Chapter 44

Our mood was somber as we returned. No one argued that Futa’s punishment had been unearned, not even his brother. But Guta was terrified now, and everyone else was grim. We had finally suffered our first casualty in this conflict, and it had come from within.

Myta at least took time to speak with the other hunter, to reassure him. While he had been complicit in taking the forbidden goods from camp, that was a much less serious offense. He had also defended Denu from his brother’s ****, and that meant a great deal. Hati and Jito took care of explaining what had happened to the rest of the company, as my vas didn’t feel prepared to give any grand speeches. But I did see her make time for the other squad leaders.

Guta did suffer a punishment, though it was an odd one. He was ‘demoted’ to serving under Denu, they being our only two remaining scouts. Our only human ones, in any case. I wasn’t sure how that would work out, but Myta had taken the idea from Hati, who assured us that it was fairly common in tight-knit mercenary companies. Either the two would work out their issues, or they would clash explosively. And if the latter was going to be an issue, it was better to reveal that as soon as possible. We’d just need to keep a close eye on them.

Soon after the Futa incident, we returned to our primary mission. We’d hit the Pure forces hard, killing a third of their number, but that still left well over a hundred enemies in these tunnels, including at least two sorcerers, and three demons. And we knew that the enemy had used the warded area around the exit door to conceal demons already. The warded areas weren’t large, but they could easily hold another group our own size. While I seriously doubted they would have another twenty five awakened fighters there, we had no reasonable way to make sure.

In the aftermath of our attack, the Pure had finally decided to consolidate. They stopped sending out patrols, doubled their guard, and reduced the amount of area they were taking up. Increasing the population of each of their camps. That made it much harder for us to conduct more raids. On the upside, their soldiers were frazzled now, and no better disciplined. So, we began to harry them again. There were only three entrance points to their newly reduced territory, and so we were able to focus our efforts. We unfortunately didn’t have a large supply of arrows, but when our scouts saw good shots, they took them. When there were pursuers, they were lured into traps or ambushes. Myta and I practiced our fire-calling skills on any visible cache of supplies, or failing that, on tents and bedding.

When we finally saw one of their remaining sorcerers in one of the visible rooms, we knew their presence was bait for a trap.

“It’s still too tempting to ignore.” I said, looking at Myta and Hati.

“Ignore, no.” Myta replied. “But springing the obvious trap the way they intend us to is foolish. They probably have the other sorcerer and the demons just waiting to sweep in. But we can still easily use this to our advantage.”

“How so?” I couldn’t fault her logic. We knew the enemy leader was reckless and impatient. Even if they'd been burned once, that would only make them a little more cautious. It wouldn’t change their fundamental personality. Trying to lure us into an ambush, with all their elite forces in wait, would fit that very well.

“If they did set up an ambush like that, then the exit they are using is unguarded, or more lightly guarded at least. We can take this chance to attack there. If we take the exit, we could turn around and use it as a chokepoint for their whole ****. Ket, you said you only located one warded area nearby?” Myta’s voice was tinged with excitement, and I thought I understood why. Tarun should have been in Bani by now, and hopefully they were alerted to the incoming attack. If we could expose that point of attack now, maybe we could bottle them up, and make this whole battle much easier.

*I did,* the leopard spirit responded. *But it is still difficult for me to locate them in areas where mana is not actively moving. Especially in these tunnels.*

“Still better than our current plan,” Hati grunted. “There’s nothing holding them here now but pride.”

“We never expected to have an opportunity to do more than distract them anyway.” I said. “This gives us the chance, at least, to do more.”

“Then we’ll move as soon as everyone is prepared,” Myta decided. “Ket will lead us through the alternate path, the two of you will keep us veiled, as before, and I will lead the charge. We’ll focus on pushing through as fast as possible. Then, once we reach the surface, the scouts will head straight into Bani. We’ll hold the entrance as long as we can. Or, as long as they press us. Any questions?”

We shook our heads. The plan was clear enough, even if it depended on luck more than I’d like. But it seemed like our best option, especially as we couldn’t stay here for all that much longer without the ability to forage.

We made our preparations and set out. Our advantage here was the maze-like nature of these ruins, which Ket had largely been able to map out. From one side passage, we could strike at the warded exit while passing through only three other rooms. The sorcerer who we presumed was bait would be five rooms from the exit, and his presumed support would be four or six.

Of course they would be traveling through friendly territory, where we would need to fight our way through. The distance was more relevant to the amount of time it would take them to become aware of our attack, rather than the distance to be traveled.

The paths between rooms were relatively narrow here, allowing only two people to travel side by side. My vas led the way again, while Jito and I trailed close behind. We were to veil the room as quickly as possible, while Myta headed directly for the opposite side. This room had only one other exit, making it easy to contain.

When my flame struck, she did so like a thunderbolt, charging down the hall before the rest of us could even see her targets. Her presence, which was pulled tightly in around herself, was intense enough to glow even to mortal eyes. There was a brief shout, ending abruptly, and then came more confused yelling before I had a chance to round the bend. I pushed my speed to its limits, knowing that I had to keep her use of mana concealed at all costs. Trusting her to have cleared the way, as I raced into the room.

Ket had gone ahead, as soon as she’d confirmed that no one there was able to perceive her immaterial form. I ended my sprint next to her in the center of the room, only then glancing around. There were a dozen men present, not including the two dead that Myta had left lying at the door. Perhaps eight of those now turned their gazes on me with murderous intent. The rest were following in her wake, either to attack her, or simply to try and alert the rest of the Pure.

I was surprised that any of them responded so quickly. We had hoped that those away from the sorcerer would be less wary, but the opposite seemed to be true. These soldiers were fully equipped and prepared, although I saw the tiredness in their eyes from our campaign of disruption. Now I was alone, in the middle of a ring of enemies. Ket could not incarnate without disrupting the shroud of silence, and I could not call on much of my mana without ending my own veil.

The first man to recover lunged at me with a glaive. I ducked forward and around the blow, hitting his chest with a palm strike that was backed by my lancet. I shoved against his leather chest piece, physically doing little more than arresting his momentum, but my spiritual blade pierced entirely through his heart. With an agonized cry he dropped to the ground, squealing as he clutched his chest, gasping for air.

The next two came at me from the same direction, moving with unfortunate coordination. I could hear more shouts behind them, then the sounds of combat. The rest of our company had begun to enter the room, but my opponents didn’t so much as glance away from me. Pity, I could have used the distraction.

One man thrust at my head, while the other waited on guard, clearly hoping for me to expose myself. I dodged a few such thrusts easily, waiting for an opening. My speed may not have been a match for Myta’s, but my reflexes were still far greater than those of a mundane fighter. When I spotted a feint, I spun toward his side, away from his compatriot. My target was already attempting to follow through on his real attack, expecting sweep low and take me in the gut while I was off balance. Instead I slid up to his side, hitting his shoulder, and severing the meridian that supported his arm. He cursed at the sudden pain and weakness, dropping the weapon he could no longer properly support.

One more step, and my palm hit the back of his head. Destroying his third eye was not as immediately fatal as the heart, but he was out of the fight. Blinded, effectively one armed, and falling to his knees due to the additional searing agony in his head.

My other foe didn’t live long enough to inconvenience me further. Jito thrust his own glaive through the side of the soldier’s neck as he was still turning on me. Apparently our first battle was resolved already.

We made our way to where Myta was standing victorious, with four bodies scattered around her. Ket rushed ahead to our next objective. We’d started well, but now time nipped at our heals like an angry dog. We couldn’t count on surprise for long.