“Are you crazy?” Krystal hissed at Yuriko who was busy looking at how far the shallow trench reached.

It was clear to her that this was nothing natural, considering that several trees along the furrow looked like they’ve been shorn of the branches that once covered the area. The line of blue sky was very welcome to Yuriko, especially with the sunlight that now covered her while she stood in the middle of the trench.

The ground crackled and popped from the weight of her footsteps. She couldn't see all that far down the trench since a haze of smoke made everything beyond a hundred paces away blurry.

Krystal was sensibly still at the edge, not daring to set foot on down the two paces deep furrow.

“Get back here!”

Yuriko shrugged and turned back to her friend, walking closer to the lip but not leaving climbing up.

“We should follow this trail,” Yuriko said.

“Why in the Ancestors would you want to?” Krystal asked incredulously, “I don’t have a death wish!”

“But, but,” Yuriko sputtered, “we have to find out what caused this?”

“Why?”

“Uhm, so we’ll know what kind of threat we’ll face?”

“Are you asking me or yourself?”

Yuriko shrugged. “Well, er…I want to find out what made this thing.”

There was absolutely no doubt that this was a recent thing. The severed branches were still smouldering and some of the glassy fragments glimmered with heat. The tough soles of her combat boots protected her from being burned or even feeling too hot. Still, she realized that standing in the middle of a hot zone wasn’t the brightest of ideas so she scrambled up next to Krystal.

“Nuh-uh, I’m vetoing that. Let’s just return to camp,” Krystal insisted.

Yuriko frowned, curiosity warring with caution, but in the end, Krystal’s sensibility won over her and she sighed.

“Yes, I suppose it makes no sense courting danger. Let’s head back and check those snares.”

“Right!” Krystal nodded vigorously. “Let’s get away from here!”

The two of them retraced their route. Since it was barely noon, they would likely be back in camp well before dusk. Hopefully, Krystal’s snares had caught dinner. Still, Yuriko was itching to do something. Whether it was to fight swarmlings or to practice her sword dances she didn’t really mind; either would help her jitters.

She had a nagging feeling inside her that said she needed to master what the Golden Silhouette had taught her as soon as possible. That could be accomplished by fighting, sparring, or just plain practice. Unfortunately, with the group focused on survival, she didn’t really have enough time to do anything other than fight.

Well, if she encountered that Hunter again…

Looking back that experience had been both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. It also allowed her to progress on her sword dances somewhat. She noticed the improvement in her general technique, little quirks that made her movements smoother or more effective.

By shifting this way instead of the other way when she parried a blow that came from a certain direction she could more easily deflect it. Unfortunately, her insights on the first and third sword dance weren’t as good. Sure she could use it to strike hard enough or create an opening to take advantage of, but it inevitably left her open to a counterattack. If not for Heron and Orrin watching out for her, she would have either been wounded badly or ended up dead.

The second sword dance was completely focused on defence and while using it, she couldn’t attack without breaking the dance. If only she could combine each of the dances into one, or failing that, seamlessly transition between them.

The first snares they came upon were the last ones they set, so Yuriko had to admit that she found it surprising that it had actually caught something. A forest fowl had somehow entangled itself on the snare and the sight of the two girls sent it into a wild frenzy of flapping and cawing. Krystal gleefully caught the bird and snapped its neck before Yuriko could so much as blink.

“You’re so bloodthirsty,” Yuriko said drily.

“Hmmph, hypocrite!”

Shaking her head, Yuriko helped Krystal gather the snare and they continued their trek. The next couple of snares were empty and the two of them decided to take the snares back with them. They were a bit too far from the camp to leave the traps behind.

They made good progress and it was only mid-afternoon when the two had returned to the village ruin. They caught another rabbit, a squirrel, and the pheasant along the way. Yuriko had a bunch of berries, the mushrooms, and some forest tubers. These should feed them for a day and a half, she estimated, more if they used up the rations to extend the meal, but it was probably best if they limit consuming the rations in case they had to flee and didn’t have time to forage.

The camp was empty when they arrived. Their gear and the boys’ were scattered on the ground, looking like they were left in haste.

“Heron? Mikel? Orrin?”

There was no answer. Krystal and Yuriko exchanged wary looks. The boys’ room was empty too. Yuriko left her backpack in her room while Krystal prepared to skin and butcher their game.

“Where’d you think they went?” Yuriko asked.

Krystal shrugged. “I don’t think they got into trouble. Well, go look for them if you’re worried.”

“You aren’t?”

Krystal sighed. “Yes, I am, but someone needs to dress these or we might lose them.”

“Fine.”

Yuriko went outside their camp, looking for footprints or signs of where they went, but the fact that they had been in camp for a few days already meant that there were too many prints to accurately track. Instead, she channelled Animus to her ears.

CAAAWWW!

She was promptly deafened by a bird’s cry. Wincing at the tinnitus, she plugged her ear with a finger while she tried to regulate it. No such luck; every little movement and sound was amplified and practically drowned out what she sought. The sound of Krystal’s knife scraping skin and sinew was more than a little distracting.

Sighing to herself, she let go of her Animus and asked, “Are you roasting or stewing?”

“Need water,” Krystal grunted.

Yuriko grabbed their pot and made her way to the lake. She followed the path to the improvised bathtub. After a while, she heard splashing water and voices.

“Oh, so that’s where they were,” she muttered. Why they would all take a bath at the same time while leaving nobody at camp was beyond her though. Well, she should reprimand them later. In the meantime, she changed her path so she wouldn’t invade their privacy.

When she reached the lakeshore she found Orrin sitting on top of an outcropping holding a wooden stick with a line cast into the water. He looked at her when she arrived, his eyes lighting up in joy.

“Oh, you’re back! How was the trip?”

“Well enough. Need to let you and the others know of what we found though,” she answered grimly.

“Oh, sure. Uhm, Heron’s taking a bath I think. Mikel’s fishing on the other side.”

“That’s good, I guess. Please return to camp with them.” Yuriko filled the pot with water, making sure to use a filter with her Animus.

Except when she went back to the path back to camp, Heron walked out of the secluded bathing area carrying his freshly laundered clothes on his arm with a small towel covering his dignity and boots to protect his feet. The five scabbed over wounds on his shoulder stood out against his bronze skin.

“Oh hey! You’re back,” he said after an awkward silence.

“Yes, er. See you at camp.” Yuriko hurried past him and briskly walked back to the campsite.

Krystal had finished plucking the pheasant and skinning the bunny. She looked up when Yuriko placed the pot on the ground.

“Why’s your face red?”

“Uh, it is?” Yuriko muttered. She took a couple of deep breaths before she felt her flush recede. “Anyway, do you need more water?”

“Huh,” Krystal’s eyes narrowed. “Well, yes. I need more to clean these up. Grab another pot, please.”

“Sure.”

By the time Yuriko returned with another pot full of water, the boys had returned. Orrin had a couple of ten-inch long fish on a string while Mikel was empty-handed. Heron was back inside his damp clothes and he looked a bit uncomfortable in them. Krystal stared at them with narrowed eyes before grinning widely.

“Well, hmmm, I see what happened. Anyway, as you can see we’ve had some success hunting. But we need some containers for water and I suppose a smoking rack. Nice job catching fish, by the way. It seems we can spend tomorrow on fortifications and plain scouting.”

“That’s a good idea,” Yuriko said. “I’ll scout some more tomorrow.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re going back there.”

“Yes, actually. I feel we should investigate. Whatever made that can bust through any kind of fortification we could make in a day.”

“Fine. Bring one of the boys with you.”

“I’ll go,” Heron said quickly.

“You’re wounded. Stay and recover,” Orrin said. “I’ll go with her.”

“What about you, Miki?” Yuriko asked.

“I’m good. I’ll help Krystal here.”

“Any progress on the rifle?” Yuriko asked Orrin.

“Not too bad. I managed to bypass the primary runescript. You’ll use up about twice as much Animus per shot but you’ll have the same range and firing rate, I hope.”

“Thanks, Orrin! I’ll test it right now.”

“Of course,” Orrin gave Yuriko the rifle, while she examined it closely. The scratches on the barrel were still there and the runescript on the affected area had been surrounded by a circle. Orrin’s runescript stood out in that it wasn’t inscribed in the metal but written on it with red ink. It probably won’t hold for more than a few shots.

She channelled her Animus into it and as she expected, it drew more out of her while the runes burst into light, essentially wasting the excess. She dissipated the charge before it could build up.

“Good enough, I hope,” she muttered.

“You’re welcome. Where are we going tomorrow?” Orrin asked.

“We’re going to a spot where we found a trench cutting through the forest. It looks like something released a powerful blast. I don’t know what it fought but I’m hoping it was the Wyldlings.”

Orrin nodded but his face betrayed a smidgen of fear.

Yuriko spent the rest of the afternoon going through her sword forms. While she didn’t feel much improvement, it felt good to move her body like this after a day of walking. Krystal left the cooking to Mikel while she and Heron tried to make more pots using some clay they found along the lakeshore. Orrin kept a lookout on top of the central tree.

Mikel added a single ration bar to the stew so it was thinner than Yuriko expected. Still, the tubers and mushrooms along with the generous cuts of meat made it a filling meal. Her training had given her a bigger appetite and she competed with the boys for the last bowlful. Her reflexes and speed led to her victory.

Krystal snorted in laughter while Mikel chuckled. Orrin and Heron gave each other a knowing glance before they settled with what dregs were left.

Yuriko kept the first watch and just as she was about to wake Heron for his turn, the earth trembled. She had been climbing down the tree when it happened and she lost her footing. She kicked off the trunk and somersaulted onto the top of the wall, jumping down to the ground level afterwards. Staggering to her feet, she dusted her hands off, feeling the sting of skinned palms. She absently channelled a bit of her Animus into the golden recovery pattern and the stinging sensation faded away.

The quake, if it really was an earthquake, didn’t last for long. She suspected that whatever had caused that furrow had caused the quake too.

She walked into the building but as she half-expected, the others had slept through it. She, instead, woke Heron up for his watch and sought her bedroll afterwards.

After a breakfast of roasted pheasant, Yuriko and Orrin prepared to depart. As with the day before, Yuriko opted to carry a full backpack, leaving only her bedroll. Orrin did the same though she could tell he wanted to leave his pack behind. She chose to leave her rifle behind as well wanting to preserve its use for any defence they would have to mount.

Waving goodbye, the two headed to yesterday’s trail, heading east and slightly south. They should have arrived earlier since they didn’t set any snares, but Orrin begged for frequent rest breaks.

It was midday by the time they arrived at the furrow. Orrin oohed and ahhed at it, and at least the hazy smoke, and smouldering vegetation was gone. The Season of Fire wasn’t that dry, at least not during the first few weeks. If this had happened a couple of weeks later then the chances of a forest fire would have been a real risk.

They followed the furrow south, keeping a careful watch on their surroundings. Since she wanted to explore quickly, they walked in the middle of the trench rather than parallel to it in the undergrowth.

Around half an hour later, they reached the end of the trench. It was a circular depression about ten paces wide. The trees surrounding up were knocked over, roots hanging in the air with clumps of soil stuck to them.

“It looks like something crashed into these trees, digging that trench all the way here,” Orrin observed.

Yuriko and Orrin came up to the knocked over trees. Most of the branches were broken on the one they came up to. The leaves had fallen off the twigs, though quite a number were still hanging on. She wasn’t sure if it would live, but since half the roots were still underground, it had a good chance.

“What are those blue spots?” Yuriko said.

The trunk was thicker than they were tall, but it didn’t take much effort to climb on top. All along the trunk were blue spots. She looked at the nearby trunks and saw the same thing.

“Swarmling blood?” Orrin asked. “Where are the bodies though?”

They searched along the line of fallen trees but other than dried blood, there was nothing.

“I guess something else is fighting the Wyldlings,” Orrin shrugged.

“What though?” Yuriko tapped her foot. “More importantly, would they help us or are they also a threat?”

The silence of the forest was their only answer.