Cat waits in the branches of the tree, watching the monsters pass by below. He has never seen their like, and does not understand what he sees. No two of them are alike, for all that they share the same dull, black flesh. Some have claws, and some have tails; other have extra arms, shiny chitinous armor, whole limbs that are natural weapons. One among them even has wings.
From another branch on the far side of the tree, he feels Lady Aniel reach out to touch his mind with hers: Now. We can take them from behind, end them before they know we're here.
He radiates a sense of waiting, letting her know without words that now is not the time. Her familiars stir, impatient as she is. They remain still, but even the dullest semmis could sense the Gai-Cha they have gathered around them.
They fall still as another monster passes beneath them. This one is larger than the others, a many-legged snake, flowing like a river of black flesh down the path beneath them. Cat can feel its Sim-Cha, the life-energies within it; the monster is that large, that close. It should be able to feel them as well, the energies gathered around them at the very least, but these monsters seem strangely blind to the movements of Gai-Cha, despite the strength of it within them.
Aniel touches his mind again: They're headed for the Hold. They mean to break it open.
Cat considers, but only for a moment. Lady Aniel is adept with the Arts of the mind. If she says that is their goal, no doubt she knows firsthand. And this trail only goes to one place. And this is not a lone scout or raider; this is a war party.
He raises a hand, keeping the other on the tree's trunk for balance. There are two weapons at his back: a bow, the use of which he has learned unwillingly, and with difficulty; and a navic, a saber blade mounted on an equal length of handle, something between a sword and a polearm. It is the navic that comes into his hand: this is going to be close work, and messy. Lady Aniel and her familiars can cover him from above.
He slips the blade from its sheath and steps off the branch, dropping towards the monster below.
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