stalking

Darhiel POV:

"Well, that was fun," I muttered as I passed by the butcher's shed, it had been quite some time since I had used my sneaking skills, although this was child's play, theft was not common in such small communities. I had already obtained the rake and with this the machete, with this I was finishing my preparations for the early departure, we are against the clock and I would have to be prepared for an army of orcs nipping at our heels.

I was rushing to the house, to prepare everything in the wagons, while I was preparing everything I felt my skin tighten and my breathing altered, somehow I could feel them, hiding in the north forest.

I calmly went out to the front garden to walk a few steps and reach a hill with a good view of the northern forest, I circulated mana near my eyes and it provided me with an improved vision focus of up to 30 meters, not enough to distinguish features and features in the forest, but if to see a movement of at least a few hundred.

With that I went in search of the grandmother once again trusting my instincts that had never failed me, I jumped every obstacle that came my way using my improved agility to reach the only place where a decent mount could be obtained, which unfortunately It was on the other side of town and close to the north woods.

I had prepared and concealed the machete, wrapped in a large cloth tied to my shoulder, for the possibility of a confrontation, it didn't take me long to reach the stables and after a quick inspection, I could easily find the grandmother, apparently in a heated conversation with the owner of the stables. I approached quickly without the patience not to alert the others, I did not know why the beasts had not attacked yet, but soon the sun would set, and their advantage would be overwhelming.

"Grandma, we have to go, the night is falling" I pronounced with a serious face, when she heard my words she turned to see me and when she saw my face she understood the meaning of them.

"Which way? Do you know how many?"She answered me calmly, apparently with the objective of not hiding the information.

"I couldn't count them, they seemed small, but they were too numerous".

"What are you talking about Mrs. Rita, if you are going to continue with these games, leave my stables, I don't have the time to waste".

"here you dirty miser, 5 silver coins, now prepare your family, warn the locals, and tell them to evacuate the village, there is an army of orcs waiting to ravage this village" with that he turned around leaving the man stunned but seeing the seriousness of his words he hurried to run to his house.

"come on Darhiel, we don't have time we must warn the others" with that and a swift movement that defied the appearance of her age she mounted the horse, "Don't trust my appearance, this old lady still has energy for many adventures".

Once I got on the horse in front of the grandma, She whipped the reins causing a fast gallop, while my task would be to warn of the danger in which the village and the urgency to evacuate immediately.

___________________________

"Well done, I see you packed the essentials, secure the horse to the wagon, and I will pack the medicine" without waiting for an answer I quickly ran to the shed, on the other hand, thanks to my regimen of placating orders I fulfilled everything with speed making sure everything was well secured in the wagon and a quick march would not make them fall.

It was a little over an hour before dusk, not enough time to flee from an army but enough time to reach the next town and hopefully the sight of Ostiriht, filled with a militia of warriors who had trained for hundreds of years.

When I finished getting everything ready and hitching the horse's harness to the wagon, dozens of people arrived at the door, from elders to children, with faces full of curiosity, knowing that it was time to give more extensive explanations, I opened the door.

"hey freak, what's going on, what were you and your grandma talking about?" The first one to speak from the crowd was the most ignorant man in this town, Roen, a thin and old man who was one of those who could be dying and wouldn't lift a finger... No, I can no longer think like that, I must see his life as a value apart from his stupidity because of his ignorance.

"There are orcs in the north forest, Mrs. Roen, hundreds of them, maybe thousands, grandma and I will flee, you should do the same" I waited in case someone else had any questions and tried to convince them, although my logic told me that it was their fault if they did not take me seriously and they would die because of their stupidity.

Once all their doubts were resolved, I left them and I could see that despite my efforts there were some who did not believe me, what comforted me is that the most sensible ones took my warnings seriously and then there were others who simply did it in case it was true.

Grandma apparently had already finished her preparations a while ago and was waiting for me on top of the wagon, "well done, you sure saved a lot of lives today by taking the time to explain to them, don't worry about those stubborn ones, there is no worse dead than the one who doesn't listen to warnings."

"I get it grandma"

"Now let's go, we have to move quickly, we have already spent a lot of time and it is not long until nightfall" with that, I spurred the horse and at a fast trot, I advanced along the road towards Tirharad.

_______________________________

Roen POV:

A small group of men were in the tavern, gathered as a majority had left the village on Darhiel's warnings.

"Stupid old woman and her damn phenomenon, spitting out crazy things and fearing these stupid peasants, they will look like idiots returning to the town when they see that there is nothing, hopefully with this they wake up and realize that this pair should be expelled" He spoke with a raspy voice, the consequence of a long life of alcohol.

"Come on old man, he could be telling the truth, his words sounded serious and they have never made a joke before, we should try it we don't lose anything" replied a thin boy with blond hair, Olfid, his nephew.

"Shut up, I won't be one of those idiots being convinced by your dirty words, I'm sure there is nothing in the north forest, I could go and walk through your stupid paths right now with the security of my words" with this he stopped, prepared to keep his word.

"I agree with you Roen, I have spent my whole life in this town and I have never seen a stupid orc in these lands, I will accompany you to the forest, so at least squid my wife, the very gullible thinks that we should leave for the safety of the children "

"I will go too"

"me too"

"Come-yes, we should calm down, there's no need to go to the forest, it's almost dark and if they aren't orcs at least there will be a pack of wolves that could kill us" Olfid reasoned with a nervous voice.

"Don't be a coward, Olfid, have balls, your parents left me in charge of you to make a man out of you, but I see that you're still a scared girl who would like to be in her mother's skirts"

"I'm not a coward, I only cared about you since you are an old drunk"

"Yeah, pick up the pace, little girl"

With that little discussion, 13 men, emboldened by drink and stupidity, set out to explore the threat of the forest.

___________________________

I have decided to change the elven name of the protagonist, it will no longer be Elros, I am sorry that it may bother some, but I did it based on a better background for the character, if you want to see the new one in the first chapter.

If you have any power stones left over, it would motivate me a lot to continue with the story.