Chapter 25 : THE FIRST ATTEMPT
The marsh smelled wrong.
Aldric stood at the edge of the flooded lowland, cataloging the sensory details that didn't match his lore knowledge expectations. The water should have been darker here—stagnant, thick with the particular algae that Water Hag territories produced. Instead, the surface caught the grey autumn light with the clarity of recent drainage.
"Old nests," Toma said, crouching beside a collapsed mound of reeds and mud. "Three weeks, maybe four. She moved."
The territorial markings were unmistakable—the scratched tree bark, the arranged bones of small animals, the particular arrangement of stones that Water Hags used to define their hunting grounds. But the Matriarch herself was not present. The concentration of activity that Aldric's lore knowledge had placed here was historical, not current.
Another prediction failure, he thought. Like the merchant. Like the scout positions on the Elemental hunt.
The structure of his knowledge remained sound—Water Hag Matriarchs existed in this region, their behavior patterns matched the games' descriptions, the materials they provided were exactly what the Architect's Knowledge specified for the Healing Fountain. But the specific details kept diverging from expectation.
"Southeast," Toma continued, pointing toward the deeper marshland. "Fresh sign. She's relocated within the last season."
Aldric pulled out his mapping notes and marked the old territory with a crossed circle. The hunt was now a tracking exercise first, combat second.
"How far?"
"Two days, maybe three. The sign suggests she's established near the drowned farmstead—the one that flooded after the spring rains."
The drowned farmstead. Aldric remembered it from the territorial survey he'd conducted with Brennan in his first months—a failed settlement, abandoned decades ago, now submerged under two feet of standing water. Difficult terrain for soldiers. Ideal terrain for a creature that hunted by ambush.
"We track," he said. "Vek, take point. Edvard, maintain the flanking position. Everyone else, standard formation."
The party moved into the marsh.
---
[Drowned Farmstead — Two Days Later]
The Matriarch was larger than the lore had suggested.
Aldric observed from the concealed position Toma had identified—a raised section of collapsed wall that provided sight lines across the flooded farmstead. The creature moved through the standing water with the particular grace of something perfectly adapted to its environment, her elongated limbs propelling her between the submerged structures with barely a ripple.
Two subordinate Water Hags flanked her patrol circuit. Smaller, but still dangerous—the kind of support structure that complicated any direct assault.
"Three targets," Edvard said quietly. His arm had healed from the training yard incident months ago, but Aldric noticed the veteran unconsciously favoring his dominant side. "The subordinates will flank if we engage directly."
"The footing is the problem." Aldric studied the terrain, calculating approach angles. "Two feet of water, uncertain bottom composition. Our mobility is halved. Hers is doubled."
"We could draw her out. Bait the subordinates away first."
"That requires knowing their patrol patterns. We don't have enough observation time."
The tactical problem crystallized: the Matriarch's support structure and the flooded terrain created a combination that his original plan hadn't fully accounted for. A direct assault would succeed or fail based on factors he couldn't control from this position.
"We go in," Aldric decided. "Standard engagement. Vek and Toma take the left subordinate. Edvard, you're with me on the Matriarch. Everyone else holds the retreat corridor."
The party moved into position.
---
The fight turned in the fourth minute.
The initial engagement went according to plan—Vek and Toma drew the left subordinate away from the main group while Aldric and Edvard closed on the Matriarch. The creature was fast, faster than the games had indicated, but the Forge-crafted weapons bit into her hide with satisfying effect.
Then the second subordinate emerged from the deeper water on the flank.
Aldric didn't see the strike that caught Edvard—only the veteran's grunt of pain and the sudden spray of blood as the subordinate's claws raked across his upper arm. The formation broke. Edvard staggered back, his sword arm compromised. The Matriarch pressed the advantage.
"Disengage!" Aldric shouted. "Fall back to the corridor!"
The retreat was controlled but costly. Toma covered Edvard's withdrawal while Vek held the subordinates at bay. The Matriarch didn't pursue beyond her territory's edge—Water Hags were patient hunters, content to let wounded prey escape rather than risk extended engagement.
They reached dry ground twenty minutes later. Edvard's arm was bound with field dressing, the bleeding controlled but the wound deep enough to require proper treatment.
"She moves faster in water than anything that size has a right to," Edvard said. His voice carried professional respect, a statement of tactical fact rather than complaint.
Aldric looked back at the marsh, where the Matriarch had already disappeared into the deeper sections of her territory.
"Second attempt in four weeks," he said. "We need to change the terrain."
---
[Keep Study — Night, Day 620]
The marsh sector on the barony map received a new notation: Harder than expected.
It was the second time Aldric had written that phrase in the same notebook. The first had been after the Earth Elemental hunt, when the consolidation speed had exceeded his predictions and cost Renk his life.
The lore provides structure, he reminded himself. Not certainty. Every specific detail requires verification.
The Healing Fountain was the third of four buildings. Its requirements were precise: Water Hag Matriarch core for the basin's alignment, Noonwraith tears for the purification mechanism, silver treated with specific processes for the channeling framework. Without the Matriarch core, the structure couldn't begin.
Four hundred and seventy-five days until the Fall of Cintra. The second cohort of Campus Invictus graduates had completed training. The barony's military capacity was growing with each passing month. But the Healing Fountain remained theoretical until the Matriarch fell.
He set a second attempt date and began drafting the terrain modification plans—drainage channels that would remove the water advantage from the approach route.
The timeline didn't have room for unlimited failures.
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