Day Four-Sixty-Nine: Delicious spies

Aha! Success! We've tracked the blaggards down! Dragomir yet lives!

I haven't mentioned it yet, but throughout this journey I've been conversing with the local wildlife. June's powers definitely have their perks, and one of them is the ability to commune with other species. They aren't normally intelligent enough for speech, but when I switch my eyes on they temporarily gain enough smarts to chat.

Several times each day I've been asking animals if they've seen anybody coming through their territory. Most are hostile, and they demand that I leave immediately. A few have provided hints as to the presence of others, though animals move around so much that it's easy to miss a band of miscreants. I only lucked out today, thanks to a chatty sparrow, and that luck turned into a discovery.

The sparrow, part of a large flock that usually lives in towns, had noticed a giant black figure in the distance earlier in the day. Uncharacteristically curious, it had left its quarrelsome brethren behind and flown in close to inspect the shadowy being. The sparrow discovered a camp -

- and, when bribed with seeds from one of Eve's buns, it led us to said camp. The Non have set up a small fire pit near a waterfall, and we've managed to sneak in close without being detected.

I've seen these Non before, but I didn't realize that one of them is comprised of the remains of my master's son. The stink of corruption lies too thickly on his mangled body. I do not recognize the other two humans that make up his shambling form, though one of them wears a helmet similar to Dragomir's old outfit. The smallest among them, 'Doc', complains incessantly; the largest, 'Titan Blue', seems to hate her lot in life. If the small one is her commander, I feel her pain.

Dragomir sits among them, tied up, sometimes chatting with the three-headed aberration. He seems to know all three of the heads. I suppose they come from his old castle? Who knows.

The Non remain stationary for now. Apparently Titan Blue hurt her feet somewhere along the way, and thanks to her size she has plenty of room to demand a stop. We're using this downtime to plan an attack, ever changing our position around the camp to avoid being caught downwind. Our plan will involve animals, and lots of them. Hopefully it will work.

I'm so sorry for all that my master's done to you, Dragomir. I hope this rescue effort makes up for it. If not… well, if I'm caught and squashed to death, at least I won't have to serve June any longer. I love her, but I abhor what she has become.

Sincerely,

Julius the Familiar