use enough force, and the liana breaks. Thornblade realizes this and runs quickly to kill him. All the other guards follow her, and Sherek observes the situation, struggling to react. Thornblade quickly kills the archer who was very confused with a cold and swift stab of her dagger. Sherek snaps out of it and jumps from the tree, landing on one of the guards, killing him instantly with a strong blow to the head with the flail. Thornblade immediately turns around, and an arrow from the remaining archer hits one of her legs. Nonetheless, she manages to throw a dagger at one of the guards behind her. Sherek, with his flail, stands above the corpse, somewhat bewildered, analyzing this complex and stunned situation. There was still one archer and one spear soldier left