When I made it on the battlefield, the amount of daemons still standing were more than I expected to see.
With my polearm in hand, I looked over to the nearest Hunter who was surrounded by three daemons. With another calculated throw of my weapon, I was able to reach her in an instant and take down one of them.
"You guys are here!" She said in surprise when she saw me arrive.
"We got the signal. Fall back, and help the other Hunters regroup. Watch out for each other's blind spots and cover them. Retreat for now." I told her as I dodged the daemon who attempted to strike back at me with its claws, but another quick lunge with my weapon made it fall back on the ground one last time.
She was able to take down the other daemon near her and was finally able to catch her breath. With her hands on her knees, she spoke up again.
"We should've expected something like this since we're so far out from the other outposts but to THIS extent?" She questioned.
Looking around across the battles, several Glaives were able to successfully relieve the Hunters from the daemonic advance. There were too many of them gathered in one area.
"This isn't normal." I said to myself, realizing that something was really wrong here.
"I owe you one." She said, grateful for my timing.
"Now don't you worry about that kind of thing. I'm glad you're alright." I said with a quick nod of my head. "I'm going to help the others out too. Get to safety!" I told her before we split up.
With another strong throw of my polearm, I was able to move across the battlefield more quickly to reach the other Hunters and help them out.
In time, the number of daemons finally began to slowly dwindle down. Now that we had helped the situation get under control, the other Glaives had helped the wounded Hunters get back to the trucks to get some first aid treatment from Delilah's healing spell. As I stood by the second truck, I was approached by two Glaives.
"It doesn't look like anyone was seriously injured." Nelly told me when she came up to give a report on the situation.
"We had quite a scare when we saw that signal, but it looks like everything is going to be okay." Delilah said from behind Nelly. "I'll start healing anybody who needs, but I'm happy to say it looks like they'll all be just fine with a bit of rest."
"We're setting up camp earlier than what we normally do." I decided. "There's no way I'm sending any of the Hunters out for another battle like that again so soon. No travel fas-"
"No travel faster than the slowest member of the group... That's what you were going to say, right?" Nelly said with a short shrug.
"How'd you know I was going to say that?" I asked, caught completely by surprise.
"That's an ironclad rule among the Hunters. I like the idea behind it. Nobody gets left behind... Or forgotten." Delilah said with a thumbs up to agree with it.
"I'm glad you guys understand..." I said with a small smile. "Let Miles and the other drivers know we're to set up camp at the next Haven we see by my order." I told Delilah who gave me a nod and walked away towards the van. "Speaking of seeing, Nelly, do you have any idea where the captain is? I haven't seen him or a few other of the Hunters yet. Have they regrouped with the others yet?" I asked with concern.
"Actually, no. I don't think anyone has seen them. Are they still out there somewhere?" She asked me.
That wasn't what I wanted to hear. We were split up and there was no telling how many more daemons were still in the surrounding area. In the confusion of battle, I haven't been able to keep track of where everyone was.
"Tell those from Squad 1 and Squad 3 who can still fight to help in locating the missing Hunters. Squad 2 will prioritize defending the supply truck as they have been and protecting those who were injured from any possible daemon attacks. I'm going on ahead to start the search." I ordered.
"Understood." Nelly said with a determined expression on her face before we went our separate ways.
The more time that passed, the more I began to worry about those Hunters and what their absence could mean.
'They're going to be alright. It's not like last time, I've gotten stronger. I'll get them all home safe.'
Scanning the area, I couldn't see any immediate signs to where the missing group of Hunters would be. The other Glaives who came back to help look for the missing team were not having much luck either.
"Any sign of them?" One Glaive called out to the other.
"No, not yet." Another Glaive responded.
"Keep looking. They couldn't have gotten too far." A Hunter, Zeke, who decided to not stay behind with the others at the trucks had said.
"Stay calm, we'll find them. No use in clouding your mind and judgement. They're going to be fine." I told the rest of them, in part trying to convince myself that they were okay out there.
In that moment, a single gunshot rang out. We all turned our heads to the noise. Relief washed over me, realizing there was only one person who could have fired the shot. In clear view of the Glaives and Hunters who went out to look for the missing captain and his group, we looked up to see another smoke signal. What made me tense up again was the color of the smoke, it was a yellow color, only used when someone was injured. My heart sank at the sight of it. The fight wasn't over yet and there were too many unknowns. Black smoke fired from the flare gun instead would've meant that one of our own were killed, and it wasn't something I wanted to see ever again.
"Over here! They need our help!" I called out to the rest of them, getting their attention.
Moving quickly, we all ran out towards the place where we saw the smoke in an attempt to reach them on time. On approaching the scene, I saw the group of three who were missing surrounded by daemons and began to send out orders to help out those Hunters. They were near an unmarked entrance to a cave, with no clear way out.
One of the Hunters, Talcott Hester, was carrying Annie on his back, and in front of those two stood another Hunter named Dianna who was holding off the daemons. They couldn't properly fight trying to protect somebody injured like that. It became clear who was the one the yellow smoke signal was fired for.
"Listen up, you two!" I called out to the closest two Glaives to me to get their attention. "Gutsco, head to the left, and Tobul go to the right! I'll take the one in the middle down."
"Got it!" Gutsco said.
"Understood!" Tobul said.
In an instant, the three of us had taken down the daemons simultaneously who had blocked the only way out for the three. The Glaives and Hunters that arrived met up with the three missing Hunters who emerged from the dark cave.
"Alexus! What a sight for sore eyes!" Talcott said with a wave of his hand to call us over, relief visible on his face.
"We got here as fast as we could!" Zeke said to the group when he approached his friends.
"Is everyone okay?" Yura asked the Hunters.
Walking up to the unconscious Annie carried by Talcott, I noticed the amount of blood that covered her clothes from a slash injury across her chest. On her upper torso, she was covered with bandages hastily wrapped around tightly in order to stop the bleeding.
"What happened to her?" I asked in worry.
"Annie was hurt by a daemon, it caught us all by surprise when it came out of the cave. She was being dragged away and we couldn't keep up with her." Talcott began to explain. "But you should've seen him! Prompto was amazing! He saved her. For a moment, I thought we were going to lose another one of our family out here. It was terrifying."
"You guys were the one who sent the yellow smoke signal?" Elea asked to confirm.
"Yeah. When Annie first got hurt, sending the signal was the first thing that the captain did before he chased after the daemons in the cave trying to take her away. So you guys would know where we were and reach us in time. But you have to hurry." Dianna said urgently.
"Where is he?" Zeke asked Dianna, looking back in the darkened cave for any signs of movement.
"Don't tell me he's still in there?" I asked, concerned he was fighting alone in there without anyone to cover for him.
"He told us to go on ahead after we finally reached Annie. While he held the daemons off for our escape, we got separated. Even now he still hasn't come out." Talcott informed me.
"You have to help him... Please." Annie said, beginning to wake up. "H- he can't die... Not before I can say... I want to... To thank him... Properly... In person..."
"Annie! You're going to be alright. We'll get you out of here, I promise." Talcott told her.
"Don't worry they'll take care of things from here. Just make sure you take care of yourself first." Dianna said to reassure her.
"Gutsco and Zeke, escort these Hunters back to the trucks to regroup with everyone else. Take Annie to Delilah to heal her wounds. Hunters! Anyone left who can fight, guarding the supply truck is still a priority until further orders." Turning to face the two Glaives standing closest to me, I continued. "Yura and Elea, come with me. I'll need your help in there while we go look for the still missing captain. Assume he might be injured and may need our help in there."
"Yes, ma'am!" The two said with a quick salute.
"Wait, what about me? Should I go with you guys in there?" Tobul stopped me to ask.
Taking a few steps towards Tobul, I became serious and spoke clearly when I put my hands on both of his shoulders.
"Listen. This area was full of daemons that caught us off guard. I want you to stay out here with the others for now. If we don't return to this spot within ten minutes, send another signal for the rest of the group by the vehicles. Use the red colored smoke, to request some back up for us. We don't know what's in there, but we're going on ahead to help out the captain. Can you do that for me?" I asked him.
"Y- yes." Tobul said with a nod. "What should I do until then?"
"Stand guard to make sure nothing follows us in. Make sure to keep alert when you're out here. Wait for the others to arrive. Tell them I said to not come in until the time limit has passed. It'll be difficult to fight with too many people in such a confined and dark place."
"Don't keep me waiting out here for too long or you'll make me worry, okay buddy?" Tobul said, unable to mask the worry in his voice behind his small smile.
"I won't. We'll be okay in there. He probably just got lost on his way out or something. We'll bring him back and then make it to the Haven to get some rest. Nothing to worry about. It'll be quick, okay?" I said in an attempt to reassure Tobul, but more for myself.
I had tried hard to not let it show on my face just how worried I was for Prompto's safety after seeing the injury Annie had sustained.
"Are we ready?" Yura asked us when we turned to face the intimidating entrance to the ominous cave.
"Passing up a rare chance to explore a super dark and dangerous cave? Not my style." Elea said with a big grin, equipping her weapon.
"I don't know about you, but I'm as ready as I'll ever be." I said, summoning my own weapon and gripping onto it tightly to stop the nervous shaking of my hands from the fear of what we might find in there.
'He'll be okay... He'll be okay... He's alive in there... Alive...' I repeated to reassure myself I wouldn't find Prompto was hurt or worse.
Twitch: Enrita11
October 18th, 2021
