“Maru!” Yuriko called out to her brother, who gave her a mean stare. He didn’t let up until she grinned and mouthed, “Sorry.”

“Oh, lighten up, Maru-maru,” Niamh giggled.

“Hmph!” Marron snorted. He gestured to a seat at the makeshift table and nudged a bowl of ration bar stew at her once Yuriko sat down.

The stew wasn’t as bland as she expected and hurriedly gobbled up the contents.

“Slow down,” Marron laughed. “There’s more where that came from.”

“‘Ow?” Yuriko managed from around the spoon in her mouth.

“Herbs and spices. Found in the forest. The difference in climes between the tundra and the forest produced some interesting growths at the border. I’m surprised you didn’t bring some back yourself.”

Yuriko blushed. “I don’t know what herbs are good.”

“Oh.” Marron and Niamh exchanged a glance, then shrugged. “I’m sure I have a primer somewhere back home,” Marron grunted.

“I’ll take a look when we get home but that doesn’t do anything for me now,” Yuriko muttered sourly.

“Well,” Marron said slowly, “I can point out any I see when we scout together.”

She nodded then glanced behind her when she heard footsteps. Gwendith and Desire approached. The blonde girl gave her a smile while Desire pouted. That night, Yuriko had chosen to sleep elsewhere, feeling a bit awkward sharing a tent with either girl.

“Good morning!” Gwendith chirped brightly.

“Master, feed me!” Desire wailed.

Yuriko rolled her eyes. “Good morning, Gwen.” She held out a hand and drew distilled Chaos from her storage within. “Here.”

“Thank you!” Desire took Yuriko’s hand and drank.

“That still bothers me,” Marron muttered.

“What does?” Yuriko asked absently.

“That you have a bound Chaos Lord, and that you’re feeding her your Animus, and that she was once one of your classmates.”

Yuriko shrugged. “I have an excess of distilled Chaos, and my Animus reserves are easily filled.”

Marron frowned. “Yes, you’re right. They fill faster now. Huh.”

“What?”

“...Animus reserve fills faster now…” Marron’s face paled then he shook his head, “I didn’t think it would happen this quickly. How long was that Chaos Spring open for?”

“Er…nearly two years?” Yuriko blurted out.

Marron’s head snapped towards her and his eyes narrowed. “Two…oh! That’s where you were swept out. I see. It makes sense.”

“Stop speaking in riddles.” Niamh pouted and bonked Marron on the head. He barely noticed it.

“The open Chaos Spring must have increased the iarvesh levels around it. But for it to spread this far…”

Yuriko scratched her head. How did that work anyway? “Uhm, shouldn’t ambient Chaos spread out and equalise or something?”

Marron shook his head. “I’m no Chaos scholar, but ambient Chaos doesn't behave like air or water. While it does sometimes flow into something akin to rivers and gather into nexus points, most ambient Chaos stay around where they were generated, spreading out only when the pressure between zones gets too much.”

“Isn’t that a generalisation?” Gwendith asked.

“It is. Those zones aren’t usually too big: several hundred paces to a longstride across. But the Chaos Fortress is at least seventy, eighty leagues away. I’ve got to ask the others if they noticed this.” He pushed away his unfinished breakfast and ran off.

The rest of them exchanged glances. Yuriko slowly finished her breakfast. Gwendith sat next to her but didn’t speak or touch her. When she glanced at the other girl, she noticed that Gwendith was lost in her thoughts too.

A messenger, one of the few runners in camp, came up to them when she finished earring.

“Knight Davar, the commander, called for a meeting,” the boy said.

Yuriko nodded and stood. “Lead the way.”

Gwendith caught her arm before she could walk away, and Yuriko looked back. “I’ll come with you. Please let me help.”

“Alright.”

Gwendith moved her hand to clasp hers, then Desire grabbed Yuriko’s left hand, and together, all three of them traipsed to the command transport. Yuriko held in a sigh when she realised both girls were glaring at each other from across her bosom.

“Play nice, please,” she murmured. Both nodded, but a glint of resentment was still there, even after they looked away.

The council was composed of all the Knights and the commander, though only a third were currently there at the moment. Commander Perry sat at the head of the long table and nodded to Yuriko in greeting.

Centurion Veran Jake was there, as was Areena Henry, the lightning master. Veran looked at their clasped hands and smirked. Yuriko rolled her eyes and freed herself from her clingy friends. While she sort of knew about Gwendith, she also knew that the only reason Ash…Desire acted in such a way was their bond. Her Mien affected the Chaos Lord deeply. She could even see their bonding when she meditated, as a golden thread extending from Yuriko’s core. The thread faded into the dreamscape after a couple of paces, but she saw it begin to thicken into chains just as it faded away.

After she brought the Chaos Lord back to her family, she decided that she would free her from the bonding if she asked. Hmm, although it might not be a good idea to leave a Chaos Lord loose amongst civilians…

No, no, she couldn’t think like that. No matter what Desire said, she was sure Ashley was buried deep inside. She just had to figure out a way to bring her classmate back out.

It took nearly ten minutes before Commander Perry started the brief. Not all of them were there, but enough to consider a majority. Since Adelaine Perry was a Knight-Captain, she was at the top of the hierarchy. However, command had not been transferred over to her when she became commander of Outpost 8 or the Frozen Camp. Since there were several units of the Imperial Service within the outpost, and each was sovereign to their own units. Yuriko was also not within the chain of command since she wasn’t enlisted or commissioned. Marron wasn’t part of any Agminis Century, although she found out that he had transferred to the legion.

That was why they had the Knight’s Council here. Most followed Commander Perry’s lead, but the woman only set general directions and left the particulars to the varied Knights.

“Let me summarise our scouts’ findings,” Perry began. “First off, following the forest south until we bypass the Chaos fortress will be nearly impossible. While we Knights could survive, casualties amongst the rest of our caravan could be at least fifty percent. Since the shape of Rumiga grows narrower east to west the closer we get to Rumiga City, the distance between the fortress and the Zarek is only fifteen leagues. The Wyldlings there have spread out almost to the forest at the same latitude. It is unlikely we can sneak past them, and any contact will cause the entire horde to fall upon us.

“As such, the original plan had been to cross the mountain range at a pass. This is not one that we have a treaty with the Avos for, so we will need to send a party towards Zarek’s Court and negotiate a passage. The pass is only thirty leagues south of us, but there’s at least another ten leagues of primaeval forest in between. The plan is to go south along the edge and cut towards the pass as soon as we gain permission.” Commander Perry paused to take a sip of water and asked, “Any questions?”

“How many on the team?” One of the other Knights asked.

“No more than five, a single team, in other words.”

“All Knights? That’s going to weaken our defences.” A different one asked.

“Actually, I was hoping the Knights Davar would go.”

“Eh, me?” Yuriko blurted out.

“Yes, you’ve mentioned that you’ve met an Avos before, yes? Few of the others have. And, well, you’re also one of our toughest Knights, so…”

“Ah, sure.” Yuriko reddened at the compliment while Gwendith chuckled beside her.

“Knight Marron Davar, will you accept this mission as well?”

“Of course, I will,” Marron grunted. “I’m not about to let my sister go off all alone…” he muttered.

“Bold of you to think she needs protecting,” Veran Jake muttered under his breath.

“Hey!” Marron yelped.

“Oh, it’s true, Maru-maru, my little sis has surpassed you, hie hie!” Niamh joined in on the ribbing.

“Yuriko, you don’t mind that I assign your elder brother as team lead, do you?”

“Oh, not at all,” Yuriko answered quickly.

“Thank you. You two are free to determine the rest of your team members but no other Knights please. I believe the protocol to request admittance to the Avos Court is to climb up beyond the Zarek’s tree line and then perform the ritual. Decanus Dumont will have your requisition list and the necessary materials for both the ritual and the…uh, negotiation.”

Marron and Yuriko nodded. Gwendith’s hand on Yuriko tightened and when she glanced at her friend, she whispered, “I want to come with.”

“Me too, Master,” Desire said. “I can’t be far from you for too long.”

“I know the rituals,” Niamh said from behind Marron’s seat.

“I guess that’s the team, then,” Marron chuckled.

The rest of the meeting involved mostly the scouting rotation, guard rotation, logistics and supply reports, and finally, grievance airing. The extended foray and the confines of the camp didn’t make for a peaceful and stress-free environment. There had been multiple fights, a case of harassment between members of different teams, and not a few gambling issues. Mostly some people who lost most of their coins or ration allocation.

Access to ale and beer had been curtailed simply because they’d long since run out and some of the logistics personnel were too busy with the constant camp reconstruction, they didn’t have the time to create and accelerate the breweries.

There’s been a few cases of alcohol poisoning from some of the more desperate sloshers and their self-made brews were often more poison than anything else.

Plus, there were discipline issues. Notwithstanding the frequent catcalls Yuriko received, from both men and women, at least there had been no cases of actual assault or misconduct, and not just towards her. She mostly tolerated it since it somewhat relieved the others’ stress.

Still, she would be glad to be out of the public eye for a while.

They finished their general assembly after another hour. Yuriko left to head to the quartermaster and to pick up a full supply. She estimated it would take them three or four weeks. The Zarek didn’t have the gentlest of mountain slopes, and the higher peaks could reach nearly two leagues up. The tree line was only about two to three longstrides vertically above, but the trek was through ten or so leagues of forest-covered foothills and then another five or so leagues of slopes. That was just her visual estimates though. Oh, and the forest was filled with Grunders too. She shuddered in disgust.

The fifth campsite had yet to be determined, but it would definitely be south, along or near the forest edge.

“They should be at the eight or ninth camp by the time we return,” Yuriko muttered. The caravan should be across the mountain pass by then too.

After she finished packing her gear, she put on her backpack, checked her hip satchel and weapons, then crawled out of the tent. Gwendith followed her outside, having changed into a set of forceweave clothing, tight-fitting breeches, boots, and an overcoat. Desire had nothing to her name, but she had drawn a backpack and filled it with ration bars, a condenser canteen, a change of clothes, and a bedroll. The three of them met Marron and Niamh at the west gate.

The sun was just at its zenith and they still had the rest of the day to travel. Her brother was in his usual clothing practically identical to hers, though he sported a backpack and a couple of Plasma Lancets were holstered on his belt. His Plasma Caster hung from a sling while he lazily kept the muzzle pointed down. She could see nearly a dozen jade cartridges secured on his belt and across a bandolier.

Niamh wore brown-coloured pants and a lighter tan overcoat. Her boots were black and had a slightly raised heel. Yuriko stared at it and said, “You’ll have a harder time walking or climbing in those.”

“Oh, don’t worry, my gear is covered in runescript weaving for ease and comfort.” Niamh waved off Yuriko’s concern. “I etched and wove in some of this myself,” she added proudly.

“Alright,” Marron said before Niamh could continue, “gear check and then we go. Time is of the essence.” After he sent Niamh running to the quartermaster to pick up extra condenser canteens and ration bars, and Gwendith for extra blankets, they were ready to go.

“Our first adventure eh, little sis,” Niamh said brightly. “I pray to the Ancestors for good fortune.”

“Hear, hear!” Yuriko, Marron, and Gwendith cheered, with Desire a beat behind. Then, they marched out, straight into the primaeval forest.