Yuriko managed to return to the caravan after a few minutes, though she did have to fend off several obsidian arrowhead volleys. She couldn’t find the elusive Magus this time and she didn’t want to attack with her full arsenal lest the refugees get caught in the blast. So she moved away from the road and teased the attacks by moving slower than she normally did.
Eventually, when the arrowheads ceased, she returned to her convoy, only to find them basically still stuck near the same spot. Other carriages and wagons were in the way, and as it had only been a few minutes, they were moving off the road.
The Steeld legs had some trouble since the earth was a bit soft. Sofia and Juliette, as well as a couple of armsmen, were casting Shape Earth to harden the ground enough so that the carriages didn’t sink into it. They left several grooves from the wheels, and hoof prints that were a couple of inches deep in the process.
Yuriko helped by lifting some of the carriages across the intervening earth. It took another ten minutes before they were clear of the traffic jam, and made south at a respectable clip. It would still take the rest of the afternoon, and probably most of the evening to go past Virtalla.
“What happened?” Juliette asked when Yuriko settled over the lead carriage.
“Rebels are holding the pass,” Yuriko grunted. “There’s also that Magus,” Yuriko nearly spat at the ground before swallowing instead. “The rotter gave me some trouble. It’s the same one from the manor I rescued you girls from.”
Juliette nodded, though her mother looked even more concerned.
“We will continue south,” Yuriko decided. “We’ll head towards the southern pass and move to western Bresia there.”
“That’s not a pass,” Ester Abad said. “It’s the Greyith Strip.”
“What’s the difference?” Yuriko asked curiously.
“The strip is between the Kerromere and the Great Erithmus Lake. It’s also lowlands, not hills.”
“Oh.” Yuriko tapped her lips while the carriages followed the road. “Does it flood?”
“It shouldn’t for the rest of the Season,” Ester said. “But during the Season of Air…the Season of Storms, half of the strip is impassable save for the causeways.”
If Yuriko recalled the maps correctly, at the narrowest point of the strip was the Greyith Fortress, where the armies of Nirlith and Bresia would gather. Though perhaps it would only be Bresia City’s forces as Nirltih should focus on Vallavega Pass instead. As for Briardale City, which had been built around the opposing Academy, it was located on a peninsula into the Great Lake, and the isthmus led towards southeastern Bresia. She didn’t know if that city’s forces would strike from the south considering that Briardale’s forces were mostly naval.
Soon enough, they took a fork in the road that led them southwards. They avoided the same thoroughfare that would lead them back into Virtalla and chose the one that would bypass it. The roads would eventually converge several leagues south of the city, then the choice was to skirt the Vitrovin Forest Conflux or attempt to go through it. The choice wouldn’t be relevant until a few days later, however.
The rest of the afternoon and the early evening were tense, but they went roughly ten leagues south of Virtalla by the time they had to stop. The skies were overcast, even if it didn’t threaten to rain, it cast shadows over the land and concealed the Half Moon. While the road wasn’t rough, it wasn’t all that smooth either. Gaps, potholes, grooves, and loose stones could damage the wheels, the axles, or the Steeld legs, and if that happened, they’d lose more time repairing than if they stopped and resting in the first place.
They moved out of the road and onto a camp spot, a dozen or so paces away. The carriages formed a circle, with the doors facing inwards. Yuriko did a preliminary scout and found most of the terrain clear. They were in a hilly area that had sparse groves. The clearing was wide enough to host all dozen carriages and twice more. There were also half a dozen campfire pits with a way station close to the road. The small building was nothing more than a roof with three walls, and would barely fit three people inside, but the back of it had logs for building a fire.
Once everyone was out of their carriages, they clumped together and murmured worriedly. There were about twenty young women, most younger than Juliette, and about half a dozen matrons, and another dozen handmaidens, probably. A dozen drivers, and about thirty armsmen. Plus Yuriko, Ryoko, and Duke Fluffington. That put their numbers to about eighty-three, a large party by any means.
Thankfully, the carriages had enough space for luggage and supplies to last the trip. If they were able to cross twenty leagues a day, which was honestly optimistic, they should reach the Greyith Strip in a week or so. Probably a bit longer than that since the road didn’t go as straight as a bird flies.
By nine o’clock, the refugees finished prepping their meals. Ryoko handed Yuriko a bowl of stew that she and Ester had prepared. She was also given some hard biscuits to go with the bowl, as well as a mug of disgustingly warm ale.
Ryoko also presented her with a stool and a folding table to eat on, but Yuriko waved her off. “You can use those yourself,” she added.
Ryoko nodded while Yuriko used her Animakinesis to keep her food and drink in control. She ate quickly, and despite the toughness of the biscuit, which was somehow worse than ration bars, she finished everything.
The refugees were wary and weary, but still filled with energy from being cooped up in the carriages for the entire day. The younger girls started playing board games under the light of the campfire, while the ones closer to Yuriko’s age gathered together and spoke in hushed whispers. Sofia approached while Juliette hung back.
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“Professor,” Sofia began, “we…would like to continue training.”
Yuriko nodded and asked, “Do you have your weapons?”
Sofia nodded and hurried towards the carriage, Juliette followed close behind, their faces wore eager, slightly desperate expressions.
Yuriko closed her eyes and examined her Mien. Inspiration would allow her students to improve their learning, and perhaps it would ease the tensions of everyone in the caravan. She had kept Tranquility active the entire time, but the stress of the situation proved too much to easily bear.
Her two students arrived in front of her carrying their rapiers. Those weren’t training weapons, but their actual gear, and both girls shrugged apologetically. No matter, real blades would only make the exercises more effective.
They went over to a clear space, just outside the circle of carriages. Yuriko spread her Anima to light up the space and began the sequences for the Four Phases of the Sword.
The two girls had been focused on their particular elemental affinities, but Yuriko thought it was time to introduce the rest of the Phases so they could incorporate them into their styles.
“Sofia, let’s begin with Sweeping Gale,” Yuriko said. “And Juliette, Flowing Water.”
“Eh, why?” Sofia asked, while Juliette looked thoughtful.
“I didn’t think you ascribed to the Elemental cycles,” Juliette said. “That’s Briarwin Academy’s forte.”
“Hmm, it’s not.” Yuriko said, “But perhaps I should visit Briarwin to find out what they know. The Four Phases of the Sword are just that, four different styles. But they also work well together, and you can take stances and forms from the other Styles to augment your own. I’m not expecting either of you to master all four, but you should have at least a passing familiarity with them.”
Adapting the stances to rapiers wasn’t all that difficult since they were, in essence, swords after all. Sweeping Gale was traditionally practised with greatswords, longswords, or any otherwise long weapon, while Flowing Water was practised best with the sideblade. Juliette’s rapier was close enough that the stances barely changed. However, the resonance aspect of the Four Phases was another matter entirely.
Though both girls tried as hard as they could, there was little progress after an hour’s training. Except for a little glimmer from Sofia at the end, the Wind Elemental energy barely moved there.
It was late and they had an early start tomorrow. They had an audience towards the end, a bunch of curious kids and nosy middle-aged women. The armsmen only glanced at the training for a few moments before resuming watch or getting ready to sleep. Most of the kids slept inside the carriages while the staff slept outside. Yuriko sank into a meditative trance that was almost as good as sleep but allowed her to remain somewhat aware of their surroundings. She sent sunblades out on patrol, and hopefully, the Ennoia-guided weapons would catch anything sneaking up on them.
Thankfully, nothing snuck up on them and they were able to start the day fresh and raring to go. The trek quickly became a boring one moving down the long, winding, country road. At some point, the stone path became gravel, then dirt. It was a good thing that it was the midst of the Season of Fire, otherwise, the roads would have been mud.
A couple of days passed uneventfully. They left the campsite with the light of dawn, then at twilight, just before the Luminous Moon came out, they settled for the night. The Steeld carriages were as slow as she predicted, and a distance that she could easily cover in a matter of hours was taking them days.
There were little signs of raiders, but she wasn’t holding her breath that none would come. Actually, she wanted them to arrive so she could take them out and blow some of her tension away. Training with the two girls had evolved to training nearly everyone else, including the kids, armsmen, and staff. Only the matrons refrained, but they still sat in on the class.
Not everything was about the Four Phases, of course. Yuriko taught the kids how to fight unarmed, and she worked on their physique. Two days wasn’t much but with the Inspiration Mien, as well as the lightning tempering that she used her Animakinesis for…
Well, suffice to say that twelve-year-old Mia Pedrero managed to throw her sparring partner, one of the armsmen who was twice her weight, over her shoulder and followed up with a disabling strike to the groin.
Er, she didn’t make contact of course, but most of the men winced at the sight. The girl practically strutted with pride.
Little things like that broke the monotony, and on the third day, the veered eastward to avoid the Vitrovin Forest Conflux that bordered the Kerromere Mountains and occupied a large slice of northwest Bresia.
The Conflux didn’t look all that much different from other forests, at least, not to Yuriko’s eye. The Wood Elemental energy floating around was thicker, but not that much more than the other elements. The trees were huge, at the very least, but the undergrowth was just as thick.
Each tree trunk was wider than a dozen paces, and the canopy was at least two to three hundred paces above. The rolling hills made traversing the terrain on Steeld carriages much harder, but at least the road was well-marked.
Bird and animal songs provided a soothing melody throughout the day. And now that they had a better idea of how long the road was, Yuriko realised that it would take an extra day or two to get to Greyith Strip.
All the while, the farmlands, and eventually, empty prairies, rolled by. On the fifth day, just as they were setting up camp, something changed to make her mood all that much better.
True Connection finally worked again, and Gwendith answered her call.