By the time the sun set, everyone at the camp was ready to go.

Ralphie had already put the controlled ones to sleep. There were seven of them in total. Hugo, Jenson, Tommy, Betty, Tal, Lewis, and Chris.

Reginald carried Hugo, Zoe carried Jenson, Agnes carried Tommy, Ralphie carried Betty, Mun carried Tal, Hector carried Lewis, and I carried Chris.

Scarlett and Tilly led the way ahead of us to make sure no guards were near.

The route we ended up taking was away from the city, but we were still careful as to not get spotted by any guards far out.

Just as Scarlett had mentioned earlier, the night was dark with a cloudy sky blocking the bright blue light from the moon.

It was challenging carrying a body while moving through the forest with uneven ground. There were moments where I would slip but barely manage to regain my balance.

The bodies were heavy enough, but we also had to split up the luggage that we were normally carrying to make it as easy as possible for everyone. I know I shouldn’t be the one to complain as out of the men, I had the least heavy luggage aside from Ralphie.

After moving through the forest for a while, Scarlett suddenly motioned for us to stop. She went ahead to check on something and then camp back to us almost immediately.

“Our boats are surrounded. They found the boats and must’ve known we’d come for them,” Scarlett bit her lips as she thought of her next plan.

I moved next to her and peaked out towards the beach.

She was right, there were about twenty people gathered at the beach. They didn’t look like guards, but they were holding swords and lances.

Then I noticed Lorelei. She was floating above them, moving left and right, looking out for something.

What was she doing with them?

“I see my friend over there. What do we do?” I turned to Scarlett.

She seemed surprised, “Your friend is among those out there?”

It wasn’t exactly the same as what she was probably expecting, but I nodded anyways. I wanted to use this opportunity to get Lorelei and if Scarlett planned to move away, then who knows when I would see her next.

Scarlett let out a quick breath before deciding, “Then let’s talk with them. Tilly, carry her for Din, it’ll be just the two of us going out there. If anything happens, Reginald will be in command. Let’s go, Din.”

I handed Chris’ body to Tilly before following Scarlett out of the bush.

Both Lorelei and the people watching over the boats noticed us immediately after we exited the cover of the forest.

Lorelei hurriedly came to my side.

“Din! I was looking everywhere for you!” She cried out.

I could see that she had been worried sick before this.

“What are these guys doing here?”

Right as I asked that, one of the men stepped forward, “You must be Scarlett, I presume?”

She nodded but kept her eyes on them the entire time.

“We were given orders from Crowell to allow for your escape,” the man stated. “The boats are all yours and we have even provided one more additional boat to allow for safer passage.”

I was baffled. Were they telling the truth? Was this all a plan to make the boats sink while we were out on the sea?

“Let Crowell know that we are thankful for his farewell gift.” Scarlett folded her arms before continuing, “But I do hope that you know we aren’t foolish enough to believe that he would send more than a dozen men to watch over our departure.”

The man cleared his throat and then motioned back at the men behind him. The other men moved away from the boats and left our side of the beach entirely.

“Does this suffice?” The man asked.

Scarlett snorted, “Cocky little attitude you have there, but yes, that will do.”

She then motioned for the rest of our group to come out of the forest. She then turned back towards the man in front of us, “Would you mind joining your friends over there? I would rather not be near you any longer.”

The man groaned, but he did as she asked.

Scarlett seemed to enjoy giving orders to that man for some odd reason.

We were able to get everyone boarded on the five boats quickly and then set off in no time.

I was in a boat with Tilly, Mun, Tal, and Chris.

I was the one in charge of rowing the boat. Although I had never done it before, it didn’t take me long to figure it out.

As we were all drifting away from the beach, I could see that Crowell’s men were still watching us. They watched us all the way until we couldn’t see each other anymore through the mist.

Even out in the sea, the mist was there and even seemed thicker than on land.

The five boats were close together, but I had a hard time seeing where each of the boats were.

I just made sure to try my best to follow Scarlett’s voice and the sounds of the other boats moving.

“Did you see their faces, Din?” Lorelei suddenly asked.

I turned to her. She was still looking towards where the land was with a dreamy look in her eyes.

“I didn’t,” I replied.

Mun and Tilly turned to me when I spoke, but when they realized my response wasn’t for them, they went back to looking out at the sea.

“They had lonely smiles on their faces as they watched us ride away.”