It didn't take long after opening her awareness for Cascade to pick something up. The scent of fire and brimstone drew the paladin's attention to a tent roof about 30 feet away. After staring at the tent roof for a moment, Cascade would notice a small indent in the fabric that suggested something should be sitting there, yet nothing was. After a few more moments of staring, the faint sound of flapping wings met Cascade's ears, the indent vanished, and the fiendish presence moved swiftly and suddenly upwards until it ascended past the 60 feet mark and vanished from her senses.

[hr]
Shortly after Cascade's experience, Aura began receiving information from Hawk. Whoever was leading the attack had brought a small army. The shield wall was holding for now, but it was only a matter of time before the press of bodies became too much.

With the attackers so focused on the battle in front of them, it was a simple task to fly right over their heads all the way to where Hawk could get a perfect vantage point on the leaders of the attack. The two of them were arguing with each other in their respective languages. The one who spoke terran looked to be a statue of a male drow that had been brought to life by magic. Meanwhile, the one who spoke ignan looked like a burning bipedal newt.

"You would let their insults stand, Ervdul?!" The newt questioned demandingly.

"I would not allow them to rob us of our sense, Yoseph!" The statue shot back. "If we fall, our masters' forces will have nothing to drive them forward! And with nothing to drive them forward, the battle will be lost!"

"And because of that you would let those who mock us go unpunished?!" Yoseph pressed.

"I would focus on winning the battle." Ervdul answered. "[i]Then[/i] I would seek retribution for the insults. The will of our masters come first and foremost. And their will is that we take this campsite. Besides, I marked the worst offender for death, did I not? The Northman's head will be on a spike within the hour and neither of us will have needed to lift a finger to put it there."

Yoseph and Ervdul continued on arguing as Hawk flew past them and spied on the rest of the attacking forces, learning many interesting things that would give the highwaymen a comfortable advantage should they be informed of these things.

[hr]
Once Hawk has scoped out all he can and reports that he is on his way back, you all hear the leader of the highwaymen call out to everyone in the area. "If you can't fight, take shelter in the camp's western reaches. If you can swing a sword, loose an arrow, or cast a spell, gather around me! The time to begin our counter attack is at hand!"