Chapter 31 - Infiltration (Leaf's POV)

A sliver of moon and the stars faintly illuminated Leaf as she peered out over the cliff, looking into Lordstown. She was surprised to see so many fires, lines up and down the hill and across the beach itself. The upturned ships were majestic structures that had appeared out of nowhere and it filled her with fear. Just how many of them were here? If each fire was for a single person, then they were horribly outnumbered. The Dwellin would handle this in winter, but just how could they handle so many Mahn? They would need a force of such size if not greater to overcome the strength of Mahn.

The guards below huddled around two lanterns, the duty of five were attentive and alert making it impossible to sneak in. Trying to descend the unstable cliff would kick up rock and give away her presence. It was not a particularly good entrance, not like an underground one that truly had no other way around, but it worked well enough to be a sort of one-way trap even in the best of circumstances.

Where was the medicine stored? Her eyes could see well into the dark, and thanks to the pockets of light cast by the fires well beyond the twenty paces she normally could, but it did not help. It was just too crowded and too different to have anything in common with the warren. She needed another way in. She heard the guards shuffle about and change their positions, but they would not just leave. She headed to the left flank of the cliff, further from the gate and encountered a treacherous path. She was sure it would be out of earshot from Mahn, but one false move and she would fall to her death. Even the best of circumstances would be a broken body unable to escape. She’d be helpless, but Rock needed the medicine.

With her body hugging the face of the rock, she carefully sought footholds and tested them as she began to descend. What was stable, what was unstable, or even where the footholds were was a nearly impossible task in the night. Peering down for a jutted piece of rock here and there was one thing, but most of the holds were beneath her as she descended and by touch alone was the only way to find them. Halfway down her hands had slipped, she had kicked four footholds and heard the rocks cascade down, but the cliff stopped becoming so steep and it was easier. After the grueling descent, she looked up to the top of the cliff, at the edge of her vision and realized it had only been twenty or so paces down, but the moon itself had already begun its descent. If she lingered too long, she’d have to climb in the day and in full view of the entire settlement. Being spotted on the cliff would be her doom as she would not be able to escape from either direction in time. Time to be quick. For Rock.

The settlement itself felt like it was partly designed to be a warren and partly a series of cloth houses that offered no protection against the elements. Far to the back and beached on the shore were tall shadows that must have been the noble’s quarters because they were full structures, and they were filled with light and guards milling about. The average Mahn was blind in the darkness, and that allowed her to sneak through the tents and cross the large shadows cast by their fire in relative ease, but she had forgotten one important thing. Her scent. She could not understand them, but lingering in their presence caused them to sniff the air and begin to search for the source. It only took two near discoveries to realize that they were sensitive enough to make entering any enclosed space too dangerous.

She ventured from tent to tent looking around. The number of crates, boxes, pails, buckets and pallets that they had were inconceivable. Did they make all of this in the days since their arrival or did they truly carry all of this with them? How had they even arrived? The Great Mother did not prepare her to deal with an enemy like this. They were nothing like the stories of the Bura tribe, the tales of raiding that warren made it sound as if it was straightforward and easy. A goblin warren always placed its most important things in the depths, but food and medicine were in the central areas. Would it be that way for Mahn as well? She needed it to be so.

As she entered the central area, she came across pallets made up into beds and piles of blankets that had no one in them. A lone figure guarded the area, an incredibly tall female Mahn who was engrossed in staring at something by the fire. Inattentive or perhaps asleep, this was a good chance. She needed to find medicine, but what medicine and how would she know it was the right one? She could not carry it all back.

She climbed up on a crate and looked through a pile of small containers with different tops, they clinked like stone or clay, but they were cylindrical in shape. Were they carved? No. They were containers and inside smelled of herbs. Earthen pots. A luxury. Yes, this must be the medicinal stores. One by one she carefully opened and looked at the contents, sniffing to discern the most potent one by scent. She found that the smallest containers were the most potent and contained not herbs, but a sort of oily cream that reeked. She dipped a finger in and raised it to her lips, hoping to understand what it was by taste.

A voice called out and she turned, her hand was seized in a flash by this towering Mahn. The woman who wore a huge blanket akin to a cloth over most of her form wiped the medicine off her finger and onto the robe with deliberate care. She spoke, but her words meant nothing. Then she touched the top of her head, and those massive fingers seemed to dip into her skull. Suddenly, she felt an intrusion and wanted to scream, but the darkness closed in. As she looked up at the face of the Mahn, she saw a pair of eyes glaring at her coldly. So, this is how it ends? Better this way, then in the warren. The fingers delved deeper into her skull and the void took her.