“Wha.. what are you doing here?” I said to Kaiell with amazement, stepping a little closer.
Kaiell glanced at the other two again before staring at me once more with furrowed brows, “I could ask you the same thing,” he said with a light chuckle. “…I’ve been searching for someone. Someone important.” Kaiell tilted a brow, “What about you?”
“Well...” I looked back at Edhelfaron and the ranger, “it’s quite a long story.”
“I’m sure,” Kaiell said back.
I paused, looking grim. If Kaiell really was the eavesdropper, I started to consider, and since it was fairly unlikely that he was all the way out here with his own business at the same time as us, then maybe he truly was the one who poisoned Duindos. Perhaps he was actually serving the Cargul. And if that was true…
Edhelfaron nodded, “Who is this... important person you are seeking, friend?”
I turned to the elf.
“Well,” Kaiell hesitated, “I’m not completely sure myself, but I have to find him.” He paused again in thought, “He would be hooded with a black cloak, wearing leather armor, and equipped with a long sword. He has some facial hair too. The last time I saw him was only about three hours ago, at dusk. I lost track of him though... and eventually made my way to Mincham’s camp to see if the dunedain there perhaps saw him as he had headed in that direction. They did not see him, but they told me of several other travelers who very recently passed through their camp and into the fields of Foronost. And so I decided to go the same way to see if perhaps they had seen the man I seek. And now here I am,” he raised a brow and took a pause, “Have any of you seen someone around here recently that matches my description perchance?” He spoke with a faintly gruff and rusty voice.
Edhelfaron flashed a quick frown of worry. Not really for the man, but for the description of the person who he was looking for. That description matched someone he knew perfectly... the dangerous man he had mentioned to me just before we left Bree. The man he had been hunting on and off for a long time now. “I’m sorry friend... I don’t believe we have.” He said with a glance at Torogethir, hoping he’ll say the same.
Torogethir thought for a moment, “...Nay, I have not.”
I shook my head.
Kaiell grimaced, “No?” He rubbed his bearded chin in deep thought, “Nothing at all?”
The three of us nodded, “Indeed... nothing I’m afraid,” I replied.
Kaiell’s frown deepened for a moment before going away, “Well, I know not what to do now,” he said after walking further towards us. “May I join you three by this fire as I think about this?”
I could see another light frown crossing the elf’s face before focusing my attention on Kaiell. I was about to respond, but the ranger beat me to it…
“Of course,” Torogethir said with a nod and gesture towards the small but comforting fire.
After a rather small conversation between the four of us, Edhelfaron slid towards me and spoke in a quiet voice...almost a whisper. “I must speak with you and Torogethir elsewhere... now.”
“Likewise,” I said with a grimace.
The elf then spoke to Torogethir in the same cool, quiet voice while I turned to look at Kaiell again, “Excuse us for a time while we take care of some quick business.”
Kaiell peered up from his small bag of provisions he was searching through and paused for a couple heartbeats, “Sure thing.”
The three of us made our way partly behind a wall of the old ruins that surrounded the camp. With a hushed voice, I got straight to the point, “This man Kaiell is the eavesdropper I spoke to you earlier about on the way to Trestlebridge, Edhelfaron. And he may be the one who poisoned the elf, Duindos. It is not improbable that he did because of his appearance tonight. I find it somewhat unlikely that he just happened to be out here, at the same place, at the same time as us. But we can’t be too sure.”
Torogethir frowned with confusion.
Edhelfaron nodded slowly, “Yes...indeed we must be wary,” he agreed, "And we must also consider the description he gave of the man he seeks. It matches rather perfectly with the man who had most likely been following Calagand and the other. But now he is behind us and may be coming this way now.” (Edhelfaron had almost managed to catch up to this follower when Agromnir stayed at Trestlebridge, but the man made it to the orc encampment in Foronost before he could confront him.)
“Yes, I see...this is truly troubling.” I responded, glancing at Kaiell myself.
“I do not entirely understand this matter,” begun the ranger, “but I will say I received a warning from a hawk sent by Mincham not long before you two arrived, saying a small band of orcs had managed to slip past their sights for a time and were heading through the fields. Towards us most likely. This man or follower you speak of could be with them. And we need to be prepared if they come, which could be soon. I would have said this earlier, but we were... interrupted.”
There was a small moment of thought and silence before the elf broke it, “Then we must prepare ourselves, for I have waited long to confront this man once more. Though we must first decide...what to do with Kaiell.”
“Yes,” I looked at the ranger, “but can we face the orcs do you think?”
Torogethir studied me, “I think so,” he cocked a brow, “What skill have you?”
“Well... when it comes to a party of orcs...not much.”
After some more talking, we started our way back to the fire. Kaiell shifted his thoughtful gaze towards us from the flame while eating some food from his pack. “Well, since he didn't come this way as none of you saw him, then I’ll go ahead and return back the way I came,” he was standing now and getting ready to leave, “Thank you for the uh...company and fire.” He sighed, then nodded, “Farewell.”
If he was an enemy spy, then he would be returning to the orcs to tell them what he learned, I thought as I watched Kaiell start his walk. And if he was no enemy, then he wouldn't know of the orcs since he was heading in that direction. Either way, I had to stop him, whether it be to warn him of the orcs, or to not let him tell them of what the three of us were doing.
Edhelfaron was the first to say something. He was probably thinking the same thing as me, “Wait…” he said
Kaiell stopped and turned around with a raised brow.
“Not long ago we learned there’s a party of orcs not far from here, coming from that way.” Edhelfaron looked towards the entrance of those ghostly fields, “I don’t think you’ll be wanting to go in that direction.”
Kaiell stared at the elf, “What? ...really?”
We nodded.
“How do you know?”
We received word from Mincham through his messenger hawk,” Torogethir said.
Kaiell paused in thought, “I see,” he walked back towards us, “How many?”
“About six or seven perhaps, a small group,” the ranger replied.
“Well then… I apparently have no choice but to stay here and aid you three in blocking the road.”
If he stayed with us though, and if he was an enemy, then he would only be pretending to help us at the beginning, and strike us from behind at the worst time. But we had to risk it as there was really nothing we could do. We would just have to keep an especially sharp eye on him.
