Scene Three: Encampment of the Raiders

"Well, here we are."

Will reaffirmed himself with a quick glance at the map, using a small fairy light created by Lusari's Starlight. He nodded again, whether to confirm to himself or the rest of us. I glanced over his shoulder, but I couldn't see how he could tell. It was just a map of Harohto with a red circle for us, a blue circle for the camp.

Either way, I could see the camp through the trees. Logging and clearcutting marred the hills like old scars, and dark tents sat like sores in their stead. Some clumped quite close together, some even pitched onto one another in a form of chaos only raiders would abide by. Even though Mosten confirmed a large chunk of their forces left before sundown, it still looked like hundreds of men and Pokemon swarmed the camp, squatting around campfires with weapons in their lap, or else strutting around like they owned the place. I spotted many eerie Pokemon, from a warbling Toxicroak that currently tore into some kind of meat, to a tall, lanky Cacturne that sauntered through the field, grinning ear-to-ear. Pikes stuck out of the ground every few feet, bearing nondescript black flags that hung listlessly n the windless night. As we watched, a raider Heatmor rowdily jettisoned flames all around, several catching on black flags or tents. Raiders rushed to put out the flames, clambering over one another in their effort.

"Stupid bastards," Sira muttered angrily, but she chuckled. "If we left them, might cook themselves alive."

Mosten laughed quietly. "If only."

I shuddered a little, wrapping my cloak tighter around me. A wintry chill started to settle in. I longed for the warmth of the campfire Will made in the Old Forest, safely under the protective boughs of a great oak. Now, though, we just squatted in the cold trees, waiting for the signal. Only Sira looked warm, like the promise of a fight filled her veins with fire.

A Murkrow cawed loudly near us, and I jumped a mile. My hand went to my wrist in wariness. Snacks mewed quietly at me, batting my leg with her head. She seemed to be extra attentive since I spilled the beans to Will and Sira the other night, constantly keeping watch over me. Glimmer might not know what went on, but she still sat near me, watching me with her big black eyes. What I wouldn't give to have a wool coat of the same quality right now. Glimmer did seem to sense an impending fight, though. She had a different energy around her in battle, a cool confidence and readiness that I similarly envied.

A ways down the hill, at least two dozen men and their Pokemon began to make their way up the hill. A couple sat on Blitzles, their manes crackling in the might. One raider, at the head of the little escapade, sat on a larger Zebstrika, its eyes trained forward. A whole host of Pokemon occupied the scouting force. A pair of Mightyena sauntered along, heads low. A warbling Toxicroak traipsed behind them, the big sac on its throat swelling with each breath. At least four Ariados scuttled along at the flank.

This close to the main camp, we had to act quickly and quietly. A stray scream could alert the whole camp.

Will hand-signaled the air. I thought nobody else would see it, but the resulting sound of quieted footsteps followed. The soldiers and Pokemon around us shifted, crouching in the trees on either side of the path. Will drew his lance as noiselessly as a natural part of the night, Valor, Rocky, and Blaze already out and crouched at his side. Sira followed suit, drawing Sinistra, having no need to hush her well-trained team. I tried to mimic their stealth as I drew my bow. The bow clipped against its holster, the string twanged quietly, the arrow slipping from the quiver slid against all the others. Even these telltale sounds fell dead to the night, Snacks giving me a look. Lusari knelt next to me, her staff in hand, both her Pokemon out. There was a determination in her eyes I hadn't predicted. Starlight radiated power at her side, the little Pokemon's eyes trained on the squad approaching.

The sound of hooves and footfalls drew ever closer, until it finally crested the hill, and the sounds flattened as they reached less turbulent ground. One of them jeered about some woman he'd had his way with that day, and the rest laughed like Mightyenas.

I didn't anticipate Lusari's reaction to the jeering until a burst of ice-cold energy shot past me, as silent as the wind. It struck the cackling raider in the chest. He let out a shocked cry, tumbling off his Blitzle in an attempt to knock away the ice growing across his chest.

I flashed Lusari a surprised look. Her chin kept stubborn even as a tear or two stained her cheeks.

The fallen raider didn't utter another sound – forced from hiding, Leif leapt from the trees, burying his sword hilt-deep into the raider. He was the first into the clearing, and he straightened, looking the raiders and their Pokemon the faces, and smirked.

One of them raised his hand and was about to shout, but something struck him in the throat – a watery shuriken from his Frogadier, Riptide. A second later, Sira's mighty sword broke through a man next to him, cleaving him seamlessly in two. Infernix lunged past her, dragging the Toxicroak to the ground by its throat.

A huge black-and-blue Pokemon lanced out from the darkness, tearing into both Mightyenas with its blade-like flippers – Mosten's large Empoleon, its tiara-like mask glinting in the dim moonlight. Mosten himself rolled in behind his Empoleon, running his sword through another raider. Will vaulted past with his lance, neck-to-neck with Valor – they broke off and impaled two different targets in unnerving unison. Alex sprang out of the shadows with Violet, who latched onto a raider's face and pummeled them with her fists until Alex ran the raider through, following them to the ground. I thought he looked proud at first, but then he looked down at the crumpled enemy on the ground, and ghosts appeared on his face. Had Will's young friend ever actually killed before?

Then, in planned rhythm, Lusari and I breached the open with our teams. My first arrow kept startlingly true, dropping my first target with no greater sound than something like a twig snapping. Snacks and Glimmer darted out as one, and Snacks phased into her Vaporeon form, blasting a pair of Ariados with a stream of high-powered water. Glimmer followed up with a quiet 'baa!' and shocked the dampened Ariados, bringing the unsettling spider Pokemon to the ground.

When I darted out into the field, my gaze passed over my fallen target – a dirty, rugged young man hardly older than me, a scraggly beard on his face. His lifeless eyes stared up at me with accusations.

I tried to force myself into a mental armor. We'd already known the raiders were a ragged lot, forced to steal and kill to make it. It didn't excuse what they did. This man laughed about forcing a woman to their will. They all did. For all I knew, this man could've been the one who killed Lusari's father. Even if he didn't, he'd probably played some part in the raids that killed innocent women and children, robbing others of their hard-earned food.

Either way, he'd taken more lives than he was worth. That number remained the same for all: one. And now, I had taken two.

The sounds of battle around me carried out as quietly as if we were on a field of pillows. Not one raider uttered another sound as the soldiers pursued them. Pokemon dispatched Pokemon – not many soldiers, or people in general, felt comfortable killing the race that stood at our side through so much. The soldiers were fair game, though, and many of our allies sought judgement with a vengeance, no doubt in the name of lost loved ones.

Leif impaled another man on his blade while his Frogadier, Pidgeotto, and Dartrix fought as well as him at his sides. Frogadier's watery shuriken always dropped their target, just like Dartrix's feathered arrows. Pidgeotto tore into an Ariados, its sharp legs twitching in the air.

A raider tried to swing at me, but Embera's venomous talons ripped through the man's back, resulting in wounds that immediately sizzled and popped gruesomely. When the man's mouth opened, Sira's sword ripped his head asunder, and I had to turn away.

Blaze and Rocky worked together to drag a Mandibuzz down from the sky. Behind them, Will's lance pierced through a raider who thought to ride away on a Blitzle. I thought the raider lived until the Blitzle galloped, and the man toppled off like an abandoned puppet. Shadowfang lunged in from the darkness, ripping into the Blitzle.

Snowball unleashed a burst of ice that struck another raider in the chest. While he stared down, unable to stop himself from freezing over, Starlight psionically picked him up and threw him onto an upturned sword.

Quickly losing my self-proclaimed mental armor, I loosed an arrow with no real target, my head spinning. It sailed into the path of a running raider, grazing a jagged cut down his arm. He could only utter a gasp of pain before Leif dove in from the cover of darkness, finishing the man in a single strike.

I turned away to see Infernix ripping into the Toxicroak he'd killed, spraying acid and blood everywhere. Glimmer overwhelmed a Mightyena before Mosten's Empoleon crashed into it. Sira's sword ripped violently through another raider. Snowball turned a wounded Crawdaunt into an icicle, only for it to be caught on the tail-end of Empoleon's brutal swing.

It took a moment for me, dazed and spinning, to realize the brawl was over. A Staraptor, one of our soldiers', ripped into the mighty Zebstrika. Snacks reappeared by me, shifting back into an Eevee. Blood stained her rich coat, but a quick check over her proved it wasn't hers. Glimmer reappeared with a glorious 'baa!'. Feeling sick, I called her back and picked up Snacks.

"All in a day's work," Sira muttered, dusting off her hands. "What was that, a few dozen? A good chunk of their force. What next?"

"I'd think that's time to drop yer weapons."

For a moment, I thought the second voice belonged to one of our soldiers, until I saw the steel glinting at Sira's throat. She cleared her throat, annoyed, as a man appeared from the shadows behind her, guiding her by a weapon to the throat. I felt cold steel appear at my own neck, and straightened.

We were surrounded.