Olimpia

Looking in the direction that Kanieta told me was the forest's edge, I glanced at my surroundings before starting off. Time was not on my side, and the night was more over than not, so I needed to get moving. Without Kanieta's spell of silence around me, I had to return to my good old ways of traveling through the forest. Careful steps combined with controlled shields and tendrils at a steady pace.

Though the distance I had left turned out to be less than a third of what I traveled with Kanieta to the… hidden camp, it took me hours to cover this last section. By the time I reached the edge of the forest, I could already tell by the rising fog and darkening darkness that there was only an hour or two until daybreak.

Trying to rush, I moved along the tree line, searching for my trainees like they would pop out of the grass and greet me. I soon realized that while I had told them to go back to where we entered the forest, with all of the running around through the night, I had lost track of where exactly I was in relation to the location.

Stopping, I squinted and looked to my right into the sea of grass, thinking I saw movement. Even in the best possible conditions at night, I could only see a few hundred yards clearly. These were not the best conditions, and I could see a quarter of that right now with the fog and setting moon shrouded by clouds drifting, regardless of my better-than-human vision.

After scanning the area off to my right for a few minutes and finding nothing, I turned to the left and started prowling in that direction. I had no idea where I was on the forest's edge, but I knew that if I kept the woods to my left, I would eventually hit the Rush.

Technically, it was also true that if I went to the right, I would hit the river eventually, but that would only be after hundreds of miles. So, heading northeast was my best choice for finding my trainees the fastest. If I didn't, well, I would have to start making the tough choices.

More time passed as I searched, and I was beginning to believe I wouldn't find them before dawn when I saw a flicker of motion off to my right in the fog-filled grass. Stopping and focusing on the area, I waited for a minute. My eyes quickly settled on a patch of grass slowly shifting. For a moment, I thought it might be a gust of wind, but the disturbance never entirely disappeared or spread.

As the minutes passed, I saw the singular disturbance steadily moving parallel to the forest's edge in my direction. Unsure if it was human or beastkin, I remained behind a tree, letting the being gradually move level with me, then started keeping pace with it.

Occasionally, the disturbance would wander closer to me and then farther out into the grass sea, making me wonder if I should follow after it. But every time I was about to move from my trees to follow it into the grassland, it would start moving back toward me. Not once in all the time that I was watching did I see the creature poke its head above the tops of the blades.

Which was telling.

So was the lack of mental energy. I hadn't felt a single pulse wash over me this whole time, and I wasn't going to probe the being, not while I was still hiding and alone. I learned far too much over the past day to trust my safety to a misguided belief that beastkins couldn't feel mental energy. Not to mention, my instincts were telling me that the probable beastkin was hunting something.

And if they were hunting, there were only so many options for what it could be. Given that it looked like they were occasionally losing the trail and having to search for it again, I was betting the trail was that of one of my unskilled trainees. A bet that might actually have a life at stake.

The disturbance in the grass slowed, taking longer as it began inching forward. With the progress of the beastkin all but stopping, I could spend more time searching my surroundings, ensuring that I wasn't being watched in turn. I had a slight advantage in searching, as the forest was slightly higher than the grass, but it was also a forest, so I couldn't be entirely sure.

Deciding it was more than past time to end this and move on, I crouched down and began creeping past the last few trees marking the forest's border. I was planning on sneaking up on the probable beastkin before killing it. Before I could move past the last tree and make a silent dash for the grass, I felt a pulse message. It was a standard legion challenge and call for immediate response.

There was a beat where nothing happened, and then bursts of motion exploded around the disturbance. I saw multiple small objects that glinted in the night pop above the grass and become fast-moving blurs as they flew toward the disturbance. Within the last few feet of their target, the projectiles dipped into the grass, and I heard the whipping slaps as they tore through the tall grass and vanished from my sight.

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A moment later, meaty thunks and yelps of pain sounded, and yet I saw a dark shadow furrow its way through the grass as it darted toward me. Before the shadow could make it more than a few feet, I heard more fast-moving missiles tearing through the grass to intercept it.

At the sound of the latest impacts, the creature started tumbling through the stalks. As it was coming to a stop, three heads and torsos appeared above the tops of the foliage arrayed around the beastkin as they rushed forward. Quickly making it to the body, their arms raised and lowered in sharp simultaneous motions as they brought short swords up and down. Though I could not see it, I knew the blood was flying as with every cycle of their arms, as their blades flashed a little less in the dim light.

Once they had ensured the creature was dead, the trainees crouched, disappearing, and the next thing I saw was dust and mist rising into the sky where they were. The cloud grew thicker over the next few seconds, and I could have sworn I heard rocks clinking together. Once everything was silent again, the figures stood and started moving back the way they came.

Detaching myself from the side of the tree I had glued myself to, I moved over to the grass and slipped into it, following in the footsteps of the beastkin. I kept an eye on my surroundings as I searched for any enemies, but if they didn't come out when one of them was killed, I doubted they would pop up for me. Arriving where the beastkin was killed, I saw the ground was freshly turned over, forming a new grave.

Rather clever of the trainees. The beastkins would be able to smell a body much farther than a grave. Continuing to move forward, I passed the grave, and it was only a few steps after it that I felt the same pulse message as before.

Instantly sending the friendly response, I continued moving forward without stopping as I expected the pulse. Within ten feet, I was intercepted by a legionary who motioned for me to follow without another word. I heard the soft rasps as grass brushed against our shields and the thuds of footsteps signaling the presence of more trainees off to each side.

We traveled silently for minutes, and then Bellous, who I finally placed as part of Joxin's squad, motioned for us to squat down and wait. Settling down, I studied Bellous, who was a short, squat man with blocky features. Within a second of his signal, I felt a probe touch my mind. Reaching out with my own tendril, I connected to the energy and joined the mental network.

"Instructor Green," greeted Joxin's mental voice as soon as I mentally connected before he went into his report. "Ahooha's squad returned to the Triad to report as you ordered. Traig skirted around the forest and found the ambush sight of the turma ten miles southwest from here… They counted what bodies they could, but most of them were mutilated beyond recognition, and they can't be sure of the body count… but he doesn't believe any survived. Traig and his team are now resting a little ways off to the east. Kathren is farther still where she can watch the river and forest edge on a small rise, though they are all moving to regroup with us now."

I processed the information and responded, "Send them a message to double-time it, as we don't have much time."

He gave a feeling of confirmation, and we waited until the others had moved close enough that we could speak casually if we wanted, which I didn't. "Add them to the union… Okay, everyone, remember this, as you will need to report it if you make it back to the Triad. The beastkin have constructed a bridge over the Rush and already have thousands on the western side of the river."

I could feel astonishment at my mental message, but everyone was disciplined enough to keep that to themselves. I glanced up and flinched at the lightening sky. Having more light was… awesome. So long as that light didn't give an even greater advantage to those hunting you. Like, say, something that can fly. And with the first light rays breaking the night into a gray dawn, I spotted specks moving high in the sky. Fuck.

"More importantly," I continued, "the beastkin have constructed barges with towers and ladders on them… Which are tall enough to reach the bridges of the Triad. Barches they can hide with illusions that can trick your eyes, and I am pretty sure they have ways of sensing projected mental energy." I considered adding more of what I had learned, but it didn't matter. If this essential information didn't get through, the rest wouldn't matter, and I didn't trust the trainees to remember everything.

Joxin's shock was so strong this time that he let out a quiet, disbelieving, "What? That's not possible…"

"It is what it is," I responded, snapping him out of his stupor as I projected the absolute surety of my claims into the mental network as I continued to watch the sky.

The longer I looked at the heavens, the more my stomach tried to drop as it sought to replace my feet. We won't make it, not all of us… as the beastkins must know we're out here by now. Knowing what I had to do, I looked Joxin right in the eyes, "Who has the most mental energy and control?" I asked.

There was a rapid series of messages between him and others before he returned with, "Me, Kathren, and… Jim?" I saw the little flinch as he sent 'Jim's' name but ignored it.

"Okay," I replied, "this is what we're going to do."