Ulia was undoubtedly the first person to spot her. Most of the vanguard of the retreat, such as it was, were city guards, with a few citizens who seemed to have come forward to find out what exactly was going on. Of those near the front, only Ulia was in any way a devotee of the God of Eyes, and so it was her eyes that first picked the woman out of the darkness.

That woman had crested over a small hill some distance away, looking like little more than a shadow, and moved immediately to meet the front of the caravan. Long before she could make out any detail about the woman, Ulia had a sense about the woman, that she could see them.

Or more likely, See them. The woman gave off a feeling that Ulia immediately attributed to Xethram.

Ulia urged the others to halt and moved on ahead. The city guards themselves were not exactly tired after the short hike... but neither were they really eager, in the middle of the night, to continue marching on for hours. Given even the smallest break, many of them collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily, and the others started to slow to a halt behind her.

Not ideal, of course, but she had to make sure.

The two women met shortly, both positive that they could see the other's eyes in the dark, if nothing else. There was something to that encounter that was odd, but comforting--for a moment, she knew nothing of this stranger except the depth behind her eyes. She could see tiredness, honor, discipline, fear, anger, and a host of other emotions. She didn't know the woman's name, but she thought she could feel her heart.

"I am Raine, Vicar of Eyes," said the figure at last. "Xethram has sent me to guide you."

"I thought you must be one of his," admitted Ulia. "I am Ulia. I am... close to the Goddess of Blades." She paused, hesitating. How much did this woman know? "I would ask that you prove you are an ally."

The other woman cocked her head, and it took her a minute to think through the question. "My job is to take you to Ryan and Miana. Does that help?"

Ulia let out a long breath. "She is well?"

Raine nodded and smiled, a fact that Ulia sensed as much as saw. "She is worried, but healthy. From what I have seen, she is... not terribly trusting, but I suppose there is a reason for that."

Ulia nodded. "I trust you understand, we wish to keep her a secret."

"Ah... I got that impression, yes. She argued with... with Ryan a bit."

"Then we will follow you. How far do you think we are?"

"Still a day's walk, at least, I think. I don't know; I was brought here by godly power."

Ulia studied Raine's eyes in the dark for a minute, then nodded. "As long as you know where you are going."

"He has shown me the way. You do not need to worry about that."

Ulia nodded and led the young woman back to the group. It was a going to be a hard day, but with the help of the God of Eyes, she hoped that at least the travel would be smooth. Maybe, if they were lucky, the woman would be able to find forage, or predators, along the way. The last thing this disorganized group needed was to be ambushed by wolves, or to have a forced march through their starvation.

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Loi and Chibal managed to end up protecting each other's flanks as they skirmished with the goblins that were attacking the town, but even with all of the blades they had between them, there wasn't much about the situation that could be called a victory.

Loi chewed her lip thinking about it as they pulled back from another fight against the flame-blooded creatures. Even in the rain, cutting one open released a burst of fire that was making them all flinch, and some of the less disciplined blades were getting hurt in the confusion--wounds they could not afford. The real problem, though, was not the goblins--from what Loi understood, they could not survive long on the surface, much less in this cold rain, and were never really a significant part of the invasion. Since the goblins had appeared, Loi had not seen or skirmished with the actual invading army at all. Every now and then, she could see them through the rain, and they remained as imposing as ever--stalwartly waiting, or else searching and probably looting parts of the city they had abandoned.

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Meanwhile, they were getting scared, tired, and the Fallen seemed to be getting weaker.

We should pull everyone back. Loi was not directly pushing that thought to her goddess, but she hoped for some kind of sign that it was the right answer. Her heart gave her none, but her grandmother's sword seemed to pulse with thoughtful agreement.

"We're pulling back," she said loudly. "Spread the word to the others. We can't do any good against the goblins, and the enemy army aren't moving out of the city, yet. We'll rejoin the rearguard. If the army chases us... good, we can give them a bloody nose. But we can't risk getting separated, and they'll need us soon."

The blades in her group looked to her, understanding the orders but not taking initiative, so Loi gave several specific instructions to carry messages, and the rest pulled back. Chibal's group was close enough to communicate with at a shout, so the two of them ended up side by side, watching each other's rear as they pulled out of the city.

"We lost, didn't we," was all Chibal had to say--quietly, sticking close to Loi's side.

"We were going to. I don't think we did." Loi looked around at several of the blades who were also sticking close to her--she was somewhat proud to find that they considered her a leader worth sticking with--but the looks on their faces were all similar. "We were ambushed and escaped. A real loss would mean we had nothing left. Trying to strike back at them was pride, and we should not have done it."

"I do not think it was a waste," said Chibal, before agreeing, "but it must end."

"Do you think we'll survive this?" Loi looked at Chibal, wondering how much to trust the other's instincts. Given the story's she'd told, and story's she'd heard about Chibal, the woman was good at reading people, but they were far from the enemy.

"The situation is worse for the enemy that it seems to us. They thought it would be a slaughter. The moment their plan was broken, they were confused. I could See," she tapped her head, giving Loi a meaningful look, "the enemy in the city, and the goblins terrify them as much as they do us, perhaps more. And then the rain, when the sky was empty. To us, these things allow us to escape. But to them, it seems that the whole world is set against them."

That cheered Loi more than she expected it to, and she exaggerated her positivity for the sake of the others. "You're right," she said. "I just wish we could have turned the situation into a rout, beaten them back... but that's too much. We didn't lose... nearly as much as they expected us to." Loi had to admit that even these circumstances were not nearly enough to make it easier to swallow the goddess' death. "We just have to regroup and cut them off, after we see the civilians safe."

Loi glanced around at the other Blades, and they did seem a little bit cheered. Chibal, though, seemed a world away. As they cleared the outskirts of the city and caught sight of a few guards trailing behind the refugees, Chibal finally took her arm and pulled her aside.

"What do you think of this God of Eyes?" she asked, suddenly.

Loi eyed her new friend. "Not sure yet," she admitted. "Why?"

"I do not think that he can win us the war," she said. "He seems to believe that he is above us, but I am not sure we can trust him. He is not the war leader that our goddess was, and Miana is not ready to do that, not yet. If the Goddess was always behaving as she was for us--leading the armies and empowering her people--then most likely she is all that kept us from losing the war for many generations. I do not know the Generals," she admitted, stopping Loi and forcing the woman to meet her eyes. "but if we do not have a true war leader, a very clever one, we will lose."

Loi met Chibal's gaze, and had to admit that the other woman's logic was sound. "What do we do?"

"I do not know. But we cannot put all our faith in the gods. If we do, we will perish." Chibal's eyes were urgent, unguarded. "This is not a matter of faith. We know Miana. She is clever, but unpolished. And we know Ryan. He admitted his faults and failings, and he is no warrior, much less a war leader. We have no other gods or goddesses to our lands but Alanna, and she is a coward. Faith will not win us this war, Loi Hanalt. Gods will not win us this war."

Loi measured Chibal's eyes for a moment, and nodded. "You're right," she said. "We have to figure out how we can use them to our advantage... but it's up to us."

"It is up to all of us." Chibal nodded. "But too many of our people will look to the goddess. They need to know that she is not going to be able to save us." She paused. "Perhaps not tonight. And perhaps Miana will prove me wrong. But we cannot allow our people to believe a lie if it will destroy us."

Loi nodded at that, but pushed it out of her mind. "Yeah. But not tonight. We'll meet up with her soon, and talk with her. I think she will understand the problem."

"Perhaps." As Loi turned from her friend and started to jog after the rest of the blades, she just barely missed hearing the woman's next words, spoken quietly and drowned out by the rain. "...but I am not so sure."