Aether Beasts

"Stop," Zirani said, and we all turned to face her. "There are people up ahead, probably the scouts you were talking about, Sandra. I'm going to have to head back into my core."

She gave both Sandra and Misty pointed looks before she turned into green smoke and moved back into her core. I didn't bother asking or wondering what was going on between the three of them, instead, I focused on the path ahead.

It didn't take us long to find the people Zirani had mentioned and we all let out a sigh of relief at the sight of them.

"Thank the heavens," Sandra said.

The disciples were an older woman and a younger-looking pair of teens who looked at us oddly.

"I didn't know anybody else had come out this way, are you on bounty?" The older woman asked.

Sandra shook her head. "We were with the group sent to West Vale. Our camp was raided in the night and we managed to get away. We have news to bring to the elders."

The woman's eyes widened. "I see, well I'd better make sure you get there. You need healing of any sort, Dan over here is a healer."

Sandra nodded. "I can't wait till we get to the camp, we were hunted by some twin horn hunters, but we managed to escape. I have urgent news for the elders."

"Who's the girl?" one of the teens asked.

"Part of the news," Sandra said. "Now can we get moving, the sooner the elders hear my news the better and if they ask why we didn't bring it sooner I'll be sure to mention the three of you."

I rolled my eyes at Sandra's words. Clearly, her eagerness to get to the camp was causing her to act like, well to put it simply, a bitch.

"No need for that," The older woman said. "We'll take you there."

The camp was only half an hour away from where we'd found the three disciples, and I couldn't help but admire the palace when we arrived. It was similar to the camp that had been made outside West Vale but this one looked more permanent and organized. There were stone buildings and walls in certain areas and even some trenches. There were dozens of tents, and hundreds of people bustled about the camp, from disciples to ordinary folk who looked to be performing tasks like cooking, cleaning, or just simple errands. There were dozens of guards around the perimeter of the camp, and these weren't just first-core guards, they were also second-core guards. I was glad to see they were taking their security seriously.

The older woman who had revealed her name to be Kara led us through the camp quickly towards one of the larger tents near the center, and after a quick few words with the two arcanists guarding the tent she motioned us in.

"We can't afford any more major losses," A gruff voice was saying. "We're already down by at least another two hundred this month, not to mention the fact that four of the twelve supply caravans that were set to arrive today didn't make it."

"I'm not asking you to send a large force, just a dozen or so," Another voice replied.

"What do you think a dozen first core disples are going to do against them?" The gruff voice said. "There'll be slaughtered. We don't have any arcanists focused on stealth to spare. Do you really want to risk twelve arcanists on such a fruitless endeavor?"

"I have a plan. Just give me the disciples I need and I promise we'll hit them where it hurts."

"I don't—"

The gruff voice stopped as we entered the tent, and turned to face us. It was a middle-aged man with black hair and a scarred face. Unlike most arcanists in the camp, he wore only leather armor though the symbol of the steel heart was engraved upon its center.

The second man in the room was much younger with curly brown hair and dark eyes.

"I said no interruptions, what is it!" The older man barked.

"Elder Hyphen, these two are from the group sent to West Vale. They were attacked in the night and managed to get away. They say they have urgent news for the elders."

"I was wondering why we hadn't received any messages that Elder Samuel had returned to Orton."

"Yes Elder Kaylin," Sandra said, stepping up. "He was fighting three second-core arcanists when we escaped the battle, but that's not the reason I came here."

"Then what is?" Elder Hyphen asked.

"We were traveling with merchants, from both West Vale and Orton," Sandra said, and both Edler froze for a second. "I can't name all the merchants who were there, but they did include caravans from Amelias family."

Both elders glanced at each other, before turning back to Sandra.

"Can you confirm this?"

Sandra motioned to Misty who hesitantly stepped forward, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else.

"My father did business with the Amelia family sir, and we were set to join them through an agreement."

"I see," Edler Kaylin said. "This is urgent news indeed, good thing you brought it to us. This could change a lot. We've been asking for the influential families to join in our effort against the twin horn for months.:"

"Can you confirm any others?" Edler Hyphen asked. "Was it just caravans from the Amelias family?"

"No," Misty replied. "I was training to be a merchant like my father before… Well, let's just say I know a lot. There were also caravans from the Hiden family and the cities merchant guild."

Edler Kaylin sucked in a shallow breath and turned to face Hyphen. "This is it. If we can get news of this to the city then perhaps they will finally join."

Elder Hyphen didn't look as excited. He looked skeptical. "It could be, but you know how they are."

"It's worth a chance. Remember what happened the last time disciples accidentally attacked people from the Amelias family?"

Hyphen smiled. "I do."

"Well thank you for this," Kaylin said, turning back to us. "You have done well in bringing this to us. I'll make sure you're both rewarded. Get some rest and see to that arm of yours, we may have need of you soon. Kara here will sort you out with tents of your own, and I'll send word over to the desk at the bounty house. You can collect your rewards from there later."

Sandra bowed and Misty and I followed suit before we excused ourselves from the tent.

"Well come on then," Kara said. "I'll show you to your tents then we can have a healer see that arm of yours."

As Kara led us off, I shot one last glance at the tent we'd just been in, wondering what elder Kaylin had been talking about and just what we might be doing soon.