Chương 295: 2.7

Jewel was impressed. Timotej's bandit problem was far from the simple matter she had anticipated. To start with she of course had commanded Muriel to see to it. But while they might find evidence of anonymous encampments along the roads, reports of ambushes or witnesses from villages where the outlaws had passed, any actual engagement for her or Timotej's foot proved elusive. And patrols from the air with the Gryphon Lords for hunting (of bandits and boar) likewise turned up no clear sign of the men.

But the less guarded traders and travelers continued to report banditry. Which was how Jewel had found herself descending from the air to the site of the latest act of extortion. Having left for it as soon as the poor trader arrived in Dewglen proper to explain their plight. Jewel was faster into the air than any Gryphon Rider could ever manage without their kit already in place. Stealthier to land as well. She alighted on the road, with the gentleness that only her wyrmflame could allow.

Wings hardly even buffeting the fresh summer foliage of the wood's canopy. Emerald light filtering down on her scales, Jewel's claws sank into the packed dirt of the well traveled road and she settled as silently as she could and let her focus expand to fill her being with the world around her. First were the senses Jewel had come to realize were shared with her spawn and that of men and beast. The scent of the earth, of horses and mules passing.

Of the distinct sweat of the victims from the caravan that had passed this morning and only reached Dewglen this afternoon to make their suffering known. Underneath those scents were those of birds, of the crawling things of the soil, of other beasts further afield. Deer had traveled this way. There were scents other than the bandit's victims and their animals. Men mostly, a child. What kind of bandits brought a child to their thefts? She would ask after she caught them. Perhaps she was a hostage?

Then was the sight, there were broken branches and disturbed undergrowth along the trail in the shrub where the bandits had 'come up out of the woods like ghosts'. But the hard earth of the road had seen many hooves and boots. The woods had trails from game across it to the left and right. There was nothing clear for her to focus on, Jewel's senses were sharp but she was no woodsman. No luck of any easy signs by sight. Last of her less sorcerous senses she listened but had little hope.

The forest was not quiet, it was awash in the sound of leaves, of animals going about their business. Of the sounds of men burdened with stolen silver and goods or voices of potential bandits Jewel did not hear anything. But Jewel was not limited to the senses of beasts. Not even by the feel of the dirt beneath her toes or the wind in her wings. There was no faux flame to suggest ritual or sorcerous workings on this place.

No divine interventions to clearly mark a god or the stars had altered anything within the last few days. But even there Jewel had more depth to her knowing of things. She turned her attention down to the dirt, the road, the roots and trees, the branches. The world in these things was almost jittery. A road was very much like a river in how it kept its stones alert, ever changing, ever moving. Buildings and cliffs and mountains made for sleepy and inattentive witnesses.

Riverstones and hard packed dirt paths though? In comparison to the less walked cobbles of Kaeketeh? The road south of Dewglen was outright flighty! It took a moment to keep the tousled and tumbled earth focused enough to recognize what she wanted. Distracted much like a child to tell her of every single hoof, foot and wooden wheel to pass over it. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

But a few hours in the sun was not enough time that it had forgotten all those light touches yet. And what's more it spoke to Jewel of how its dust had been picked up by clothes and shoes. With some effort and cajoling borne from long practice settling arguments for where a field line's post had once been dug back home she untangled the story from the road. It took a good hour to get it clear in her mind which exact set of boots were the ones she wanted.

To make sure it was indeed the steps that had turned off the road in one spot in particular before the sun's light reached the road. And then came out only once and then left after moving amidst and among many hooves and wheels that marked a wagon. By the time she finished interrogating the road, Jewel was a bit embarrassed to find she had missed a trade caravan that had stalled on the road ahead of her.

"Oh, apologies, good travelers! I did not mean to block the way. Please continue on." Jewel had totally missed how her bulk of coils and wings had sprawled out across the road! Her attention was so consumed with deciphering the impressions of dirt, mud, stone and plant and how they understood such things as men, mules and wagons she missed the world immediately around her. Jewel slid off into the woods to the side. But the foreigners and their guards still stared at her in shock. Ah it was one of those.

"Please continue with your travel in peace, The countess of Viznove has secured this road from bandits and other outlaws." That got a few of them stirring and she politely ignored the muttered whispers among them, only half of which were in a tongue she could understand. Still one of the guards who had the look of a local Ridgetail mercenary was smirking and shaking his head.

The delay hung for several moments too long before the local finally yelled something in a flowery speech that Jewel thought was vaguely familiar. And that finally got the caravan moving past Jewel again. A few of the people passing her even bow in respect!

Jewel offered the local mercenary a smile of gratitude and he returned it with a dip of his head and a smirk. After that passage Jewel turned her attention back to the road. The earth and the scent agreed with one another. The thieves had gone south. It had been the better part of a full day since then but even on horses thieves could only travel so far. And Jewel could skip and glide along the road at quite some speed.

A few stops every few bounds to confirm the faint hint of the smell she had identified were among the bandits and the confirmation of the road on which hooves had passed assured her progress. Jewel would catch up with these bandits and see that her service to her vassal was performed as befitting the bearing of a Countess Wyrm! Besides this was actually turning out to be quite fun! A hunt of men instead of boar! And so different when done low down to the ground.

She would bound, follow the route, and continue along a little further. The scent and the memory of the road growing ever stronger to their passing even as she ate up the daylight hours. Covering miles of road, moving so swiftly through the tunnel of emerald green leaves was a rush that simply flying over did not give! Jewel was going to have to try more of this in the future! It did however give a few more travelers a fright as she passed them in a sudden rush of wind.

But she apologized over her shoulder and didn't see any injuries from the few times a horse or mule startled. She could smell she was getting closer! That soon she could bring some awful thieves to justice. But all of that came to a sudden and incredibly wet shock when Jewel found herself following the trail in a turn towards the Vah. And failing to arrest her momentum as she released her wyrmflame to make another step. A step that instead of finding solid earth sank into dark waters.

Followed closely after by the rest of Jewel's coils. And then the sucking mass of the mud was between her toes and the river's currents were dragging the middle of her body out from under her. She was tumbling over in the Vah! Filling her body with wyrmflame only made it worse! Without the weight of her flesh and bone the river's push came over her even stronger and then her left wing was underwater and her right was flailing in the air.

Somehow she ended up upside down, with her head underwater dragging along the muddy banks and her tail and hind limbs kicking and whipping among the reeds. The water's currents were deceptively strong for how gentle they appeared. Implacable in a way wind never was. It took intense concentration for Jewel to master herself and properly get everything situated. In the end she was sore, wet, half covered in mud and deeply ashamed of herself. The trail had been lost to the river.

Neither water nor air was able to tell her whence the bandits had gone. Scent and her other more wyrmish senses lost them at the bank. The only solace was that no one had actually seen Jewel trip over a river. That was just so horribly undignified!