After leaving town, an uneasy silence fell upon the duo. Nywen seemed to be deep in thought looking at the sky, then turned to Alanna.
"So, what do you think?" Nywen asked.
Alanna couldn't answer immediately. "I'm not sure. Illithor seems knowledgeable about the area, but he also seems kind of..."
Nywen let out a long breath. "Ornery?"
"Yes, that! I didn't want to insult him by saying so."
Nywen looked out across the landscape. To the east the landscape slowly descended into a festering swamp, wisps of fog clinging to the canopy above it. To the north the woods stretched out before them, the landscape slowly climbing into the foothills of the eastern peaks.
"You get clients like this sometimes. Can't agree on the where or how. It's dangerous for everyone, especially us."
Alanna nodded hesitantly, having no experience herself. "Wh-what should we do then?"
Nywen pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes shut. "The last place they were known to have gone too was the swamp. We'll start there, where Rumi indicated the chokeberries grow. If that doesn't turn up anything we'll move north-west into the woods."
"Agreed," Alanna said after a short delay. She wasn't sure if it was the right call, but she trusted Nywen's experience.
Traveling through the swamp was tough going, to say the least. There was something of a path, but it was muddy and overgrown. Every so often Nywen would miss a step and sink almost up to her knee into the sucking mud. Alanna could tell where the ground disappeared thanks to her Tremorsense, but only for about one step forward. The wet soil dampened any vibrations she may have otherwise picked up through her boots. The smell of the swamp, however, made her new sensitive nose all but useless. She had honestly never considered a place this far from humanoid habitation could smell so foul.
Both of them kept their eyes peeled for any signs of the missing elves. They could make out boot prints here and there, but some rain must have passed over the area recently, so much of the signs of anyone passing by had been worn away.
Even after several hours they had found little evidence of what had become of the missing elves. Nywen had started swearing in her own tongue in frustration at their lack of any real progress, and Alanna felt her muscles burn from having to fight their way forward. They were deep in the swamp now, surrounded only by the croaking of frogs, bubbling of swamp gas and the buzz of insects.
"Let's rest on that hill," Alanna said. It wasn't much of a hill if she had to be honest, being little more than a shallow mound with a tree growing on it, its roots holding the soil together, but it was the only dry place in sight. She let out a sigh of relief when she sat down on one of the bigger roots and took a swig from her waterskin.
"I don't think the villagers would come out this far," Nywen said. There weren't a lot of landmarks here, so they had to guess where they were relative to town. They had passed some picked bushes of chokeberries, but again, no sign of their quarry. "The villagers likely to do their best to keep monsters away from their town, but we're so far out now we could run into anything... Wait," Nywen stopped, climbing up the side of the tree. She peered into the distance, then pointed.
"Look, over there," she said. Alanna followed Nywen's gaze and saw a piece of fabric hanging from a thorn bush. From this distance neither of them could tell what it was from, a tunic, backpack or sheath, but it was clearly man-made.
"You think we finally found them?" Alanna asked.
"Maybe, maybe not," Nywen replied. "But it's the only clue we've found so far. We'll approach quietly. You remember what I told you, right?"
Alanna nodded. "Strike the ground softly with your toes, then roll your foot. Never touch water, branches or anything else that makes noise."
"Good!" Nywen said, then began closing onto their target. It was especially rough in this area as no path had been worn into the swamp for them to follow, forcing them to zigzag their way forward across the driest dirt they could find. There was no sign there was anything threatening in the area, but Alanna did her best to stay quiet regardless. She had to admit that Nywen's advice had helped immensely, though she was nowhere near as fast or quiet as the Rogue.
They closed the gap with the thorn bush. Up close it became clear it was a soiled scrap of wool, clearly part of some women's clothing. It was wet and muddy, but fresh.
Nywen and Alanna both looked around, but it didn't seem like there was anything waiting in ambush. However, they didn't have a ton of visibility. Trees, grasses and shrubbery grew all around, if something wanted to catch them by surprise there were plenty of hideouts.
Nywen squatted down at the base of the thorns, then frowned.
"Look, Alanna. What do you see?" she asked in a whisper, beckoning her over. Alanna looked and, to her shame, saw very little. Just mud and grass.
"Nothing," she admitted, despite trying quite hard to find the tracks Nywen had clearly noticed.
"Exactly. Someone has been here, no more than a few days ago, then left this scrap in plain view. But no tracks?"
Alanna shook her head. "That makes no sense."
"Nywen stared at her. "How much do you know of the monsters in this area?"
"Some. My... My master had a lot of bestiaries. Why?"
"I am not a native to these lands. I know plenty about monsters, as much as you can expect an adventurer of my skill to know, but there are strange monsters out there. I don't know about every rare monster that exists. I hoped you might know one that would... Well, do this." She gestured at the scrap of fabric.
Alanna looked up at the piece of fabric, then reached out towards it. Nywen grabbed her by her arm, shaking her head. "Do not pull. Use your blade," she said.
