Amazing how much ground you can cover when
you're feeling motivated. And there's no better motivation than the impending
doom of your friends.
I reached the foothills of the mountain
'round dinnertime. I was, as is common for this week, exhausted - but the fear
of shadows was more pressing, and I ignored the pain in my arms and legs in
favour of stealthy crouching. I'd reached the Non camp.
After days of watching them fruitlessly
pummel the walls, we estimated that there were maybe three dozen Non attacking
Pubton. I multiplied that number by twenty, at my most pessimistic, to
calculate how many Non would be attacking Pubtwon. Hell, I wondered if there might
be a small strike force, at most, perhaps smaller than the attackers of Pubton.
Such was not the case. There are easily
over a thousand Non hunkered down on the periphery of Pubtwon, and probably
closer to two thousand. They've turned the outskirts of the mining settlement
into a base of sorts, congregating in large groups that sit and watch as their
peers batter at the barrier protecting Pubtwon.
The shield that covered Pubton was big.
Pretty big. Or at least it looked big to me, from inside. Truth is, though,
that Pubton at the time was not a huge town. It didn't require an enormous
shield. The mountain is a HELL of a lot bigger -
- and that's reflected in the size of its
barrier. This thing stretches from the base of the mountain to the tip and over
the other side. The Non, not numerous enough to coat the barrier like they did
before, seem to form into a massive, angry wave whenever they attack, sliding
up the side of the barrier and concentrating their physical barrages on select
points. They look like a gigantic leech, suckered onto a dog's leg.
The Non haven't erected any tents or
temporary buildings I can use to hide, so when I came within sight of the camp
I kept my distance. It took several hours, and the fall of night, to reach the
edge of their army - and now I'm a long way away from my destination, June's
cave.
There were a LOT of Non looking up at
June's cave. Doc must have reported its location the moment he got back to his
shady masters. It's sitting open, plain as day, so I suspect that June gave up
the subterfuge when the Non arrived.
I'm hunkered between two mountains at the
moment, in a narrow valley that appears to be safe from prying eyes. I'm
chewing on a bit of walrus jerky as I write. I never had much of a taste for
the stuff, but we've got a surplus in Pubton right now. A merchant fled on
Thursday, leaving a great deal of product behind, when he heard about the
impending attack.
Waste not, want not. If he ever comes back,
we'll pay him for the jerky. We're not… jerks.
Ha ha.
Get it?
Jerky?
Jerks?
Ha.
It's been a long while since I tried to
tell a joke. I guess I'm still pretty bad at it.
Tomorrow I continue to creep along the edge
of the barrier. I'm hoping to spot one of June's ensorcelled lackeys - or that
one of them will spot me. That'll be enough to get me some kind of audience
with the witch… even if she follows through with her threat and breaks my
limbs.
Gods. If this is successful…
If it works…
Grayson.
What's he going to do?
Sincerely,
Dragomir the Co-Mayor
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