The trip back to the village took considerably less time than it took to track the scent, but even so, it was after midnight when they finally arrived back in the village. With how fast things decayed in the marsh, there was a very distinct smell in the air from the corpses leftover from the battle. Not that it seemed to bother the group of necromancers and other cultists who were now waiting near the courtyard. Of course, now a good portion of those corpses were not quite as dead as they used to be. Given how many of the cultists practiced the dark arts, a significant section of their force now consisted of reanimated mercenaries. It made Lorag uneasy, but at least they would take attention away from their living allies, even if they smelled like death. 

What Lorag didn't expect to see was one of their leaders, Hal-Neesa, at the head of the force. He didn't think her to be the type to get her hands dirty in a fight. She was right next to Meesei, so there was no avoiding her as they approached. In fact, Neesa was the first to speak to them when they arrived.

"Finally, with how long we have been waiting, I certainly hope you have located our quarry?" Neesa asked, though it was difficult to tell if she was legitimately annoyed. 

"Yeah, we did, actually." Lorag answered. "We can take you right to 'em. They're hiding out a little over an hour away to the northwest. It's not a normal outpost, though. It looks more like a settlement than anything, though there are plenty of the mercs there. Still, there might be more than just our enemy in their walls." 

"I do not care if it is a camp or a fortress, if the noble's son has decided to make it his home, then we will burn it to the ground. Take the lead; I tire of waiting here." Neesa ordered. 

As Lorag complied, Kaleeth followed silently, but she remained distant from the others. She was tired from having been awake for so long, but it wasn't that which was truly bothering her. She wasn't really bothered by fighting the mercenaries, but they were about to attack a town, and Neesa made it seem like they were going to be killing everyone. They had not been able to see clearly inside before, but what if there were hatchlings living there? She could not bear the thought of seeing innocents being slaughtered, and what if, she thought, their fresh blood in the air caused her beast to take control of her? If that happened, she would certainly end up joining in the killing.