Davis took another drink from his mug as he laughed at a story one of his soldiers had told. They were sitting in the common hall of a recently captured Helan fortress. Some bodies still littered the hallways, but most of them had been taken outside. Davis was still troubled by the disappearance of Lord Hida, but thought nothing of it. After all, King Polarth would have warned him if something was wrong.
He glanced over at the doorway and scowled. That druid, Yolei Inoue, was standing, watching everything. Whenever she did that it always gave him the feeling that she was gathering all the information she could, and when she was ready, she would attack. Like she was a hunter, waiting for her prey to show its weakness. Well, if she was hunting him, she would be disappointed. He abruptly walked from the table and to the battlements. There were bodies lying about there. Lalt was one of the ones on sentry duty.
"See anything Lalt?" Davis questioned.
"Nothing Davis. How are the men doing?" Lalt asked, his eyes still trying to cut through the veil of darkness.
"Well, we just took a castle. How do you think they would feel?"
Lalt chuckled. "Good answer. So, why aren't you joining in with the others?"
"That druid, Inoue, is down there also. It always seems as if she is hunting me."
"Well, she is beautiful, if you can look past all that magic that can set your bones on fire."
"That I can look past. It's the treachery that I can't. I have heard some stories of what has happened to her enemies. And these are true, not the kind that are embellished around a common soldier's campfire. I admire her beauty, and her ability to wield magic."
"But you want to know that you can trust her." Lalt concluded.
"Right. I don't want her to use me, nor do I want her to scheme behind my back."
"Well, you might want to talk with her."
"What, you mean ask her if she is going to kill me? No, I don't think that talking straight out will help."
"I don't mean bluntly. Ask her advice on some kind of cunning move on the battlefield. See if you really are attracted to her. And make sure she is attracted to you."
"And you are the expert on the subject, because?" Davis asked.
"Have you talked with some of the women soldiers of the company below? If you had, you wouldn't have asked that question." Lalt grinned mischieviously.
"Of course. And exactly how many women are in the company below?"
"Seventeen. Fourteen are down there currently, and three are on sentry duty." Lalt replied without hesitation.
"And do you know how many women are in this wing of the army?"
"Around eighty. The other two wings have more women then this one."
"If I had known that, I would have assigned you to someone else."
"But I wouldn't want to go. I bet they don't get as much action as we do." Lalt shrugged.
"How many women did you say were on sentry duty?"
"Three. Why?"
"I think I better leave. You'll need time for all three." Davis told him with a grin. Lalt returned it as Davis walked downstairs. When he arrived, Yolei was gone. He smiled and sat down, thinking of the next day, and what victories it would hold. Both on and off the battlefield. Only when a soldier walked up to him, did he stir.
"King Polarth has asked to see you." The soldier reported. Davis nodded and rose, walking to the throne room. When he walked in, Polarth was studying a map.
"Davis. Come, look at this map." Davis walked to his king's side and looked at the map. "Specifically, this point. How long would it take you to get there?" Polarth asked, pointing to a spot on the border of Fere.
"It depends on how many men come with me. If you mean to attack Fere, then it would take a full two weeks to move all the men and equipment there."
Polarth shook his head at Davis. "No, not for an all-out attack. Just to rid us of the renegade band. My spies tell me that they have the Princess Sora, and are heading for their hideout. I will supply a map of the exact location of their hiding place. Their group is about thirty men and women, all young. However, at their hideout they have will have close to a hundred. But Fere has sent out pursuit, and that is near to two hundred well-trained knights. How many will you need?"
"I will need near to six hundred."
"Two-to-one odds. Not a gambler, hm?"
"No sir. I believe in having enough men at both fronts."
"Well, Lord Davis, you needn't worry about a shortage of men on this front. I have more coming. Take at the very least eight hundred men and ride as soon as possible."
Davis bowed and turned to leave. "It shall be done, my king."
"One more thing. Take Inoue with you. My spy also says that they have a sorcerer as well. Her skills may come in handy."
"As you have ordered."
Sora woke from her sleep to find herself still riding, still on the leader's horse. She looked around, and saw many horses following them. She saw the now familiar faces of Elassar, Willis, Ken, Cody, Michael, and Mimi. They had been riding now for the better part of a week, as far as she could figure. It seemed the horses they rode never grew tired, or if they did, they recovered quickly. The whole band had only taken brief, twenty minute rests, to feed and water themselves and the horses. Sora was beginning to fear that Tai and the others would lose the trail. She knew Tai would ride out immediately, with the best of his knights. But the speed in which they were now travelling caused her to doubt that even Tai and his followers could catch them, unless they wanted to be caught. After several more hours of riding, Matt finally held his hand up. They arrived at a small pond, where they let the horses drink. Sora leaned against a tree, happening to be in earshot of a discussion.
"They will have already left the castle for us." Ken reasoned.
"But they won't catch us. Not until we arrive at the outpost." Cody argued.
"They could trace us back to our hideout. We shouldn't have taken her." Elassar replied.
"They would have followed us anyway. Do you think, after what we did, that they would let us go free?" Michael asked.
"Quiet, all of you. We have another problem. A Thern force from the Thern-Helan front has broken off, and is after us. Mimi told me this." Matt informed them. Most were surprised at this news. Most. "If we haven't lost them by the time we reach the hideout, we will have a tad of trouble."
"How many did Mimi say?" Willis cautiously asked.
"Over four hundred. With the Fere force, that is near to five hundred. But Mimi knew that there were at least four hundred. She knew there was more. It could be nigh five hundred. As good as we are, one person could not cut down six people. We need to run." Matt sighed.
"We could make a surprise maneuver. Lead them into some rocky place and kill them all." Cody suggested.
"No!" Sora cried out before she could help herself. Matt quickly glanced at her.
"She's right. I won't kill Fere soldiers. They haven't joined Thern yet."
"Matt, both Willis and Mimi said it. Since they aren't for us, they are against us." Michael gently told him.
"Or is it because your brother will be riding with them?" Cody asked, looking directly into Matt's eyes.
"You decide. Either way, we aren't attacking them."
"Then we should scatter." Elassar announced gravely.
"No. I will not scatter the last of the Remnant. The others are already scattered so few that it will take many a day to find them. We will not scatter."
"Then we go on." Elassar replied, sighing as he did. His green eyes reflected sadness, for he knew that they should indeed scatter. Elassar walked off by himself, while Cody and Willis went to check on the sentries. Michael walked to the horses. Matt sat down beside Sora.
"I do apologize for this, Princess. But we needed the scrolls."
"What did you need the scrolls for?" She asked, quite confused.
"We are trying to piece together an old puzzle. These scrolls will probably give us an answer, or at least tell us where to look next."
"How did Mimi know that Thern soldiers were coming?"
"Mimi has magical abilities. Don't look so surprised. Call her a witch, sorceress, or any other name that you can think of."
"TK said that one of the men that raided the castle kicked both Jyou and Taichi at the same time. He said that was not possible. Did she have some magic over you?"
"She has given several of us strange abilities. She gave me, for instance, the knowledge of all fighting styles, and the ability to perform moves that nobody else can. To Cody, she gave the gift of talking to animals. Willis, she gave amazing eyesight, as well as hearing. In a fight, he can see where a person will move before they move. Ken can slow down time momentarily for himself and anyone else he chooses. Elassar has the gift of all written or unwritten languages, as well a small amount of magic. To Michael, she bestowed the ability run on all surfaces, whether it be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. She told us it was a gift, for all that was to be done."
"When did you gather all these people?"
"Willis and Elassar ran with me from Eladan, as did near to twenty others. Some have settled down and tried to start a new living, while others have died. Ken, I picked up while I was in Zeai. A group he was involved with didn't like the fact that Zeai was helping Thern, and they demonstrated against it. Violently, demonstrated against it. We found Mimi in a small town just inside the Garh border. We persuaded her to join us. Michael was one of the castle guards in Edom when the prince was taken. He resigned and joined us. Once, on our way out of Thern when a large patrol stopped us. Some words were ill spoken, and they attacked. Cody then appeared and fought by our side. That was one year ago. Ever since then, we have been riding around, trying to piece together what we are looking for. We have stolen scrolls from nearly all the countries, including Zeai. I cannot tell you what we are looking for, since you would tell your fiance. But, I am sorry about this treatment. You should be free soon. We will reach our hideout in a few hours. And there, we must decide whether to flee or to fight." The responsibility weighed heavily on him, and his face reflected that.
"If I talk to him, I'm sure Tai won't press the attack."
"Well, that's a hundred taken care of. Now we face only five-to-one odds. When we reach the base, that is. And I still don't like those very much. Somehow, I doubt that you can convince Tai to go to war against Thern since, essentially, that is what he would be doing."
"Well, I could have him talk to them." The beautiful girl suggested.
"I don't know if he would do even that. We have led him on quite a merry chase."
"And he's closer then we thought!" Willis told him as he came running up.
"Can you see them?" Matt asked, jumping up.
"No, but I can hear them. They are nigh to thirty leagues away."
"Get moving! Princess Takenouchi, if you would suffer to be on my horse again." Matt called to her as he jumped on his horse. She grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled herself on behind him. She knew that it was quite useless, and maybe fatal, to try and jump, escaping that way. Elassar rode up on his right side, while Mimi rode up on his left.
"How could they have trailed us that closely? We had a good six hours start. And we have barely rested." Elessar asked, quite puzzled.
"It doesn't matter how. Probably a shortcut, through the hills or some such bad fortune." Matt answered, turning his head slightly.
"I'm sorry that I didn't see them Matt. I was just too tired after seeing that Thern force." Mimi apologized.
"That's just fine. We'll get to our base first, anyhow, and set up a defense."
"Yes, that's their base." Izzy concluded, putting his eyeglass back into his pocket. Below them was a small fort. "I can only see twenty guards on the walls. We don't know how many he has inside. Surely he didn't take his whole force from his base."
"No, he would leave enough inside." Takeru answered. "And he's not going to show how many he has, not until we attack."
"But he may have too many for us. Wait, Izzy, let me see your eyeglass." Tai ordered as something caught his attention. Izzy handed the eyeglass to Tai. Tai opened it and looked at the wall. "There's your brother, Takeru. He's talking to one of the ones that was at the castle. I think you called him Willis. Wait, that's impossible! They are looking up here and waving! He wants to talk."
"Let me go down. I should only need a few other people."
"No Takeru. I will go down, and you will accompany me. As well as Izumi, Jyou, and ten other guards. Who would like to accompany us?" Tai asked. Many hands were raised in response. TK absently pointed to ten. Another soldier stepped forward. He had a hood over his face.
"Sir, I know Princess Sora well. Please, let me accompany you." He asked. Tai looked at him strangely, but nodded. The group of fifteen made their way down to the rogue hideout. Matt and Willis met them in the open.
Matt started without delay. "We will give you your princess back, under the condition that you then leave."
Tai looked straight at him. "You stole many items from us. We want those back as well."
"You don't need them. They are just gathering dust in your collection." Willis replied.
'But it is our collection." Takeru answered.
"Do even the women of Fere desire our capture, Prince Taichi?" Matt asked. Tai gave him a confused look in return. "I do believe that is your sister." He said, pointing to the one soldier that had asked to come with them. Tai walked over to the soldier and threw back the hood. It was indeed his sister.
"Kari? Why did you come?"
The princess hung her head. "I wanted to see Sora back safe."
"We can do that! Mom and Dad are probably scared that you've been kidnapped! They already know that these renegades already kidnapped Sora." Tai yelled.
"And we return her to you freely." Elassar called out as he walked toward them with Sora at his side, as well as Cody and Michael following. They both had an unhappy look on their faces.
"Elassar, you shouldn't have brought her out." Willis remonstrated his knight comrade.
"Yes, he should have. Now, if you will leave we have a force of either three hundred or four hundred to contend with." Matt said and turned.
"What are you talking about?" Izzy asked.
"It seems that Thern wants us destroyed. They should be here soon." Elassar answered.
"They wouldn't. We are still inside Fere borders." Tai retorted.
"Hate to tell you this Prince, but Thern doesn't care much for borders. They also should be here pretty soon." Willis announced, cocking his head.
"And you would know because?" Jyou questioned.
"I can hear them. I don't know how far away they are, but they should be here soon. If you leave, you should do it now." Willis informed them.
Elassar noticed that Izumi's face clouded. "Well, we are closer to Helan. Might as well rest here for the night." The young ambassador stated his opinion to stay and fight.
Takeru cleared his throat. "I think I'll stay and talk to my brother for a little while." Soon, almost everybody, including Tai, had expressed his desire to stay.
"But we must send word back to my father, and send Kari and Sora back." Tai said.
'But it would be more dangerous on the road. We might run into the force." Sora thought shrewdly.
"And also we would slow them down." Kari added.
One of the messengers looked at Tai. "She is right Prince. They would slow us down." Tai thought for a moment.
"Very well. They will stay. Be off." Tai told them with a wave of his hand. The prince turned to Matt. "Tell me King Ishida, are there any friends that would come to our aid?"
"None that will reach here in time. As you know, the Mountains of Culdae border Fere on the west. The dwarves that make their homes on the foot of the mountains are our friends, and would gladly come to fight, but that is nigh to two weeks ride. There is a village south of here, that would take three days to reach. They too would come to our help. I have thought of fleeing to one of those two places. Of course, we could run into any country, or fly to Helan or Garh. But I don't know their full strength, and I don't know if they would split and surround us." King Ishida informed Prince Kamiya as they walked inside the fortress. Willis whispered something to Elassar as Matt led Tai, Izzy, Jyou, Kari, Sora, TK, Elassar, and Michael into a room in which Mimi was sitting down.
"There is always one more way." Elassar said quietly from Matt's side. Mimi sat straight up.
"Even though I only caught the last part of that conversation, I know the road of which you speak, Elassar. And I can tell you that the road carries many more evil things then humans from a misguided nation." The sorceress spoke.
"But it also may hold unseen allies." Elassar replied.
"Of skeletons and wraiths? I find that unlikely." Mimi answered.
"What road are you suggesting, Elassar?" TK asked.
"We do not need to discuss it here and now. We must return to our preparation of the enemy's arrival." Matt cut in. "Prince, what do you suggest we do?"
"If I were in your place, I would run. To the dwarves or to the town would be the only doubt in my mind."
"Not in mine." Matt replied. "The townspeople would not be able to defend themselves as well as the dwarves. Even though, whoever is leading the Thern forces will most probably split their forces to catch us in a pincer."
"I may be able to stall him before he sends his forces around." Taichi thought.
"Sir, it is a very good possibility that he will send his forces around us before he arrives." Jyou put in.
"Yes, but he will think twice before ordering those troops to attack me. And we may be able to use that time against him." Tai answered.
Matt leaned forward. "We will have to plan very fast."
"Not fast enough." Ken announced, looking through the window. "I think Mimi was wrong, there looks to be three hundred."
Mimi shook her head. "No, I am almost positive there were more then that."
"We don't know how many he sent around us." Takeru suggested.
Willis walked through the door. "We do now." It was not what he said, but the tone of voice he used that made Matt rise from his seat. Elassar gave Willis a questioning look.
"They have five hundred soldiers behind us."