“We’re better off running than riding these nags!” Aidan grumbled while he rubbed ointment on his bottom. “Really, we should have gotten to Lucenti City already, but now we’re still in Viterra territory!”

“We need to follow the road,” Layla said while she started the campfire.

The circle of runescript she made was practically indecipherable to Riley but everytime she did it, he marvelled at how a tongue of flame hovered above the dirt. There was no need for fuel and there was no fear of it blowing out from the wind and the rain. She didn’t even need to feed it too much of her Animus, as the circle drew on ambient Chaos to power it.

“Why? It winds and meanders,” Aidan insisted.

“What if Yuriko travels along the road and we miss her?”

“Er, haha.”

“Right? Hmm, we’ll either be left behind or face a fine for delaying the Ebon Horizon.”

“You think they’ll leave us if Yuriko reaches Viterra and we’re not there?”

“Ten million Sovereigns, Aidan.”

Riley’s ears perked.

“Who set it?”

Ten million Sovies! His pay as a marine in the Ebon Horizon amounted to a bit over two hundred Sovies a week, a hundred more than if he just stayed at home and received the Knight’s stipend. He could buy a whole town for that kind of funds.

“The Mishala Clan,” Layla answered with a frown.

“Mishala?” Riley’s eyebrow went up in surprise. “Oh, of course. I forgot her middle name.”

“The Mishalas are hip deep in Imperial politics, isn’t it? Why are they spending so much for a relative?” Aidan asked.

“Who knows?” Layla shrugged. “Ten million Sovies isn’t much to that clan.”

“I suppose. Well, not that I’d scoff at the amount, but if we do get that bounty, we’ll be set for a while.”

“Divided amongst the captain, the officers, and the crew, that’s still split nearly twenty three ways, not to mention the captain and officers take the lion’s share.”

“You’re the Chief Runeer, so you get a good share.” Riley pointed out.

“So do the marines, for that matter. If it makes you feel better, it’s unlikely Captain Mitchell would leave us behind. Huh! If she left it to Christoph to run the engines it’ll fall apart before they get out of the channel.” Layla reached into her backpack and pulled out a small black wooden rod a couple of inches long and a third of an inch wide. It was covered in runescript. “Besides, this will let the captain know where we are. The Horizon can come pick us up in that case.”

“Anyway, I think we’ll reach the border by tomorrow midmorning.” Aidan looked at his companions. “Let’s get some rest.”

Riley took the first watch after dinner. He sat on top of a rock with his Plasma Caster in hand. The weapon was old and tarnished, though the runescript was well maintained, courtesy of his aunt. It was one of the models that doubled as a solid slug thrower, too, with a small magazine that held five bullets. Not all enemies were weak to heated plasma, and sometimes, a solid bullet could punch through a Protective Field as though it didn’t exist where plasma would just splash uselessly away.

His Facet was focused on making every shot count and if he channelled enough Animus into the weapon, the blast or bullet could penetrate through several inches of steel. But his accuracy at range was bad and he could barely hit the bull’s eye on a target a hundred paces away.

He sat in meditation, exploring the rest of his Heritage. Having made Knight, he was now lost in how to progress. The guidance from his Ancestors was done and he needed to make his own way. Many people ended their lives at this level, making no progress beyond the path the Ancestors had laid out. Riley half-thought that it might have been better to pave his own way at the beginning; at least everything would be his. But it would have probably taken him several times longer to reach this level.

“Huh?”

His ears perked at a rustling in the bushes a dozen paces away. He activated a part of his Facet that enhanced his vision and allowed him to see in relative darkness, not that he needed that aspect as it was close to Full Moon.

Was that a bear? But it was so big! He moved towards the other two and kicked Aidan’s foot.

“Wh-what?” his elder brother gasped, before he bolted upright. Aidan’s hand slipped under his pillow and drew a Plasma Lancet. His other hand grabbed a side-blade.

“Look.” Riley pointed at the bushes.

The bear froze when it heard the two of them moving. Then it started to back away. It was several paces tall at the shoulder, nearly twice his height. It had bony protrusions across its shoulders and face, and his eyes were drawn towards a particularly thickened plate of bone across its cheek. As though the material had grown over a scar. The bear huffed at them, and left, though not without staring at the Plasma Caster.

“Strange,” Riley muttered.

“No, what’s strange is you waking me up for nothing. Hmmph!” Aidan growled then crawled back into his sleeping bag.

Riley shook his head then returned to his post. After four hours, he woke Aidan again and settled down to sleep.

The next morning, they had a quick breakfast then got on the horses and set off at a slow trot. As Riley expected, they reached the border checkpoint by midmorning, but there, trouble started.

The checkpoint was a small outpost that was protected by a wooden palisade. Merchants and other travellers headed into Vizugmon had to be cleared for entry. Layla fished out travel papers that the Viterran council had given them.

Oddly enough, several travellers coming from their side of the road were red-faced and screaming at the border guard.

“What’s going on?” Layla asked one of the bearkin who was stomping past them.

“They’re not letting anyone through. Some kind of conflict,” the man growled.

Riley and Aidan exchanged glances while Layla thanked him. The bearman continued with a huff.

“Think we should risk crossing?” Aidan asked, gesturing at their weapons. “If there’s a conflict, they’d try to confiscate our weapons.”

“More like they won’t even let us through.” Layla scowled.

“There’s a whole lot of forest and hills to slip through.” Riley gestured at the outpost, “I don’t think they can prevent us from passing.”

“Look at them,” Layla pointed out.

Riley looked at the guards. They were some kind of cat and human hybrid, with their head completely bestial instead of human-like. The Viterrans were huge and shaggy, but aside from the round, furry ears, their heads looked mostly humanoid.

“Those senses are probably sharp. We’d need to make a hefty detour to escape detection and we’ll have to avoid any patrol within their territory.”

“But we’re not going into Vizugmon, right?” Riley asked. “Let's just use the roads outside of it?”

“There are none that lead to Lucenti without passing through Vizugmon first. The wilderness is dangerous and the locals couldn’t be bothered to pave roads through areas that nobody lives in.”

“Should we wait until night then?”

“Yes. I think we’ll have to. And we should probably leave the horses.”

“Right. We shouldn’t have brought them in the first place.”

______

Yuriko sat in meditation under the light of the nearly Full Moon. The camp was hidden underneath an overhanging rock and they kept campfires to a minimum. Cold rations could only go so far, however, and it wouldn’t take a week before they needed to replenish their supplies.

They had proceeded back north for the rest of the day, though they didn’t reach Tanrill village. Instead, Akko had directed them down another sideroad, which eventually petered out into a fallow field. From there, they went cross country, though they kept to a general eastward direction.

Just as it was time to create camp, a messenger hawk somehow found Akko. From the Animus imprint on the bird, Yuriko assumed that a technique had been cast on the creature, though she didn’t know what it used as a beacon. She suspected it would be Akko’s insignia of rank but that was just a guess.

The lizardkin spent some time reading the bamboo scroll before she commanded her Fang to create a concealed camp. Then, she sequestered herself with Rhox while leaving Yuriko to cool her heels. She didn’t begrudge them much.

Still, meditation helped to calm her raging emotions. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t become used to fighting and killing other humans. She counted the felinekin and the Lucentians as still human, no matter what they looked like.

You’ll get used to it. Everyone does.

‘I’d rather not,’ Yuriko answered.

You will. You won’t even notice it. One day you’ll just realise it. The lives you reap, they’re nothing. You desire power and strength? You won’t reach it unless you walk a bloody path. Even if you try to avoid it, it will come find you. But it’s worse to remain powerless and weak. Then, you will never control your Fate.

‘I’d rather grow strong enough that I won’t even have to fight.’

Hah, that’ll be a long ways away. Not even I managed it.

They lapsed into silence. A few minutes later, Rhox approached Yuriko and fidgetted until she acknowledged the snakekin.

“What is it?”

“Elder Otlaca directed us to lure the Vizugmon Forces to the Isthmus of Matahil. Within three days.”

“How far is it?”

“Nearly seventy longstrides. We can’t be too early.”

“What’s he planning?”

“With all due respect, Elder Yuriko, I am not privy to that information.”

“And you wouldn’t tell me if you were. Still, there's only so many things that could happen. An ambush, I suppose?”

Rhox merely bowed her head. “I cannot say, but I suspect so.”

Yuriko arched an eyebrow. “So, he expects me to keep you safe?”

“More like you seem to be bait?” Rhox said humorously.

“Ah. Well…” Yuriko spluttered. “Why would they want me?”

“Who knows?” Rhox gave a deep bow. “Well, we’ll have an early day tomorrow. Akko sent her scouts to see if there are any enemy forces nearby.”

Yuriko nodded. Afterwards, she turned in, though not without setting her alarm stones around her bedding.

The next morning, Akko informed them that there was a bigger patrol on the way not three longstrides away.

“Are they on foot?” Yuriko asked.

“No, some are on horses.”

“Raid?”

“If you please. Are you going alone, Elder?”

Yuriko paused, then nodded. The cats couldn’t really hurt her and if she was alone, she wouldn’t have to spend any effort to protect the others.

“We’ll continue in a general east-southeast direction. And I’ll leave a scout to wait and direct you.”

They went on their way quickly while Yuriko summoned her sunblade. By the time she was ready, she could feel them in the unnatural quiet of the woods. She clambered up some trees. The ones here weren’t as big as the Great Trees, but she had used similar woods as an arboreal highway before.

Soon enough, they spotted her easily. She supposed carrying a weapon that glowed much like the Radiant Sun would make her stand out against the reddening canopy.

They shot a few crossbow bolts at her, but she easily knocked them out of the air. She had to use the sword dances when more than a hundred bolts sped her way. Still, being nearly twenty paces up, and with leaves and branches in the way, nothing even came close to harming her.

The force following the patrol was huge. She counted more than a dozen cohorts just from a quick glance, and there were probably more beyond the ridge. That many just for a little patrol?

She slowly withdrew, teasing their arrows. Every bolt that she parried, she made sure to destroy. One less bolt that would be fired at her allies when the decisive battle came. A few minutes of that and someone couldn’t stand it any longer. Half a dozen Vizugmonians, three tigers and three cats, scaled up the trees and attacked her in close quarters.

Yuriko simply kicked them off the branches, then jumped off, too. But where they crashed to the forest floor, she flared her Anima into a wing shape and glided away. Once she came down, she ran east, eyes sharp for her guide.

While she ran, she briefly wondered how a war between two nations that she didn’t have anything to do with suddenly involved her. Chaos, she only wanted to go home. And she probably gave up the chance. Still, the image of the dead children was not something she could just forget.

Though she wondered how killing more people would prevent something like that from happening again.