Adventure of Tuiwen 2

At the western post, Tuiwen stands beside Radagast’s living signal bough as morning mist threads the firs. Eldred watches the road, listening for the scouts’ return.

A Woodman scout emerges from the trees, mud to his knees. He bows once, then points toward the second marked route, where fallen stone blocks the wagons.

The signal bough brightens in successive pulses, carrying confirmation from Radagast’s network. Far north, answering lights mark the column’s slow advance.

Beyond the post, scouts wait among the wet birches, while the northern column pauses for direction. The living bough holds its green light, ready to carry Tuiwen’s decision.

Tuiwen extends her will through the wet earth. Roots loosen, fallen stones roll aside, and living growth bends into a firm passage around the obstruction. The second path opens for the wagons.

The Woodman scouts emerge from the birches and test the newly opened ground. Their hands guide the first wagon through while the living roots settle harmlessly beside the track.

Green pulses travel from the opened crossing toward the waiting column. The uncertain birch route is abandoned, the southern ford remains for foot soldiers, and the aid road gains a clear passage.

Tuiwen leads the wagons along the opened second path, scanning the fir margins, churned mud, and broken fern stems for any sign of an enemy’s passage.

Her scrutiny catches faint ash worked beneath fresh leaves beside the track, along with boot marks angled toward the column’s unguarded flank. The trail is recent, deliberate, and not made by Woodmen.

Tuiwen halts the lead wagon long enough to mark the concealed trail and send the Woodman scouts to inspect it. The column loses precious time, but no hidden approach remains unseen.

Beyond the ash marks, the scouts uncover a narrow observation hollow, abandoned before dawn. Its view commands the road, confirming the enemy had been measuring the column’s movement.

The wagons move again under Tuiwen’s direction, with the scouts guarding the exposed flank. The route remains open, though the column now advances more slowly beneath the enemy’s measured gaze.

Tuiwen reaches through the living bough and sends the contact report along Radagast’s network: hostile movement has been found beside the wagon road, with an observation hollow overlooking the column.

Green light travels from branch to branch, carrying her warning toward the settlement, the southern ford, and the advancing northern column. Each signal post answers in turn.

The Woodman scouts spread through the fir margins while the wagons resume their measured advance. Far along the network, answering pulses confirm that the allied forces have received Tuiwen’s warning.

The contact is no longer hidden from the defenders. The road remains open, the flank is watched, and every allied division now moves with the enemy’s presence in mind.

Eldred signals the Woodman scouts forward and guides the wagons along the opened road. Tuiwen slips from the column with the Lean Beasts flowing soundlessly beside her.

She leaves the churned track for fern-shadowed ground, placing each step where damp leaves already lie. The Lean Beasts spread wide, carrying her scent away from the hidden hollow.

Ahead, three Orc scouts crouch beneath the firs, studying the wagon road and its moving guards. None hears the faint brush of Tuiwen’s passage.

The Lean Beasts halt at the edge of the hollow and lower their heads. Tuiwen reaches their position unseen, close enough to observe the Orc scouts’ weapons, signals, and escape paths.

Her command sinks into the dark soil. Roots answer from beneath the firs, twisting upward in swift green coils around the hidden hollow.

The first Orc scout is caught at the ankles; the others are seized across their knees and waists as the living growth binds the entire band.

Weapons fall into the needles. The entangling roots hold the Orc scouts firmly without crushing them, while their escape paths close beneath the spreading tangle.

The Lean Beasts remain calm at the hollow’s edge, untouched by Tuiwen’s working. Their ears turn toward the bound scouts and the distant wagon road.

The three Orc scouts struggle uselessly against the roots. Behind them, the road remains open, and Eldred’s guards can move forward without exposing the wagons to the hidden hollow.