The Other Hunters in the Woods

Both of us were wearing heavy armor and sank deep in the rushing water. We quickly ended up separated while the current threw us about. My feet hit the river bed before I was able to properly rotate my water and air motes to gain some control of my movements. After great effort my head broke the surface.

Looking around I didn't see Adalgard until a spectral chain shot out from below the surface. I allowed it to wrap around my waist and I pulled her to my side. She gasped for air as I held her tight to my body and used my magic to keep us afloat.

As we steadied ourselves, Adalgard shot out her chains at a tree that was growing on the side of the ridge that the river ran through. We tried to pull ourselves up but our weight with the force of the river was too much and the roots ripped out of the side of the cliff.

Without much hope of getting out anytime soon, we allowed the river to carry us for a while. Thankfully the cliffs on one side of the river gave way to a bank that we were able to swim onto.

After we caught our breath I used my fire and air motes to dry us off.

"What was that?" Adalgard asked.

"I don't know. I guess they hunt in packs." I replied.

"That's not what I meant. That stag. It was summoned by you using a powerful blessing from the Elder Watchers. But I've never seen a spell like that." She said.

"I didn't summon it. Sometimes I get aid from animals but I'm not in control of it." I said.

"Thus far I've felt three powerful blessings from you. That would put you in the third circle of the Cult of the Court of Masks at a minimum. Why are you trying to hide from me? Don't you know who I am?" She said.

"If you're something more than a paladin of the Court of Masks that works for the Silver Tongues guild, then I don't know who you are." I said. "Also, I'm not a member of the Cult of the Court of Masks."

There was a look of confusion on her face for a moment before she had a look of shock come over her.

"That would mean…" She said.

"Don't keep me in suspense. What does it mean?" I already knew what it meant but I was curious how she took it.

"It means that I made the right choice in sticking with you." Her face had gone back to its normal joyful look but there was a twinkle in her eyes as she looked at me now. It was easy to tell she was hiding her true thoughts on the matter.

"Well, we need to start looking for the others and hopefully find the Guardians of Ice along the way." I said.

"Lead the way." She said.

We made our way to the side of the river that we had jumped off of and started to walk back up the river. As best I could tell it would take us several hours to make our way back up to where we jumped. Hopefully the boergrunr were gone by the time we got back there.

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With their Cloaking spells going Lariss and Thelora weaved between the trees trying not to lose each other while throwing off the boergrunr that was chasing them.

Once again Thelora was surprised at the level of Lariss' Cloaking spell. She could tell that the elf was only using two motes of shadow to create the spell but it was just as powerful as hers that used four. It also seemed to function differently. Thelora's spell used shadow to hide her presence and force the eye away. Lariss' spell seemed to blend into the surrounding nature.

After several minutes the monster was falling behind them but still seemed to be able to follow them. The two woman hid behind a large tree as Lariss cast another spell that caused their scents to spread out further ahead of them.

The boergrunr came past them sniffing the air. It continued forward a few hundred feet before turning back around looking towards the two of them and let out a screech.

As it lowered its head to charge the two of them prepared to run again. But before they needed to, a massive Bolt of Lightning crashed into the monster. In the next moment a man was on top of the wounded beast slashing it with two longswords.

More adventures started to come out of the forest towards the dead monster. The two of them dropped their Cloaking spells and walked towards them.

"Hail, it seems like fate was on your side. The names Brandr of the Guardians of Ice. And what can I call you two fair maidens?" The man with the two swords said with a charming smile.

"Knock it off Brandr." An older female mage said.

"The Guardians of Ice, you're just who we were looking for. Is Lord Torgier with you? Oh and we were separated from our companions. Another two boergrunr chased them in the opposite direction." Lariss said. As the top guild in the north all of their members were allowed to enter the forest first thing which meant they could be split into different groups.

The Guardians of Ice stiffened slightly at the mention of the young lord, which Lariss missed but Thelora immediately caught.

"Fafier, Knatr, and Hessaly follow they're trail and see if you can find their companions." The woman ordered and three of their party of eight broke off and headed out.

"Why are you looking for Lord Togeir?" The woman asked.

"We have a message, oh no Wilmaer has the letter." Lariss started.

"There was an attack on the Duchess and she was unable to contact you. She sent a number of groups into the forest with sealed letters to present to your guild inorder to make you aware of the situation but as my companion mentioned, the person with the letter was chased in the opposite direction." Thelora made sure to give enough information to settle any concerns they might have about their identity.

"Hmm, that would explain a lot." The mage said.

"Like the more powerful monsters in the forest." Thelora said.

"Yes, and not only have we not been able to contact those outside the forest but even our Short Ranged Communication Stones have been having issues. We thought it might have been because of the presence of the Great Spirit but if what you say is true then we need to be more on guard." The mage said.

"Wait, aren't you those freelancers that won the C ranked team event?" Brandr asked.

"We are. I can't believe someone recognized us." Lariss said.

"Of course I did. How could such beautiful adventurers not be recognizable. Plus, your team pulled off a major upset. Oh and shouldn't Adalgard be with you?" He started to look around for her.

"She's with Wilmaer." Thelora said.

"It will be good to see her again." Brandr looked off in a random direction with a lost look on his face.

"Anyway, we should head back to our main camp. Though I hope you understand if we keep you under guard. We don't know you and you just told us someone might be after the young Lord's life." The mage said.

"It's understandable. And ma'am, if I may ask, have you seen any groups of the Followers of Light in the area?" Thelora said while Lariss looked a little offended.

"You can call me Olaug. And no we haven't." While Olaug didn't ask any follow up questions, the two of them knew the meaning behind the question. Many of those in power had questioned why certain members of the Church had come to the festival.

"If there's nothing else, we need to make our way back." Olaug said.

"Aww but we haven't even seen the stag yet." Brandr whined.

With that the two women joined the Guardians of Ice on their way back to their main camp.

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"You don't think that was the Gylltaine Stag that came to our aid do you? No one really gave a good description of it." I asked Adalgard.

"No, first off the Gylltaine Stag is twice as big as a normal stag and its antlers are fully the color of dark silver. That was most likely one of its descendants. Seeing them likely means that it's nearby though." Adalgard replied.

We had been walking for over an hour. Our pace was rather slow since we decided to prioritize avoiding any monsters over speed. In addition to my Cloaking spell, Adalgard had a minor blessing that helped hide us but we couldn't move too fast while it was active. It wouldn't help to have to run in a random direction again.

"We really need to start heading back. We were only supposed to make a small loop before heading back." A familiar female voice said.

"I'm not going to miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime over silly concerns. So what if the monsters are stronger. We are the Rainbow Blades, we can handle it." A male voice I always hoped to never hear again said.

I pressed my finger to my lips to tell Adalgard to be silent. The two of us then crept up on a group of six adventurers that were arguing in a small glade.

"And what if we come across an A ranked monster that now has the strength of an S rank? Are you really that arrogant that you think a bunch of C ranked adventurers will be able to kill it?" Another familiar female voice said.

"Of course he is." I said as I stepped out and dropped my spell. "But the rest of you are also so distracted that you didn't notice me."

All of them jumped to attack positions. Kalfr had his sword out, Fulvia had her arrow pulled back, and Vesta raised her staff. The last two lowered their weapons upon seeing me.

"Fancy meeting you here." I said with a smile directed at Vesta.

"Hmmph, who'd want to see you anywhere." She said but had a slight smile on her face.

"This is our hunting grounds, you can head off in any random direction." Kalfr didn't fully lower his guard which led the other three to keep theirs up as well.

"I'm not concerned with the Hunt. From what you said earlier the rest of your guild must be nearby. Hopefully there's someone of actual importance there." I said as I returned Kalfr's glare.

"There is. Runa and the rest of the B ranked team should be there. The A ranked team should be on a sweep of their own. Where are the others?" She asked when only Adalgard stepped forward with me.

"I'll explain when we get back to your camp." I said.

"Follow me." Vesta said.

"Hey, I'm in charge here and I didn't say the Hunt was over for today." Kalfr said but the four women and myself were already headed away from the glade.