A party of six travels deeper into the forest - much deeper than most casual hikers, and certainly deeper than any familiar with the territory. They have Arakanth among them, and the lead - a werewolf - smells of Mjilikae. These are no fools. I have been watching them from a safe distance.
"You didn't have to come with me," The werewolf says. Her hands are deep in her pockets, hunched over nervously. "Like, literally, any of you could have stayed back at Laugk Tj'is."
"The place is a bit overrun," The blue-haired Arakanth with the mismatched reptile tail speaks up.
"Right," The werewolf says, more awkwardly. A silence, then she speaks softly with the man with the dark wings. I flick up my ears. "Seriously, what do you make of this?"
The man with the dark wings looks back at the pale-haired Arakanth and the violet woman beside her, then gestures at himself, apparently surprised at the werewolf's question. He speaks up regardless. "Lost souls from a lost town with nowhere else to turn."
The werewolf tips her head at the mismatched Arakanth and the woman with dark wings and a reptilian tail. The two are caught up in a lewd conversation, joking back and forth. The tall, black-winged man watched for a moment and rolls his eyes, having something to say but thinking better of it.
"I think they just appreciate each others' circumstance," He says.
"Right," The werewolf sighs. "I don't know, maybe we would have been able to do this with a smaller group. Is this a stealth sort of thing?"
This is suspicious.
"I don't think we're meant to sneak into Major Va'el," The man runs his hand through his hair. I begin stepping out of the brush. "I think the instruction was to talk our way in?"
"It's not too late to head all the way back to Raktis and see if the stables are intact."
"It looks like it's too late, Rose."
I am here.
The party stops moving at the sight of a Va'el taranan before them.
Friends, I project to any mind around me. Welcome to Minor Va'el.