The cavalry has arrived! –is slapped-

"They've called me a lot of things in the last few days, most of them not at all friendly." –Kairi

Chapter 11.8 – Dances With Death
Part 97

"What happened here?!"

I turned around and sighed in quiet relief when I spotted Jade, two platoons and a bunch of wagons behind him. Selenia stood next to him, dressed in white and black.

"Trouble, that's what. Replicas, roughly two platoons' worth, programmed to kill. We got lucky only eighteen people have died so far, seventeen in the initial attack and one from her wounds. We've still got four people hanging on the edge, Colonel Miles among them," I reported. Jade looked grim, even as he motioned to the healers he'd brought with him. I noted Selenia grabbing a bag and running after them.

"We heard rumors about Kimlasca being responsible," he said.

I crossed my arms. "Most of them were poorly equipped. Shoddy swords, cloth armor. They carried the banner of Kimlasca and some wore parts of uniforms, but to be quite honest... Jade, they felt like the feral ligers I fought in the Northern Forest months ago. They couldn't have been created all that long ago."

Red eyes glanced over me. "And you? How badly are you injured?"

I shrugged. "A few cuts. I've healed most of them using Energies whenever I get a chance to rest. They killed two-thirds of the officers among the group, and with the other three officers down and in no condition to lead, Hue and I have been working our asses off keeping everybody under control. The only thing I really need now is some sleep."

He watched me another moment before nodding, accepting that I wasn't lying. "And Ari?"

"Still hanging on, but barely. The healers are doing what they can, and I'm helping it along with Energies, but... I don't think he's going to make it, Jade. Hue's been trying to hide how scared he is that he'll lose his brother, but I've done everything I can to facilitate a miracle, and he's still teetering on the edge," I admitted. Jade put a hand on my shoulder for comfort before walking off to talk to the Malkuth soldiers I'd had to deal with for the past few days.

Selenia walked over after a bit. "So... Have you heard what some of the soldiers are calling you, now?"

I raised an eyebrow. "They've called me a lot of things in the last few days, most of them not at all friendly."

"Kairi the Grim. Apparently it came from a joke about the grim reaper, but since Dist is the Reaper..." she said. I snorted, only slightly amused.

"Tch, no wonder. I killed roughly a third of the replicas myself. Everyone else was too tired, too injured, or too busy panicking."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Your uncle tried to peg me with 'bloody', but since that's Asch's bit..."

Selenia made a face. "I'm guessing they were messy kills."

"Messy, but fast. I knew the other soldiers were tired, and we were outnumbered. It was..." I stopped and gave her a look. "It was the battle against the southern ligers all over again, Selenia. I couldn't stop, I couldn't think. I just had to kill as many of them as possible and hope I walked away at the end."

She looked up at me with big blue eyes that were only partially hidden by black frames. "It hit you hard afterwards, didn't it? Both times?"

I nodded once, slowly, and she scooted a little closer. I accepted the comfort she was offering and wrapped an arm around her. "Except this time, I haven't really had a chance to mourn. I've had to stand up and keep everyone else from falling apart. It's... not been easy. Especially with Ari down. Not because he's the other ranking officer, but because he's my friend, and..." I stopped and shook my head. "Well. No use commiserating on something I can't change. I take the number of wagons to mean that we're hauling ass back to St. Binah?"

She shook her head. "Grand Chokmah."

"I imagine Emperor Peony and his council wants a report on what happened."

"Among other things. Also..."

"Mohs escaped?"

"How did you...?"

"Ask again later," I said, standing up as Jade walked over.

"Are you okay to walk? Even with the number of wagons we brought, there won't be a lot of space," he said. I nodded.

"I'll live."

Twilight growled and butted his head against my back. *Ride,* he grumbled. I smiled.

"I don't need one of the wagons, anyway. Twilight's gonna carry me one way or another," I added. "He's pretty stubborn."

Jade smirked and adjusted his glasses. "Well, I suppose he fits right in then, doesn't he?"

I laughed, shook my head, and turned around to climb up on Twilight's back. He growled a soft encouragement to rest, and before long, the steady rocking of his body lulled me to sleep.

When I woke up, it was dark out, and I rolled over and got to my feet, walking over to the fire. "What time is it?" I asked softly. The soldier who'd been sitting there looked up, then pulled his helmet off. Alex.

"About four in the morning," he answered. "Colonel finally fell asleep about an hour ago. He's been up all night doing what he can for the injured." He paused and gave me a look. "I wasn't aware he was a seventh fonist... When I asked about it, he said it was an ability he didn't like using, but one he wasn't going to keep hidden if it meant saving even one person's life. He also said something about it being your fault."

I smirked. "Yeah. He would put the blame on me, even though it was technically Asch's fault. Hm... I should look into correcting that sometime..." I said softly. Alex looked confused, but apparently decided not to bother me about it. "By the way... Levi tell you about the fonstone he found south of Shurrey Hill?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah. Said it was pretty damn big. You think it might be the seventh fonstone the Order of Lorelei's been looking for?"

I shook my head. "No. I know where the seventh fonstone is. And the other six are all accounted for... Are we sure it's a fonstone?"

Alex shrugged. "He said there was nothing else he thought it could be, but he also mentioned that there were people milling around it. Black cloaks and hoods, all pretty heavily armed."

"He didn't want to be spotted and attacked," I said, acknowledging that point. "So there's that...So, how's Lissy?"

Alex ducked his head. "She's... Really, really sweet. You should meet her. I think you'd like her, honestly."

I grinned. "I'm glad you two are getting along well."

"Speaking of getting along, who was supposed to take over watch for me?" someone asked, walking over. Alex frowned.

"That should have been Hue. He isn't up yet?"

"I was looking in on Ari..."

The tone of voice, the utterly defeated sound that struck me right where it hurt worst, and the way he was slumped told me everything, even before I reached out telepathically.

Ari was gone.

I stood, stepped over to Hue, and pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry."

He slumped into me, and after running my hand through his hair a few times, I sat him down next to Alex. "I'll take the watch," I announced softly before walking over to the stump the other soldier had just vacated. I'd left my bow with the soldier from my squad who could use it and hadn't gotten it back yet. Then again, I'd been asleep basically the entire time.

Time bled past slowly, and I watched the sky grow lighter with a heavy heart.

Ari was dead, despite everything we'd tried. He was gone, and there was no getting him back. Not at this point. And Hue... Oh, how I felt for Hue. His older brother, the only family he had left, since he'd admitted at one point that their parents had died years before.

"I suppose it was too much to ask for," Jade murmured, stepping up next to me. I sighed.

"We tried. It's not always enough. Akzeriuth was proof of that," I replied. Then I stood. "Well? Are you rested enough, or do I have to put you up on Twilight's back today?"

"I'm fine—"

"Bullshit, and we both know it, Jade. Alex told me you spent most of the night going around, trying to help the healers. You only got a couple hours of sleep, and you hate actually using healing artes, even if you can use them without consequence now," I said, hand on my hip. "Either go back to sleep for a couple hours, or I'm putting you in a wagon with the injured soldiers. I got my sleep, now get yours."

Jade sighed, but nodded in acquiescence. He then turned and walked over to Alex and the other soldiers who were gathered around the fire. He said something quietly and then walked off toward the tents. Alex shot me a look, and I could tell he knew exactly what I'd just done.

I turned back around. I was still on watch, after all, and even if I was telepathic, I didn't like not looking in the right direction. Some monsters were harder to hear than others, after all, and with as injured as a lot of these men were, I really didn't want anything sneaking up on us.

It was about an hour later than Alex walked over with a bowl of grits, scrambled eggs and bacon thrown on top. "Hope it's alright. We don't really have a lot as far as variety goes," he said softly. I shrugged.

"It's food. Better food than I've had the past few days, even, given that we've been eating dried rations in an attempt to avoid wasting supplies," I replied, digging in happily. Wasn't like I didn't like eggs and grits, anyway. "I take it Jade went back to sleep, then."

"Left you in charge. We started getting breakfast ready for everyone... Hue's requested that he be given light duties only for today."

"His older brother just died. To be quite honest, I'm tempted to stuff him in one of the wagons and be done with it," I said. Alex nodded.

"He doesn't look too good, to be honest," he agreed.

"So... Since I'm almost finished eating..."

"Damn, that was fast."

I chuckled a bit at the look Alex was giving me. "Yeah, well, it was good. Lots better than the frickin' rations." I stood up and turned around, head off back toward the campfire. "Twilight, keep an eye on the perimeter."

Confirmation came in the form of a growl, and the silver and violet liger got up and padded over to where I'd been sitting just a moment previously. I put my bowl down next to the soldier who, it seemed, had been stuck with dish-washing duty, before looking around. About half of my men were up and about, with a third of Jade's men being awake now.

"So, who gets to help me tear down tents?" I muttered.

"Colonel Curtiss said Colonel Miles passed away over night. One of the healers has already prepared his body for transport," someone reported. "The rest of the wounded are mostly recovered now, with just a few exceptions. We should make better time today."

I glanced around, double-checking the area. "We're about halfway between the Rotelro Bridge and Theor Forest, yes? If I'm correct, we should be able to get to Grand Chokmah as early as tonight."

The man nodded. "Yeah, but what about the colonel? You were right to send him off to rest—he's been taking most of the guard shifts on the way out here, too."

I huffed. "Of course he did. Erk... I need to knock him upside the head more often, it sounds like. Alright. How many of these tents are empty, does anyone know?"

Alex glanced around. "About a third. Here, want me to point them out?"

I bit my lip. "Point me to the closest three. I'll get started on those. Anyone else who's eaten needs to help. I want us ready to move within the hour, and the idiot that wakes my brother up is getting a frying pan to the head."

Hue actually chuckled at that from where he was poking his breakfast. "Nice to know you don't really change, regardless of the situation."

I scowled. "And you, sir, are off the active duty roster at least until Ari's funeral. Do I make myself clear?"

He gave me a grateful look and nodded, and I reached over and ruffled his hair. He was about the same age as me, honestly, but that didn't mean I didn't see him as a bit of a younger brother myself. To be quite honest, between my memories of Auldrant and my memories of Earth that I got from my doppelganger whenever I snapped back to my body—I'd been doing this off and on overnight for the past few weeks—I felt a good deal older than I really was.

It really didn't take us long to get camp packed up. A number of men watched on, amused, as I lifted Jade carefully and put him in one of the wagons. He needed his sleep, and since my mental presence was the only thing that kept him from snapping awake and shoving a spear in me, I'd gotten that job. Alex didn't dare try it, nor did any of the other soldiers.

Jade was downright dangerous if he woke up in an unfamiliar situation.

Selenia stuck close to Emmett and Hue as we moved, and Twilight kept up a bit of a perimeter. His presence, and the irritated growling he kept doing, was what kept the monsters away. Bandits weren't really deterred by the liger pacing around the edges of our little caravan, but the fact that almost all of us wore the blue uniforms of the Malkuth military certainly did.

It's so much easier to move quickly when you're not being attacked every time you turn around.

Jade woke up again around noon, and after cursing the wagons and then cursing me for putting him in one instead of waking him up when we broke camp, he joined me at the front of the little procession. Everyone gave us our space.

"Selenia mentioned something about Mohs," I said.

Jade nodded. "Yes, though I feel the urge to note that she told me you already knew."

I nodded. "Tales of the Abyss. I think we're a bit ahead of the game calendar... maybe... Unless... Huh, it's Gnome-Redecan, right?"

"The twenty-second, to be precise."

"So we're about a week ahead of schedule, if memory serves correctly... then again, it's been... what, a month and a half since the Absorption Gate? Be wary of traveling Scorers... Thank gods that won't be Sync this time."

Jade frowned. "Was it Ari then, too?"

"No, Frings. Ari didn't exist, as far as I was aware."

"Barton."

"Gerald, technically, but yes."

Jade groaned.

Fun Fact: Yes, Ari's taken Aslan's place for this particular set of events. There is a reason for this. Much as I hated killing Ari, I needed Aslan. Besides, Path's been fun to poke at.