We are walking at a moderate pace. Maria is in our front, using her perception ability to look out for magic traps. We’ve divided the party again. It seemed logical to us all that mothers should stay to defend their children. And we are not going to take children onto what amounted to an armed rescue mission. We are heading for the next inhabitated house which has turned out to be the farm house of a horse breeder. We are advancing in the protection of a wooded strip of land.

It is very hard not to suspect a connection between their occupation and the centaurs dominating the area. Lidija lifts her fist, right out of a movie. Slowly she points. It’s a stag, whose antlers are leaving faint trails of sparkling motes from each tine. I could of cause shoot it. However, we are not using those signs because we have seen too many movies or have a deep masochistic streak. Now, I am not ready at this time to bet my soul on my not having a masochistic streak, but in any case it is not the reason we are using those signs.

We do not wish to attract the attention of an enemy too hard for us to deal with. I chant in as low a voice as I can get away with and use the beam combination for frostfire. The anomaly rears up, but collapses silently. Looting it confirms its death.

We’ve gotten unseen – we think – to the point of closest approach to the farm houses. Nobody is to be seen. The barns sit there with open doors. Our suspicions about the origin of the centaurs seems confirmed. We need to risk a whispered conversation.

PN: We should see somebody. They are two adults and three children.

M: This has got to be a trap. Why don’t you use your flying spy eyes.

P: They were blown away during our last battle. Tey are based magical liquids. It is at te same time a system for delivering potions and observation. I need to make magical water. That takes hours.

M: Why don’t you use a potion? Aren’t they magical and liquid?

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P: Sure they are. But how many potions do you think we have left?

M: Does it destroy them?

My facial expression removes the need to comment.

P: Their houses did not get transformed that much. All windows and doors are closed. I can look into it and see some disorder, but I can’t get my eye inside.

L: Do you see a car?

P: Transformed, but yes. I saw one.

L: If this were us, we’d want somebody to make sure.

P: OK, but I am not walking over and let them trail back to you. If they notice me, I’ll fly away and draw their attntion. They seem to lack flyers. You can slink away the way we came here.

PN: So no fire support?

P: Right, no fire support, unless you are sure that I have overlooked them and the danger is imminent.

I teleport onto their porch. Even a mediocre ritualist knows a minimal opening ritual. The door was not locked with a key, only shut. The house has a cellar. I find them there. Let’s just say that any ethical doubts I might have had about eliminating all living anomalies evaporated down there.

I find some spare fuel in the garage accessible from the house. Now I want to attract them. I am not a professional arsonist. Having bundles of hay and petrol available simplifies the task enormously.

Dalek-3H is waiting for them to notice and hopefully investigate.

I find my comrades with the corpses of two magic giant otters.

P: I have set the building on fire. It should attract those bastards.

PN: What?

P: Better not ask.

We need not wait for long. My servant gets two of the scouts and moves out into plain sight. The last two scouts bolt. A few more minutes a dozen have assembled. Had they pressed the attack they might have gotten him. But they, too, stop having lost three of their number. They mill out of range, while a messengers gallops away.

I risk sending the eye up. They are assembling behind the closest hill. All of them. They are in range. [Nebelwerder 42] howls. My servant and I move in to shoot the stragglers.