"What you said about-"

"Don't talk to me." Akane interrupted.

"Fine." The annoyed female Hobgoblin answered. She wanted to cross her arms as well, but couldn't.

He never really looked at you, huh?

For about twenty minutes, Syl sat quietly with her thoughts, looking into the darkness that had overtaken the forest.

She thought about many things, including what Akane had said.

'Did the Hobgoblin Chief threaten the Werebeasts? No, that wouldn't make sense. With the Orcs always against us, we wouldn't have the strength to wage two wars at once.'

Syl arrived at the only plausible answer. It was the same answer that Amon had arrived at right before falling asleep.

Remembering that Syl had talked about the Werebeasts' irrational fear, Amon theorized that it wasn't the Werebeasts' fear that was irrational, but that of their Chief.

In other words, the Chief paid for protection by giving away members of the village, while telling those under him that it was because the threat of war was hanging over their heads.

To take out the last wrinkle on that theory, they would need to ask Akane what the Werebeasts under the Chief know about it all.

'Does the Chief tell everyone about his deal with the Hobgoblins, about the supposed threat of war, or only the girl he's preparing the throw away?' Syl asked herself, her teeth clenched in frustration and anger.

Eventually, she relaxed her jaws and sighed.

"I am sorry." Syl muttered. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that, and that I was there."

The apology was met with nothing but silence. Syl remembered that it was apology first, and explanation second.

"Truthfully, the only explanation I can give is that I was trying to save myself. Going against the tribe meant becoming one of the Chief's woman, a high honour given to female warriors. Thing is, he doesn't care about those women one bit. All he wants is for them to produce offspring for him, and that's what I would have become. It might not sound as bad as being thrown to Goblins, and it isn't, but I've lived my whole life trying to escape that." Syl explained while staring into the distance. "When it came down to you or me, I chose myself. Once I could get away with minimal damage, I chose you. It's not like there wasn't any danger for me either when I came back for you. That demonic creature was roaming around the village, you know? Maybe it's not a big deal for you since you fought it afterwards, but that thing is certain death for me. I still ran in to save you. Because I would rather die than live the kind of life I would have had had I helped you earlier."

Syl's explanation was honest and sincere.

Yet it seemed like Akane didn't care one bit.

"If that explanation isn't enough for you, then there's nothing more I can do." The female Hobgoblin frowned.

Nothing but silence.

"Seriously?" Beyond pissed off, Syl started turning towards Akane. "You could at least acknowledge that I'm…"

Syl could only blink at the sight.

'She said she could handle it yet…'

Zzzzz-

'She fell asleep not thirty minutes into the watch.'

The female Hobgoblin stared, her eyebrow twitching. She did not know whether to kick the Fox awake or,

"Hahaha…" Syl chuckled.

She took a deep breath in, sighed, and raised her gaze to the sky above.

"What the hell are we going to do?" The female Hobgoblin muttered. "It's obvious enough they have no idea where they're going. More importantly, they don't even know where they're trying to go." Her gaze moved towards the sleeping Akane, then the sleeping Amon. "I guess it is the same for me."

Leaving the tribe was something she had debated her whole life. It was something she yearned for, and feared immensely.

Now, Syl had finally done it. And she was afraid.

But more than afraid,

"Hahaha." Syl chuckled, excited by the unforeseeable future.

***

Meanwhile, the High Priestess was kneeling in the center of the ruined grove, her body draped in blood-red robes that pooled around her like spilled wine.

A strip of black cloth was tied firmly across her eyes. Her sight needed to be taken away, so that she could take another's.

Before her, one of her Followers bowed low, his forehead pressed on the ground and his palms flat against it. Her slender hand rested on his shaven head, cold and steady, like a predator's claw upon its prey.

Slowly, the Priestess began to draw power from him. A faint shimmer pulsed from the kneeling man, threads of vitality running up from his skull into her palm. He shuddered but did not resist. A faint moan exited his mouth.

The High Priestess' breathing grew shallow. Her head swayed slightly, caught between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Her chest rose and fell unevenly as her awareness split, stretching thin across kilometers to find the Golems.

By focusing solely on her Magic, she could sense their location. By focusing on one of them, she could share its senses.

Time passed, allowing the Golems to go deeper and deeper into the forest.

Her head jerked, her blindfold damp with sweat. Her hand pressed harder onto the Follower's scalp. He whimpered but remained unmoving. She whispered, voice hoarse with strain:

"Two trails, none of which seem to that Hobgoblin group. They either lost their mounts and more than half their numbers… Or neither trail belongs to them."

The High Priestess clicked her tongue.

'If these trails don't belong to the Hobgoblins, I'd be wasting precious time.'

The beasts halted, waiting for her will.

Her lips parted.

"Divide." She ordered the Golems, and they did.

The broad beast lumbered toward the Goblin Village, its claws gouging trenches, its eyes glowing faintly purple. From the Goblin Village, following the trail of the Hobgoblin group would be easier.

The whip-armed monster slithered through the trees, arms cracking like whips as it followed the trail of the Hobgoblins and Goblins.

The many-legged crawler darted toward the second trail, that of Amon, Akane, and Syl. It moved so fast that it blurred, its crystal shards glowing brighter with each step.

The High Priestess gasped, pulling her hand away from the Follower's head at last. He collapsed to the ground, barely breathing, drained nearly to death.

She sat motionless, her hands limp in her lap.

"Once we know which trail leads to what, once we know where Azaroth's Heart lies…" She whispered, undoing the black strip of cloth around her eyes. "We'll claim it."

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