Darkness crept over the now quiet lifeless landscape, Hartley stepped out of the treeline which now had no trees standing upright and headed back onto the aftermath of a main road left filled with craters, potholes and two dead bodies encased in bright silver armor. Hearing hoofs clopping against the soft muddy road Hartley looked up to see four blood stained silver armored soldiers trotting on their horses at a slow pace coming in his direction. The escorts had returned to the scene of first contact where the carriage was ambushed after routing and chasing the team of crossbow men for two or three miles and were now flabbergasted to the see the bodies of their comrades and a scene that resembled a war zone blasted by heavy artillery for hours. They had rushed away before the battle had started with the cloaked man so they had no clue what had happened here.
Hartley now wearing a normal grey robe with his hair in a sweaty mess sticking to his face in clumps asked "Where is Zhi Ruo? is she safe?" "Yes young lord, we held back the ambushers allowing the carriage to pass safely and it headed north with Qin Li on board, they should be safe as long they haven't encountered a second ambush en-route mi lord." the man who had advanced the furthest of the four horsemen thumped his right fist against his left breast in salute as he answered. Hartley breathed a sigh of relief not just for Zhi Ruo's and Qin Li's safety but also the fact that this saga with the dark practitioners was over. He didn't want to be looking over his shoulder for these soul eaters in the future, expecting them to pop up at every turn, he then started pondering where he had seen the old man... Still it didn't return to him so he let it go and dealt with more pressing matters. Hartley pointed at the man who was obviously the leader, "whats your name?" "Yang Yi sir" came a quick response, Hartley nodded at the man and said "well done" Yang Yi then bowed while still sitting on his horse replying "thank you sir."
Hartley then pointed to the two dead soldiers and said "lets bury these brave men before we leave, it's the least we can do for them. When we reach the next province, we will send word back to Viscount Sanzu and have their families taken care of." "Yes sir" all four answered in unison as they dismounted and carried the dead men into a piece of flat land off the main road and found a spot. Hartley who followed behind stepped forward when the men had laid down the bodies, he stomped his right foot on the ground and created a deep crater then walked ten meters away and created another crater big enough to receive the soldiers' body. It took less than ten minutes for the soldiers to perform the funeral rites asking the Holy Matriarch to carry the men safely to the river of reincarnation. Hartley didn't have the heart to inform the men that the dead soldier's souls had been devoured and lost forever, so he stayed quiet until the end.
A light breeze wafted through the windowless white carriage rattling northwards on the dark road, Zhi Ruo hugged herself as she sat on the back seat with tearful out of focus eyes, Qin Li sat on the seat facing her, head bowed with a look of concern. It had been more than a hour since they had fled, Hartley had instructed him to protect Ruo, he was now having second thoughts. He wanted to double back and see what was going on, his mind was conflicted and he was preoccupied with thoughts of the worst case scenario then suddenly he shouted "Ryu Hang, stop the carriage." The carriage decelerated and then came to a stop. Two seconds later a blue flash dissolved into the dark night and Hartley stood at the door of the carriage, Ruo's head swung to meet the eyes of Hartley....crystal tears immediately fell down her cheeks as she rushed to open the door and scampered out. She then buried her face into his chest and released loud sobs. Hartley rained kisses on the top of her head while rubbing his hand through her red hair, he winced a few times but didn't reveal his injuries knowing it would worry Zhi Ruo more. Qin Li jumped from the carriage with a questioning look in his eyes as he looked at Hartley. Hartley nodded and said "its over, we'll camp here tonight and regroup with the remaining escorts when they get here tomorrow then make our way towards the north again." Ryu Hang soon hopped down from the drivers seat and joined the other three in silence just looking and wondering if Hartley really had the strength to kill whatever was back there.
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Three days later a white muddy carriage flanked by four mounted escorts in silver armor, the light glinted and ricochet off the shiny surface of the armor as they entered into the Hagley province drawing quick stares from the passing public. This was a province even more lavish and prosperous than the Wawrika province, it was filled with stone buildings but not as cramped, everything was spaced out and there was still trees and greenery to be seen in the background. Women were dressed in colorful gowns seen only in paintings back in the Waltham province as they went about their daily duties. Men were also dressed in exquisite robes, loaded wagons and pristine carriages streamed in and out of the province, the bustle of this province didn't seem as hectic as the other provinces. People just went about their business in a quiet and reserved manner. Ryu Hang directed the damaged and dirtied carriage up the broad streets lined with red cobble stones akin to a red snake winding through the entire province which had single detached buildings creating an alley way after every building. After an hour they passed a massive building surrounded by a ten meter high wall. The sign on the black double metal gates to enter the front of the building read "Hagley Martial School." They went further into the province before finally finding an inn the size of a mansion. It was a six story light brown building with a black triangular slate roof stretching up making the building look even taller than it was.
The stable boys wearing smart uniforms came and got the horses from the escorts and the muddy carriage whisking them away from the front of the building like they were eye sores that brought shame to the establishment as soon as Hartley and his group entered the building leaving Ryu Hang to pay for the repairs and tip the young men. There were lots of pompous people dressed as nobles turning their noses up towards the ceiling seeing Hartley's current attire. Hartley had no time to even notice as all he wanted to do was rest up, restock and leave after a week. Seven rooms were booked and paid for on the second floor and everyone disappeared into their rooms.