About fifteen minutes after Aeldevan sat down with Magra, the druid stood back up and went to a nearby patch of orange and white flowers that were getting ready to close for the evening.

"Excuse me," he started, "I was hoping I could speak with you before you fell asleep."

With a yawn, one of the white peonies unfurled its petals. "What can we help you with?" Its voice was silky and warm.

"Yeah, what's yer business interrupting our sleep?" added a fiery-orange tiger-lily, bristling its leafy stem.

"I was hoping you could tell me what happened within the last day around here," Aeldevan replied. "The city's been overrun by orcs, so anything you remember would be helpful."

"Well," the lily quickly responded in a sarcastic tone, "the only thing we can see is a bunch of trees."

The peony politely followed up with a better response, "Although we did not see anything, we did hear at least one wagon leave the city, although I cannot be sure where it was headed."

"So, you didn't hear any fighting then?" Aeldevan asked.

"No!" The tiger-lily was shaking in frustration. "All we've been hearing is that dang clanging of hammers in the forges. Now, if you'll excuse us, we're going to sleep." The lily abruptly snapped its petals shut and leaned away from the half-elf.

Aeldevan whispered to the peony, "Thank you for your time," as he slowly backed away.

"It was my pleasure," the flower replied as it gently folded its petals closed, its voice like a thin breeze blowing away the hostility of its soil mate.

Meanwhile, Magra was looking at her friend with a curious look. All she saw was him talking to some flowers, nodding as if they were responding back. As he got up and turned toward her, she asked, "What were you doing over there?"

He nonchalantly replied, "You can learn a lot of things from the flowers." Aeldevan stepped over to a small space covered with fallen pine needles and stood quietly with his eyes closed. He kept his shoulders back and knees relaxed as he lifted his chin and breathed deeply. His hands were down with outstretched palms as he became more in tune with his surroundings.

Scenes of the area quickly flashed through his mind as if he himself was the air, the earth, the flora and fauna. He saw the forests surrounding the city and the swamp to the east, all just as he had seen earlier that day. He could tell there were no other peoples of note other than the prisoners being kept under guard by the orcs.

The plants and animals that inhabited the area were all of a common nature, as were much of the minerals in the soil. As his mind swept the earth, he felt the same energy as he did back at the mine when Haldrik gave Ru a piece of cold iron, and he realized that it littered the land around him. A strange presence caught his attention, centered on one object within his spell's range. Although he could not specify its origin, he could tell that it was an energy influenced by another plane of existence.

Magra had watched Aeldevan at first but quickly lost interest. She figured he would tell her more after he was done with his weird nature magic, so she didn't interrupt. Instead, the barbarian took the opportunity to polish her demon axe while she waited for her hound to return. She rustled through her pack to find her small bottle of oil she got in Everlit for this occasion. She poured some of the liquid onto a piece of wool and moved her hand in circular motions. Carefully, Magra buffed from the middle of the two heads outwards towards their edges. She almost sliced her hand when she heard Aeldevan's voice calling to her in combination with a rustling in the woods. She was about to yell but quickly stopped herself so that their location wouldn't be given away.

"What the hells do you want?" the half-orc scolded her friend. Her mood quickly lifted when she saw Nick emerging from the bushes looking quite pleased with himself. Magra quickly but gently put her axe down to embrace her companion, feeding him strips of jerky and praises.

"I'll tell you in a minute," the druid replied to Magra's question. Aeldevan's face showed a sense of urgency, but he pivoted towards Nick and bent down to stroke the dog's back. 

Magra rolled her eyes when her friend started softly growling and whining at Nick, which the wolfhound happily responded to with his own snorts and whoofs. "Here we go again," she said to herself as she picked back up her axe and rag to continue her task.

"Did you find anything while you were out there?" Aeldevan grunted and growled to Nick.

After swallowing a piece of meat, the dog replied, "Dozen dwarves. Armor and weapons. Refuge from siege. Plotting next move. Saw and heard me but didn't follow."

The conversation didn't last long, but the intel was sufficient. "Thanks, Nick." Aeldevan patted the dog's side and gave him a few berries conjured from his hand.

Nick sniffed them cautiously but lapped all three up in his large tongue and gulped them down while wagging his tail. "Yummy."

Aeldevan passed him a couple more before turning to Magra, "I think we should wake everyone up. There's a lot of information I," the hound snorted, "and Nick, found out."

"We're already awake," Feyre replied as she lifted herself to a sitting position. "It was hard to sleep with you making all those weird noises the whole time."

Aeldevan waved at her complaint dismissively. "Well, I think it was worth it. Now listen..."

◊◊◊

"Let's go meet these dwarves then," Magra stated after hearing everything Aeldevan had to say. She turned toward the direction Nick had come from and was about to march off. 

"Umm, it might not be the best idea for you to go," Feyre objected. "Seeing as they are hiding from orcs."

Magra had to think for a second before realizing what Feyre was implying. "I guess you're right." She sat back down on her stump in disappointment, but Nick licked her face to cheer her up.

"I'll go with Nick," Aeldevan suggested, "and I can use a cloaking spell just in case."

Ru stood up from her bedroll. "I'll go with you," she offered. "It might be good to have a dwarf by your side in case they spook easily."

"Sounds like a plan," Feyre approved. "You can let us know what you find out in the morning. Mama needs her beauty sleep." The gnome immediately laid back down and pulled her blanket over her head.

Skamos got up and kissed Aeldevan on the cheek. "Good luck," he said, before he too got back into bed.

"I guess I'll wait up until you two get back." Magra had since positioned herself haphazardly across Dante, Dilliah, and Kevin who were all laying on the ground.

With Nick leading them, Ru and Aeldevan left to speak with the dwarves hidden in the forest. Thanks to the druid's spell, the patrol of orcs on the road heading back to the city were unaware of their presence as the three crossed behind them. About a mile west of their current camp was a hill with a moderate incline. At its crest was a small patch of trees before the hill descended into a grassy hollow.

At the bottom, Nick stopped abruptly, signaling they were close. When Ru and Aeldevan stopped, they could hear hushed voices speaking in common tongue and thick accents. They seemed to be trying to come up with a plan, mentioning something about an axe and an iron cry.

Ru slowly stepped out of the spell's veil, holding her hands up to show she was no threat. Nick stayed by her side, giving a friendly but muffled growl. The dwarves were surprised and reached for the weapons on their belts, but they relaxed a little after realizing it was a fellow dwarf. A few of them even chuckled once they noticed the hound they saw earlier.

"Sincerest apologies, I didn't mean to startle you," Ru began. "My name is Ru, and I see you already met Nick here." She patted the dog's side. "I came not too far from the east with one of my friends..." She trailed off, turning her head to look back at where Aeldevan was hiding.

The half-elf then brought down his cover and positioned himself next to his ally. At the sight of him, he noticed a couple of the dwarves look uneasy.

"Ah," one of the dwarves commented, "taking up wit a knife-ears are ye?" Although the term wasn't kindly associated with those of elven descent, his chuckling showed he meant no harm to Aeldevan. He then stepped forward with both hands firmly on his belt. "The name's Dulrik." He gave a customary bow and offered the visitors to sit at their fire.

"Aeldevan," the half-elf replied, not immediately dropping his guard but accepting Dulrik's offer. "One of our friend's sent Nick to look for any survivors, so we thought we would check on who he found." Once everyone was seated, he continued, "We overheard you mention an axe that someone was carrying the other day." He glanced at Ru to show them the weapon they found on the dead traveler.

When Ru held it out to Dulrik for him to see, his expression quickly changed from shock to disappointment. "Iron Cry..." he gently took the axe from Ru, his shoulders slumped. The fire cast shadows that deepened the concern on his face. "We saw a rider flee from the city the other day shortly after arriving, and we knew it could only mean one thing. This axe, Iron Cry, was sent with him to signal to Everlit that we needed help. It looks like the orcs got to him first, though." He sighed deeply, unsure if anyone would be coming to help them now.

"Actually, it was a band of hobgoblins and giants," Ru corrected. The dwarves' eyes grew with surprise. "But don't worry. We took care of them." The eyes of the Hammer's Fall natives stayed big but now from being impressed.

"Be as that may," Dulrik continued, his mood returning to somberness, "seeing this axe means it ne'er got down to Everlit."

Aeldevan cleared his throat. "Is there anything you can tell us about what happened?"

"Well," the leader replied, "we were out foragin' when we saw the rider. B'fore we could git back to the city, we heard war horns from the south. Needless to say, the city fell after only three days." Dulrik's grip on the ceremonial axe tightened. "We don't even know why they attacked. Alls we saw was a robed lady orc telling the others where to go. More smarts than a normal orc I'd wager."

Ru looked curious as she listened to him speak. "Did this orc have a staff by chance?" she asked.

Dulrik looked up as he thought. "Yer know, I think she did."

Aeldevan and Ru looked at each other, both guessing it was the same woman Aeldevan saw when he flew over the city. "We were thinking that staff was what they came to the city to look for," Aeldevan explained to the dwarves. "Only that it's probably not actually a staff, but the Blood Spear of Gruumsh."

"Could make sense," Dulrik replied, "but then why attack if they already had it?" After a moment of no response, he continued. "Only other thing Hammer's Fall has more of than anywhere else is forges and cold iron. We use it to make better weapons, but some wizards use it for deep magics." One of the dwarves passed Dulrik some mugs of ale that he then handed off to their guests.

"I don't think orcs usually work with wizards," Aeldevan said as he sipped his warm ale, "but I guess they'd need someone to help summon Gruumsh." No one said anything for a few minutes, wondering what the orcs were really up to. Aeldevan decided to change subjects with Dulrik's knowledge of the orcs seeming to have been exhausted. "Do you know of any secret entrances into the city?" he asked the leader.

Dulrik thought for a moment before answering. "There're old mine shafts leading from the mountains to the city, but those haven't been used in some time. I couldn't tell ya the shape they're in." He cocked his head to the side and asked, "What exactly are yous planning to use them for?"

"We were hoping to use them to sneak in or get people out," Ru explained.

Dulrik grunted in understanding. "When do you plan on doing that?"

"We're not sure yet," Aeldevan answered. "Once we get back to our group, we'll try to come up with something. We sent a message to our traveling friend once we saw what was going on, but we won't be able to hear back until the morning." The druid stood up, placing his empty mug on the stump he was sitting on. "Once we hear back, we'll send out another message and let you know what's going on."

"I see," Dulrik nodded. "We'll remain here then. If we don't hear back from you tomorrow, I'll send someone to find help." He gave another dwarvish bow in thanks, which Aeldevan and Ru awkwardly repeated.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Ru added. Seeing Nick being friendly with some of the other dwarves who were petting him, she asked Dulrik, "Do you want Nick to stay with you? He can come get us if there's any trouble."

The leader chuckled heartily. "Oh, I appreciate the offer, but we're not sure how quiet he'll be and don't want our location found by anyone else."

Aeldevan and Ru smiled and motioned for Nick to join them before retreating back into the woods with Aeldevan's spell cloaking them once more. With the last specks of daylight fading behind them, they made it back to camp without seeing any other orcs. Magra was still piled on the other animals and waved when she saw the three approach. Nick proceeded to run and leap on top of her, almost startling the other animals had they not been used to him.

"Find anything?" the half-orc asked.

"Some new allies," Ru responded with a smile.

Without wanting to wake up Feyre, Aeldevan didn't elaborate. "We can fill you in tomorrow morning once everyone's awake." His companions silently agreed. "Do you want one of us to stay up while you get some rest?"

"Nah, I'm good for a while longer," Magra replied.

With ambient sounds of the city filtering through the forest, Ru and Aeldevan went to bed while their friend stood guard in her pile of animals.

◊◊◊

Feyre had taken the last watch, and once daylight began trickling through the foliage, she spotted the owl who she had spoken with the previous night circling overhead readying to land.

"Winno!" Feyre exclaimed happily with a grin that took up half her face.

"Who's Winno?" Skamos asked. The others looked up at Feyre to listen for her response, just as confused as Skamos.

"They're the owl I spoke with last night," the gnome explained. "They're name is Winonah. Winno for short."

As Feyre finished her sentence, Winno landed gracefully on a branch before hopping down to land next to the rogue. From this view, it was easy to tell they were about the same height. Feyre listened intently as the bird hooted its report. "Orcs do-hooing stuff. Couple wagons covered heading west." Winno waddle to adjust their feet, opening their wings for balance. "Woman orc t-hook up residence in great hall. Biggest house in northwest side of town." Winno clacked their beak and tapped a talon on the ground to request payment for their information, which Feyre quickly obliged. Without another hoot, Winno took the stack of jerky in talons and beak before flying away. Once the bird was out of sight, Feyre turned to her friends and repeated the report.

An hour or so later, Magra's sending stone started flashing with a pending message. In her head, the orc heard Jacob's voice, "In Everlit. War council meeting held last night. One hundred soldiers coming at double speed."

The barbarian's face seemed to glow a little as she listened to the message. Once it was done, she quietly said to herself, "My bread boy." Not realizing everyone else heard, she turned to them with a serious face and recounted what Jacob sent her.

Now that they knew Everlit soldiers were on their way, the team devised a message for Skamos to send to Olorin. Although one hundred people was nothing to laugh at, that was about half of how many orcs were in the city that they knew of. After going over what they all had learned so far over breakfast, Haven's Blade spent the rest of the morning coming up with a plan. With Skamos only able to send a few messages a day, he kept things concise:

"Attacked from south. Two hundred orcs. Jorvik description? Cold iron summoning Gruumsh. Ru Magra recon. Feyre steal Blood Spear before soldiers. Chaos rescue prisoners. Sundown updates."

Minutes later, Skamos heard Olorin's voice in his head, "Jorvik ginger-bearded dwarf, eye patch right eye. Traveling with army. Expect arrival tomorrow before sundown. Exercise caution."

Now with a timeline in place, Haven's Blade reworked their plan. Magra and Ru would infiltrate the city at sunset, and Aeldevan would follow up with them the next day. Shortly before the soldiers would arrive at the city, Feyre would attempt to steal the glowing amulet and staff the woman orc had. With that settled and details to be refined, Haven's Blade got to work.