The morning mist blanketed the rocky New Estinian hills with a wall of fog, too thick to see past, but thin enough for the Anti-Rogue Operatives to see their dragon riding companions. Shafts of sunlight cut through the cypress trees and the odd crow cawed down to the devil jumpers.

Elucard shook his head in annoyance at the conversation of whether Southtail’s harekin taverns served a better drink than Long Whisper’s elven taverns. If the squad stayed silent through the long journey, they could avoid detection and concentrate on stealth and the mission at hand: rescuing the king. However the harekins continued their unorthodox approach in covert operations. Mave claimed that her harekins were trained in these tactics, but with Elucard’s Black Rabbit training to use as a reference, it was clear Mave had fabricated a lie that had fooled everyone except for him.

Now these amateur harekins were rubbing their bad habits on his men. Yet another sample of proof that his mission had been given an unnecessary handicap. The harekins weren’t stealthy, they had no agility, they weren’t as quick, and they couldn’t even stay quiet during a march!

“Yes, your Mystic Fang might seem high class to your ‘Longer’ standards, but I’m telling you chaps, without the proper taste buds that we have, your poorly prepared food and wine will always taste good to you,” said Quinn as he skidded down a loose and rough slope.

“Proper taste buds!?” exclaimed Kyzo. “The Mystic Fang takes elven cuisine and elevates it to another level! The tavern gets travelers from all over Cypress that wish to try its Summer Strawberry Wine. If you haven’t tried it, then you can’t say a thing against—”

Elucard shot an angry glare at Kyzo. Immediately the boy buttoned his lips and looked away from his master’s stern eyes.

Elucard turned back. He noticed Mave giving him a mean look of her own. Elucard let out a deep sigh. “We are deep in enemy territory and your men are gabbing about how delicious your county’s wines taste. You need to have noise discipline.”

“Are you telling them to shut up, Elucard?” growled Mave.

“Yes, I’m telling my apprentice to shut his trap. He should know better.” Elucard kept his volume to a low whisper, but the more Mave back talked to him, the louder he raised his voice. He couldn’t help himself, it was like she intentionally challenged everything he was trained to do.

“You’ve never heard of morale? Of course not. You ARO types have a tree up your own arses!”

Elucard clenched his teeth and tightened his fist until it trembled. “Why does everything have to be an argument with you?”

The Anti-Rogue Ops members looked at the harekins. Each rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

“I thought you and I came to an understanding?” said Mave. “We were the perfect team in the skies! Now we can’t even look at each other. What changed between you and I?”

Elucard stared at the ground and held silent.

“You are such a jerk, Elucard Freewind. It’s a wonder how your men stomach you,” sneered the harekin captain.

“We don’t, but if we want to survive his wrath, we have to put up with him!” Essie called out from the rear of the ranger file.

“Enough, the both of you,” spat Elucard. The sounds of blacksmith hammers and church bells halted the conversation. “We are near the town. We’ll set up camp here. No fires.”

Mave twitched her whiskers in frustration and turned to Corso. “Take a perch in one of those trees and get a good look of how far we are from the town.” She pointed to Bruce. “Make a few lean-tos with any leafy branches you find; if you need to use a hatchet, try to chop as little as possible.”

Bruce and Corso nodded and hurried to complete their tasks.

Elucard turned to Essie and Kyzo. “Now would be the perfect time to dig up and replenish some medical supplies. We’re in some type of thicket right now. I saw some lichen not too far back.” He waited for Essie to nod before addressing Kyzo. “I need you to watch over her. Medics have to concentrate their senses on spotting medicinal herbs and fungi, she’s going to have her eyes too close to the ground to be able to pay attention to enemy scouts and woodland threats.” Elucard looked toward the town. “After that, take a harekin and scout out the town.”

“You can count on me, Master,” said Kyzo as he patted his trusty sword.

Elucard waved to Mave to get her attention. “Whatever differences we do have, let’s put them aside for now. For the sake of the mission.”

“You. You have a problem with my men and I. So you put aside your differences so that we can concentrate on our mission. And if you still have a problem with working with us, by Father, I will make sure we settle it for good,” she snarled, shaking her fist underneath Elucard’s jaw.

Elucard watched her storm off. Duly noted.