Milla'iin reached the next town. It was smaller than the previous ones and once again, it was empty. The human spy clearly gave a few guesses to the other humans. He did know his speech declared they would go farther than one city, but didn't they know which one they would pick. Unless the towns from the other sections of the river were also abandoned.
"The humans aren't taking any chances," one of the soldiers commented.
"Even so, they cannot just run away forever. The Cothica surely isn't that big," another one wondered.
Milla'iin had a bit of doubt. The Cothica had so many humans and from the maps, it was much bigger than they could believe. None of them knew that fact. Just the M'arrllians who mattered enough, "We move to the next city, once we grab enough supplies."
And the tribe followed his order. The abundance of supplies increased the morale of the creatures a lot. Not only that, but simply knowing the humans just ran away from them gave a sense of power.
The chieftain felt reinvigorated. He realized that hunting for the spy was a mistake. If they didn't search for him and went immediately with that plan, maybe their morale would be high and Bahrakatan would still be free. He was certain the Coralsmith was a prisoner of the humans and the creatures with them.
He also decided that the next town, they would only go with the creatures and let the humans under their control join later. There was something he wanted to try.
Chapter 129: Tracking The Guides
Tom walked outside of the room. He just didn't want to see the progression of the M'arrillians. He knew the cities were empty, but it kinda felt wrong.
He told his friends that he needed some fresh air and walked around.
Intress followed him, "Tom. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. It's just that seeing that and everyone worrying about it is a bit too much for now. I'll just breathe a little and come back. No plan to talk with Aval'par and Bahrakatan."
"You better be. As for what you are seeing, it won't be that way forever Tom. Maxxor and the others are coming very soon. There is no reason to feel despair."
"I'm not feeling that way, even if it looks a little like that," the teenager chuckled nervously. He scratched his neck, "I know they are coming soon and everything will be over. I know we will be victorious. It's less bad than when they invaded Perim," he sighed, "Still, I realize that the M'arrillians are that much more terrifying. When they invaded Perim, I was worried for you, but I wasn't feeling that down. Maybe because it wasn't my home, my world that was in danger."
"We creatures are feeling less tension this time. Because this isn't Perim. Still, there are much more since this is the Cothica," she replied.
"It's not. Doesn't feel like this is the Cothica you are searching for," Tom admitted.
"It's okay if you don't think this is it. We know it is," she teased him a little. She put her hand on his shoulder, "And I guess you are nervous for what will come after."
"Yes. Armies of Perim here. What could go wrong once the M'arrillians are defeated. Kaz had a nightmare where Perim invaded Earth. He told me about it. It's a little silly, but we can't be sure."
"After what we saw, I think you can rest assured it won't happen," Intress told him.
"Yeah. He kinda didn't think about the military and their technology," the boy added.
"Maybe we should return with the others. What do you think?" She asked.
"Yeah. Thanks, Intress," the black-haired boy told her.
"No problem, Tom," the Overworlder replied.
Rath'tab and a few other M'arrillians reached the farm that once belonged to Donald, Tom's grandfather. Their squadron was around twenty of them armed with battlegear. They were armed to kill.
The place wasn't fixed. It was obvious the humans had abandoned it and had no intention of returning for a while, or forever.
(Soldiers. Split up and search for any clues that could help us find the four guides,) the chieftain with them ordered.
The chieftain was Neth'uar. He was a yellow worm-like creature with tentacles that came out of his body. He had a dark purple face that looked like he wore a mask. A shining purple light came out of him as he looked at the creatures dispersing.
Rath'tab grumbled. He wondered why it was Neth'uar who was responsible for the mission instead of himself. Regardless, he wouldn't argue with Milla'iin. He began the search. He wondered if they would find anything. The humans escaped through the air and left little trace afterward. The only way to find their location would be to read the mind of someone who knew more.
The only thing they found out was that the soldiers of the Cothica participated in the evacuation and a few of their bases were around this sector. The locations of some of them were unknown and kept secret from the general populace.
Neth'uar searched carefully. He tried to find any hint of the human's presence and path they might have taken. He tried to feel the energy. There were some he found. The worm creature flew above the remainder of the house and closed his eye. He tried to feel anything at all. Many days passed and it might prove to be much more difficult than expected. He did notice a stronger presence, but that one might stretch the chance of finding the humans. That presence was the remaining energy of Aval'par. Still, he rather focused on the humans.
Rath'tab watched his superior and grumbled a few insults that no one heard, "He still believes he can feel energy coming out of the humans. Just because he felt it once doesn't mean he can actually do it," he crossed his tendrils. He then noticed a gaze from the M'arrillian in question and returned to his duty.
The search in the end seemed fruitless. They didn't find any clues of their current whereabouts. That didn't feel like good news. They would have to come back empty ended and Milla'iin would surely express his fury in some way. The creatures didn't want to face his wrath.
They were aware of their situation. It was taxing on Milla'iin nerves to not be able to do anything. Their leader was the one who held the weight of the tribe on his shoulders. Weight that had increased with leaving Aval'par as a prisoner and the disappearance of Bahrakatan. The best solution would be to ask Aval'par, but he was a prisoner. He was obviously under watch and the humans would know in advance if something was off. The creatures were with them.
Neth'uar flew down to them, (I might have an idea where they went. I can feel a bit of their energy and it went towards the direction they escaped.)
The creature noticed how little trust they seemed to have with his ability. He told himself that they were ignorant that any living beings left some kind of energy behind. Even the humans had that, even without elemental powers like creatures. (You have a better idea? Would you rather tell Milla'iin we found nothing?)
Rath'tab grumbled, (No.)
(Good. Follow me. I am sure we are going to find them. I believe they simply followed a straight path to their next location. For how long, I cannot be sure. We couldn't chase them and the energy I found was little. We waited too long to hunt them down,) Neth'uar commented.
(I noticed,) one of the soldiers replied.
(Good. Let's go,) he flew forward and followed the path he supposedly found.
Rath'tab grumbled under his breath. He couldn't believe he actually had no choice but to try and believe Neth'uar could do it. The only positive thing was that the other chieftain didn't let his power get to his head. He could just order him to shut up or be forced to believe him.
Still, there was one thing he noticed. He flew by his side and asked, (Anything wrong?)
(No. I also noticed the energy of Aval'par. It was a little stronger and I followed it. I regret we left him behind.)
(He was captured by the enemy and didn't escape. There is nothing we could do to change that. The humans were more resourceful than expected. Especially their battlegear,) Rath'tab replied.
(And that we are crippled by traitors. That sure took a toll on our morale,) Neth'uar said nothing else to Rath'tab as he followed the path.
Milla'iin and the others continued to progress forward. He received no news from the other squadron who hunted the humans. He put that thought aside when they reached the next town. It was a very small one. He noticed it felt more like a farm, like the ones the four guides were in.
Once again, the town was abandoned and no signs of humans were around. That frustrated him to no point. Not only him, but the other M'arrillians too.
"Again! How quick are humans? Did they just all evacuate before we came or in advance?"
(Let's try something while the humans aren't here yet. I made sure none of them followed us. No spies from them are here. We go to the next town. However, we skip the next one and jump right to the second town. We will know if they evacuated in advance or if the humans are just quick.)
(Let's go!) Another soldier said.
They continued forward with an increased pace. Even if the spy tried to follow them, they couldn't. He knew the non-soldiers would be slow and might fall behind, but they would wait for them in the next town.
The soldiers continued to observe the advance of the M'arrillians.
George scratched his chin a little nervously. The enemies suddenly decided to strike faster. They were quickly approaching the city. The humans they controlled took another path while some of them were too slow and slowly fell behind.
"What are they doing?" The general asked.
"I believe they might try to get to the next town as quickly as possible. I believe the purpose might be to try and outpace the evacuation. Did the Codemasters finish to check if the M'arrillians are with the group? Because this is starting to make me pretty nervous." Tom's father suggested,
"They are almost done. Once they are, they will contact us. It should come quickly," the general replied.
Some of the soldiers kept the M'arrillians and the humans who were in three groups now under watch. Those at the frontline who quickly approached the city, the others who fell behind, and the humans who followed the road in their cars and trucks.
The waiting game continued. They could only observe the advance of the invaders. The other towns had received an evacuation order. It went quickly as the people were aware of the M'arrillians.
The Codemasters continued to search for the missing M'arrillians. They continued to reference every creature that showed their face in Chaotic. Many were put aside as they were previously identified. They advanced quickly and eventually; they were done with their analysis.
If they were humans and had a face behind their mask, they would be gone already. There were many more M'arrillians missing than they first saw.
Despite not understanding the technology of the humans very well, the rulers of Perim knew something was wrong.
Crellan declared, "I'll contact them right now!" He did so as he told Imthor.
The other Codemaster didn't protest.
"What is it Codemaster?" The general asked. When he said 'Codemaster', it was obvious the human wasn't used to that term and who they were.
"Some of the M'arrillians are missing!," Crellan quickly replied.
"We know. You gave us a fi-"
"I meant many are missing. Around twenty of them. From what we saw, they aren't scouts!"
"Give us the visuals. We are going to search for them immediately," the general replied.
The creatures observed the M'arrillians. They made no comment as they had little knowledge.
They all shared the same questions in their mind, 'Where were those M'arrillians?'
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next Chapter: A Closing Danger.
The M'arrillians continued to search for the humans, out of the sight of the military. Would they reach the base or follow a wrong lead?