The next morning, Fritz woke up with bleary eyes. He ate some travel rations, and washed it down with conjured water. The night's fire had burnt down to cinders. Neva stood around impassively, ready to begin the next day's march.
The group plotted a course through the woods and continued on. From morning till dusk, they hiked through the trees. Fritz and Marcelle lagged behind. Ada and Neva were indefatigable as they moved through the woods. Their wolfish ears twitched and moved to any strange sounds within the forest. Conjuring water, candy, tobacco, beef jerky, trail mix, and even a bottle of wine, Fritz tried his best to keep his companions happy.
Eventually with the approach of nightfall the party made camp again. They camped on a flat portion of the forest floor. No clearing had been found. The iron-gray trees of the forest pressed in close to their camp. The canopy overhead swayed, as the breeze pushed against the canvas of Fritz's tent.
Marcelle seemed intent on ignoring the others. An iron pot sat on the forest floor, boiling some roots she had found earlier. Neva sat leaned back against a tree, smoking her long pipe. Ada sat next to Fritz, leaning into his shoulder as he tried to cook a conjured steak in a cast iron skillet.
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The wind blew. Dead leaves kicked up on the forest floor. The fire danced as the wind ran through their camp. Fritz watched as Marcelle's pot threatened to boil over. She threw out a series of curses as she reached for a thick leather glove to remove the pot from the fire.
Neva raised her hand up, as she stood. Fritz looked over with a confused look. Neva's nose twitched as she stood up and dumped her tobacco out of her long wooden pipe. Her nose twitched again as she inhaled. As if on instinct, Ada rose as well and smelled the air.
"Rotting flesh. Could be undead." Ada said confidently. Neva nodded to her.
"Undead?" Fritz asked. "How can you tell?"
"The scent of rot wasn't here when we made camp. It must be moving. It's coming closer." Neva explained. Ada nodded to the graying wolfkin.
"Shit." Fritz said, as he stood up.
"What do we do?" Ada asked. "They might find us at night. Camping is risky."
"Pack it up. We need to keep moving. We can't camp here." Neva said.
Marcelle moved to put her experiment away. Throwing his steak away, a feeling of hopelessness coursed through him for a moment, as he imagined the upcoming trek. Pulling himself together, he focused on the task at hand.
"Quickly! We need to move out. Fritz hold the torch. Be prepared for anything." Neva commanded, as she moved over to collect her supplies. "Marcelle, hold up the rear. Ada behind me."