One hour before Sundown. Coming from his final briefing with the leader of the forward scouts, captain Swift gathered his team inside their temporary residence.


    “The last information we have, about the ember-societies poacher outpost, is that it was vacated by their elite mages 3 days ago, as observed by our scout contingent, posted on the overlooking hills.”


    The following days were quiet, until a scout, proficient in long range reconnaissance, noticed some unrest in the camp''s central area.”


    From then, it took only minutes, after the start of the disturbance, for our remaining scouts, to see the first people flee the camp into the woods in random directions.”


    That sadly required them to vacate their observation spot immediately, or risk being found.”


    All this happened last night, and is the reason we were called in.”


    It had been a close call for them, just arriving in time back home, 2 villages over, to be available for this last minute mission.


    Our job will be to infiltrate the camp, search for clues to the origin of last night''s disturbance, return here, and report back to our Headquarter.”


    Looking at Harriets sullen face, he knew his team''s scout and infiltration expert was not happy going on this special assignment.


    They had just come back from charting the new trade route between the town of rapid-falls and two new border villages.


    Whoever decided to start making inroads into the outer edges of the transient realm should go there and do the job themselves.


    This whole frustrating debacle was followed by a 2 week return trip.


    And now no time to cool down and relax.


    The rest of his team showed a variety of different opinions about it as well on their faces.


    And he decided to not comment on how Gregor was smiling at Harriet, almost daring her to air her grievances.


    Sam was, as always, the more stoic type.


    Captain Swift was happy, they acted all professional enough to not protest the mission, now that they were already here. No need to waste time when you could do a fast and thorough job and be back sooner, with less complications.


    —--------------------------------------------------------


    They slowly closed in on the area cleared for the camp''s construction, hiding between the trees.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    The darkness of night was fast approaching, and within the next hour would make the infiltration easier. “Harriet, like always, you go in first and look for a safe route for us to follow.”


    Sam and Gregor will make a roundtrip along the camp''s edge and report back here in one Hour.”


    I will keep an eye on the main gate and look out for unexpected guests.”


    If everybody is back here, we will decide our best method of ingress.”


    —--------------------------------------------------------


    Harriet was not happy, but a job was a job. Looking at the camp infront of her, she decided to silently review the content of their scouts reports, before deciding how to approach her task.


    The camps palisade was built roughly 30 paces away from the forest edge, far enough to notice anything or anyone approaching from there. In addition to the wall came five sets of guard towers. One set for every cardinal direction, and two higher towers in the camps central area.


    With nightfall just around the corner, Harriet prepared her light-cloak spell, to become one with her surroundings.


    The spell was one she was very proud of, as it routed all light around her, making her seemingly invisible. The only downside was, to keep her own ability to see intact, she had to at least allow some light coming from in front of her to reach her. That always created some minor disturbances, only visible for people standing right behind her, opposite the direction she was looking.


    Sneaking up to the palisade, she soon noticed the absence of all guards. It was not that only few were left, after the disturbance, like the scouts speculated, but that she could see nobody on the wall. It was completely empty.


    That was convenient, and somewhat worrying. This made it a less risky decision, when Harriet opted for a swift climb up the wall. Looking down, inside the camp proper, the signs of battle were obvious. Slowly creeping up the ladder to the nearest tower, she wondered what had happened here. Even the new vantagepoint did not change the impression of a completely abandoned camp. Almost as if everybody inside, who did not escape in time, was dead.


    Seeing no reason for further secrecy, at least outside the camp, she decides to make a point by knotting a thick climbing-rope from her backpack to a nearby palisade stake and signal her captain and team to climb up.


    –-----------------------------------------


    Captain Swift is sure something more is going on with this camp, Sam and Gregor found no patrols on any of the walls, and by now they would have needed to light their lanterns, if they wanted to see anything approaching from outside the camp. But nothing happened.


    No guards, not patrols, no lanterns.


    Following along the wall with his gaze, Captain Swift soon took note of the rope Harriet had placed for them to climb.


    The decision already made for them he hurries his team up and over the wall.


    –----------------------------------------


    “Now that we are all back together, what should we do next? "Any proposals?” the Captain asks, looking each of his teammates in the eye. It is good practice to keep an open mind in these situations, for observations made by the team not already known to all.


    Harriet, having been the longest on the wall, decides to speak “as far as I could tell, the camp is empty …disregarding the obvious corpses”. I could see no lights in any of the buildings, and the moon is just bright enough to not lose your way.”


    As we all know of the hard-limit to our stay here. Sunrise next morning. Our scouts expect by then the reinforcement, alarmed by the fleeing people from last night, to arrive.


    Since I have my stealth magic, and you have your own spells for sneaking around, why not split up and look a little closer.”


    Not seeing anything inherently wrong with the proposal, Captain swift decides on a two pronged strategy. “ Sam and Gregor, you will start from here, near the wall, and slowly work your way inside.” We will go straight for the administrative building, and look there for survivors to question later”.


    —---------------------------------------


    The ticking clock in mind, the team splits up.