"King Ghidorah, let's go take a look."
Viserys lightly tapped the side of the neck beneath King Ghidorah's central head. She immediately understood, making no sound as she adjusted her course slightly and flew toward the peak he indicated in his mind.
She flew very low, almost skimming the ridgeline. The black night sky and dense forest provided natural cover; unless the people below looked up, they would never notice the moving shadow overhead.
The camp Viserys had sensed soon came into view. Several bonfires burned among a few crooked pines, and roughly seventy or eighty tents made of animal hides and coarse cloth crowded together. Dried meat and animal bones hung at their entrances, and wooden stakes and hemp ropes secured the camp's perimeter.
A crude fence of sharpened stakes encircled the outskirts as well, though it did not look capable of keeping out any formidable beasts. Judging by its layout, it was more likely intended to keep people out.
In the firelight, every figure in the camp was laid bare to Viserys's eyes. Some sat around the fires, drinking something from rough earthenware bowls. Others gathered in groups and spoke in low voices, while still more figures moved about inside the tents, doing who knew what.
They wore patched leather clothes and rough cloth coats, their hair tied into messy braids or simply hanging loose. Some had dark runes painted on their faces.
Their clothing and appearance alone were enough to confirm that Viserys's earlier guess had been right. They belonged to the Mountain Clans living in the Mountains of the Moon.
They bore some resemblance to the Free Folk Viserys had seen Beyond the Wall, though their clothes were less heavy and designed more for moving through forests.
Even when he had still been half a league