Chapter 12

July 24, 780 FF

Kiln sat atop the small hill that peaked out over the stretch of land that was the border of Friedmark at Siln. The warm summer sun was just rising over the horizon and a small breeze blew through the nearby leaves around in a small eddy. It was the perfect morning as Kiln laid out his tools and paper on the flat wooden board and set to work. The birds sang cheerfully and Kiln felt at peace for the next couple hours as he sat and worked. As the early morning faded and the brighter light of the later morning began to shine down there was a slight disturbance in the birdsong indicating that Kiln had a guest. A minute later a rough looking man in black leather armor strode up the hill and sat down next to Kiln. He had dark eyes, black hair and mustache, and carried a shortbow and several long knives.

“Kilnoher, fancy running into you out here.”

Kiln nodded at the man.

“Henry, it’s been a while.”

The sinister looking man returned the nod and gazed down at one of the maps that Kiln was currently working on.

“That’s some fine work. Mind if I ask who they are for?”

KIln studied the other scout. Unlike Kiln, Henry was not an independent scout for hire. He was an official scout for the Copper Coin Company, one of the cheaper, less expensive mercenaries for hire. They were a ragtag lot but Henry was one of their long time members with a reputation for being decent enough, despite his sinister looking appearance. He probably was not here for Kiln.

“Siln hired me for some updated maps of the area. What about you? You working for Friedmark or Siln right now?”

“We are contracted with Friedmark at the moment, but I am out here on an internal company matter.”

Kiln raised an eyebrow at that. The man noticed and shrugged.

“Some of our scouts have gone missing in the area. Four of them disappeared somewhere around here in the past three months. Different contracts each time, so it probably isn’t related to any of those. Captain wondered if it was desertion or if there was something out here. Seen anything?”

Kiln frowned at that.

“Not really. The only thing out of place I have seen is Robert. He’s been tailing me. Pretty sure Friedmark wants to know what Siln hired me for. He will probably try to grab my maps before I am done.”

Henry laughed.

“That idiot thinks he can dance with you?! Out here? He’s better off trying to pick your pockets back in town than trying to track you through the woods. Why haven’t you ditched him yet?”

Kiln smiled at the affable scout and held his arms out to indicate the area.

“This hill is the best place to survey the surrounding area and I can’t really move it.”

“Fair point. Robert probably knows that too. Anyways, you really haven’t seen anything? I just got here a few hours ago but, judging by your maps, you have been here a few days at least. No unusual monster tracks or suspicious groups?”

Kiln frowned again and closed his eyes in thought before he answered.

“I haven’t seen signs of any people, besides you and Robert. I did notice a herd of spooked deer leaving the area when I first arrived. There might be a predator in the area. Maybe a wolf or bear powerful enough to drop a crystal or two?”

Henry sighed and nodded.

“I figured. The men who disappeared were not the best of scouts. I could see a predator of that caliber picking them off. It might be worth asking other companies if they have lost an unusual number of scouts around here.”

Kiln nodded.

“If you want I could help. I am almost done with this. Shouldn’t take more than another hour. I will finish up, then we can sneak up on Robert and convince him to be bait- I mean join us on this hunt. If there’s a crystal dropping beast, we can split the profits of selling it between the three of us.”

“Do you think he will actually join us?”

“For the possibility of thirty gold? Absolutely! Besides, he needs to steal my maps. It’s a good excuse that will let him stay close enough to try.”

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Henry grinned, his white teeth a stark contrast to his black mustache.

“Sounds good to me.”

An hour and a half later Kiln and Henry crept up behind Robert. Robert was a spindly looking man with brown, worn out leathers. He was technically an independent scout, registered with the mercenary guild but was known for his seedier services. Rather than scouting out enemy positions, he specialized in thieving, bribery and blackmail. He was also terrible at hiding in forests or noticing when someone else was sneaking up on him. In short, Kiln thought little of him. Robert’s clientele tended to be the poorer, more desperate, or underhanded people involved in the ongoing conflict between Friedmark and Siln.

As soon as he was only a few feet behind the other man Kiln began to stage whisper.

“What are we watching Robbie?”

The man jerked in shock and spun around.

“What the- How did you- Gah!!!”

Henry had just tapped the man on the shoulder. He was ginning.

“Ya got a minute Robbie? We got a proposal for you.”

The shady scout took a few moments to slow his breathing.

“What kind of proposal and how much are you paying?”

Kiln smirked. Greed was so predictable.

Robert was hissing quietly to himself.

“Why am I the one who has to go first and be the bait? We don’t even know what we are hunting. We-”

Kiln tuned out the grumbling thief. The trio had headed to one of the areas where one of the missing scouts had disappeared. Now Robert was moving loudly through the scrubby foliage about fifty feet ahead while Kiln and Henry followed more quietly from behind and to either side. It had taken some wheedling to convince Robert to act as the decoy but a combination of logic and Kiln promising the man a copy of the maps he had been making to convince him to do it.

After about two hours of combing through the area, searching for signs of anything out of place, they had seen nothing. They had no clues other than the missing scout had been somewhere ahead scouting around a gorge that was a channel for rainwater during the wet spring and fall weather, but was currently dry. The man had been checking to see if it was dry and could be marched through at the time when he had just vanished and never reported in. The disappearance had seemed unremarkable at the time and as Henry had said, most had assumed an enemy scout had got him. Now Kiln was convinced that something else had gotten them.

After all, they had seen no tracks or heard any sounds. Even the birds were gone. Kiln and Henry had exchanged more than one worried look with each other. Robert did not seem to have noticed. He was too busy grumbling to notice and in the silence of wilderness around him the sound was far more noticeable than it should have been. The only other sound that could be heard was the rustling of leaves in the breeze. It was unnerving. For hours they continued climbing in and out of washes and culverts. They trekked through brambles and small copses of trees. They saw and heard nothing. As night fell they began to search for a place to camp.

Robert was still grumbling, but at this point he was complaining just to complain and Kiln was tuning him. Henry was cooking over a tiny fire. They had kept it small in hopes that it would not be noticed. KIln was staring out across the landscape. Dusk was at that moment when the sun was down, but its light was still visible on the horizon. Something was out there. The silence in the area was one of fear. The natural world was holding its breath and Kiln realized that he was as well. The silence seemed to become more oppressive and then Kiln’s eyes went wide.

The world had just gotten quieter than before. Robert was no longer talking and the sound of Henry’s cooking was gone as well. Kiln turned back to the camp. Both scouts were standing there, frozen in horror, hands on their weapons. Their eyes were fixed on the ten foot tall humanoid that was striding towards them. Its left hand seemed to flow around a massive blade of pure oily black. Its right arm was a simple clublike appendage. For any other creature the blade would have been too big to wield properly, but this monstrosity carried it as if it were a one handed longsword. The rest of its body was shaped like any other human, but its entire body was a gleaming slick black material similar to the blade it carried. Its face was only roughly shaped like that of a human. With a nose, mouth, and eyes, but the nostrils were filled with the same black substance it seemed to be made of. The eyes did not blink and it had no pupils. They were just orbs of black that melded into the rest of its body.

As it walked its movements were similar to that of a normal person, but its balance seemed to be slightly off. It appeared to be moving slowly, but Kiln realized too late that this was deceptive. It was moving forward far more quickly than it first seemed to be. In a single, sudden, yet graceful move it swung its blade. The stroke was a nearly perfect execution of one of the basic sword moves that the knights from the Kingdom of the Bannerets employed. It left a gaping wound across the chest of Henry who stared down in soundless terror before he collapsed.It turned its head toward Kiln. Kiln knew at that moment that they were in trouble. It had identified Henry and Kiln as the primary threats. Whatever this thing was, it was as skilled and intelligent as anyone here.

Name: Kilnoher

Age: 23

Race: Elf

Mana

Nature Mana: 2/2

Earth Mana: 1/1

Body Mana: 1/1

Blessings:

Longbow of Sight: Level 1 0/2 Doubles your bow range and darkvision

Cloak of Shadows: Shadow Stealth Level 2 0/4 Increase your stealth level by the level of this cloak

Skills:

Health: 26/26

Base Defense: 0

Longevity: Level 4 8/16 Your lifespan in increase by 4 years

Darkvision: Level 4 8/16 You can see perfectly in the dark for up to 40(80) feet.

Bow range: Level 3 1/8 You bow range is 53(106) feet

Bow Accuracy: Level 2 2/4

Bow damage: Level 2 0/4

Nature Mana: Level 2 0/4

Earth Mana: Level 1 1/2

Stealth: Level 2(4) 0/4

Tracking: Level 2 0/4

Perception: Level 1 0/2

Body Mana: Level 1 0/2

Speed Boost Spell: Level 2 2/4 2/2 points used

Speed increase: Level 1 0/2 1%

Boost Duration: Level 1 0/2 1 seconds per point of body mana used

Sense Animals: Level 1 0/2 You can sense the presence of animal in a range of up to 100 feet for 1 second per nature mana used

Cartography: Level 2 0/4

Magic Items

Boots of speed: Increases speed by 1% for 1 minute for every 99 mana imbued

Current Mana Charge: 219