[58]

“Camp ahead,” I said, squinting at the speck of light in the distance. They had hidden it well, but not enough to fool my dark seeing eyes.

It was the third evening since our departure from Ashmere. We continued on a path nearly straight north but had deviated a little to the west to attempt a meeting with the group of humans heading in the same general direction.

Our speed was not a slow one. Yet, for all the miles that we ate up, we could not catch the group that traveled ahead of us. I could tell that had annoyed Gene Pew, who pushed us even harder.

So much for him not caring.

I tried to convince the group to ignore whoever blazed a trail before us, but my pleas fell on deaf ears. Joy was curious, Raxx and Gene were hoping for a fight, and Izzy felt like it was her duty to investigate why a large group of humans were heading through Ashmere territory. A pointless endeavor now that we passed the border of Ergentein, as she no longer had the authority to demand answers.

What bothered me most was that without Raxx’s superior sense of smell, we would likely not have even been aware of their presence. The group left few tracks and had to have classes with above average human endurance to keep ahead of us, nevermind the skills to facilitate their quickened pace. Joy, who had the best skill in Tracking at rank D, could not determine the number of people ahead of us.

Gene had a natural, if imperfect, ability to sense battles that paired well with his Tactics skill. If it were not for that, there would be a genuine fear of us rushing into an ambush. We traveled in a V formation, with Gene at the point, some twelve yards ahead of everyone else. I was behind him to the right, with Izzy not far behind—it was her mission to keep me alive, foremost. Behind Gene to the left was Raxx, followed by Joy.

Along the way, I had picked up the Crossbow skill at rank F. Gene, annoyed that I was the only person in the group without a ranged weapon, purchased the device for me along with a quiver of bolts. Izzy, who had one of her own, made time to instruct me on the use of the weapon. Unlike the massive plodding arbalest she used, mine had a much smaller pull back mechanism that I could reload with my feet. Her arbalest required a crank to pull back to a draw state, though Izzy herself did not need to use it. Like her husband Cen-Boleman, Izzy had a natural strength that made grown human males look like children. Gene Pew could not crank back her crossbow, sending him into a fit of cursing that made the rest of us laugh.

Though I was not good with my new ranged weapon, the thoughtfulness of the gift touched me. Gene Pew merely grunted in reply to my thanks, then said I was less of a liability and if I accidentally shot him with it, he’d have my head. Still, the weapon overall made me feel both safer and more useful to my team. Learning to use a bow like Joy, while convenient, was not something we had time to waste on.

“How far ahead? I don’t see ‘em,” Gene said, squatting down next to me with the rest of the team on a wooded hill.

“Uh, maybe a quarter mile?” I guessed. Judging distances was not a skill I possessed.

“I think I see it,” Raxx whispered, squinting his eyes.

“All right, everyone follows 15 yards back. Form up, stay together just like we trained. Yell if you see something fishy.” Gene said, all business.

We crept down the hill, avoiding branches and roots with our Wilderness Traversal skill. After we parted ways with the hill, the land opened until we made it to the camp of people we followed. They had set up their camp on a hill, smaller than the one we left behind, but also protected by trees. It would be almost impossible to sneak up on them during the day, and difficult still for us to do so at night. It was a good thing Gene did not plan on doing so.

Fifty feet out, we spread in a half circle around the camp, holding our ranged weapons aimed at the four men sitting near a fire.

“Ho there!” Gene Pew yelled.

Since I had the best sight, watching the area was my job. However, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the four men react with remarkable speed, jumping to their feet and brandishing weapons.

“Who’s there?” said an older man.

I looked over the campers real fast, noting that the speaker was a middle-aged man, dressed in well-kept chain mail wielding a spear. His hair was short, and his posture ramrod straight, like you would expect from someone that spent their entire life in the military. The woman to his left carried a shield and hammer, not unlike Izzy, and the other two had crossbows pointed at Gene. Not that they would have done anything to his aura enhanced armor.

Movement from behind the trees caught my eye, and I nearly shouted a warning out. Thankfully, my brain caught up to my senses as I picked out the outline of a horse tied to a tree. Several, in fact.

Gene stomped through the gloom, stopping before their fire. They all took a step back upon seeing the glowing red plated warrior. The woman even lowered her weapon, recognizing the futility of fighting with an ascendent of war.

“I’m Gene Pew, ascendent of Koth.”

“Alan Bell. What can I do for you Gene?” the middle-aged man said with a relieved expression.

“Well, my team and I have been heading north on a mission, you see. And we noticed a large party of humans heading in the same direction. Speaking of, where is the rest of your party?” Gene said.

“What concern is that of yours? We aren’t bandits, as you can plainly see.” Alan countered.

“I can see no such thing,” Gene answered menacingly. “Now who the fuck are ya, and what were you doing tromping through Ashmere with a such a large party of men?”

“You listen here—” Alan started.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Captain, just answer him,” the woman said. “You know what followers of Koth are like, don’t give him an excuse to kill us.”

“I ain’t your captain anymore, and I’m a free citizen of Ergentein. He doesn’t have the authority to make me tell him anything.” Alan said, standing his ground.

The woman sighed.

Gene stood there quietly, tilting his head to the side like he was thinking about which way to chop the man up.

“Gene,” Joy yelled from the dark.

“Yeah?” Gene responded, never taking his eyes off the people at the camp.

“I found tracks. It looks like a lot of horses, maybe fifteen to twenty, heading directly west from here.”

Gene snorted from under his helmet. “So, you lot, a bunch of Ergentein regulars if I ever saw them, waited here with horses for a platoon’s worth of men to head into the area where we are doing our mission. That about, right?” Gene asked.

The middle-aged man just scowled; confirmation if I ever saw it.

“We just did a favor for an old friend, okay?” the more reasonable woman said.

“Would that friend be Marshal Dryden,” Izzy yelled out.

All four of the campers winced.

“That you, Izzy?” Alan said, sighing in defeat.

Gene bellowed out a laugh.

“The audacity of it. You idiots are going after the Kestev group, aren’t you?” Gene said, holding his plated stomach, still chuckling.

“We are camping, then heading home at first light,” Alan said sternly.

“That looks to be the scope of it,” Izzy confirmed, marching into the light of the fire.

Where before, Gene’s sudden appearance had scared all four. Upon seeing Izzy’s presence confirmed, they began cursing.

“You know I have to report this, Alan,” Izzy said.

The man shrugged, but still looked upset.

“What do you think is going to happen if they kill him?” Izzy asked the campers.

“It doesn’t work like that Iza-Cen-Boleman, and you know it,” the woman said.

Izzy gave a single nod.

“We just dropped off the horses for Dryden,” the woman said, again.

“Don’t pretend ignorance, we both know, none of you are stupid.” Izzy said. “If they kill that boy, not only will the negotiation be over, but Ashmere will have to punish Ergentein for running a damn kill mission across our soil! Dryden should know better!”

“I don’t think he had a choice,” Alan said, looking completely defeated. All three of his companions looked just as upset, deflating more under Izzy’s every word.

“You are saying this came from on high?” Izzy asked, arching an eyebrow.

Alan shrugged again, speaking only through his body language.

“What a clusterfuck. Fucking nobles,” Izzy said, sadly shaking her head.

“Don’t worry about it.” Gene said, reminding everyone he was still there.

Everyone turned to the plated warmonger, but no one asked him to explain what he meant. Instead, we waited.

“I see four horses over there. Plenty of time for us to catch up with those men before they reach Reynold.” Gene explained.

“Wait, we are going to save that prick?” I asked, horrified. Raxx began laughing in the background, but it barely registered.

“Damned right we are. He’s on a mission for Ashmere, and that means something.” Gene said, giving me a severe look.

“But… about our mission?” I asked.

“It’ll get done.” Gene said.

Damn it.