After meeting Cru in my old home, I travel the pilgrimage path up to the mountains. Just as Gene's mental pictures displayed, the woods surrounding Forest Base Camp are much less dark and thick. Trees, stumps, undergrowth, and decay have been removed from the once-dense forest.

Before, I had to hack my way through the thick woods. Now it's an easy walk. There's a healthy variety of trees and shrubs that once crowded the floor are growing in balance. Even the stream appears to have grown. Might even be pushing class two.

The most notable of changes is the abundance of life. Before, in the thick of the woods, life seemed to be pushed out. Even the mana that radiated from the forest was more pale than vibrant. Now the brightness of life can be seen and felt. The energy pushes my steps while I trek to the meetup spot. I almost don't have a complaint during the whole process.

Cru has done more for the forest and the spiders than I ever could. Maybe he can teach me his skills. Not the spider cultivation skills. He and Annette can keep that to themselves. I want the healing powers he has. Sure, I have a little bit of that. What Cru has, though, is transformative. I hope he considers my invitation. Maybe I need to go back there and bribe him with more food.

A couple miles later, I reach our meeting spot. We are at the last mountain lake. Beyond this point, the terrain turns more rugged. The trees slowly give way to mountains.

"The Spider Goddess is nothing like we thought," I say to Gene as she lands from scouting.

"Not a goddess?" She tries to spoil my reveal and somewhat succeeds.

"Well, no. He's their god, just not a goddess."

"Called it," Gene gloats as she shifts into lycan form and takes a portion of the second breakfast I've prepared.

"You sure didn't. You didn't call anything."

"Not vocally."

"Then it doesn't count."

"Not if you are getting technical. Still… thought it." She takes a huge bite of her biscuit, ending her excessive celebration at claiming a false prediction.

"He was a nameless goblin druid. Called himself Crusher. Seems to be a fellow foodie. Real nice guy."

"Let me guess." Gene gulps down her bite. "You gave him a nickname and asked him to be on our crew… Cru?"

"Damn," I whisper so softly it might just be a thought. The thought is immediately interrupted by more excessive celebration.

"Called it."

"There is nothing wrong with consistency. Some would even advertise it as an exceptional character trait called dependable." Gene concedes victory and continues to eat. I relax and recline my body on the slope of the mountain. I've got a few minutes before I have to force a part of me to clean up.

"Annette's information is still correct. They are camped in a glen northeast of Mount Tall."

"I told you the name would stick. How's the fort looking?"

"It is more of a castle. Let me show you."

I focus on my pure mana and create the link between Gene and me. When the connection is made, I carefully pull on the information she holds within her mind.

Resting on the broken back of the mountain is a sprawling castle. The massive building takes up the entirety of the hill it is built on, allowing for no exterior walls. Dark stony walls of the castle span thirty feet high and forty feet wide on each of its four sides. Four towers in each of the corners add another ten feet.

All the greenery of the forest that should have been crowding the castle walls was cut down and removed. The dark castle on the hill stands tall and unopposed for hundreds of yards in any direction. The corpses of wyverns, drakes, bears, and mountain cats are scattered across the desolate grounds.

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"They look like pleasant company. What's our plan here? More shadows and boomsticks?" I ask.

"The castle, while completely exposed, is covered in heavy runes. I am not sure we can get through without disabling the runes first. Runes will be placed securely in the castle, most likely between walls."

"You got all that information on a flyby?"

"More or less."

"More or less? That doesn't even make sense."

"Can't a shaman do her own investigating, or are you the only one with a curious mind?"

"The spiders have a new god! If that isn't worth investigation, I don't know what is."

"The bears built a castle?" Gene counters with a question statement, which is the worst thing that can happen to statements when you are on the receiving end of the question. Especially when used as a counterargument. The long-lived shaman is cunning, that's for sure.

"Yeah, that requires investigating. Castles have the best feasts. Back in my former life, I was invited to a castle party once. Well, I wasn't invited. I heard about the party and decided to see what all the ruckus was about." Gene gives her goto a skeptical look, encouraging me to continue.

"It was loud, and I couldn't sleep. I was going to kindly ask them to turn down their live music and maybe keep the riotous laughter to a common chuckle. Just a polite neighbor request. I never actually made it to the walls. The smell of the food I caught as a flock of bats flew me over the castle and into their cave was almost worth the trouble I was dropped into."

"Did you just make that up on the spot, or is there some backstory I haven't been privy to?"

"More or less," I say with a sly grin.

"I can't believe I listened to all of that nonsense."

Thanks to my passive mind, dishes are done, and our camp is clean. All evidence that we were here is cleared away. A few more words are said about hiking and stuff, and we hike up the mountain. Well, I make my way over the mountain while Gene flies. The hiking makes me miss Fury and his enormous wings. If only my totem could be a proper bird that could carry my weight. But no, that's too much to ask for, and I am once again making a pilgrimage on the same mountain I already pilgrimed. Guaranteed, no truths will be uncovered.

Gene joins me on the descent. We only need to hike one more mountain and head north before arriving at the castle. It is already mid-afternoon, and though I like to think Gene is joining me for the company, I can't help but think she is only by my side for the food. Either way, I pull out some easy-to-eat hiking food for both of us.

"So, what is your plan for this raid?" Gene asks after she finishes eating.

"It doesn't sound like our previous plan will work with this castle. It's crazy that the bugbears have such extreme security measures."

"Makes sense that they do. They are the most remote of the horde. Their stronghold has already been brought down by an unknown force. On top of that, they probably suspect a counterattack from the goblins and kobolds."

"That's true. Fury flew over them a couple of times too. And I had a run-in with them shortly after leaving your shadow lair. I don't think they were threatened by me. Most likely the opposite."

"Didn't you kill a squad of one of them and a member of another squad?"

"Those were in self-defense and done in secret. I also ran away from a fight. The living has no reason to fear me."

"Then I guess I should be thanking you that the bugbears haven't built a mote around their castle."

"You're welcome." I return the sarcasm with a heavy dose of sincerity. I give the castle raid more thought before proposing my new plan. This time, to be less predictable and stay true to the new me, I go with something completely different. When the plan finally comes together, I bring Gene up to speed. "Is it possible to mask our identity with perception?"

"Like a cover?"

"More like a mask. A goblin and a kobold mask, to be more specific."

Gene lets a wild grin cover her face. She doesn't say anything and just smiles for a moment. I grin back, encouraging more enthusiastic thinking. For the remainder of our hike, we practice perception masking. More precisely, Gene teaches me how to conceal my identity, turning me into a goblin while she fine-tunes her kobold appearance.

We're only miles away from the castle when the sun goes down. I'm covered in my iron armor while Gene is wearing gloom. She will use her old equipment for this plan while I will be clad in armor. The perception mask is easiest if we keep the masking to a minimum. In our case, it is only our faces that we'll have to worry about.

The plan is simple. Enter the castle in disguise and beat down some bugbears. It isn't the most elegant of plans, sure. I don't even have a good justification for it. I'm sure I could create one. Mostly we just want their food. And further divide the hoards' alliance.