"Mine, too." Ryson announced.
The revelation surprised the elf.
"Truly? A full-bred delver never exploring this area?"
"I could never get out of the hills," Ryson admitted. "The valleys are farms, towns and people, not a great deal I ever wanted to see. There wasn't much here that ever really called to me, but the hills…"
Ryson looked backed upon the rolling slopes to the west. The hills themselves were covered in shadows, but the sky above them was painted with the glorious sunset. Even with the expansive valley ahead waiting to be explored, he could still feel the tug of each rounded peak behind him. His delver spirit ached to uncover mysteries in the crevices of limestone rock, to explore the forest at its floor and throughout its intertwined branches, and to examine the trails, dens, nests, and markings of every creature that inhabited the rolling high grounds.
"Before the magic returned," Ryson explained, "I would come as far east as the Oachets, but I never even got close to the valleys. Once I got in those hills, I could explore for entire seasons. I love the hills."
Ryson turned his attention back to the valley, and as the light began to fade, his eyes adjusted to the growing darkness. His delver vision enabled him to see as if it were still midday, but the coming night allowed him to view the valley from a different perspective.
Lanterns in the distance revealed the nearest farmhouses and towns. The land before them was not quite as expansive as the central plains they crossed before they reached the Oachets, but there was so much more activity in the valleys, so many more people.
"How should we approach this?" Ryson asked, deferring the decision of strategy to his companion.
Holli responded as if reciting from an elf guard handbook.
"Scouting and surveillance first. We need to become familiar with the landscape, and we should remain out of sight in order to limit our risk. Care to our safety and thoroughness to our investigation remain paramount. There is no sense in being careless. We are not constrained by time. There is no pressing concern, no immediate crisis which must be addressed. Let us use the first few days to explore the surrounding areas and witness for ourselves the true extent of the predicament."
The thought of a long exploration should have thrilled the delver, and in many ways, it did. There was, however, another part of him that was now anchored to his home in Burbon. He thought of his wife, Linda. She understood the need for him to be gone, but she would miss him, and he would miss her.
He wondered how long it would take them to gather enough information to suit Holli, and to quell his own curiosity. The Great Valleys stretched over an expansive distance, and it could take several cycles of the seasons to explore the entire region. From the information they already obtained, he knew it would not be necessary to visit each valley, but there was no guarantee that the turmoil was spread evenly throughout the area.
"We have the reports from the settlers that left the valleys, but what exactly should we be focusing on?" the delver requested.
"We are here to determine the extent of the infestation, its purpose, its influence, and hopefully, its origin. We will focus on the farmlands first. Better to understand what is happening out on the edges before we enter the center."
"Okay, so a concealed scout of the outlying farms. Will you use any sight spells?"
"Not at this time. I do not want to alert anyone to our presence, and a sight spell that would go measurably beyond your senses might reveal us to a powerful mage in the area."
Ryson looked back over his shoulder to the west, but this time he did so to gauge the dying light. The sun had disappeared behind the hills and dusk had begun. The sky remained dark blue overhead, but the far edges in the east were already tinged with gray.
"Well, soon we should be able to set out under cover of darkness, but until then, I suggest we move around the surrounding woods to get a better look at what's going on here before we hit the farmlands. We might be able to pick up a few trails and check on some of the dark creatures that were watching the borders of the valley."
Holli nodded and the two set off to explore the area in greater detail. They quickly located another group of inferns in the distance. They were easy to spot as they did, in fact, glow. The heated nature of their bodies radiated through their pale skin, and their faces lit up the night like round lanterns held on armor pedestals. Their iron javelins appeared as long red staffs encased in molten metal. They stood as silent sentinels in a clearing on a nearby hillside-demon imps offering themselves as beacons to light up the night, perhaps warning the curious to stay away.
As a deeper darkness spread across the valley and the night advanced with a moonless sky, Ryson and Holli expanded the scope of their scout. They leapt from the sanctuary of the trees and moved through the fields at ground level.
Carefully, they spied into farmhouses and barns and examined the roads to determine the level of activity that occurred throughout the outlying regions. They noted the location of a few towns, but never got close enough for any detailed inspection of the activity in pubs, taverns and inns.
They traveled quickly and quietly, covering huge distances. Despite the lack of sleep, neither tired and they never paused. Blending into the night, they stayed in shadow and kept away from large clearings where their movements might be detected. They went unspotted despite the tense nature they sensed.
Moving carefully through fields, along fences, and down gullies, Ryson and Holli noted the apprehension of all those they crossed. It seemed every farmhouse remained well lit, and several armed soldiers on horseback moved along roads far from the outskirts of nearby towns.
The guards remained cautious and alert throughout their patrols, and they rode in groups of larger numbers than seemed necessary for the region. Even their mounts revealed a skittish nature, as the horses stepped across gravel and dirt roads with a cautious gait and a wary eye. The guards stopped often and peered for long moments into the darkness. Even sentries at the gates of small towns appeared tense and apprehensive. The night was not a friend to any of those on patrol.
Holli and Ryson kept silent, but knowing glances between them revealed their awareness to the tension. They also observed oddities within the farm fields they could not explain. It was the height of the growing season, and most fields were carefully planted and yielding great quantities of crops, but some appeared disheveled and disorganized. These fields lacked clean planted lines, as crops and weeds mixed together across swaths in haphazard fashion. The ground was packed hard under foot, not the softer mounds of recently plowed fields.
Once the night passed, they returned to the trees in outlying areas and continued their reconnaissance from afar. They watched the roads and noted the pace and direction of wayward travelers and merchants. There were far fewer than they expected.
There were, however, a great number of other travelers on the roads-travelers they did not expect to see out in the open in broad daylight, but they were there nonetheless. Goblins moved along roads without hiding their numbers and with little regard to humans they passed. They acted as if they belonged there, and even more surprising, the humans that spotted them simply passed as quickly as they could. No one called for help, no one shouted an alarm. The presence of goblins seemed to be accepted.
After several days of careful reconnaissance, Holli decided to approach a farmer working in the fields. She hid her pointed ears under a forester's cap and counseled Ryson to appear as nothing more than a human logger surveying the land.
The farmer eyed them suspiciously. When the two strangers stepped off the road and onto his land, he abruptly ended his chores and intercepted them. He held a pitch fork loosely in one hand. He was big, but agile enough to use the tool effectively as a weapon. With more defiance than curiosity, he demanded the reason for the trespass.