Chapter Twenty (twoteen): Black spells trouble

Jihoon had been sitting still at the edge of the forest for over an hour. The dewy forest floor turned his nice cloak into a useless piece of soggy nuisance. He stretched his fingers in an effort to bring them back to life. Despite the beautiful summer season, the night had been cold and the slight rain had soaked his clothes. He wondered why he was crouching on top of this hill for so long, staring at the distance where fires lit up the horizon in a display of warmth. He longed to sit at one of theosecampfires and indulge himself in the heat that the fires brought, to finally dry his wet garments and maybe eat warm food.

He was used to stalking outside in the cold, for he had travelled Grenhil forest even in the heart of winter. But in Grenhil he had used his beautiful fur coat that was lined with strong cured leather and wool. Most of the rain would’ve dripped off, besides in the forest would be several huts as shelter. Yet he wasn’t in the lands of his ancestors, instead he was camping on the edge of a strange forest, looking at the wooden palisades that reflexted the orange colour of the fires, surrounding a city he had never seen before. He had heard tales of this city, mostly it's surrender. Holstead was how the locals called this place. The wooden stronghold. Well it had proved to be a weak stronghold as the Exodus pack had trampled over the ty wooden walls in less than one day. Destroying their army and ruining families. Although that wasn’t the story that he had heard from Chanyeol.

The version of the alpha talked about a glorious victory two years ago. In which he himself had played a vital role as he had been one of the first to burst through the wooden gatehouse. He swung around an axe and he had been the person that defeated the towns old head alpha. It hadn’t been pretty that was for sure as both versions of the story told the story of the same gruesome manner in which Chanyeols battle axe had split the head of the poor man in two. The fighting had seized and the resident pack surrendered. After that the stories differed greatly, Chanyeol talked about the peace that the Exodus reign brought to the city while others would tell stories of suppression, heavy taxes and forced labour. The Exodus pack had used Holstead as a base to conquer surrounding lands and to extend their influence on the known world. People had fled further north and to the far west, towards another stronghold that Jihoon knew quite well, Strenyard. Even before Jihoon had ordered Chan to help reinforce Strenyard it had been a real stronghold. The wooden wall that surrounded the town was strong, a deep ditch lay  in front of it and the position on a steep hill helped defenders in case of an attack.

In his month of traveling with Chanyeol Jihoon had learned a lot about the plans of Exodus. One thing stood out the most, the annihilation of the Vanghguard pack had been a mere accident. It wasn’t meant to happen and it was actually a setback towards the real goal of the General. There should’ve been a surprise attack on Strenyard, but the massacre on the eastern mountainside had ruined their secrecy.

Yet one thing remained a mystery to Jihoon and that was why the Exodus pack kept trying to find new lands to conquer. Chanyeol, who was apparently inept at keeping secrets and therefore wasn’t told most of the more secret plans until they had to be carried out, in fear of him giving unnecessary information to enemies, but even Chanyeol had kept silent about the driving force of Exodus. Still Jihoon had grown rather fond of the strong, music loving, clumsy walking tree. He was a good travel companion for sure.

He sighed and stretched his arms above his head as he watched the horizon that had started changing colour now that the sun was finally rising in the east behind the mountain range that contained his own precious home. The soft morning light slowly spread over the treetops, the light leaving long gloomy shadows on the ground. However that landscape slowly changed as the sun rose higher and the raindrops that were still left behind on the various trees, grasses, bushes started to sparkle as the flowers turned their heads towards the orange warmth of the sun. For a minute he allowed himself to drown in the beautiful morning that unfolded in front of his eyes before turning his head back towards the town on the horizon. With the light enveloping the landscape the reason for his presence in the high mountains became visible. The campfires that were carefully tended to all night were now turning into embers as the fires reduced to nothing but ash, the sun would soon provide enough warmth and light for the daily activities.

Jihoon squatted down once again and let his eyes wander freely, taking in all the small movements below him in the valley. From his high place on a hill he could watch over the road that led towards the town that was now slowly waking up. The sentries that had watched the fires were replaced by men that had just woken up from a peaceful slumber. The palisade surrounding Holstead was calm and showed little of the town itself, but the plains surrounding Holstead were bristling with life. For the wide grasslands of the valley were filled with people, with soldiers, warriors. Holstead was the assembly point for the newly coined plan of the General. The plan that Chanyeol had spoiled to him yesterday after which he had immediately his message for Grenhil. It had cost him almost two months of time but he finally knew more about the immediate danger that Exodus posed to Strenyard and for his own pack. He felt tempted to change into his wolf form as that would’ve given him heightened senses that could’ve helped with mapping out the size of the army that filled the plains, but he didn't want to risk Chanyeol finding out his true nature. 

The armies size was remarkable and nothing like Jihoon had ever seen before, even Chanyeol had wh