Arya shouted for 3000 to head east to link up with Brienne's troop. She then had the telepath send word to the naval station in Brandon's Rest to dispatch 10 ships with extra sailors to capture as many Zonian ships as possible. The Sovereign should meet her at the Deepwood Motte docks. She knew they had to rescue as many wind users as possible and gather as many ships as well. Through the telepath, she ordered scouts to search everywhere for the missing Zonians.
Tyrion and Ming had been discussing an assault on the Zonian encampment when word came that it was empty. Tse and Belaletrix showed up and began discussing where the Zonians would go and how to move troops around to counter whatever they were up to. It could be a feint to double back and hit Deepwood Motte again. They could split the difference and come to Brandon's Rest, or, more likely, go for the tree-kin village. Arya had already sent 3000 troops to bolster Brienne's men. But if they moved towards the tree-kin village, 8000 against 34000 Zonian troops and auxiliaries would be a tough fight. There were several wind trains still headed north with maybe 1000 volunteers aboard. The tree-kin could probably muster nearly 1,000 troops as well, but defending behind a short wooden palisade would be difficult. Plus, they had no guns, the factor that had helped swing the victory at Deepwood Motte.
Thea came out of the Wolfwood on the north road just above the Bravvos mercenary wall. She and the wolves dropped to the ground to rest. Just then, a faint wolf cry echoed from the northeast in the Wolfwood. Nymeria jumped to attention. She whined at Thea, who was about to say something, but a black carriage pulled up to where the road was blocked. The liverymen and the driver jumped down and retrieved weapons and gear from a sidebox. 4 women dressed in black and an older woman exited the carriage. The captain of the Bravvos mercenaries came out and asked, "Are you Ladies here about the Zonnians?" The tallest woman in black nodded. The captain then added that reports indicated the Zonnians had left their encampment and were thought to be heading east. Quaithe introduced herself and said they would head northeast to follow the Zonnians. The captain then called out all 2000 of his men to follow them. A lieutenant from Fort #3 was listening to this exchange; he had 2000 men from the fort with him. Without hesitation, he said they would follow as well. So a telepath reported that 4,000 troops, 6 women, and 20 wolves were heading northeast from Fort #3.
The Zonnian intel people had told Jun Wei that their best chance for a victory lay slightly northeast of them. A bird mage reported what appeared to be an enclave of tree-kin in a cul-de-sac in the low mountains. There didn't appear to be any troops from Westeros defending the place. Jun Wei liked the idea of capturing tree-kin that had escaped from the Zonnian armies. They could torture and toy with the tree-kin and hold up there through the winter before attacking other places inland. It would give him a victory, so they fled their encampment and cut across these woods towards the target. They carried everything they had, so the going was slow; Liters carried Jun Wei and his 6 remaining best mages. They encountered two hunter hamlets in the woods. They captured three wives and some children at the first, and burnt all the shacks there. The father of one of the children was returning from a hunt with his older son. He sent his son to run to the tree-kin encampment and other hunter villages to warn them. The boy ran off to the east like the wind. The next hamlet the Zonnians came to was empty, so they burned it down too. The Zonnian scouts reported seeing very large wolves following their party, and occasionally hearing wolf howls.
The Tower of Westeros reported seeing smoke rising from the burning hamlets in the Wolfwood. And the path they traced was heading towards the tree-kin. When Tyrion heard this, he committed 4000 more troops from Brandon's Rest toward the coming battle. Sansa was on her way back to Winterfell on a wind train, and through her telepath, she ordered 2000 of the troops there into the fray as well. All across the north, troops were on the move towards the tree-kin enclave, hanging from wind trains and following the road in whatever conveyance they could find. On Till's steam train, Tyrion sent 6 guns and ammunition to the coming battle. The trains would be lined up on the tracks to form a defensible wall.
In the small bay near the former Zonnian encampment, Arya and her contingent of ships were going through each enemy ship anchored there. They were freeing and caring for all the wind users who had been left to die, then taking control of the ships and moving them back to the Bay of Ice. The wind users' condition was desperate, and many healers spent days trying to save them all. Once again, Arya cursed the Zonnians and their ways and didn't rest until all these captives were safe in Brandon's Rest, healing.
The party from Fort#3 was just a few days behind the Zonians when they reached the second burnt hamlet. There was a confrontation coming.