Thankfully, when Yuriko tried the defensive second sword dance, the training blade didn’t gain a deadly edge. She didn’t even want to try the third dance, already sure of the result. Still, she would be hampered from performing well, considering none of them had any additional protective gear.

Yuriko had worn her forceweave clothing to the exams but she saw nearly half of the examinees wearing casual, though still easy to fight in, clothes. Which meant that if she used the first or third dance, she could potentially hurt someone.

She should probably inform the instructors about her technique nullifying the training runescript. The nearest instructor was just a dozen paces away, talking to Gwendith. She started walking towards him when something occurred to her.

Don’t reveal all your secrets. It may save ou--your life.

Yuriko froze as the thought whirled in her mind. Well, she didn’t really need to inform the instructors. For safety’s sake, all she needed to do was not use the first and third dances. They had been given an escort mission anyway. It would help if she had a ranged weapon though. Besides, she was feeling a little vexed with Master Antiga. Yuriko knew that she was travelling off the beaten path but she wasn’t about to give up on her dream without even trying. The instructor didn’t have to keep pushing the point.

Yuriko returned to the table and picked up a training version of a Plasma Lancet, which was essentially a stick about nine inches long with runescript etched along its length. Yuriko channelled a bit of her Animus into it, feeling it form a harmless ball of light that carried an Animus signature, partially hers and partially the lancet’s. Effective range was about thirty paces. She could probably extend that by imparting the proper Intent but that might take more effort and time than it was worth.

She holstered it on her right hip, along with the two side-blades on the left. She glanced about, seeking out the other examinees but they had gone out of her line of sight.

“Ten minutes,” the instructor said.

“Gather round,” Gwendith called, and once they were huddled together she continued. “Our ward is Instructor Gethen over there.” She gestured to Ella-Mai, who carried a crystal tablet. On the screen was a rough map of the Hedge Maze, with the entrance and destination points clearly marked. The route they were to take was also visible, with landmarks and notations, but the rest of the maze was blacked out. There were multiple points along the route where it intersected with another path or looked like it was a junction.

Possible ambush or attack points, Yuriko thought.

“We will proceed with the ward and myself at the centre, surrounded front, back, and sides with the Warders. Strikers, two in front, two in the rear. You and you,” she pointed to Jaidon, and Harlee, the spiky-haired ranged striker, “will take up the rear. Stay within three paces of the Agwain. Peyton, you’re up front.” The Warders were the two boys who were part of her entourage. “Pigtail girl and topknot boy, left and right.”

Gwendith looked at Yuriko and the last striker who was the boy with slicked-back sandy brown hair. “You two are up front. Ella-Mai, stay beside me, and you,” pointing at Marcia, “scout ahead five paces in front of the Strikers.”

“Shouldn’t we have farther ranging scouts or a scouting team?” Yuriko asked “At least as we get to the hot spots.”

“No, too much chance of getting picked off. We stay together and carefully make our way to the destination,” Gwendith shot down Yuriko’s suggestion without hesitation.

Yuriko squelched her protest. Gwendith was the commanding officer here. Still, this formation would mean that they would passively take a beating and they would only spot their enemies once they were already within striking range. Though the rest of the maze was hidden in the crystal tablet, she could well imagine that other routes and gathering points existed beyond. If they wanted to keep the ward safe, it was probably better to prevent the enemies from getting close in the first place.

She said as much but Gwendith’s reply was the same.

“There’s a bigger chance of them getting cut off and taken down separately. We move together. Our goal is to get the ward from point A to point B, nothing else. Now stop questioning me and get ready,” she said sharply.

Yuriko frowned but conceded the point.

“Five minutes.”

They gathered at the entrane to the hedge maze. The instructor stretched his arms over his head and yawned widely. He glanced up at the sun’s position and simply declared, “Begin.”

“Positions!”

Marcia headed up front, followed by Yuriko and the other striker.

“Sommer Blackmore.” he said when Yuriko looked at him.

“Go!” Gwendith yelled from behind.

Rolling her eyes, Yuriko held the lancet on her right hand, while her left wielded a side-blade. She followed behind Marcia at a sedate pace, keeping her eyes and ears wide open. The hedge formed an arc over the entrance and the path inside was actually three steps below the road, such that the walls were just a bit higher than two paces. The path was wide enough for at least three people to walk side by side.

‘I can see why there’s only one Plasma Caster.’ Yuriko thought. It was nearly impossible to have a proper marksmanship battle here. Then again, the entire Hedge Maze was just above a longstride in length.

They walked down the path slowly, nervously. Every odd sound, from the errant breeze rustling the leaves, or the twigs inevitably stepped on by the kids, made Yuriko twitch. Her heart pounded, and her back was soaked in sweat. She tried to keep her Animus circulating in the second dance but that only made her twitchier as her Animus reacted to every stimulus. She wasn’t familiar with the area and with her teammates practically strangers, they registered as threats to her instincts.

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They turned left on the first intersection, which was a clearing with a willow tree in the middle. They followed the path that curved left for a good while before it turned back on itself and they were headed north again.

The attack came just before they arrived at the next clearing. A bolt of purple Animus shot out from above, grazing Marcia’s shoulder. She yelped and jumped, clutching at her shoulders as though it burned. She wasn’t visually hurt but from the tears forming in her eyes, she must have been feeling real pain.

Yuriko shoved the extraneous thoughts to the back of her mind as her Animus flooded to her eyes to activate Enhance Sight. She found the shooter a hundred paces away, prone on a flat-topped boulder. His squad was nowhere in sight, and even as Yuriko looked, he shot another bolt, this time at her.

Yuriko stepped aside, and the bolt passed not an inch from her clothes, striking the cobblestone path behind her.

“Return fire!” Gwendith yelled.

Yuriko was far beyond effective range, though Harlee wasn’t. A bolt of blue light shot out from behind, but it flew several paces wide. The sniper shot another bolt at Yuriko, who took another casual sidestep. Then he rolled back behind the boulder.

“Hold!” Gwendith yelled just as Yuriko started to pursue. “Keep close!”

“But--”

“No, stay close!”

Ella-Mai rushed up to Marcia, who struggled to her feet. The amulet didn’t indicate that she was disabled, so with a sniffle, she resumed her position.

“You’re just going to let the sniper go?” Yuriko asked.

“It’s a plan to draw us out. Keep watch and we continue!”

Grunting in frustration, Yuriko kept a wary eye out. They continued around the boulder. There were trees behind it, and she tensed up, waiting for another attack. When they rounded the centre, she found that there was a path behind the trees, probably where the sniper escaped to. It wasn’t on their route, so they moved past it.

Bzzt!

A bolt of light shot at them when they passed the trail but this time the Warder caught it on his shield. Jaidon shot back, while the rest of the squad sprinted past. Once they were around the trees and boulders, the attacks stopped. Jaiden and the other Warder, Agwain with the grey hair, caught up with the squad. They entered the next pathway, this one a bit narrower and with far more twists and turns--each one a potential blind spot.

Marcia fell back next to Yuriko, nervously looking at the corners. Her weapon, a training spear, was held low, pointed down, as she peered around the corner, ready to jerk back at the slightest sign of danger. She did that for every blind corner, which slowed their progress down significantly. The mission papers noted that they only had an hour to get to the destination. Ten minutes had already passed.

“Ella-Mai, help scout,” Gwendith ordered abruptly.

The shorted girl hurried up to the front and alternated with Marcia in scouting the blind turns. A few minutes passed with no issues but Yuriko felt that an ambush would happen anytime now; they had been left alone long enough.

The next time Ella-Mai looked around the corner, she pulled back sharply. A loud voice came from beyond them.

“Charge!”

Forewarned, Yuriko readied the second dance with the lancet pointed forward, her Animus already forming a plasma--well, a light bolt. The first person to round the corner was one of the examinees, a bulky boy holding a tower shield. Marcia and Ella-Mai nearly got bowled over but they managed to jump out of the way.

Sommer spun his wooden glaive, lighting it up with his brown-coloured Animus. He swung just as the bulky kid came within reach, knocking hard against the wooden shield. The attacker wobbled back and Sommer would have stabbed him if not for a couple more of them rounding the corner and shooting with their lancets.

Yuriko dodged the bolts, returned fire twice, catching one on the torso and dodging the other one. She met the charge of that one, catching his spear against the cross-guard and blasting him on the chest with the lancet soon after. He staggered back and Yuriko lunged, poking him on the chest twice more. His amulet lit up, and he stumbled away with a curse.

Two more appeared behind the attackers, shooting bolts of lancet light down the path. Yuriko ducked down, letting the light fly over her head. She returned fire, catching another on the leg.

“Oof!”

Sommer got bowled over by another examinee while he was occupied with the first one. Before Yuriko could do anything, he got stabbed thrice and his amulet lit up. She danced back, easily avoiding lancet bolts. From behind, a bolt from the Plasma Caster blasted the tower shield guy on his foot. He went down shrieking. Ella-Mai poked his side with a spear a couple more times and he was out.

“Why aren’t the back lines helping?” Yuriko grumbled but a glance in their direction showed that they had been pincered. Three examinees with a spear and shield were harassing Agwain, Jaidon, and Harlee, while their team’s sniper peppered shots at the other two Warders. The instructor was cooly crouched down beside Gwendith while the girl shot bolts out of a lancet at the spearmen.

“Rotter!” Yuriko cursed.

They already had a member down and there were four more in front. Peyton, the other Warder rushed up next to Ella-Mai, blocking bolts from hitting both of them, but it also blocked the path. Yuriko kept one of the attackers busy, threatening her with the lancet while stabbing past the other’s spear.

“She’s too slippery!” her opponent yelled and another spear wielder rushed up in support.

Yuriko shot the girl in the face while she was distracted and as she reeled back, she slipped in under her guard and, two smacks later, another opponent was down. There were six to begin with and now there were three.

“Ahh!” Marcia screamed in pain and bent over, her amulet burning bright. A fist-sized stone hurled from across the path, smacking against Peyton’s shield.

“Come and get it!” Ifra yelled. A couple more stones spun around her torso and she pointed a finger at Yuriko. The spearman in front of her stabbed at her, trying to keep her busy.

Yuriko felt her Animus tugging her to the side and she sidestepped as a rock blasted by her. She shot at Ifra, who used the last stone to block the bolts.

Shaking her head, she parried a spear jab and rushed her target, smacking him in quick succession, over the head, shoulders, and chest. With the addition of Ifra, there were only three left on this side but they’d lost a couple of members too.

“Retreat!” A call came from behind.

Ifra and two other spearmen ran around the corner, effectively out of range. When Yuriko looked back, she saw the Agwain had been downed as was Harlee and another of the Warders, the girl with pigtails, Syeda.

They managed to down four people on that side though, so it was an even trade. The squad was down five members, losing two Warders, two Strikers, and a Scout.

“Move!” Gwendith yelled, dragging the instructor who had an amused look on his face. He gave Yuriko an approving nod as they rushed past. Peyton and Ella-Mai quickly followed.

Keeping to the rear now, Yuriko spared a glance at the downed members. They would follow into the destination later, for the judging. They were at half strength now and she could only hope that they didn’t run into another ambush like this.

She still thought they should have scouted in front, or they should have tried to take out the sniper instead of just running past. Whatever.

They eventually made it into a wider space where they stopped to regroup. Peyton and the other Warder, Alexandros, would guard Gwendith and the instructor. Ella-Mai would range out a dozen paces ahead while Jaidon and Yuriko would be ready to take out any attackers.

“We're halfway there,” Gwendith said bracingly, “we can do it!”

Yuriko sighed. She doubted it, but she could only do her best now. It wasn’t as if she could replace the commanding officer in the middle of a mission. She’d probably get disqualified that way.

Unless Gwendith got taken down.