Tents lined up the land, going as far as the eye could see. Vehicles, Iferes, and people moved around in an orderly mess. One would expect a military camp to be organized, but noisy. However, there was barely a murmur coming from this one, even though it was busier than an anthill.

From his vantage position in a tree a few hundred meters away from the camp, Drake could see well over a thousand of the large tents - almost cloth buildings, really. If each fit the standard thirty to forty soldiers... He was looking at almost sixty thousand Lapidum soldiers. An army that Menoraz had no idea existed.

Trembling at the thought, Drake kept studying the camp. He wasn't an experienced soldier, but even he could tell how dangerous of a position Menoraz Kingdom would be if that hidden army suddenly attacked. It wouldn't be enough to threaten the entire kingdom, since they could summon an army of millions if need be, but a good chunk of territory - not to mention lives - would be lost.

He had already guessed that the Cleaners were heading to a hidden base when they suddenly started covering their tracks. Guessing the direction they went based on what minimal traces they left behind, he and his companions had arrived at the vicinity of the enemy camp, but he still had no idea they were there. Only through Kniivar's keen nose did they discover it.

Now, the question was what Drake should do with this information. He obviously had to get it back to General Lilac, even if it was just to prevent a massacre. However, it would take days for him to walk back to Menoraz. In the meantime, a lot could happen.

Thinking of that, Drake took a few pictures of the base using his phone, then climbed down the tree. There was something he could do, and that was steal an Yscalent. While the other contract-less Iferes might not be that easy to control, Yscalents wouldn't care if the one riding them was a Lapidum soldier or not.

"Now, how do I get one?"

-----------------------------

Late in the night, Drake crawled in the undergrowth. His target was a two-man patrol that he knew would pass near him. He had spent the entire day memorizing their trajectory, to make sure he wouldn't make mistakes.

There were two main reasons as to why Drake was aiming for the patrol instead of the corral of Yscalents in the military camp. The first was that it would be easier to deal with just two soldiers than invade the base and steal from them. The second motive was simple. He was afraid. Well, not necessarily afraid, but he dreaded catching the huge army's attention. He could tell from how organized they were, to how little noise they made that none of them were normal soldiers. Not for a moment did he think that he would be able to fight his way out of the base if they discovered him.

With all that considered, he decided to silently take care of the patrol, and use their Yscalents to return to General Lilac's side. He also gave Kniivar and Frainer very specific orders not to kill unless they had no other option. The Lapidum troops were just fighting for their kingdom, much like Menoraz's. There was no need for him to murder them for that. There would already be too many people willing to do that when they entered a battlefield.

"Here they come."

The two black-coats were walking alongside one another, sometimes exchanging a few words, but were still attentive. As expected of experienced veterans, they didn't lower their guard even if they were on their own territory.

Still, careful as they were, they didn't manage to see Frainer in time. Their heads turned towards the small Ifere, showing that they heard something, but Frainer had already glued itself on one of the soldier's head, and used Dreamscape. The second man aimed his weapon at the Ifere, but Kniivar used Wood Realm to whip him out of his mount, and Drake finished the job by smaking his pistol on the side of his head.

Walking to the first soldier, Drake knocked him out cold too. Grinning, he mounted one of the Yscalents, and pulled the reigns of the other. With a spare mount, they would go a lot faster. However, he never expected the creature to shake violently, and throw him off.

His apparently successful plan crumbled at about the same time he hit the ground head first. Dizzy, he saw the Yscalent glowing with a light green light, and poking the ground with it's claws. Recognizing the usage of Impact, he rolled away, but the bulky Ifere managed to hit his right side. As he was once again thrown away, he felt two or three ribs crack.

"Ack! Cough... Cough!"

Struggling to get up, Drake saw both Yscalents staring at him, and standing in front of the two unconscious soldiers protectively. The brown eyes, normally calm and serene, glowed with genuine anger and rage.

"F*ck... Don't tell me you are contracted."

There was no way simple mounts would care so much for their riders. However, Drake also found it hard to believe that he ambushed the only two men in a sixty thousand strong army that had Spirit Contracts with Yscalents. Just exactly what kind of army was Lapidum hiding?

Making a quick decision, as the Yscalents moved to attack him again, opening their mouths to use Cold Breeze, Drake drew his pistol, and fired. Frainer and Kniivar were a few meters behind him, and it would take them a few precious seconds to be able to help him. Seconds he didn't have.

The shots rang especially loud in the quiet night, and Drake was keenly aware that they would be heard in the military camp. Even as the two Yscalents dropped dead, he had already turned away and was running as fast as he could with his fractured ribs. Each breath intake was a whole new level of pain.

As he disappeared under the trees, he couldn't help but glance back at the dead Yscalents. They were just protecting their companions, much like he would have done for Frainer and Kniivar, and they for him. Did they really need to die?

He knew the answer to that question. It was them or him, and he didn't regret killing the Iferes. However, he still felt... Well, he felt like the bad guy in the story. He felt especially bad for the two black-coats, who would wake up to find their companions dead.

"Tutu..."

"Yeah, I know. They are coming. Uhmm..."

Hunting parties would surely be sent after them. Lapidum couldn't risk having their secret army revealed, or their plans - whatever they were - would be for naught. In a war of this scale, sixty thousand troops were effective as a surprise attack or reinforcements. Once the enemy had been warned to their presence, however, they wouldn't be nearly as useful.

"We have to split up."

Knowing all that, Drake made a not-so-difficult decision. The Yscalent had got him good, such that even breathing normally was a strenuous task, whatsoever running. And Drake was well aware that a group was only as fast as it's slowest member. And, in this case, he was the weak link.

"Tutu...?"

As it was to be expected, his two companions didn't agree. Frainer glued to his arm, and refused to let go, while Kniivar rubbed against his leg as Drake stumbled to a halt. Through the Spirit Contract, he could feel sadness and unwillingness, as well as stubbornness and determination. It was a weird sensation, feeling others' emotions.

Kneeling, he caressed the two of them affectionately. Then, he cut off a piece of cloth from his shirt, and used it to create a precarious knapsack on which he put his cellphone and a quickly scribbled note. Finally, he tied the whole thing around Kniivar's small body.

"Remember the road we passed a few days ago? The one where we saw many blue-coats? Go back there and find them. Hand the phone and message to one of them, they will get it to General Lilac."

Seeing that the two Iferes were unwilling to go even as he said that, Drake gently nudged them away.

"Don't worry about me, I can escape easily. You are faster than me, so I need you to deliver the message. Frainer, you go with Kniivar, okay? Make sure it doesn't get into any trouble."

He watched as his companions disappeared into the forest, and his expression became more serious. Sure, relaying that intel to General Lilac was important. However, the main concern he had was to get his partners to safety. Because of the shots he fired earlier, the Lapidum troops would be looking for a human, not Iferes. As long as he could distract them for long enough, Frainer and Kniivar would get too far for them to go after, even if they noticed their tracks. Besides, it wasn't like he was trying to throw his life away. He would still try to escape, just in a different direction.

-----------------------------

As the base bustled with activity, the commander, an old man with a large mustache and so many stripes in his uniform that one could swear they weighed on his shoulders, was looking coldly at someone in front of him.

"Well, Cleaner... Want to explain to me why as soon as you arrive we get attacked?"

The leader of the Lapidum scouts, the same that talked to Drake a few days past, frowned. He was used to the scorn and despise that regular soldiers and officers had to the special recon unit. After all, they did the dirty work no one else wanted to. Still, that didn't mean he liked being looked down upon.

"Uhmm... It wasn't exactly an attack. We can't rule out the possibility that it was just a traveler or a criminal spooked by our troops. Otherwise, why would they leave the two men alive?"

"I dunno, and I don't care! Ain't you unit always bragging 'bout how you can find anyone, no matter how difficult? Prove it. I want them found, and I want them dead! Got it?"

"Yes, sir..."

With a long face, the Cleaner saluted the man, and left the building. Yelling angrily at his subordinates, they all got on their Yscalents, and rode out of the base, almost trampling a few regular troops along the way.

...

"Just one person, boss. Crawled up to here, then managed to take down the two riders. Probs didn't expect the Yscalents to attack, and was forced to kill them."

"Look over here! Pawprints and vines. Something used Wood Realm or a similar skill."

The Cleaners had their faces close to the ground, using what little light they had to analyze the tracks. As one of them pointed out that a wood-type skill had been used, they all thought back to the group they met a few days ago. Disbelief written all over their faces, they turned to their leader.

"It can't be!"

"We should have killed that f*cker!"

"Shut up! Spilt and move out. Stay within earshot of one another. You know the drill."

----------------------------

Staring at the approaching group of hunters, Drake let out a sigh of relief. The Cleaners were spread out, and all seven of them were on his trail. It appeared that thanks to the darkness of the night, they didn't notice that Frainer and Kniivar weren't with him.

Lowering his gaze, Drake saw three Andasites. He remembered there being more of them, but he had injured quite a few on their last encounter. Luckily, the wind was on his back, so his smell was carried away.

"He is close. And wounded."

Suddenly, a woman in the front of the group raised her closed fist, making them all stop. Their sharp gaze scanned the surroundings, and Drake stood completely still. He knew he left footprints in the carpet of foliage on the soil of the forest. Not only that, he could only run unsteadily, holding his side, so the experienced Cleaners could easily discover he was hurt.

"Hey, kid! No use hiding! We know you are here!"

"Boss?"

Unexpectedly, the leader of the Cleaners dismounted, and shouted at his surroundings, trying to provoke Drake into revealing himself. His subordinates looked at him curiously, but he ignored them. They probably felt it was useless to call out Drake, but he had an inkling that someone tenacious enough to follow them all the way here wouldn't be a coward. And he was right.

"I think you won't let me walk away this time, will you?"

Chuckling, Drake showed himself for a second before hiding back behind a tree. He was brave, not suicidal.

"F*cking a*shole! We let you live before, but you just keep asking to die!"

The same woman that found his tracks yelled, and wanted to shoot at him. However, the leader put a hand over her arm, stopping her. He stared at Drake, who had half of his body hidden behind the trunk of the tree.

"Turns out you are just another Menoraz dog, hum? I thought you were different... You seemed different."

"Ha! Trust me when I say I also didn't want to be here, friend. However, life doesn't always go our way. And I can't let this army slaughter unaware blue-coats. The same way I wouldn't let the Menoraz Army attack Lapidum by surprise."

"But that's what it's going to happen, isn't it? If you ruin our surprise attack, this sixty thousand strong army will be all killed. Where does your morality sit with that knowledge?"