Taking that as his cue, Jaeger began to stalk through the forest. He moved at a fast and practiced pace, this might not be Beseria, but he knew how to traverse a forest. He kept a steady stride, checking the ground as he ran, stepping around rocks, pushing off exposed roots, and hopping over the pits and dips he saw. It was only when he noticed a lack of reaction around him that he began to speed up. Normally, he wouldn't run so fast in a forest he didn't know, unsure of how the animals in it would react, but this area was different. He could feel something around him, helping him pass, leaving almost no trace as he did so, but a faint presence.

It was as if the being that he'd dealt with was around him, but somehow less. Whatever this feeling was, he noticed the results, none of the animals around him reacted to his passing. When he started to move, he thought his encounter with the treant had scared everything away, but then he ran within a few feet of a deer. Grazing in the undergrowth, it didn't even notice him as he passed. That such a shy creature would simply ignore him told Jaeger that he was under some sort of magical influence.

Seeing the edge of the forest, he slowly came to a stop. Crouching down, he walked up to and behind a tree. Looking out, he saw a cleared section of forest surrounded by an old house and a watermill. Surrounding the buildings was a military camp on the move; heavy tents, portable furnaces, open forges, and wagons everywhere. He even spotted a corral full of pack animals. The most unusual feature, however, were the trees; there were four of them around the camp. Ugly, dark, and scarred, these trees were surrounded by stumps and wildly out of place; at least these treants were easy to see.

Scattered throughout the camp were men and women in various states of dress. Some wore dark leather armor, others wore doublets and gambesons, and he spotted a few who even wore scale mail. But they all had one thing in common, a green sword somewhere on the chest of their armor. These were clearly the Swords of Greenwood. From the unorganized movements, Jaeger guessed that they hadn't heard his confrontation with the treant; the Greenwood being must have suppressed the sound of its howl.

He circled the camp, trying to find the adventurers. It took him a long time to cross the outskirts of the camp, easily half the day; he didn't want to move too fast in case they had some unseen sentries watching. It wasn't until late in the day that he found a pattern to their movements. As he had been watching the camp, he had noticed that Swords would occasionally enter and leave the house. At first, he thought they might be holding the adventurers there, but as he watched, he noticed that there was no set pattern to their coming and going, so he assumed the house was a treasure room or command center; which left the watermill.

With the watermill by the river, Jaeger had to get to the edge of the forest before he could get a good look. By the time he got close, it was well after dinner, so he reached into his coat pocket, which was his bag of holding, and pulled out a hot sandwich and water; with his storage space, he would never survive on jerky and trail rations outside of the direst of circumstances. With a good meal in hand, he found a spot and scanned the watermill. It was in pretty decent shape for an abandoned property, though it had clear signs of patchwork repairs. As he looked at it, he found a burning lamp near a window. He scanned the structure looking for a door and found it; guarded by two of the Swords.

The two guards were slumped against the building, talking to each other and generally not doing a good job. At first, he was confused as to how ex-guards could be so bad at their job of guarding a door, but depending on how the adventurers were locked up, laziness could be excused. His thoughts were interrupted when the guards straightened as a figure approached. It was a better armored sword, carrying a plate of food. After a short pause, the Sword was escorted inside by one of the door guards and emerged a few minutes later with an empty platter. As soon as the Sword was gone, the two guards went back to their work.

Now was as good a time as any, he decided, and pulled out a bracer. It was the Bracer of Lusca, he had decided against wearing it in the city in case it would attract the attention of some monstrous tyrants, but out here he didn't care. Of all the loot he'd gotten, it and the bracelets were the only things he hadn't put to use. He put it on his left arm and felt a sensation run through him.

Jaeger wasn't sure what an aura of rebellion would do for now, but he thought the intimidation factor would make dealing with these Swords of Greenwood easier, and the persuasion should help convince the adventurers to listen to him. With his latest equipment in place, he settled down to wait. As soon as it was late enough, he'd sneak in and get started.

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“More fish? If you get any fishier, I'll try to eat you.”

Jaeger awoke from his fugue stake out as a purring voice slipped into his ears.

“Unless you plan to provide me with equipment, I'll have to make do with what I get. I've only got the two Lusca items, the belt and the bracer.”

“That is two too many, but I guess you can be forgiven for now. So what is the plan, my dear warlock? Do we wait to murder them all in their sleep? Or will you declare yourself at dawn and duel with their leader?”

Jaeger snorted at that.

“For now, I'll wait for the two guards at the watermill to fall asleep, and then I'll free the adventurers.”

“And then?”

“Probably the first plan. I'm not a knight here to duel for honor. I'm a bounty hunter here for my guild and my pay.”

A weight settled on his shoulder and rumbled contentedly.

“Excellent. In that case, let me speed this up then.”

Jumping off his shoulder, Mischief landed in the open and pranced right up to the guards. The two guards had begun to nod off, slowly approaching a full sleep, but the sudden movement of a cat seemed to shake them awake. Blinking in alarm that faded into confusion, the two moved closer to Mischief. Until he disappeared in a puff of smoke that went up each of their noses. For a second, Jaeger winced, expecting cries of alarm, only to see the two stagger and fall. He waited, looking around for any sign of alarm, and when he saw none, he slipped out of cover.

Moving across an open field was almost impossible to do stealthily, so Jaeger didn't really try, he just sprinted. His only hint of stealth was his low stance, almost hugging the ground as he ran. Jaeger sprinted across the field and reached the watermill in no time. As he reached the fallen guards and grabbed their collars, he wondered why he wasn't out of breath. He'd been smoking for years and accepted that it made running harder, but now he was fine? He shook his head and chalked it up to magic, as he did everything he didn't understand.

He grabbed both guards by their collars and moved to the door. He leaned one against the building and tried the doorknob, discovering it was locked, he looked over the guards and found a key. Unlocking the door, he swung it open and dragged the two downed guards inside. Throwing them out of the way, he quickly closed and locked the door and looked around the room.

It was clear that the interior had seen the most repair work. The gear connected to the watermill had been restored, along with many wooden parts and constructs Jaeger didn't recognize. None of that mattered half as much to him as the figures chained to the central gear; the adventurers he was looking for.

Patchwork Emilia and Big Man Brad were most notable for the glow emanating from their chains, they only had three more chains and cuffs, but they glowed with magic; one around their necks and two more on their hands. Sivly the Otterkin and Troy the Star Elf had only two chains themselves, around their necks and one leg each. When Jaeger entered, they turned to look at him. Exhaustion was obvious on Sivly and Troy, while Brad began to smile, and Emilia. Well, from his perspective she had no expression, she seemed neither happy nor sad to see him, he might as well have been the door itself for all the emotion she showed.

“Ah, my friend, come free us.” Brad said, pulling on his arm chains.

“Brad, wait a minute, we don't even know if he's here to free us or if he's here for us in a bad way. I mean, do you recognize him?” Sivly said in a melodious tone.

“Hmmm. She makes a good point. My friend, who are you?”

Jaeger checked the two downed guards before answering, they were indeed dead; whatever that smoke Mischief produced, it could kill, he'd keep that in mind. That done, he stood and moved closer, pulling out his adventurer's badge and showing it to them.

“I'm Jaeger, a bounty hunter with the Adventurers' Guild. I'm here for the Swords of Greenwood bounty and on a rescue mission from the guild, given to me by Lisette.”

As he spoke, he felt something shift in the air around him. Then Sivly and Troy almost collapsed with relief, while Brad's smile seemed to grow even wider.

“I knew they were going to send someone; I just knew it.” Troy said.

I walked up to the chains and inspected them. Finding a key hole, I tried a key I'd found on the guards and found it didn't work.

“The guards don't have the key, only the leader does.” Emilia spoke for the first time, her voice smoky and unhurried.

I stopped looking for the key and shrugged my shoulders. I summoned my axe and went back to them. The axe went through the mundane chain like a soft cheese. I quickly cut through the chains holding Sivly and Troy, being more careful with the ones around their necks and leg. Once free, they took the key I’d found, went to a trunk and began rifling through it. I moved on to Brad and Emilia.

“That is a fine blade, my friend, but I do not think it will have an easy time with our chains. They are magical.”

I took the axe in both hands and swung it down on the part of his chain that was embedded in the wall. There was a moment's resistance from the chain, but in the end my axe prevailed and continued into the wall. As the severed links of the chain fell, the entire chain lost its glow and I turned to look at Brad who had a look of shock on his face.

“So is my axe.”