Upon our arrival at the border garrison, it became clear that the situation had been understated in the reports sent to the county. The knights were clearly exhausted, and I could see that many of their blades were chipped or otherwise in need of repair. Most bore obvious cuts and bruises, so I assumed those who looked unharmed were merely hiding injuries underneath their clothing.
An older woman approached to meet us as I dismounted from my horse. After seeing the insignia on my jacket, she saluted. “Lady Frost, I presume? Thank you for coming.”
I nodded. “Yes. Dame Ilex, I presume? It’s good to meet you, though I wish it were under better circumstances.”
Viren followed up from behind me, approaching to stand at my left. “Things here seem… worse than we were led to believe.”
Ilex sighed. “The situation has escalated quickly. Over the past three days the frequency of monster attacks has doubled, and their numbers have increased to the point that all we can do is drive them off. Their behavior is unusual as well. I’m very glad you brought this many men.”
While I considered my next question, Cerris spoke. “I hope other parts of the border are faring better… what’s the status of the other garrisons?”
The garrison’s overseer nodded. “Thankfully it seems the monsters are less active at other parts of the border. The nearest garrison to our north is in trouble, though… if there are men to spare, we should send aid.”
This helped clarify my thoughts. “Then most of the monsters are likely clustered slightly to our northwest. Perhaps some sort of den where they sheltered and bred faster than usual?”
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Viren was perturbed by this. “The monsters that live in this region aren’t intelligent creatures, and they prefer the outdoors. If they’ve really learned to shelter in caves, that’s a serious problem. It would mean our sweeps of the area have been under-counting them, potentially for years.”
Ilex shook her head. “We considered that possibility. We’ve paid close attention to the creatures’ tracks and watched for anything to emerge from nearby cave systems. There’s been no sign of it. The sudden increase in their numbers is hard to explain.”
It was probably best to stop theorizing and plan the next stage of the Hunt in earnest, but something nagged at me.
“Could this just be the result of another change in behavior? Perhaps they escaped the sweeps by avoiding garrisons, or began hunting for prey further up in the mountains?”
“Well, Lady Frost, it’s true that their behavior has changed, so I suppose they could have started hiding. But I don’t know where they would have hidden. They can’t climb trees; they don’t shelter in caves… they usually just sleep on the ground out in the open. And the snow’s no good for them, so they wouldn’t have scaled the mountainside to hide there.”
Odd. None of the books or reports I read had mentioned that last detail. “The snow’s no good for them? But there’s snow here almost year-round.”
Cerris laughed. “Yes, it doesn’t make much sense, does it? You’d think they would have migrated to a warmer climate long before the kingdom was established. Not that we’d allow them to do such a thing now, of course. Colder weather and snow make the creatures quite lethargic. I can relate.”
Ilex nodded in agreement. “Yes, and during particularly cold years we rarely see them at all. We’ve all been praying for a good blizzard, if only for a chance to catch our breaths.”
From the look of things, it hadn’t snowed near the garrison in a few days, at least. And based on the agriculture ministry’s calculations, the amount of runoff from the mountains meant that the snowpack was likely much thinner than usual.
“If you would, Dame Ilex, please lead us to the meeting room. We should put together the shift assignments for the next few days and figure out who we’re sending north to the next garrison.”
“Of course. Please, follow me.” She turned and led the way into the garrison’s main building.
