No matter how hard he tried Dust couldn't shake the feeling that something was not right. The attack had been far too easy, the bat ponies had simply fleed as soon as they had been spotted. "Hey Sparks!" Dust called to the unicorn next to him
"What is it?" Sparks asked him.
"It's about the attack. Don't you think it's weird that the bat ponies simply ran?"
"What's so weird about it? We outnumbered them ten to one, ofcourse they ran" Sparks answered laughing.
"But what if they come back with reinforcements?"
"It doesn't matter. By the time they reach the nearest settlement and gather up their forces, we'll be long since gone," Sparks answered, before Dust could ask any more questions they heard someone calling to them from the base of the tower.
"Sparks! You up there?", Sparks looked down from the top of the tower and saw a pegasus looking up at them.
"What is it?" Sparks asked
"Get down here and I'll tell you," the pegasus answered. Dust watched Sparks climb down and talk to the pegasus, he couldn't make out what they were talking about, but after about a minute or so Sparks headed towards the camp and the pegasus flew up to the tower.
"Where'd Sparks go?" Dust asked as soon as the pegasus landed in the tower
"The captain asked for him," the pegasus answered. Dust tried to get some more info from the pegasus, but the pegasus stood silent.
Sparks headed towards the camp nervous, the pegasus hadn't exactly said what the captain wanted, but Sparks knew it couldn't be anything good. When he reached the captain's tent he froze up, he didn't want to enter. While he stood there, Sparks could hear someone approaching from behind him, when he turned around he saw an unarmed, unarmored gryphon.
"What are you waiting for? Get inside," said the gryphon and pushed Sparks towards the tent, when he entered the tent he saw the captain standing in the corner looking at some maps.
No matter how many times he saw the captain the sight still gave him the shivers. The captain wore no armor and he didn't need any either, since his body was covered in black crystals, the crystals were literally growing from his skin and covered his entire body except for the muzzle and eyes. When the gryphon entered behind him, the captain turned towards them, Sparks bowed his head and said
"You wanted to see me captain?"
"Yes," the captain answered and turned to the gryphon
"How did it go? Did you find them?"
"Yes captain. They are staying in a small fort not far from here," the gryphon answered.
"Good. Mark the location on the map over there," the captain said pointing to the table next to him, the gryphon walked to the table and picked up a quill.
"You may stand," the captain said to Sparks who raised his head "I have a task for you. You will accompany our friend over here. You will set out in the morning, he'll tell you all about your task then. Now go get some rest," the captain said waving Sparks off.
Sparks woke up to find Dust walking back and forth in the tent.
"What's wrong?" Sparks asked getting up
"Finally, you're up. How'd it go? What did the captain want?" Dust asked still walking back and forth.
"He had a task for me. I'm to accompany the gryphon on a mission," Sparks answered
"What! The Gryphon? What's the mission?" Dust asked stopped in his tracks
"I don't know. He will tell me once we set off," answered Sparks. Before Dust could ask any more questions, the gryphon entered the tent
"So, you ready?" the gryphon asked
"Yes," Sparks said, going to pick up his armor.
"Leave that. You won't need it where we're going," the gryphon said and exited the tent, Sparks dropped his armor and quickly went after him
"So where are we going?" Sparks asked
"I'll tell you once we're out of the camp," the gryphon answered.
After about a minute of walking the gryphon started talking
"The mission is quite simple really. We'll join a caravan going through the towns and villages in the area and see which ones of them are protected and wether or not they are worth taking."
"What's the point? We have enough troops to take any town in the surrounding area," Dust said
"Perhaps. But first of all we have to secure a foothold in the area and after that we can establish control of the entire region. And for that we have to find an easily defendable position from where we could maintain control of the region," the gryphon answered
"What about the fort you we're talking about with the captain? Wouldn't that be a good position for a forward base?" Sparks asked
"Not really. The fort is old and run down. It would require repairs and we don't have time for that. Now enough talking let's go," the gryphon answered. They continued on their way in silence.
After Sparks left Dust tried to find out if anyone knew anything about the gryphon or the mission Sparks was sent on. Noone knew anything about the gryphon except for the fact that he was working for the captain. Dust managed to find out a bit more about the mission though, it was supposed to be a scouting mission to the nearby towns to find a suitable place to establish a foothold in the region. But noone knew why Sparks was chosen for the mission. Dust was rather dissapointed that he couldn't find any information on the gryphon, but at the moment he had more important things to worry about and he needed to speak to the captain.
When the captain finally agreed to speak to him, Dust walked into the captain's tent and immediately started talking
"Captain, I have reason to believe that the bat ponies are still in the area."
"And what makes you think that?" the captain asked
"Well. I'm pretty sure I saw one of them last night during guard duty."
"But you're not sure about it? Did anyone else also see it?" the captain asked
"Well the pegasus that was on guard duty with me also saw something," Dust answered.
"I see. Send him here. I'd like to have a word with him," the captain said
"Yes sir," Dust said running off to find the pegasus.
When Dust came back with the pegasus, he was asked to wait outside while the captain spoke with the pegasus. When the pegasus finally came out of the tent Dust immediately asked him
"So, does the captain believe me?"
"I don't think so, sorry. He said that it could have been anything, but he did agree to assign an extra guard to the tower," the pegasus answered
"I see. Well be careful then and if you see something let me know," Dust said
"Will do. I have to go now. See you later," the pegasus answered and trotted off.
"I know what I saw I just need some proof," Dust said to himself walking towards the tower.
Dust proceeded to search the woods around the tower, but found nothing
"Damn! There has to be something here. There just has to," Dust muttered to himself. Dust continued his search for a while when suddenly he heard something
"Who's there!" he called out but got no answer. He slowly moved towards where he thought the sound had come from. He was making his way through some bushes when he saw something running from the corner of his eye. Dust immediately bolted after whatever it had been that he, the only thing he could make out was something gray making it's way through the woods.
"I've got you now," he thought to himself when suddenly he was hit in the face with something. When he got up there was no sign as to where whoever it was who was running from him had gone.
"Damn. I lost him," he sighed and started heading back to camp dissapointed.
