The Bloodforged Kin

Chapter 208 - 202: Troop 276 - Hunting Certain Death

The group was off at a run, Sam explaining the plan as they did. The dogs trailed behind her, nipping playfully at each other with Hank trotting slowly behind them, head looking left and right for any threat to his cows.

"When we pick up their trail Em will go into ghost mode and scout the encampment. She'll report back to us and I will set our plan. Em will set any traps we need, Liv will search out water for potential attacks and escape, then cast Mist of Concealment. That will fog the area and make it hard for our enemies to see us."

"Won't that obscure our vision too?" Jim asked.

"No," Sam continued, "the skill only blocks their view. We won't even notice it's there."

"That's convenient."

"Yep," Sam said. "Jim and Alex, you'll be our main attack behind the dogs and moose. If there are any living victims there you'll get them out first. After that we'll attack and try to take as many out as we can. Kristina, you're ranged support. Shoot who you can, but keep a close eye on all of us. If anyone is attacking us we'll need you to stop them."

"Don't forget about the Challenge," Alex said. "It will most likely start while we're there, or maybe soon after. Hopefully we finish this mission first and can make our way back before it kicks off, but if not we'll have to keep our eyes open for that too."

"How are none of you even breathing heavy?" Kristina puffed.

The Troop chuckled quietly. "We do this a lot," Liv said.

"Sweet Christ on a cracker, I need to exercise more." There were more chuckles at Kristina's comment.

An hour later they slowed to a halt, Alex eyeing some branches that looked the same as all the rest to anyone who wasn't in the Troop. He called Sam over and they talked in hushed voices, walking a slow, patient perimeter around the area. They returned on silent feet, barely visible in the star light.

"We've got a trail," Alex whispered. "It looks fresh - under a day old. It's all pointing to the east." He pointed at a small gap between the brush. "Em, you're up."

Emily nodded and stepped forward, tightening any loose articles of clothing. Alex and Sam checked her for anything reflective, shiny, or that could make a noise. Inspection complete, Alex patted her on the shoulder. Six of her badges glowed for a moment and Ghost of the Wild and Silent Predator activated. Kristina breathed in sharply as the young girl disappeared in front of them.

"Look out of the corner of your eye. Look for the edges," Sam whispered to Kristina. She turned her head to the side and saw what Sam meant - if you weren't looking directly at her, and had a general idea of what to look for, you could see the slight outline of a form that blended seamlessly into the terrain behind it. It wasn't that Emily was invisible, she was just so perfectly camouflaged that you'd miss her if she wasn't moving quickly.

The shadowy form slid away from them, disappearing into the night. While she was gone Alex handed out the biscuits, explaining what each did. Sam handed some of Ben's weird, rustic hand grenades to everyone except Kristina, keeping most of them for herself. "They work fine when thrown, but you have to hit the person. If you miss they'll just explode on the ground."

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"What do they do?" Kristina asked.

"Basically, they shoot out sharp spikes of wood, stone, or metal that pierce into the person. He calls them Sticklers, like the little round thorn things you see on Burr Clovers - the things that cover your pants when you walk through a field. They'll pierce the skin and have barbs to make pulling them out really, really hurt. They don't do a lot of damage, but are pretty painful and great for distracting someone. Aim for the chest if you're a bad shot, aim for the hands or face if you're a good one."

They waited in silence for another 10 minutes until a shape appeared in front of them, startling Kristina.

"Jesus, kid!"

Emily, now fully visible, put her hand to her lip and started signing to the group. Rapid fire hand motions went between the members of the troop, Kristina and Jim looking between them with confusion.

Alex noticed their looks and moved closer to whisper to them. "Sorry, we all have our ASL badge. It works great for situations like this. There are somewhere between 15 and 20 cannibals in an outcropping ahead. No huts or tents, they're all sleeping in a small cave formed from a rocky overhang. Some are huddled around a campfire, but most are keeping to themselves. There are approaches from all directions. There's a river running alongside the outcropping."

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Kristina whispered back.

More hand signals, most of them coming from Sam, then Alex turned back to them. "Em will guide you to the top of the cave structure. It has a ledge that you'll be able to get line-of-sight on most of the outcropping. The goal is to try and force them into the river where Liv can drown them. We'll send the dogs and moose in first, then Jim and I will follow. Sam will hang back unless needed, coming in to heal anyone that needs it. After leaving you up there, Liv will join us and try to do shadow-kills on any she can."

"You okay with that?" Kristina asked the waifish girl who couldn't have even been 15 years old.

Liv's reply was a dangerous smile and a thumbs-up.

"She's been looking for a chance to advance that badge," Alex said. "We don't normally take missions like this." He said that with a distaste that belied Liv's excitement.

"It's not a perfect plan," Sam said. "We're not fighters, and those guys look really dangerous. I doubt we'd win in a hand-to-hand fight, so we're going to need to be smart. Get them to the river, don't get between them and the river, and retreat if things get bad."

"If we get separated," Alex picked up, "meet back here, but stay hidden. If they come after us they'll beat us, so the most important thing is getting back to the town."

"So if things get hairy we just leave you out here alone?" Kristina's concerned expression was met with smiles.

"We appreciate the thought," Sam said, patting her on the hand, "but we'll be fine. Troop 276 was born in the woods."

With the plan set Alex showed Jim and Kristina their hand signal for 'retreat.', a closed fist waved in a circle above his head. Emily took Kristina's hand and walked her into the darkness. Jim watched them go with concern.

"She'll be okay," Sam said, noting his expression.

"I know," he said, crows feet appearing around his eyes as he tried to pierce the darkness of where his wife disappeared into. "She's strong - made of iron, that one. Still though…"

None of them missed the fear in his eyes.

The call of a Great Horned Owl hooted through the night, the sound all-too-common in the Idaho mountains. It was the signal they had been waiting for.

Alex raised a fist in the air with one finger held up and turned it in a circle before pointing forward. Liv took point, followed closely by Sam then Alex. An odd mist began to appear around them and everyone's footsteps fell silent, the sounds swallowed whole. Even Hank's tromping became muffled, as if he was walking on a layer of pillows. As soon as the mist appeared it disappeared, although the sounds stayed muffled.

They approached from the east, stopping at the treeline. Hand signals flashed between them, Jim able to see what what they were talking about without needing to understand. There were a lot of very large, very bestial people spread out in front of them. Not one was under seven feet tall and all were either covered in heavy furs or had sprouted fur across their bodies. Their hair hung long in dirty, matted tendrils and their nails were inches of cracked, yellow bone that stopped in sharp claws. Body parts were tossed aimlessly around the camp, picked clean and forgotten. There would be no rescuing anyone tonight.