The three temple guards each take off small pouches that were tied to their waists. They open and spread them around so that we all have one within arm’s reach. The Templars then lay down their shields and sheathe their swords. I plunge my hand in one of the pouches to take out a large slice of smoked red meat.

“We took two day’s worth of rations for the three of us, it’ll be enough for all of us to eat today. We get out of the valley and run on empty stomachs tomorrow.” Vikiana tells us.

“There isn’t much point in being silent about what you’re doing to bluff the Rykz.” I say between two bites. “I can’t figure it out on my own but you’ve already said too much. If one of us is recaptured and gives out information, what you’ve told us is enough for Celyz to figure it out on her own.”

“Celyz?” Emffrey asks.

“Princess Celyz, the Rykz that took custody of us.” Yvonne answers for me.

“Why do you want to know?” Vikiana asks me.

“Because if the four of us have the details, it’s possible that we could hit on something that you haven’t thought of on your own yet.” I shrug, uncomfortably.

“Don’t tell us.” Patrick cuts in. “She is an unbound traitor who may have already turned to the enemy.”

“Patrick!” Lady Lance exclaims in anger. “She did not turn and this is the last that I hear of it.”

“The peasant will only slow us down, just like she did before.” I see him shake his head sideways in a corner of my vision.

“We don’t have time to quarrel. It took us two days to make our way around the twins and one more to find your tracks coming out of the mines, we only found out that the Rykz were involved for certain yesterday. I broke my three alarm markers so Master Amand will be on full alert. He knows that I suspected the Rykz but he doesn’t have enough information to convince the Duke to muster the army.” Vikiana explains.

“The Rykz don’t have an army yet.” I tell her.

“We saw the eggs, yes. There are also at least fifteen thousand scouts and five thousand warriors present in the area.” Edward speaks up. “In nine centuries of records, a Rykz Queen was never seen venturing anywhere with less than that.”

“Then… Celyz will give them the order to attack as soon as she knows we escaped.” I utter slowly in realization. I hope Father will stay safe.

“I’m sorry to say that this Queen may have even more soldiers at her disposal. When described, in our records, Rykz Queens are said to be ten to fifteen meters tall when fully extended. The humongous size of this one is a first. But the Empire has never had the opportunity to observe a Queen as it lays eggs before now so there is much that is still unknown.” Edward explains.

“If we manage to pass along the information that the Rykz are here, it will already be a victory for us.” Lady Lance speaks up but her eyes avoid mine as I turn to look at her. “Jessica has found out that they’ve planned to attack right after the fields have been sown, they want to steal our harvest.”

“Pheromones.” Vikiana throws in my direction all of a sudden.

“What?” I ask.

“The Rykz communicate by using pheromones. Queens and Princesses can speak to each other but the other Rykz depend entirely on their sense of smell to communicate. After two centuries of studying their fallen soldiers, the University has learned enough to extract the substance out of their glands. The process is difficult, expensive, and very secret. I may lose my title just because I took a case without permission.” She pauses. “It won’t be a secret anymore after this stunt, the Rykz aren’t so stupid that we can use the same trick twice without them figuring it out.”

Twice. The first time had to be when they took Celyz’ sister and provoked the Silver Hive to retaliate by coming here. I better keep my mouth shut. I don’t want to give them any more reasons to doubt me and this isn’t relevant.

“So you have a pheromone on you that tells them you’re friendly?” I ask.

“Yes, but we only had the single vial. The other vial is a pheromone that will wipe us clean of their markings. When you kill a Rykz, there is an enemy pheromone that is released. That’s why I stopped these two from approaching… Joan.” The Exemplar’s pause is filled with emotion. “We had to abandon our rations and extra weapons because of that fact.” She shakes her head in regret. “But the pheromone we need to be very careful of is the tracking one, it sticks to you and slowly diffuses itself in the ambient air. There are stories of Rykz scouts tracking their preys endlessly for weeks.”

I take another slice of red meat out of the pouch. No one else picks up the conversation so I start thinking in silence.

If they use that pheromone wiping vial on us all later, then I could take a boat in Meria and sail around the Izla to reach Father. I won’t have any markings left on me so as long as I am careful and avoid detection… It’s possible.

Both Yvonne and Lady Lance said they would help me, as long as they can clear my unbound issue… A boat shouldn’t be too much to ask for.

My Lady remains distant. That Templar’s death could have reminded her of when I lost my arm. I just need to be patient, we’re so close to making it out of this valley.

“Viki. Battle formation.” Emffrey speaks up.

“We can just do the usu… Right. Fuck. Joan.” Edward swears.

“The two of you take front-line, I’ll skirmish from the center.” Vikiana gives her orders out. “Leomi and Yvonne will cover the sides, Patrick and Jessica take rear-guard.”

“I don’t have a weapon.” Patrick says, waving his empty right hand.

“Jessica, give him your weapon and take my shield.” Vikiana takes the kite shield off, handing it over to me.

I pass the iron bar over to the Lordling and accept the shield, I pass my forearm inside the leather straps but it feels like they’re too loose to fit me correctly so I put the shield on the ground and adjust them. Once done, I shake my arm a little without taking hold of the handle, the shield holds to my arm relatively well on its own.

We all get back to our feet, forming along the Exemplar’s orders. I grip the shield’s handle tightly inside my palm, thinking that I would rather have a large weapon like a hammer or a harvesting scythe.

The group makes its way down the hill, keep the formation loose as it advances so that we don’t trip over each other.

My Lady doesn’t turn to look at me even once in the next few hours that pass. Her head turns sideways to avoid looking at me a few times but that could just be her checking our surroundings.

I suppress my anxiety as best as I can. All the steps that our relationship took in the last couple days aren’t something we can back away from so easily. At least I can’t. Why does it feel like I’m back to square one all of a sudden?

“Stop!” Vikiana barks the order.

The group holds and the others tighten the formation, I hurriedly imitate them.

“Front, slightly left, that cliff.” She adds.

Our heads turn all at once. I use a trickle of flow and boost my vision with an enhancing construct. I find Twenty figures in front of the cliff, I recognize them as Rykz because of the distinct shape of their body.

The four legs attached to the lower trunk and flat head attached on top of the upper trunk are both unmistakable characteristics. They are standing to either side of a barely distinguishable stone gate in two groups of ten.

“Scouts or warriors?” Lady Lance asks.

“Warriors, I see round shields in their hands.” Vikiana answers.

“We can pass by them without trouble, right?” I ask, worried.

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“It shouldn’t be a problem unless there’s a Princess.” Emffrey replies.

“How likely is it that there will be one?” Yvonne asks.

“Very. This tunnel must exit on the eastern side of the mountain, relatively close to Meria. There should be a Princess to command their operations in the sector.” Vikiana says. “But luckily, she isn’t on this side so we can slaughter this group here and deal with what’s on the other side without worrying about our backs. Let’s go.”

I take deep breaths to prepare myself, my heart-rate accelerates the closer we get to the warriors.

“They’ll unsheathe their weapons when they spot that our blades are out, but don’t be alarmed because they won’t strike first.” Edward says.

“Keep to the formation, we’re lodging ourselves in the middle of the left group and striking to kill. Make sure you don’t waver and hold your positions because we’re letting them come to us once the fight truly begins.” Vikiana orders.

I follow along and do my best to keep my position in the formation. The events that follow seem surreal to me, the Rykz warriors turn towards us as one and take their sabers out of their scabbards. Their three-clawed hands grip the odd bulbous handles of their weapons in what seems to be a threatening manner to me.

But they just let us pass without doing anything else, some of them even stepping aside to give us space. We take our time to arrange our formation in such a way that Emffrey and Edward, our front-liners, face towards the group of ten warrior Rykz to our right. I activate the strengthening construct I assembled earlier today and add a good third of my energy reserves to it.

Each member of our group is standing close enough to a Rykz warrior that they could touch them if they extended their hands. I grit my teeth together, expecting the order to attack to come at any moment, I plan to slam the shield into the Rykz in front of me and make it stumble towards another warrior to hopefully disturb both.

“Now!” Vikiana yells out.

Her order catches me by surprise because I had expected her to order us to prepare lion strikes. But when I see the Rykz react instantly by lifting their shields when the others raise their weapons, I understand that they interpret our preparations to attack as aggressive actions. It just wasn’t an option.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

I shudder as their breathing cries fill my ears once more after so long. I hurriedly slam the kite shield I’m gripping into my target’s large round shield, the Rykz absorbs the impact by taking a few steps back. It then turns to me and raises its saber.

I lift my shield over my head and block the blow, such a heavy strike that my knees bend under me. The creature immediately follows up by using its own shield in the same way I used mine, to shove me backward with a frontal slam.

I stumble, losing my footing and starting to panic. I lift my arm and activate the idle lion strike construct, I project the shield downward like, using its edge as a blunt weapon that I aim at the warrior’s flat head.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

My attack is intercepted by the Rykz’ saber, but the strength behind it makes the creature take a few steps back and I hurriedly retake my position in the formation.

I hear shouts and calls for support all around me but I am already swamped holding a single warrior back. I catch a glimpse of Patrick crushing one of the warrior’s head with his iron bar.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

The Rykz in front of me lifts its saber once again, but before it can assault me again, a silhouette flashes past my left side with incredible speed to ram into the warrior. I watch, baffled, as Vikiana pulls her sword’s blade out from where she stuck it under the creature’s armpit.

Seriously? The Exemplar moved her entire body with a speed equivalent to what can be achieved during a lion strike. How much harder is it to do that with your whole body instead of just a single limb?

I look around, finding Patrick engaged with another Rykz. I hesitate, I could trip him up… There’s no way that would go unnoticed but I don’t have to help him. I turn away.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

Lady Lance is behind me and to my left, engaged with a Rykz. I spot the other group of ten warriors, they’re about to impact our front-liners, Emffrey and Edward.

I don’t worry too much about that because the two Templars have already dispatched of five Rykz who now lay dead in front of them. I see them adjust the angles of their shields to receive this new wave.

I charge the creature fighting my Lady, slamming my shield against its flank right where the upper and lower trunks merge together. My blow has the effect of cutting the creature’s breathing cry short, just as it was starting to utter one in sync with the others.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

The opening I created is enough for my Lady to smash the Rykz’ head to pieces with her iron bar. I throw a worried glance at her stomach when I spot a small blood stain spreading around a rip in the fabric of her shirt. I look closer and the gash seems superficial despite how much it bleeds.

“Jessica, focus!” She snaps at me.

I shake my head and retake my position in the formation, filling my spot just in time to stop a Rykz warrior from taking advantage of the hole in our line. I do my best to absorb the creature’s saber strikes and shield slams without crumbling but it isn’t easy.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

Each blow is heavy and grinds at my endurance, weakening my ability to keep steadily standing. I am so short that most of the Rykz’ strikes arrive at an overhead angle and I am forced to absorb those strikes with my legs.

The regular impacts accumulating on my shield create a downward pressure that has enough weight to it that my left knee starts buckling more and more with each shock. I’ll lose all maneuverability if I let it push me so much that I am forced to kneel.

I try to re-position my leg but my timing couldn’t be any worse as the creature’s shield slams into mine at the same time as I lift my left foot off the ground.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

I’m sent sprawling with my back to the ground, stunned. I hazily watch the warrior raise its saber at mid-height to deliver a swift blow towards my knees.

The saber starts descending. The sight is horrifying to me because I know that I won’t be able to move in time to avoid the blade. Clink. An iron bar appears in front of my legs just in time to divert the blow towards the ground. I sigh in relief, hurriedly getting back up on my still shaky legs.

“Thank you, my Lady.” I throw towards her back as she angled herself to face her opponent.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

She exchanges a few blows with the warrior, giving me enough time to both gather myself and walk around her to find an angle of attack that can throw the creature off-balance. Our first attempt at a simultaneous strike doesn’t succeed because the Rykz avoids us by trotting backward on its four legs.

My Lady advances and smacks the warrior’s saber away with her weapon. It creates the opening that I need to rush it and slam my kite shield against the creature’s round shield, locking them together.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

We engage in a contest of strength that I steadily lose because of my fatigue, but I simply allow it to push me back. Within three seconds, my Lady lands several blows and a lion strike that breaks its shoulder because the creature paid too much attention to me.

I hear the bones shatter under the iron. I use my shield once more to keep the Rykz too busy to hinder my Lady’s attacks. She lands a second lion strike that crushes the warrior’s flat head.

I throw quick glances around, the silence that now reigns over the battlefield is destabilizing as there were people shouting and Rykz making breathing cries just a few tens of seconds ago.

There are dead Rykz spread all around our group and pools of viscous brown blood have begun forming around the cadavers. I turn my attention to the state of my companions, even Patrick.

The Lordling is holding his left hand under his right armpit, I see blood dripping from it. Yvonne has a mean gash on her flank. Vikiana is uninjured and barely dirty, only a few stains of brown Rykz blood that splashed over her.

Emffrey and Edward are also unharmed but their kite shields have taken serious damage. The latter’s is in especially bad shape as the wood seems to only be held together because of the metal strips in its backing.

I turn to my Lady and open my mouth to inquire about the gravity of her wound, but she turns away from me without giving me a single look, not a single hint to help me understand her sudden change of behavior towards me.

I swallow my pain and anger towards the treatment to check the state of my own kite shield. The golden lion head that adorned it so proudly before is in pieces as the wood was sliced to pieces by a dozen saber strikes.

“You can take their shields.” Vikiana raises her voice to speak to the entire group. “It isn’t too difficult to hold a grip over those ball-like handles thanks to the straps but the sabers are useless because you would risk them slipping out of your hand with every impact.”

I slip her shield off and hold it out for her to take but she waves her hand sideways in refusal, picking up one of the Rykz’ shields for herself. I follow the example, choosing one of the round shields at random since none of them seem to have suffered more than very light damage.

I slip my forearm in the leather loops and grip the bulbous handle. It is a bit large for me despite the fact that my hand and fingers aren’t slender like my Lady’s. It’s still manageable for a shield with the straps helping.

“We can alter the handles with a merging construct.” Edward suggests.

“We’ll need every drop of flow that we have to escape, we don’t have horses to rely on anymore.” Vikiana rejects his idea so quickly that it is obvious to me that the thought of it occurred to her but she decided against it.

“Does anyone have a sewing kit?” Patrick asks the group, holding out his left arm.

I take look at his hand. There is only a thumb and an index finger left attached to it. The other three were sliced off, along with half his palm. I shudder at the sight, it reminds me of my own wound.

None of the tales and legends that I heard as a kid have ever mentioned how common mutilations are during battles.