Gwen swung up onto the horse she’d been given for this scouting trip, eager to get out and do something.

The logistics of the Sects was an advantage she had given little thought to prior to their arrival, but the Sorcerers had come well equipped with everything they would need.

Thankfully, that included enough spare mounts that Elder Vaijon had got everyone but the Airta a horse.

Barely any of them actually belonged to the Disciple of Adamar, but the quartermasters of the other Sects had turned them over without question when he asked.

The Elder was an odd man, not at all like most other Sorcerers, and he reminded her a little of Kai. Not physically, and certainly not in personality, but she saw echoes of the same attitude toward the Sects in him.

Considering that Vaijon was an Elder of a Sect, even one as odd as the Disciples, that was quite surprising.

“Everyone ready?” Vaijon called out once everyone was mounted. “Then let’s go see what trouble we can find.”

“Macha, can you have some of your crows scouting ahead?” Gwen asked as she urged her horse into motion and looked over at the Witch on her right.

Macha was a Kranjir Witch who’d come south with them to Join Gwen’s Coven. She was a Bloodline Witch like Hope, but her power was based around her familiar, Faethe.

Macha took the feathers that Faethe shed and stored them in her hair, which gave her a savage look that Gwen thought quite suited her.

Reaching up to take two of those feathers, Macha cupped them in her hands and whispered into them before making a throwing gesture and releasing an identical pair of crows.

The two birds circled them once, let out a loud caw, and then flew off down the trail they were taking.

Kuzo, Gwen’s familiar, croaked lightly and tugged on her ear, drawing her attention to the distant horizon, where ominous dark clouds were gathering.

“Is that you?” Hedda asked, coming up beside Gwen and nodding to the clouds.

The Hex Witch had no real ability or speciality that related to scouting, but if they were going off in a smaller group like this, she’d be invaluable when things went wrong.

Gwen trusted these Stormlords as far as she could throw them, and that extended to their information. As far as she was concerned, the Cyth could very well already be there.

“Excuse me, Witch Gwen,” Vaijon called out, slowing down to draw level with the three Witches.

“Just call me Gwen.”

“Gwen, then,” Vaijon said with a nod. “If I may, those crows that flew ahead, they were your creation?”

“They belong to Macha,” Gwen said, nodding to the Kranjir Witch.

“They are copies of Faethe, my familiar,” Macha said, reaching up to stroke the crow sitting on her shoulder.

“You can all do this?” The Sorcerer asked, rubbing his chin in thought.

Gwen shook her head in amusement, although she could understand the mistake. After all, they each had a bird familiar sat on their shoulder.

“Interesting, I know little of Witches. I look forward to seeing your powers in action,” Vaijon said, flashing her a grin before turning to Macha. “Do you have vision through these copies?”

Macha hesitated, but Gwen gave her a subtle nod to be honest with him. Now wasn’t the time to worry about secrets. Besides, if he tried to use it against her, Gwen would give him a firsthand demonstration of her powers.

Thunder rolled somewhere in the distance and Gwen inhaled deeply, sensing the coming storm on the wind. She’d always known more than the average person, but now, it was like an old friend whispering that it was coming to see her soon.

“Not as such,” Macha said, drawing Gwen back to the conversation. “I am aware of their surroundings in a loose sense, but it often lacks fine detail.”

“The forest, but not the trees, I understand,” Vaijon said, inclining his head slightly. “Thank you for trusting me with this. As thanks, this is my magic.”

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Gwen watched with fascination as Vaijon created a ball of flames and smoothed it in his hands, compressing it down and down until it was a bead of intense flame.

Cupping it and bringing it to his lips, Vaijon whispered something to it before pulling a vial from his belt and dropping the flames inside.

Gwen half expected the vial to immediately explode, but instead it simply hit the bottom of the vial and sat there as Vaijon tucked it away in his belt.

“What sort of Sorcery is that?” Hedda asked, staring at the vial intently. “Fire and force?”

The Elder stared at Hedda in shock before giving her a grin wide enough that bordered on being manic. “My dear, please, what is your name?”

“Hedda Lakstar of the Bansach,” Hedda said, making Gwen wince internally. Like Macha, Hedda had been cast out of her Clan when she became a Witch.

“An absolute pleasure to meet you. I’ve never met anyone who could simply identify what I was doing at a glance. Is that a Witch thing, or are you simply that good?”

“A touch of both,” Hedda said, the corner of her mouth quirking into a smile. “Spend enough time around Verdan and you see enough interesting magic to learn some things. What I don’t understand, though, is how it isn’t exploding.”

Vaijon laughed and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t think you’d believe me, even if I told you.”

“We’re being escorted by people who’ve shapeshifted in large wolves and my familiar turns into an athame. Try me,” Hedda said dryly.

“I do love a direct woman,” Vaijon said, winking at Hedda before bringing his horse a little closer and whispering in a voice just loud enough for all three of them to hear. “I remind it that it isn’t needed yet, and ask it, very nicely, to be still.”

Gwen stared at the odd man incredulously, hoping that he was messing with them, and not just deranged.

Hedda, though, simply frowned and stared at the vial. “It really is still, but how do you do it?”

“I’m afraid that isn’t something I can just explain,” Vaijon said, some of his flirtatious manner slipping away to reveal a sad smile. “If you figure it out, though, come find me.”

Not waiting for an answer, the Sorcerer bowed to them from the saddle and urged his horse into a canter.

“What a strange man,” Macha said as they watched Vaijon leave.

“Oddly compelling, though,” Hedda said in a distant voice. “Such interesting magic, as well.”

Gwen rolled her eyes. “It was probably a trick of some kind. Don’t let him get to you.”

Hedda waved a hand absently. “Don’t worry about me.”

Gwen eyed her friend for a moment longer before leaving it be and eyeing the distant clouds once more with a deep inhalation.

They would meet the storm tomorrow.

-**-

They had seen no sign of any Cyth by the time they stopped to camp for the evening.

Vaijon had brought a dozen of the other Disciples and they split the watches with the Airta and Kranjir, leaving the Witches plenty of chance to get some rest.

Today was the day where things would go wrong if they were going to, Gwen could feel it.

Macha’s crows could only last for so long, but having them up there meant that they were at least confident that the Cyth weren’t here in strength.

Val, the air Sorcerer that had been working with them since she was forced into trying to kill Verdan, was doing her part as well.

She couldn’t get eyes on the situation, like Macha could, but she could search for voices or loud noises. Not as useful in this situation, but if they encountered any Cyth, she could help track them.

Gwen knew that some of the raiding groups had gone further west than where they were now, which was an odd feeling considering how peaceful things were around them.

Shaking away a creeping sense of paranoia, Gwen turned to ask Macha if she’d seen anything yet when the other Witch lifted her hand.

“I’ve found the river, and there’s a crossing that we could disrupt. We need to head to the right.”

“Vaijon!” Gwen shouted, reaching out to grab the wind and smacking the Sorcerer with it to get his attention. “Macha’s found the river, and a crossing that way.”

The Sorcerer nodded and called out orders, shifting their direction to match what Macha was saying before heading over to them. “Alright, tell me what you see.”

“There’s a rope bridge with some big logs sunk in the centre of the river,” Macha said with a faraway look as she focused on something only she could see. “For what it is, it’s fairly sturdily built.”

Vaijon nodded, rubbing at a burn next to his eye in a thoughtful manner. “Let’s take a closer look. Any sign of movement or recent passage?”

“No movement, we’d have to check for trails up close,” Macha said, her eyes refocusing on Vaijon. “I’ve got them circling the area now, just in case.”

“Good work. I’ll go find Zhalia and get some Airta over there to see what they smell.”

Zhalia was leading the Airta that Sylvie had sent, but unlike the rest of her people, she was on a horse with her bow resting across her lap.

A quick word with Vaijon was enough for Zhalia to let out a whistle and call out some orders in the Airta language.

The Airta travelled in a loose formation around them and kept far enough away that the horses weren’t spooked by all the big predators. That meant that Gwen couldn’t see who or what answered Zhalia’s call, but she could easily imagine several Airta in their wolf form racing ahead.

They were well off the path they’d been taking now, relying completely on Macha to get to the right spot. Unfortunately, that also meant that the ride was a bit rougher, and Gwen wasn’t that experienced with horses.

“Are we almost there?” She looked over to Macha pleadingly, but the other Witch simply smirked and pointed ahead.

Following the gesture, Gwen saw a new path ahead of them, and she could just hear the steady roar of the river in the distance.

The roar grew as they reached the new trail, and a dark-haired Airta came jogging over to give Zhalia the all-clear. “No sign of tracks, Sefvan.”

“Good. Take the others and search the area. Have the draskir use their fraktiri as well.”

“Yes, Sefvan.” The man nodded before jogging back into the woods and disappearing from view.

Vaijon rode over to them with two of the other disciples and made an elaborate gesture toward the river. “Would you care to join me down by the river so we can see just what Macha has found for us?”

Rolling her eyes at him once more, Gwen did just that, with Hedda and Macha following along behind her.