The Real Target
As we approached the Rainbow Blades camp, we saw earthen walls and a few watch towers and a number of adventurers on watch. Inside the walls were dozens of tents. As the second strongest guild in the north, they were allowed to bring in twice as many people as were qualified to enter on the first day. Since they had a team in each rank make it into the final four, they had a lot of adventurers.
Vesta led us towards the center of the camp where a large command tent was erected. Inside, a bored Runa was leaning back in a chair reading a book.
"Runa we have some visitors." Vesta said.
"Thank the Spirits there's something to do. That damn Fritha is making me waste a day sitting around. Weren't there more of you?" Runa said.
"That's part of what I'd like to talk to you about. Vesta if you could get us some privacy?" I said.
"You heard him back off." Vesta said to Kalfr who'd been following us. The others had broken off and went to their tents. He reluctantly left us as Vesta cast a Sound Barrier.
"What I'm about to tell you is partially a secret." I related everything I knew about what had been going on.
I started with the Followers of Light gathering ingredients, while leaving out Floriana's involvement. Then I talked about the altered manticore. Runa confirmed that the reason they had a central camp was because of the mutated monsters throughout. She also showed me a canister that they had found yesterday evening. It had remnants of an unidentified aerosol poison in it.
When I got to the attack Runa smashed her fist into a nearby table, breaking it in half. After I related what we experienced since entering the forest she took on a thoughtful expression.
"You're taking a risk telling me all this after being told not to." Runa said.
"Honestly, something seems off with all of this. While the attack on the Duchess involved a powerful item, it wasn't enough to break through their defenses. Any attack focused on Erlandr won't be as strong even though he's just as protected by the Guardians of Ice. They're attacks without hope of success." I said.
"They could have overestimated their capacities. Or underestimated the Duchess' defenses." Runa said.
"That is possible but why attack when they did? It would only alert everyone and limit the number of people that entered the forest. More people in the forest would cause more chaos and confusion as to who is an ally and who is an enemy. Why not wait and use that confusion to get close to the young lord?" I said.
"You're assuming that fanatics can fully think through their plans. That isn't often the case." Vesta said.
"True but if what has happened thus far is a distraction and we just go along with it, we'll miss the real attack." I said.
"My uncle would be proud of that line of thought." Vesta said.
"So what do you think is going on?" Runa asked.
"That's why I wanted to talk with you two. I wanted to make sure my line of thought wasn't off." I said.
"Fire away." Runa said.
"Their goal wasn't to kill the Duchess or her son. All of that was to provide a scapegoat and to limit the number of people that entered the forest. The mutated monsters are also meant to kill off any groups that already entered." I said.
"And what do you think they want to accomplish and who is behind it if it's not Ice Thresher rebels?" Adalgard asked. I hadn't even told her about my theory yet as I did think it was a bit ludacris.
"With less people in the forest it increases the odds that they'll be able to come across the Gylltaine Stag. And there is one group that showed up for the festival that would love to harm, if not outright kill, a Great Spirit." I said.
There was silence after I finished.
"That is quite the theory. But a Great Spirit isn't that easy to harm." Runa said.
"I know, which is why I'm not fully confident in it." I said.
"It does match their arrogance though. And It's not about if they can pull it off, just if they think they can." Adalgard said.
"There are only two Followers of the Holy Light in the north that could be classified as S ranked, which is what you'd need to even think about taking on a Great Spirit. Ones the Archbishop and it would be hard for him to leave Torinheim without being noticed. The other wouldn't harm a Spirit regardless of their power level." Runa said.
"You seem to be quiet. Anything you'd like to add?" I could tell that Vesta was deep in thought about the issue.
"When the Church was openly hunting witches centuries ago, they were also hunting Spirits. They successfully killed a few lesser and intermediate Spirits but weren't able to kill a Great Spirit despite their efforts. That doesn't mean they didn't come up with a few ways to kill them since then, they just haven't had the chance to try." Vesta said.
"The Gylltaine Stag would be the perfect target. They disappear for years at a time. And at this point even if people found out, they could blame the Ice Thresher rebels. It is a good theory, but how true is it?" Runa said.
"If I'm wrong then it won't really change anything. The Guardians of Ice are more than capable of protecting Lord Erlandr. If I'm right then we could have a big problem. Thankfully we only have to worry about it for another day." I said.
"What do you mean by another day?" Vesta asked.
"The festival ends after tomorrow. They only have one more day to Hunt." I responded.
"Wilmaer, the festival ends because everyone is in the forest and they leave at their own pace. Normally people keep hunting for another week or two." Runa said.
"Wait, did you think the Gylltaine Stag leaves after tomorrow just because that's when the festival ends?" Vesta asked.
"That's how it was explained to me." I replied.
"Well they explained it wrong." Vesta said.
"How about we focus on the problem at hand." Adalgard said.
"Fritha should be back by nightfall. We can discuss what to do then." Runa said.
"I'm worried about the others from our party. We'll head back up the river inorder to find them." I said.
"Are you sure? It's going to be dangerous with all the mutated monsters." Runa said.
"I'm not sure at all. But we have to." I could feel a pull in my bones in that direction.
"I'll go with you." Vesta said.
I raised an eyebrow and looked to Runa. She just shrugged. "If she wants to throw her life away with you, who am I to stop her?"
"Well then let's get going." I said.
-----
"Commander, you have a visitor." A Holy Knight called from outside Knight Commander Bibiana's tent. She had been sitting at her desk writing a letter to the Archbishop and started to turn to respond.
Without waiting for an answer, Knight Commander Renata walked into the tent, grabbed a spare chair from the side and sat down next to Bibiana with a wide fake smile.
"To what do I owe the pleasure Renata?" Bibiana never used the other's title. If Bibiana had her way the other woman would have been executed for heresy.
"To think we've been at the same festival for two weeks and haven't had a chance to sit down and just chat. I thought I'd correct that since we never know when we'll be in the same area again." Renata replied.
"I'm not sure that we have anything to talk about." Bibiana tried to ignore her by turning back to the letter she was drafting on her desk.
"We might as well since no one, especially us, will be allowed to leave the area for some time due the attack on the Duchess. Funny how half your people including Turnus left before the end of the team competition. It was almost as if they didn't want to be stuck here." Renata said.
"The Holy Light needed them elsewhere. Oh and it's nice that you're acknowledging that we aren't the same." Bibiana replied.
"Of course we aren't the same. I actually understand the purpose of the Holy Light. Not just use it to justify my hatred." Renata said.
It took a moment for Bibiana to calm herself from the insult. She believed that she could take on any A ranked adventurer or other Holy Knight in the north. But since the Church didn't use a ranking system for battle prowess, she didn't know if she would measure up to an S rank.
And Renata would be an S rank.
A few years ago an S ranked adventurer was found to be committing unspeakable acts. After he massacred the adventurers that initially came after him, it was Renata that found him as he tried to flee into the north. She single handedly killed him for his crimes. It was the only reason she was able to gain the office of Knight Commander despite her hearsay.
They might hold the same office within the Church but Bibiana didn't have any illusions that they were on the same level.
"If there's nothing else you can see yourself out." Bibiana said.
Renata got up, walked to the tent flap, and stopped.
"Oh there is one more thing." Renata moved at a speed that Bibiana couldn't react to as her head was smashed through her desk.
With her hand on the back of the bleeding woman's neck, Renata said. "If anything happens to Lord Erlandr Togeir, I will hold you responsible."
"Hahaha." Bibiana forcefully turned her head to look the other woman in the eyes and with a gloating smile, said. "Then I guess you have nothing to worry about. Nothing bad will happen to the young Lord of the north."
Without a word, Renata let go of the woman and left the tent. Outside she met back up with her friend, Priest Sveinn. After a few steps she slipped him a gold coin.
"Really!? I didn't really think she'd confirm my suspicions." Sveinn said.
"She's too arrogant and fanatical. In the end she had to give me a hint to show her superiority." Renata replied.
"So, who do we go to?" Sveinn said.
"I'll tell the Eldest of the Covens about your theory. It will be up to her and the Duchess to make a decision on what to do about it. They might not even believe me." Renata said.
"The Light be with us if they really did finish that weapon." Sveinn said.
For a moment the face of a young adventurer came to her mind. "I think it already is."