Chapter 19
Matt Williams snuck quietly through the woods, doing his best to channel his inner [stealth (I)] skill. According to the [System Initiate’s Guidebook], skills were passive effects that were active unless you focused on turning them off. While it didn’t say anything about focus improving the effects, Matt figured it couldn’t hurt.
He carried a small waterproof backpack with some civilian clothes, so that if he needed to, he could wear them, but otherwise he’d stripped down to his skivvies and boots, given himself a few small cuts that looked far worse than they were, and rubbed a bit of mud and other forest detritus on himself.
His goal was to infiltrate the elves guarding the human civilians, and act as a beacon of sorts, so that if or when the elves started moving people, the rest of Savage Company would know where. Without GPS tracking satellites, the beacon he was wearing had to broadcast on the cell network, allowing a team of CTO techs to triangulate his position, which wasn’t perfect, but it was far better than the next best options.
The cool night air was refreshing, keeping him from getting too hot as he hiked. Trekking through the forest in nothing but skivvies was a bit of a new experience, and he kept expecting someone to hop out from behind a tree and threaten to call the police, and he had to keep reminding himself that it wouldn’t happen. About two hours after he’d been dropped off as close to the elf position as the regular patrols would go, Matt found himself getting close to where he expected to make contact with the elves.
Matt had decided to follow First Sergeant Cabral’s advice and intercept a smaller group of the elf reinforcements. If they recognized him, or something about his appearance didn’t match with an escapee, there was a much better chance of fighting his way out if the elves got hostile. Hopefully that wouldn’t be necessary, and they would think he’d somehow escaped the larger group.
Matt dropped to the ground and started low crawling through the brush once he thought he heard voices. Eventually he crept up on an odd campsite. Four elves in shiney silver armor with gold designs etched on the face occupied the camp, busy at various tasks. However the tasks weren’t familiar to Matt in any way. One elf seemed to be attempting to start a fire, but instead of using wood, there was a small pile of rocks, and the elf kept summoning a blue flame that refused to take hold. Another seemed to be trying to set up a shelter, but instead of using nearby fallen logs, or a tent of some kind, the elf was hacking away at a standing tree, seemingly trying to hollow it out. Another of the elves stood facing away from Matt, and at first he assumed the elf was guarding the camp (poorly) but he soon realized the elf was relieving himself into the bushes.
The fourth elf seemed to be muttering to himself in the middle of camp, oblivious to the rest of the world. Matt decided this would be a perfect opportunity, and quietly crawled back away from the campsite. He found a nearby tree with a hole low in the trunk, and shoved his backpack of clothing inside. He quickly marked the tree by cutting various signs in the bark that would seem natural to a casual observer, as well as some other signs on the nearby trees. As he was about to head back, a cold voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Filthy slaves should have known not to escape. Looks like you got unlucky.”
Matt turned slowly toward the voice, dropping the small knife he’d been using and disguising the sound of it’s fall by timing the drop with his footfall. The elf was initially hard to spot, wearing a cloak similar to the one warn by Freidrich. They wore some kind of cloth sack on a strap over the cloak, that was full of mushrooms. A pair of wickedly curved knives were being presented menacingly.
Matt didn’t waste any time, quickly assuming the role of a scared civilian, eyes wide and hands raised.
“Don’t kill me! I swear I didn’t have a choice. I told Steve and John that escape wasn’t a good idea, but they insisted and they threatened to kill me if I didn’t go with them, and I couldn’t have any choice, and then it happened before I could really think about what was going on, and then the other guards caught Steve, and John pushed me, and I fell, and then I had to run, and I got all dirty, and I think I might die from the cold, and I’m thirsty, and all this just sucks so bad, and I just want to go home!” Matt ranted, letting his eyes go a bit wild at the end.
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The elf sneered derisively. “You should have known better. I should just kill you now, but since we’re headed back to where the others are, we will have to break camp and get you back tonight. We’ll let the vice commander decide what he wants to do with you.”
Matt let his head slump, staring at the ground. “Okay” he muttered.
The situation wasn’t quite as optimal as what he’d planned at the camp, but he hadn’t been caught with the backpack, and this elf seemed to by his story. His main objective would be accomplished as well, assuming the elf kept it’s word.
The elf walked forward, lasing out with a vicious kick that sent matt tumbling. He did his best to act more dased and injured than he actually was, since he’d only barely been sent to the ground. The act must have worked, because the elf sneered again.
“Get up! We have to move our whole camp tonight because of you. If you make us wait again, you will wish you hadn’t been so weak. Good. Now march! Not that way you stupid human, this way!” the elf ordered, aggressively raising it’s knives to punctuate what it had to say.
Matt and the elf quickly made their way toward the camp Matt had observed earlier. The four were still involved in the same tasks they had been earlier. The elf guiding Matt uttered a series of harsh sounds, apparently speaking in some kind of code the system didn’t translate. The other elves understood it though, since they quickly stopped what they were doing, grabbing nearby equipment, and generally preparing to march instead of making camp.
The elf who’d been muttering earlier produced a thin, silver looking rope, and proceeded to tie Matt's hands together. His feet and legs were left free, obviously needing to be capable of walking. That prediction proved true, as soon after that, matt felt a blade prod him and he had to yelp and jump feigning injury since the elves were likely expecting unleveled humans. In reality, the jab had only just split his skin, and provided a bit of mild discomfort. The elves followed silently behind him, so much so that he almost wondered if he was alone again, before the blade was used again to poke and prod him into going the direction his “captors” wanted.
It didn’t take long for Matt and his troop of elves to reach the main encampment. Matt let his eyes dart quickly around, drinking in as many details as possible. Most of the 30 odd elven guards possessed bladed weapons, with no apparent ranged weapons. The armor was either the silver with gold filigree or the leather with a cloak he’d expected. Most of the elves seemed to be occupied with intimidating the human prisoners, with only one or two paying any attention to the outside world.
The condition of the prisoners left much to be desired. While there didn’t seem to be any immediately apparent life threatening wounds, everyone Matt saw, young or old bore at least some injuries. Matt had to put effort into controlling himself at some of what he saw. The urge to break the tracker and risk everything was high.
Eventually Matt found himself in front of what he could only describe as the obvious leader. Ice elvan society seemed to be Matriarchal, and if that was true, this situation wasn’t doing anything to combat that perception. The commander was the first female elf Matt had laid eyes on personally. Long platinum blond hair stretched almost to her waist. She wore what seemed to be a few sheets of opaque ice, expertly frozen together. The commander didn’t seem to possess any weapons, but she did wear a long white cape-like piece of fabric that seemed almost to be freshly fallen snow. No matter how Matt looked at it, the quality of the fabric was vastly higher than anything he was familiar with, other than the mottled cloaks some of the elves wore.
“So… my enemy finally deigns to present himself before me. Tell me human, what do you have planned?”
Matt’s brain processed things at almost double the speed it had before the system, but he still found himself utterly stumped by the question.
“Uh… what?” he replied.
“Playing coy with me eh? Fine then.” the female elf turned towards the surprised group who’d been leading him. “Put him with the others. He’s a wiley one, so keep an eye on him and make sure he gets extra attention. We’ll have to jog his memory.” She said the last with a menacing grin.
Matt was dragged backward, toward the other prisoners. This time he didn’t have to fake his reaction, as the strength involved when the elf holding the other end of the rope yanked on it full force.
Matt’s main objective had been met, and while the danger had increased considerably, Matt still felt their chances for success were high. Only time would tell if he was correct or not.