There were many things that Chidi wanted to experience, but helplessness hadn’t been on that list. The news hit hard. Koton, captured? That was their base of operations… and their only way off of Yaitis.

Briefly, visions of a daring mission into the city to liberate it entered his head. They would sneak inside, take out one guy, and then the whole city would celebrate with loud cheering. Yes, wouldn’t that be wonderful.

But Chidi was just inexperienced, not stupid. He was just part of a single scouting squad. If there was even a single Life Transformation cultivator their whole squad together would struggle to beat them. No, it was worse than that. Koton should have had several defenders of that caliber. That meant the occupation forces should be at least that much, perhaps stronger. Maybe one of the Integration cultivators, even. Why hadn’t they heard anything? Someone should have noticed something like that.

Captain Tiras was busy giving an inspiring speech to the rest of the squad. Something about making their way to another city and reporting the situation. That made sense. The Scarlet Alliance didn’t control just one place on this whole planet. Things weren’t hopeless yet.

Chidi pulled out a communication device. Obviously anything connecting to Koton was pointless, but individual squad members didn’t have that anyway. No, this one was tuned very specifically to Chidi’s parents. He clutched it in his hand with a furrowed brow. Was this it, then? As soon as times got tough, would he cry for help? Would he rely on his parents for everything?

He almost threw it away- which would have been monumentally stupid. Then he almost put it back in his bag, which would not have been an irreversible mistake. But he couldn’t help but hear the beating of hearts around him, elevated. The unsteady breathing of fearful squadmates. He’d fought by their side more than a few times over the course of weeks. Then there was Aconite. He leaned up against her, feeling slight tremors.

“Koton has been captured. Squad was out of the city. Will be attempting to rendezvous with other forces. Local communications are unavailable, requesting message relay. Respond to confirm receipt of message.”

The professional message was Chidi’s compromise. It would hardly be appropriate for a soldier to not attempt an available method of communication. He wasn’t begging for rescue. It might take a couple days to get a response anyway. They’d have to wait until then.

Though an itching feeling at the back of Chidi’s mind made him think about the possibility that that message might not get through either.

-----

The squad set as their target the city of Sieburn. It was on what was now the far side of Koton, but it was still the closest and probably safest route. Even if they had to make a wide berth around Koton itself.

Night came soon enough, and they had to make camp east of the city. Everyone had at least a small storage bag with basic survival gear and rations- any squad leaving the city did- but that didn’t mean people were actually ready for this.

Chidi went around the camp, placing formation flags and rearranging things at the edge of the camp. Any reduction in the chances of them being spotted would be important. That was the theory, anyway. In truth, he just needed something to do.

When Aconite began digging into the ground, he almost stopped her. That would leave traces for people to find… but they would be gone in the morning anyway. They probably wouldn’t be looking for a wolf, either, so it would be easy enough to overlook everything else. Overall, it was probably a little bit risky, but for the sake of her comfort it was worth it.

It didn’t take her long to dig out a burrow, and somehow over the course of events Chidi ended up snuggled in the den with her. It was cold outside, and his tent and bedroll didn’t make him feel warm. Being by his friend’s side did, at least.

-----

He must have fallen asleep, because the sun was lighting the clouds and he didn’t feel like it had been that long since he’d laid down.

They ate their rations cold, because the smoke of a fire would be visible from a distance. Then they were off, with the two scouts in the lead.

Chidi had wanted to do something real. He was uncertain he still wanted it now that he’d experienced sleeping in discomfort- not so much from his physical needs, but from a shadow of danger hanging over him.

He concentrated on what he was feeling for a moment. He couldn’t really say anything was positive. Cold and wet, weird aches from a rock he’d slept on, a lingering aura of fear. Not things he really wanted to repeat… but he could still say they were valuable.

Chidi was glad for the trees around them. It somewhat evened the playing field for him, as his sensory range could only extend so far. This way, they could get closer to enemy patrols and not be spotted. That was important, considering they got close to a few.

Aconite found a nice ridge to lead people along, one that shielded them from view behind them. He felt how narrow it was, and knew that it would be most difficult for Aconite herself. The human cultivators had all at least surpassed Body Tempering, so if they couldn’t scoot along something as wide as a few centimeters there was really no hope for them.

Chidi moved to help Aconite, planning to carry her along last, but she shook her head and nudged him forward. They exchanged no words, but he knew she had a plan- especially as he could feel her energy reaching into her herb pouches. Something was pressed against the rocks, and then Aconite rubbed up against it, spreading a thin coating of whatever it was along the whole ride they were following. The positioning of her feet was awkward as she kept her large body precariously balanced, but she eventually made it. Chidi wanted to help her along the last bit, but he had the feeling that touching her would be a bad idea.

-----

Nobody talked much as they continued on. Chidi didn’t even feel much in the way of heads turning to look at other people. Instead, they simply moved along, hiding from everyone that approached. The situation had changed from them hunting down small squads pushing into their territory, and them being the ones hunted- even if nobody was after them in particular.

“Another group is coming,” Chidi warned. “They should pass by the bottom of the hill.”

Sitting and waiting wasn’t too bad. The midday sun made up for the chill of the night, and the breeze was quite pleasant. It was even in their favor, blowing towards them instead of towards the enemy- not that Chidi expected them to pick up their scent anyway.

But something gave them away anyway. Was it someone shifting and knocking a pebble down the hill? A sudden intake of breath from that same thing? Maybe someone simply looked in exactly the right direction, spotting a piece of someone sticking out. Either way, things went from still and calm to heated battle in only a few moments.

Tiras charged to meet the enemy with Denitsa by his side, stabbing at the first enemy with his spear while she swung her hammer- missing her opponent but toppling a tree. Everyone else moved to take positions holding their ground uphill.

Chidi was stopped by Aconite, who wiggled a small pouch with her energy and growled some instructions. “Throw it. Into the middle of the enemies. Make sure it impacts something strongly.”

He nodded, grabbing it carefully. He certainly didn’t want to get it on himself. He stretched out his senses, feeling the way people moved around. He couldn’t afford to take too long, as he needed to join the fight, but he found a good opening. He tossed the packet, making sure it struck a tree. It then exploded into a wide spread of gaseous powder that hung in the air. It was a good thing he’d been conservative with his aim, because it was a larger area than expected.

As Chidi rushed forward to join the battle, he saw Aconite was already there. She picked out an opponent around mid Spirit Building, charging him. The man pulled back and Aconite snapped forward with her jaws, almost causing him to stumble. They faced off for a few moments, the man holding her at bay with a spear. Then she suddenly barked in his face, causing him to leap back another step- full into the lingering cloud.

Chidi felt and heard all of that as he tried to slip around the edge of the battlefield. He was being stealthy not because of any sort of cowardice but because the enemy had archers below. If he could just get to them in melee, they would be greatly hampered and no longer able to harass his allies.

The cloud of toxic gas was obvious to everyone after the initial explosion, and sadly only a few enemies had been in the area. Both sides wanted to avoid it, but it did a good job of splitting the approaching enemies in two, going around either side. That let the rest of the squad coordinate together to handle them, with the captain and vice captain splitting up.

Chidi reached his target. His sword was in hand, and though he knew what he was about to do wasn’t very nice… neither was trying to kill him or his companions. With both hands, he readied a thrust that would either piece his enemy’s heart or force them into a poor standing position. The third option was to pull far back, but that would most likely put them in the way of the other few archers.

His blade dripped red, blood running down it to cover his hands. It seemed he’d been stealthy enough. He pulled sharply to retrieve his sword, immediately springing towards the next archer. It was impossible for them to miss someone falling next to them, and they and the two beyond were already turning towards Chidi. Yet even as his blood pulsed in his ears and the heat of combat overtook him, he wasn’t afraid.

He knew what his opponents were going to do- what they were trained to do. Citadel’s Downfall left him one step ahead, avoiding the snap shots as he darted past his second target, blade swinging wide. He only managed a grazing cut, but his path was one that would cause the remaining three to have maximum interference with each other. Half of the fight was with Chidi, the other half was with each other.

One of them was smart enough to pull out her melee weapon, a straight sword. Sadly, though it was a better choice than her bow, she clearly had no practice. Chidi easily slipped his blade past her guard, stabbing her throat. How unfortunate for her, that she was part of the Harmonious Citadel.

The last two were taken out a few moments later, though Chidi received a slash along his ribs as he faced them together. A mistake, but not one that had turned out to be fatal. Though anything these days could be.

Up the hill, Aconite had gotten locked in a contest with a swift woman. Not just any woman, but one in Essence Collection. It seemed as if she had just advanced, as she was very early in Essence Collection, but she still had a marked increase in power over Spirit Building. Aconite was on that threshold somewhere, likely more powerful than Spirit Building but less than proper Essence Collection.

Chidi saw the rapier flash. He knew that Aconite would have to dodge to avoid it slipping between her ribs, but that would set her up for a following attack. He anticipated a few moves that she could use to recover from that. What he did not anticipate was Aconite lowering her head and catching the stabbing weapon in her teeth. It wasn’t a perfect catch- it still pierced through her cheek and cut along her jaw- but that wasn’t for nothing. She also caught the woman’s hand. The woman immediately bolstered her defensive energy, ready to have her hand crushed or claws scratch at her.

She was not ready for Aconite to simply push forward, walking into the lingering cloud of poison- not just a single step, but her whole length to make sure the woman was fully immersed in the poison. The woman tried to shift the focus of her defense, but it was too late to prevent the effects. She began to quickly weaken, her energy fluctuating in strange ways out of her control. Somewhere in that process she lost her hand- and her sword. She turned to flee, but Aconite wouldn’t allow that.

Neither would Chidi. They couldn’t afford to let anyone escape and lead a more powerful group after them.