Marron opened his eyes and scrubbed away the accumulated gunk at the corners. He’d gotten maybe a couple of hours sleep and his head was pounding now. He focused to channel Recovery, hoping the technique would alleviate his drowsiness and headache.

The familiar spike of pain arrived, and most of it was focused on his head, just behind the eyes. He let himself linger in the trance, though it didn’t make him any less sleepy. Despite that, he knew he wouldn’t be able to rest. Not while he was out in the wilds, and not while that…that thing was out there.

It only took a couple of minutes of meditation to realise that far more time had passed than he expected when they had conversed. He also knew that bits of his memories had been purged from his mind, leaving gaps and blank spaces. Whether that had been the spawn’s doing or his own mind protecting itself, he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t even sure if the creature had been hostile to begin with.

‘No, you swarming fool, it had been hostile. It threatened to eat me!’

He gritted his teeth and forced himself out of Recovery. While the technique brought about pain, it almost immediately gave soothing relief afterwards. It was much like getting a deep tissue massage. Niamh certainly knew how to knead the hard knots of muscle in his back…

‘This isn’t helping,’ he thought as he packed up his gear.

The wardstones that served to alert him of any intruders went to his hip satchel. His bedroll folded neatly into a little square, remarkably thin considering its unfolded size. Sleeping inside it kept him warm, though he needed to make sure to lay it over an even surface. Pebbles and sharp rocks underneath might not tear the forceweave, but he would definitely feel it in the morning.

He was too impatient to cook breakfast, opting instead to chew on the ration bar. He’d long grown used to the nearly tasteless food. At least, that’s what he told himself. Spice bottles took added weight and space after all.

Once done, he checked his bearings. The Veil wasn’t in view, hidden by the rolling hills and the vegetation. But the Sun always rose from the east, so he just made sure he had it to his right-hand side.

As he crossed a couple of leagues, he grew mildly alarmed at the quiet. The northern terrain wasn’t devoid of wildlife, and the bird song, beast calls, and rodent scritching were gone. Instead, there was the sound of solid footsteps, repeated over and over by hundreds, perhaps thousands of feet.

He knew that sound. Swarmlings.

His guess was proven right when he looked down into a gully and found it carpeted by the dog-sized critters. They were heading north, towards the outpost. Not that the horde would pose a problem. The walls and the moat alone would stymie them, and the Plasma Carronades would make short work of the piled bodies. If anything, it would be the Hunters, Wanderers, and actual Chaos Lords that would be the problem.

“Wave?” Growling to himself, Marron jogged around the gully and hurried to the outpost. If he ran, he could be there by midafternoon.

The sight of the walls, and the defences in place, made him sigh in relief by the time he actually got to the Frozen Camp. He entered the cleaning from a different angle and waved to the defenders. One of them, atop the south gate, gave him a signal. They would open the gate in a couple of minutes. Or he could go around the north wall.

Not wanting the extra walk, he returned the signal, by materialising Animus atop his palm and raising it up high, and undulating it into several prearranged shapes. Afterwards, he charged up his Plasma Caster and started blasting a path through the swarmling horde. He didn’t see any of the stronger Wyldlings and the lookout didn’t say otherwise. His manifold wave blasts, adjusted to spray over a wider front, cleared him a path three paces wide and ten paces ahead. It was easy enough to set up and didn’t drain much of his personal reserve.

A couple of minutes later he slipped through the gate.

“Whew!”

“Knight Davar!” Several men and women shouted.

“Welcome back!”

“Good to see you!”

“The commander’s been worried.”

“What happened down south?”

“Where’s the resupply?”

“Oh no! They’re all dead. Aren’t they?”

Marron grinned at the cacophony. He knew these men and women. He’d fought with them against the barbarian threat, sheltered next to fire against a blizzard, and they generally got along.

“I’ll make a report to the commander first,” he said as he walked towards the keep. Finally, he was out of the wilds. He was no longer exposed and vulnerable. He heard from Da that most Davars inherited wanderlust from their Heritage. Or the Davar’s itchy feet issue. For him, it manifested in the need to get away from crowds and civilisation once in a great while. Maybe a little trip in the woods for a week or so every Season. His scouting trip towards the south had lasted nearly three weeks and he was quite happy to be back with other people.

“MARU!”

“Eh?”

Thunk!

He felt strong limbs enfold him right after he got spear tackled in the middle. He immediately lost his balance and expected to land on the ground, but instead, he got swung around and around.

Golden hair surrounded him and blocked his vision. It was silky and smooth, smelled as fresh as the morning sun, and was achingly familiar. It took several whirls, with his body practically parallel to the ground, before his brain got out of its stalled state.

“Yu…Yuri!” He gasped and was greeted with the bright grin of his wayward sister. Where, how, and why? He felt his mind freeze over again, but this time, he fought against the startlement and grabbed her by the shoulders. Ancestors! She’s grown bigger. “Put me down!” He yelped.

“No!”

She did stop spinning him around, but only because she buried her face into his chest. Ah, he was still filthy with the dust of his travels!

Once his feet touched the ground, he wrapped his arms around his sister and tucked her head under his chin. She had grown taller, but he still had at least six inches over her. He smirked at the thought, and somehow, she must have noticed it, since she squeezed him hard enough to drive the air out of his lungs.

Mum said to him that Yuriko was safe, but he didn’t really believe her. But now…now, he had his sister back. All the worries, the gut ache, and the sleepless nights, they melted away. Everything was right in the world.

________

“Maru, Maru, Maru, Maru, Maru, Maru, Maru, Maru, Maru, Maru, Maru!” Yuriko hugged her eldest brother as tightly as she could. Unlike the last time she did that, a couple of years ago, Marron had grown tough enough to hold up against her strength. Well, that and she hadn’t completed the Knight, or rather, the Actualisation level body forging yet.

“Alright, alright. Please put me down.” Marron said though he didn’t release his hug either.

“No!”

“Tsk, I need to give my report! It’s urgent.”

“...alright.” Yuriko shrugged, but she didn’t let go, not entirely. Instead, she lowered her grip down to his waist so that when she straightened out, Marron’s feet hovered a couple of inches above the floor. Then she waddled over to the keep, even as he protested the treatment.

Snickers and awwws came from the people around them, but she paid them no mind. She hadn’t seen her brother in years and she wasn’t about to leave him alone. Not when she worried so much about him.

“Yuri! This is hardly dignified!”

“Ya don’t need dignity. You need hugs,” she said firmly. She flared her Anima so she could see around him, and well, waddling was a bit slow so she used it to lift the two of them off the ground and sort of hovered and glided towards the keep’s entrance.

Marron sighed over her hair, then patted her back. “I won’t go anywhere, don’t worry.” Then he coughed and looked at her light. “You must tell me what this is about. Ah, later, later.”

“Maru-maru!” Niamh squealed and threw herself into the embrace so that the two women sandwich the young man. Yuriko hastily condensed a few Anima hands to support the other girl’s weight.

Oh, Gwendith and Desire were off to the side, and both had huge grins on their faces. Yuriko flashed both of them a happy smile, too.

Soon enough, the odd procession made its way inside the keep and Yuriko finally let her brother go as soon as they entered the conference room. Only a couple of Knights were there, with no sign of the commander. Her aide-de-camp, Decanus Murrie Dumont, was there though. The redhead took a look at them then giggled.

“The commander will arrive shortly.”

Marron sat down and gestured at the chairs on either side of him. Niamh took the one on his right while Yuriko sat on the left. She couldn’t keep the happy grin on her face, and she could see that he was fighting, and losing, to do the same.

“Hmm, you didn’t write.”

Yuriko arched an eyebrow. “I sent a letter. You didn’t write back.”

“Ah, yes. The letter you sent. That you addressed me as Maru.” His eyes narrowed. “I penned a reply the moment I got your letter. You didn’t receive it?”

“No,” Yuriko frowned, “but it might be because of the disruption in the Chaos lanes. You know, when the Chaos Lords attacked and destroyed Witton Hold.”

“Hmmm, possibly.”

Yuriko pointed at Niamh. “And she calls you Maru-maru. Shall I change to that?” she added with a wicked grin.

Marron’s face turned crimson but instead of exploding at her, he glanced at Niamh, who gave him an encouraging nod.

“No need,” he replied stiffly as her grin widened. “Well, I can’t say I’m unhappy to see you, quite the opposite, really, but how did you get here? I…er, you mentioned something about Witton Hold?”

“I arrived in the northern Tidelands, close to Ouera Bo. With a few scouts I picked up in the Sea.”

“You…you advanced?”

“Yup!”

Marron closed his eyes and breathed deeply while a plethora of emotions ran the gamut on his face. Shock, bewilderment, joy, and a bit of sadness. He opened his eyes and smiled.

“Congratulations.” This widened into a grin, “You surpassed Kato. Hie hie! How he’d squirm.”

“Ehehehe.”

“Hmmm, you’re here alone?”

“Er, one of the Mishala Shadow Guards tagged along. I didn’t know until yesterday.”

“Shadow Guards? Huh. Ah, since you got the Mishala side Heritage, they must have…”

“Yeah. Mum rescued me when I got lost. Well, cousins Aidan, Riley, and Aunt Layla did that first. They found me on the Bella plane and tried to help me get home. Ah, our cousins from the Davar side. From Ulmira.”

“Oh. I haven’t met any of our cousins. What are they like?”

“The two of them looked like you and Kato.” Yuriko grinned. “Anyway…”

A loud cough interrupted the two of them. Commander Perry, her aide-de-camp, Centurion Veran Jake, and a couple of other Centurions had walked in the room.

“Pardon the interruption,” Commander Perry said succinctly, “but you two siblings can catch up afterwards. Knight Marron Davar, you have your report?”

Yuriko coloured faintly, but she leaned back against her seat and waited. Marron stood up and gave a salute. He glanced at her for not standing but she shrugged. She wasn’t part of the militia or legion, hence she wasn’t in the command chain. She wasn’t part of the protocol either. She would have stood and saluted but Gwendith told her to not misrepresent herself.

Once the lot of them were seated, Commander Perry nodded for Marron to start.

Her brother cleared his throat, and his expression hardened.

“To begin with, we are cut off. There is a Chaos Fortress near Cinderfield Hills and it is full of powerful Chaos Lords and other creatures. Outposts four to seven are abandoned. There was an authenticated message in Outpost 4, telling us to return to Rumiga City. I do not have supporting documents as there are none there. We only have one choice though. We have to evacuate and retreat.”

Commander Perry’s face was grave, but the other Knights’ expressions were of relief. As for Yuriko, she had a few mixed feelings. She wanted to see her other brothers too, but she also wanted to keep fighting. Everyone else looked like they wanted to retreat.

But she knew that doing so hurt their pride. The Empire didn’t lose wars. Was this to be the first? Yuriko didn’t know how she felt about that.