Their lives on the road had quickly slid into distinct roles to make everything a little smoother. Hunting was now a part of their daily lives, with Sarel and Skyeyes going out to catch whatever they could find. Sometimes it was a deer or other large herbivore that would keep them eating for days. Other times it was nothing more than a rabbit they had to portion out for a single meal. It was about conserving their supplies as they neared the end of their quest. Vegetables and fruit were much harder to come by now that they were avoiding settlements, and there were only so many things which were ripe at that time of year, making stealing some from farmers less likely.
Merdon and Red had become more focused on shelter and planning. Not just meals and places to hide, but on the trip. The red kobold knew where the witch's tower was, in a general sense. She could point to the rough area it sat in on a map, and with Merdon's knowledge of the countryside, they were able to plan a route. Beyond the destination, Red knew of the traps which would await them in the tower, and so many days of travel were filled by her telling them the strange things they would find therein.
One floor, for example, contained an entire plane of existence within it. The only way to escape was to find the door that led out, either the way you came in or forward. Many kobolds would get lost there and return starving and dehydrated, unable to find the other door and forced to summon the witch to rescue them. It was that door, that room, that separated them from their final task. Only by finding the exit to the summoned plane of reality could they reach the witch's room at the top of the tower. There were other traps but none as daunting, to Merdon at least. He could only imagine the control over that place the witch might have. They could enter and find themselves caught in a magic blizzard, freezing to death soon after, or in scorching desert heat.
It gave Merdon a lot to think over while they traveled. They weren't exactly prepared to fight a witch, as much bravado as he'd displayed when leaving Bereth many weeks ago. Nothing they had was resistant to magic. At best, his shield could block some things, but not much in the grand scheme. All it would take is a few spells to destroy it, or perhaps a spell that would be best avoided than blocked being called straight to him. His only hope in that regard was that the witch wanted to examine him rather than kill him. Even he admitted it was a dim hope. There was no backing down now though, not when they were so close to the end.
The others contemplated their situations as well. Sarel wondered what was left for them in Avant. Now that Merdon was a wanted man they would never have peace in the nation, even assuming this fight went well. They could run, but the nations who would take a wanted killer, even if he was a killer of slavers, were few. Their best bet was the orcs. How Merdon felt about them had yet to be seen but it was a safe bet he didn't feel very good about them. Avant had fought against the orcs for a long time and just because the knight accepted kobolds didn't mean he would so willingly live among his nation's most hated enemies. Then again, the enemy of their enemy was a good place to be.
Skyeyes had yet to reveal the extent of his crisis to the others. Red knew of it but not of how much it had affected him. He felt disconnected from the holy powers he once had, though he'd only tried to use them once since Ardmach. A priest gathered their powers from their faith, and his was shaken to the core. Another worry sat into his bones like the chill from an autumn rain as he considered his uselessness. What use would he be to them without his powers? Sure, he could summon a pack of wolves, but that was just because of the ring Sarel had given him. It wasn't his own power, and it was not nearly as useful to the group as his healing had been. The brave facade he put up as they traveled was sure to crack sooner or later, but all he could hope for was no one to get seriously injured before they arrived, or during the battle. If he were placed on the spot to heal there was no guarantee he could help, and if it were a life or death situation...
Red began to notice things the closer they got to the tower. Landmarks, villages in the distance, paths to take that avoided them. It gave Merdon a shock, but it was evidence of how soon they would arrive at their destination. The whole group had their worries, and it made their last few days of travel very terse. Days went by with few words spoken, except for Red guiding their way. Nights were short and watch was easy to keep with three kobolds. Nothing important happened as they moved through the uninhabited countryside and into the forest that hid their destination. A bare peek could be seen when one entered the woods, just a hint of what laid within, nothing more. To any regular travelers, the woods would be a place to avoid and Red informed them of many tricks within they would have to navigate which were designed to keep folks out.
Their first trap came when the group found themselves wandering back outside into the fields near the forest. They all came to a stop and frowned. Red recognized where they had come back out. It was the same as the entrance they had used. As if the forest simply spat them back out the way they came. Skyeyes' wolves hadn't noticed anything strange, and Sarel was the most confused of them all. She had marked their path, scraped trees, and she hadn't seen any of those marks when they came back out of the trees.
“Quickclaw marked the trees,” she insisted, looking at the first one she marked. “There is no way we turned around.”
Red folded her arms and turned back to the forest. “Once again. I will lead this time,” she volunteered. The mage felt somewhat embarrassed. This particular trap had slipped her mind, and it was only the first one.
They walked back in, following their own footsteps through the brush and vegetation of the forest floor. At a certain point though, Red stopped and then turned. Skyeyes looked around, making a quick calculation, and hurried to catch up to her. This was the wrong way, and he had to let her know. Silly as it seemed, they had gone the right way before. At least, he thought so, until she stopped again and looked around.
“We should have turned the other way,” he said, finally. “The tower is further away here than-.”
“No,” Red cut him off, slowly turning her head. “The forest is trapped. Spacial magic that twists travelers around. How many times would you attempt to pass through a forest only to be kicked out before you decided to quit?” The white kobold frowned at the notion.
Merdon didn't look pleased either as he asked, “So, what do we do?”
“Follow me,” Red insisted. “I didn't have to worry about this trap when I was escaping. It helped me, actually.” Now it was a problem, however. Red was reading subtle clues in the environment, as well as places where she felt magic gathering. Anywhere they could slip past the witch's net was the way forward.
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It made for very slow travel through the forest, and a few times it made them double back, like moving through an invisible labyrinth. By noon, Merdon didn't feel any closer to their goal, but Red assured them they were closer than it appeared. Just before evening, when Merdon was about to suggest they camp for the night, as unappealing as it was to sleep in the witch's forest, they pushed into a glade with their objective sitting right in the middle.
The white tower stood as tall as any of the nearby trees, and a little more. It had obviously been built with the forest in mind as the trees kept it mostly obscured in the middle of the forest as it was, just barely did it push above the canopy, perhaps even just a single floor. Windows dotted certain places, although it was impossible to see inside them. Through manufacturing or magic, it didn't make a difference as the end result still kept them from gleaning any information about the interior without entering. Merdon suspected their intrusion wouldn't go unnoticed either, assuming they hadn't been seen already. This tower was their objective. Against all odds, they had reached it. Weeks of travel, of being wanted, scraping by on what they could forage and hunt, sleeping tensely at night expecting an imperial ambush at any time. All of that stress was paying off. Now came the hard part.
Merdon stepped forward first, and as he did an image appeared before them. A woman with long red hair was there. She was dressed in a black dress that hid her form well with a hat that was almost cliche for a witch. Her eyes slowly panned over them and, at last, stopped on Red. This was the witch, projecting herself from the top of the tower, and her expression didn't look pleased at all. For the first time in years, she had intruders to deal with, all because of an escaped kobold.
“Oh dear,” she said with a sigh, tsking as she shook her head. “And what foolish knight have you found, lost one?”
Merdon set his shoulders and looked her illusion in the face. “I'm the kobold whisperer,” he said in a remarkably defiant tone.
Those words changed her expression though. The witch lit up and grinned. “Well now,” she purred. “I wasn't expecting you to walk right up to my doorstep. And such a long journey from Bereth.”
“I came as quick as I could,” he replied. “After I heard about all the kobolds you've got enslaved here, how could I stop myself from coming to set them free?”
“They're as free as they need to be,” she snapped. “Much better than out there with humans like you.”
Sarel chimed in at the witch's comment. “You look pretty human to Quickclaw.”
“But I'm not like them,” she retorted. “They clean and cook, but don't you do things like that at your own house? They live here, safe from the cruelty out there.”
Skyeyes huffed. “Then why not let them choose to live here? If it's so good, why would they choose otherwise?”
The witch shook her head. “Because they don't know how cruel it can be. Most of them anyways. If they did remember, they would absolutely choose to be here. I simply make it easier for them.”
“That's no different,” Merdon told her plainly. “You enslave them. You may treat them nicely, but they're still enslaved. They have no freedom, no wills, not even memories, and if you think we're going to let you get away with it...” He paused and took a breath. “Then you might just check in on Ardmach and find out how well that went over with the slavers there.”
Whatever retort the witch had failed to come out. She scrutinized the knight for a moment and then vanished, her illusion wavering like ripples on a sheet in the breeze. Merdon looked back at Red, who simply nodded at him. They'd bought themselves a moment, but once they were inside they could probably expect a lot more of her.
Merdon put his helmet on and stepped forward again, this time the kobolds followed suit. They approached the tower together and entered one after another. It was well lit and kobolds were walking about listlessly. Each was dressed similarly to Red when they first met, very poorly, but at least they were dressed. The collars on their necks stood out most of all, but for the moment Merdon ignored them, and they ignored the party. He looked to Red for directions, and the kobold mage pointed them to the end of the hallway.
“This won't be easy,” she warned them one last time.
“Was it ever?” Merdon asked rhetorically as he walked forward.
“Once,” Sarel commented. “Although it got much worse after.” She was following him as well, eyeing the walls which were quite obviously as white as the outside of the tower.
Skyeyes, trailing behind, asked, “When was it easy?”
“Before the first arrow,” Sarel replied. “You helped us with the second.”
“Arrow?” Red asked, following the slowest and suddenly hoping the conversation could help her forget where they were.
Sarel looked at Merdon, who seemed more intent on their surroundings than on telling a story, before retelling their first couple of adventures together. Merdon tuned it out, for the most part, as he examined the area while moving in the direction Red pointed them. There were a lot of rooms with beds in them, some occupied, others empty, and it reminded him of what they were going to do before coming in here. It was too late now though. His stifled yawn caught the Red kobold's attention, however, and she chimed, “We could probably find a place to rest for a few hours down here.”
Merdon looked at her with concern, though his helmet hid his emotions. “Wouldn't the witch just use that as an opportunity to attack?”
Red shook her head, although she was uncertain. “I doubt it. She wants to take your power for her own.” The power he didn't have. “I don't think she'll actually try to kill any of us, just capture us. In that regard, a simple watch should be effective.”
“Unless she tries more magic trickery,” Sarel pointed out. She looked at Merdon and voiced, “Quickclaw does not like this, but we have been traveling all day.”
Skyeyes nodded. “Hindsight being what it is, we should have camped outside the forest. But even then, given the tower's size, we could be climbing for more than one day.”
Merdon frowned and looked around one more time. Just ambivalent kobolds wandering around, cooking, cleaning, sleeping. “Find us a spot, Red,” he asked at last. “We'll need our strength.”
The red kobold nodded and wandered into a couple of rooms before waving them over. It was largely empty, almost like they were getting ready to make more beds. Like the witch was expecting to get more slaves. Merdon made a noise of disapproval, but he found a corner with some sheets and took some of his armor off. His breastplate he kept on. At the very least it helped him feel a little better about sleeping inside enemy lines.
Sarel volunteered first watch and made herself comfortable in a corner while Red and Skyeyes took out their bedrolls and made do in the middle of the room. It was okay, all things considered, but Merdon couldn't help but feel they were being watched.
They were, of course, being watched. The red-haired witch was eyeing them through magic and pondering her next move. She needed to know several things before attacking the party next. What the knight had said about Ardmach intrigued her, but she also wanted to know how the red kobold escaped her before, as well as what the extent of the human's powers were. To that end, she decided to leave them be for the moment. Her voyeuristic magic ended and she turned to another method of collecting information from far away to learn what had happened in the capital of Avant. Something more direct as she teleported a letter to an informant. One of her questions would be answered by morning, and the rest she could deal with afterward.