We carefully advanced towards the bush. Skadi used her earth magic to harden her skin, Helena reinforced her mail with ice. I focused on an ice dart spell. I would start with water magic and switch to death magic if needed. Cassie was holding a vial containing… something.

The movement in the bush had stopped. But we did not hear anything running away. We were not the best at sneaking, so it was reasonable to assume that the creature knew we were coming.

“The last suspicious bush we approached attacked us. Do we know that this is not a vampiric nightshade?” Cassie whispered.

Helena stopped. “There should not be any in this area. Then again, there should not have been any in the Korrah Forest either. Koyuki, do you sense some bones? Anything there you could animate?”

I shook my head.

“I could just burn the bush.” Cassie offered while playing with her vial.

Helena pondered that briefly. “Ok, let’s do it your way.”

Cassie looked surprised, then she grinned. The vial flew towards the bush.

I saw a brief flash, followed by an explosion. Dirt and burning pieces of wood flew everywhere. We readied ourselves for a fight but nothing emerged. After a moment Helena said: “Let’s stop the fire from spreading! We need to take care of the burning wood.”

The three of us who had water magic went to work. Thankfully the forest was not too dry and we were able to stop any bigger parts from catching fire. Soon everything was under control. It was time to investigate the remains of the bush.

“Hm.” Skadi said while looking at the remains. “I can’t see anything.”

“I don’t sense anything I could animate.” I said.

Helena poked the area with her spear. Nothing happened.

“Maybe it was just the wind?” Cassie wondered. “How sure are we that a creature was inside?”

“It could have burrowed.” Skadi pointed out.

“Do you know of any burrowing creature that would fit into that bush?” I asked.

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“No.” She admitted. “That does not mean they don’t exist.”

Nyx sniffed the area. Then she poked it with a paw.

“Maybe it was something small and you blew it up.” Helena suggested.

“It’s possible. If the corpse is too damaged, I would not be able to raise it.”

“The important part is, it was a great explosion! And the forest is totally fine.” Cassie said with a grin.

“Well, let’s just continue.” Helena suggested.

We moved further into the forest. The explosion was loud so most animals had fled the area. It would take a bit of marching until we would have another chance to hunt anything.

We stopped at midday to have lunch. We had brought a selection of smoked sausages and some cheese. We sat near the river while we enjoyed our meal. Suddenly Nyx started growling and growing to the size of a tiger.

We immediately grabbed our weapons.

“Well met fellow hunters!” We heard a voice. A man emerged from a denser part of the forest. He wore leather armour and had a bow slung over his shoulder. There was a quiver on his back and a dagger at his belt.

I studied the man. He was middle aged and clearly in good physical shape. His hair and beard were not well trimmed. There was also some dirt on his face and clothing.

“Have you been spying on us?” Skadi asked.

“What? No! I am a hunter. I heard some noise and investigated. That is an interesting undead creature you have with you.” He said while looking at Nyx. He might not have noticed that Frank was undead too. He looked rather human from afar.

“Hunting, huh? So you have a licence?” Helena asked.

“Of course! It is in my camp though. You are welcome to join me!” The man said.

“He looks like a creep.” Cassie said.

“Hey! I assure you I am just a hunter, miss. It’s not the cleanest job but it pays the bills.” He was watching the draugr while he walked closer. Maybe he thought Frank was our guard.

“Stop.” Helena said, pointing her spear at him.

“I think Frank can handle this.” I said. I mentally commanded my draugr to get closer to the man.

Meanwhile, I was already forming a water shield close to my skin. I wanted to be prepared for an ambush. The man smiled at Frank, then he threw something. A vial shattered in the draugr’s face. Smoke emerged. The undead did not care. It reacted to the attack by drawing his sword and deploying his ice armour. Then he stabbed the surprised man.

Nyx charged. Not at the hunter, but at a tree. A panicked arrow flew towards her but missed. The undead feline was a quick climber and soon we heard a scream. A headless body fell from the branches.

Then there was silence. The hunter was dead. Frank had killed him. The headless body of the archer was on the ground, a smug Nyx sitting on top. Nobody else attacked.

“Was that it?” Skadi wondered. “What kind of crappy ambush was that?”

“I think those were just scouts. Nyx spotted them so they improvised.” I mused.

“So, you think there is a camp somewhere? With more of them?” Helena looked thoughtful.

“This guy had a few more vials.” Cassie said. She was currently searching the corpse of the hunter. “I am not sure what is in there.”

“Clearly it did not work on an undead.” I pointed out. Frank was just fine.

“Could have also been the frost affinity.” Skadi suggested.

“Most undead are pretty resistant to cold anyway.” I said. “Could you find out what those do?” I asked Cassie.

“In a lab? Maybe. Here? All I could do is test it on things.” She replied.

“Girls, what do you say about going on the offence?” Helena asked. “We look for their camp and attack. Those scouts might have left a trail.”

“Hm.” Skadi pondered that. “It could work. Would be nice to be the attacker for once.”

“They are going to miss those scouts. If they don’t return they will be on alert.” I said.

Cassie ginned. “They might expect us. But will they expect the Iron Beaks?”