While the wolves enlarged the small cave they had found, Lenore, Adra and I placed the few wards and defenses against magical detection that we knew around the area. Sadly, neither of us was particularly experienced in that kind of magic; I was quite sure my darkness-magic was suitable for it, but without a lot of experimentation, I didn’t even know what I needed to know. And to experiment on that, I would need an allied mage using some sort of scrying or tracking magic in an attempt to push through my defenses, with me studying the successes and failures. While it was something that sounded quite interesting and like a valuable pursuit, there was, sadly, no way I could do such a thing during our travels.
Dusk was setting in by the time we felt that we had done what we were able to and we headed into the newly enlarged den to have dinner. The wolves had their own food, a fresh kill some of them had made and brought back to the den, careful not to leave traces, while Sigmir and I prepared food for those who preferred their food cooked.
While eating, Snowdust came padding over, together with Windpaw, to discuss strategy. Our task was to keep the centaurs from heading deeper into the windswept plains, even when it got warmer, to make sure the main den had enough time to finish their current preparations.
The question was, how could we accomplish that and there were a few answers to that question. The easiest, at least conceptually, was to simply kill them all, slaughtering the centaurs in their camps. Sadly, while it was conceptually easy, it was next to impossible in practice, not only were there a lot of the silly ponies but, if we started to seriously reduce their numbers, they would likely call in reinforcements from the other camps Lenore had seen in the distance. And I didn’t believe for one second that the three camps Lenore had noticed were the only camps out there, it would be too much of a coincidence.
No, we needed to keep the centaurs occupied without triggering a massive counter-attack and without giving away what we were doing. To that effect, we decided that one of the important parts of our strategy was to keep the fact that we, the two-legged members of the group, were working with the wolves under wraps. We would help them, but mostly in a supportive role, something that suited me quite well, having Lenore scout from the air, while I would try my hand at scrying and manipulating the weather. I doubted that I would be able to achieve a large-scale effect, not against the changing seasons, but I thought that I would be able to give the wolves some cover by conjuring up some mist or maybe a small Blizzard.
At the end of our dinner, we decided that the wolves would start their original hit-and-run tactics back up, but only using half the pack they had here. The rest would wait in the cover of the forest to help with the hitting, if the running failed to shake off any equine pursuers. I had to hide a chuckle at the idea that here, the wolves were running from the horses, in a reversal of their normal prey-and-predator relationship.
My group, on the other hand, would focus on gathering information, evaluating the success of the strategy and trying to influence the weather, all without getting caught by the centaurs. Not an easy task but I thought that we would be able to fulfill it.
“Love, I want to try scrying the centaur-camp tonight, would you come with me and guard my body?” I asked Sigmir after the wolves had returned to their packs. It was a first foray and I wasn’t sure whether the centaurs had some sort of defensive mechanism that maybe even told them from where the magical intrusion came. To make sure that I wouldn’t accidentally give away the location of the den, I was planning to head out into the forest, quite some distance from camp. But out there, I would be completely vulnerable if something went wrong or even when everything went right, I would be non-responsive while my consciousness was shifted into the shadows, looking at the centaur-camp.
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Sigmir just nodded, hugging me a little closer. “You will be careful, will you?” she asked, speaking softly.
“I will. I don’t think that there is any danger unless they have a seriously powerful and skilled spellcaster in their camp. But even if they have one, they would have to backtrace my spellcasting to attack my body, which I believe possible - but again, I doubt that some Arch-Mage is bored enough to provide magical security for a centaur-hunting party.” I assured her, careful not to understate the danger. I didn’t want to get into the habit to lie to Sigmir, just to keep her from worrying. No, being truthful was the better option.
“Rai, Adra, do you want to join us?” I spoke up, while getting up from Sigmir’s lap.
The two of them looked quite comfortable but when I asked, they instantly started moving and got ready. Within a minute, the four of us, with Lenore and Ylva in their respective Hallows, left the cave, giving the wolves that guarded the exit a polite nod.
Walking in the smaller group somehow felt a lot better than the pack we had moved in the last couple of days, I had grown accustomed to having the three of them around me and the wolves had changed that dynamic.
“What are we doing out here?” Adra asked, after we had walked a minute or so.
“I plan to take a magical look at the centaur-camp.” I started to explain when I had an additional idea.
“Lenore, you can fly in the dark without problems, right?” I asked her mentally, hoping that she would be able to get another look, this one from lower altitude and with her magical vision active. That way, she would be able to tell if there were any major magical defenses, further reducing the risk I took when scrying. For her, the risk would be low, due to the simple fact that shooting a flying raven in the black of night was something I deemed difficult to do and unlikely that it would even be tried.
“Yes, I can and yes, I will do as you are currently planning.” she agreed with a mental laugh before leaving her Hallow again and taking wing. The others looked at me questioningly, and I explained what I was planning and what Lenore was doing.
“I think I can help you, at least a bit.” Adra nodded as I spoke. “You worry that they manage to find you while you are looking into their camp, right? I will place a warding around you, that prevents others from finding you, that way, it should be harder to, well, find you, even if they have someone who could do something that complicated.” she continued.
We continued on, mostly just walking away from the den in a random direction and erasing our tracks, it hardly mattered where I started, just that the place had no connection to the den.
After maybe half an hour of walking, Lenore returned and quickly got into her Hallow. This time, she didn’t simply share her memory but explained what she had seen, that there were magical defenses around the camp but, from what she could see, they were relatively simple, almost crude. I should be able to get a good look, without setting off any alarm bells, if I was careful.
Knowing that, I simply stopped, deciding that the random spot of forest we were standing on was just as good as any other spot.
“Let’s prepare.” I said to Adra, who nodded and started to draw a circle around me, maybe four meters in radius.
I, on the other hand, considered the best way to go about things for a moment before starting my own magical circle in the snow, laid out in Hard Ice, that way, I would have a robust, physical medium to anchor the Astral Power to. My idea was to have a runic formation create a spot of pure, unfathomable darkness for me, to use as a medium to scry through. Previously, I had used a normal shadow and it had worked, mostly, but now, I wanted to cross a larger distance and use Lenore’s memory to target the spell, which undoubtedly added some difficulty to the casting.
In my mind, Lenore agreed with what i was doing, giving small suggestions from her own experience, slowly merging her mind with mine, not fully slipping into the Avatar-mode but we were getting there.
“Okay, I’m done.” Adra said from a few meters away and I felt a slight change in the surrounding atmosphere, subtle and almost imperceivable. The only reason I noticed the change was that I was looking for a change, now that Adra had her ward up.
“Let’s do this.” I mentally told Lenore, completing the Avatar-State and sending my mind into the darkness, to see what was hidden under the cover of night.