"Umm," Jasana agreed. "Auntie Shayle's come to see me three times."
"You certainly look different, Kimmie," Shayle noted to her.
"It's not easy to run in a dress, Shayle," Kimmie said mildly.
"It certainly looks better on you than those gods-awful dresses you insist on wearing," Shayle grinned.
"There's nothing wrong with wearing a dress," Kimmie said primly.
"Of course not, but good grief, woman, go look at what's the latest fashion!" Shayle told her with a cherubic grin. "If you're going to wear a dress, wear one with style!"
"I like function as a fashion statement, Shayle."
"And it keeps all the males' eyes off you. Advertise, girl! A little cleavage reels them in faster than if you took off your dress and paraded around naked."
"Really?" Kimmie said archly.
"Of course. Even Were-cat males get caught up in the allure of seeing what's being hidden from them. It's a universal male trait, you know."
"You're getting bad in your old age, Shayle," Jesmind laughed.
"You're older than me, sister dear," Shayle said blandly. "If I'm bad, you're worse."
"I never pretended to be anything but bad," Jesmind winked.
Nikki cut them off by approaching Tarrin and boldly grabbing his wrist. She turned his paw palm up, then tugged at the fetlocks growing from the outsides and lower quarters of his lower forearms. "What are these?"
"Fetlocks," Shayle answered. "That means that your size is a matter of age," she reasoned. "What happened to you?"
"Papa was made old by a mean old winged lady," Jasana told her.
"That's the short of it," Tarrin chuckled. "This is what happens when you're attacked by a Succubus," he told them, motioning to his height.
"A Succubus?" Shayle said in surprise. "How did you ever end up facing something like that?"
"Not by choice, believe me," he told her. "I'll tell you about it while we travel."
"I'd like to hear that story," Nikki said eagerly.
"You like to hear any story, little sister," Jesmind teased.
"I can't help it if I like to hear stories," Nikki shrugged.
"You should read, then."
"I do. But there's just something about a story told by a person that makes it better than written on a page. It's just better, somehow."
Jesmind was about to comment, but Sathon's magically augmented voice, booming across the village and the fields, interrupted them. "Alright, let's gather on the road and get ready to move out!" he called. "Those outside the village, remember to circle around to the south, and don't get within a half-longspan of any building!"
"Sounds like it's time to go," Jesmind sighed, taking Jasana from Shayle.
"Time to go," Tarrin mirrored, moving towards the road leading to Watch Hill. He'd only been in Aldreth for a few short days, but the time had completely changed his life. He knew he'd come back, someday. He'd made a promise, and he'd realized that the village and the farm were all the home he had ever known, and the only place where he could go that would feel right to be his home. He would come back to Aldreth, and when he did, he would come back to stay. He didn't know what would happen while he was away from the small village, located about as far from human civilization one could get and still be considered in human lands, but what he did know was that the next time he saw Aldreth, it would be through the eyes of a free male. Unfettered by his quest or the burdens placed upon him, unrestricted by the needs of others. He would come home free, and he would live the rest of his life free.
It was much to look forward to.
Moving at a brisk walk, Tarrin moved at the head of the long column of Centaurs and transformed Were-kin, with the men of Aldreth nestled safely in their center. Tarrin walked along with Jasana riding on his shoulders, Jesmind on one side and Sathon riding on the back of Mikos on the other. They had moved steadily southwest all day, as the other Were-cats ranged ahead to scout the road and kill any solitary or straggling Dal soldiers or messengers. They often brought back their horses, singly or in groups, and they proved their worth on that first day by eliminating nearly half of the garrison of Dal soldiers at Watch Hill without even getting there. Unlike the soldiers that had been at Aldreth, the Watch Hill garrison did patrol the road, did range about to seek out Rangers and farmers turned partisans. What they invariably found that day was a Were-cat looking to separate their heads from their bodies.
The Watch Hill garrison commander had to know that something was wrong by now, Tarrin was sure of it. They were about three longspans out from the village situated at the top of the small hill that gave it its name, and that garrison commander had gone a whole day without a single man sent to patrol the north road coming back. That had to have raised all sorts of warning flags in Watch Hill, a sure sign that something was coming to worry about, but Tarrin really wasn't that concerned. Mikos had sent a pack of Were-wolves ahead, to have them circle around the village and ambush any Dal messenger or soldier riding towards Torrian, but not riding into Watch Hill, in order to keep news of the attack from getting there too soon. That was a wise move in Tarrin's opinion, and that also allowed them to assault Watch Hill at their leisure, without fear of someone escaping to warn Torrian.
That assault was going to be within the hour. It was about three hours after noon, having travelled the distance much faster than he had done so the first time, and that gave them plenty of time to attack the Dals in Watch Hill and make camp afterwards. They were supposed to meet the Rangers in Watch Hill, but so far there had been no sign of them. The Were-cats ranging ahead were only attacking men in Dal uniforms, so there was little chance that they were killing Rangers by accident. If the Rangers weren't there, that was alright. Mikos' Centaurs and the Were-kin were more than sufficient to assault a depleted garrison.
"Still no sign of these humans," Mikos snorted. "And we are within striking distance of the village. What should we do, Sathon?"
Tarrin was surprised that Mikos knew that, for he doubted that any Centaur had travelled so far into human lands. Nearly all of them went to Aldreth.
"Well, let's wait for that Aeradalla to return and tell us what we're facing, and we'll decide after we know," he replied.
"We have enough to take out the garrison if the Rangers don't show up in time," Tarrin said. "I doubt that the garrison is more than fifty men. The Were-cats have killed a good many of them already."
"My reasoning as well," Mikos agreed with another snort, as if it were a crime to agree with a Were-cat. "It would be best to stop here, before any realize we are so close."
"A good idea," Sathon agreed.
"Column, halt!" Mikos boomed in a voice they probably heard in Watch Hill. "Rest!"
Tarrin set down Jasana, who kept hold of his leg for a moment. "I'm hungry," she complained.
"So am I, cub," Tarrin told her. "I think we can find something to eat around here."
"I'll get you something, cub," Jesmind told her, holding her paw out to her. Jasana took it, and Jesmind led her off towards the middle of the column. Tarrin turned and looked up into the sky, and managed to spot Ariana ghosting across the base of a low-lying cloud. The sky was a bit threatening, with a bank of clouds hanging to the north, being pushed down by the Skydancer Mountains. The thunderstorms that could form about that time of year could be savage, but the prime of the storm season was still some rides away. Ariana was carrying a shaeram, so he could contact her. He grabbed hold of his amulet and called her name. "We need to talk to you, Ari," he told her. "Could you land?"