Minutes later, Dominic had a hundred battered, abused and abandoned prisoners upstairs with the adventurers, and it was even more clear that their mission was over.

The reports had been sent to Wistover, and the army had opened a large portal in the yard, ready to move troops through by the regiment.

The other locations were in a similar state, with troops set to arrive within minutes.

"How did you get so many prisoners? They couldn’t all fit in the basement." Bella asked, as the terrified prisoners stared at the adventurers.

"They were in dungeons linked to the room with portals. There were no other entrances to the dungeon they were kept in, so it had to be accessed with magic, But just to be safe, we should close the portal, or put a landmine at the entrance." Dominic explained.

"That is inhumane." Bella noted.

"It’s not our fault if intruders step on a.poorly placed explosive. That’s all on them."

Wiz smirked. "And on the walls, and the roof..."

Bella slapped his arm, but the soldiers gathering nearby laughed at the berserker’s sense of humour.

"The mages will take care of it before we leave. Send the wounded through first, and the Adventurer’s Guild will take care of them. They have a healer on staff. Then you can send the refugees out, and the army will take care of the trauma counselling." The officer insisted.

Which meant that they would investigate them all to be sure that there were no more hidden mages, spies or traitors. But it was a necessary process.

"Gentlemen, help the wounded get to the Guild House, and I will meet you there once my official duties end. I need to brief these lovely men of fortune on the situation, and what they might find." Dominic insisted.

The adventurers laughed, as the soldiers were doing a terrible job of pretending that they were mercenaries. But Dominic was right, with a second mage team discovered where they shouldn’t be, it was imperative that they informed everyone of the dangers.

If the soldiers weren’t aware that there might be mages in the houses, they could stumble across them and end up sacrificed or ambushed by summoned monsters.

The team left through the portal, leaving only Amie and Dominic behind.

"Commander, there are a few important facts. There are mages hiding in some of the Barony Houses, we’ve cleared out multiple groups already. Inspect all of them as you pass.

There are also portal targets in some of the monster camps, and they will be reversed to bring monsters back from a siege when the group is attacked.

We had that issue with a camp of Minotaurs that turned from fifty into four hundred earlier today.

The money was excellent with so many monster cores and the drops that they gave us, but you don’t want to lose soldiers to insufficient deployment. Even if the group looks small, send more than you think you need, and prepare to send the rest.

Our team had four members with rare weapons above level twenty, and it was still a tough fight.

We also had three master level mages with us, and that was only enough to keep the defensive barriers up. Most of the time, two weren’t even able to attack.

I’m sure that there is more that I’m forgetting, but that’s the essence of the issue."

The Commander nodded, "I understand the situation. The Princes have kept us updated on the developments as your mages called in."

"Do you know where Princess Alexis is?" Dominic replied.

"Next beacon that way."

The Commander pointed back to the previous house they had marked by the Minotaurs, and Amie tugged at Dominic’s coat, making him laugh at her pleading look.

"Should we go visit my wife? I am certain that they are going to be doing something fun. Commander, does she have her usual team with her?"

The Commander nodded. "Indeed. She also has a hundred cavalry with her."

That would make it harder to keep up with them, but if they headed for the monster horde, they would intercept the cavalry on their way to battle.

"Thank you, Commander, I will go pass on the good news. See you back home after the mission is complete." Dominic replied, then jogged away with Amie at his side.

The Commander just shook his head. "He could have kept the rest of the Adventurers with him. Half the team wasn’t injured."

"Let them go. The two sorcerers are better when they’re not tied down to another group. I have met the Duskblade Sect before, and that Amie is no normal mage." One of his officers explained.

"Alright. I will make a note of it, in case they go missing. But the chances that something out there can actually kill the Butcher of Wistover seem pretty low." The Commander laughed.

A few of the other officers looked in their direction at the comment. They hadn’t seen who was here, as Dominic had his hood up over a chainmail coif for battle. To them, it just looked like two short mages.

With him in the area, as well as the forces from the other waypoints, and the Royal Guard, the odds of being surrounded should be less likely than they had planned for.

"Get the troops moving the moment that the mages have cleared the house. I don’t want to be hanging around here any longer than necessary. The other units will be headed for glory, and you know damned well that they’re going to go for the best loot first."

The officers laughed. That settled the deployment plan. Look at the options, pick the one that paid best, and do the others second.

While they prepared to move, Dominic and Amie were jogging through overgrown fields, and a thin stand of trees, headed for the edge of the horde. Alexis would have moved the moment that the area was secure, and they hadn’t left anything alive at that manor house to hold her up.