"Let me present myself again, without interruptions this time. Leader of Menoraz's 37th Advanced Scout Unit, Captain Ruli 'Lilac' Undelave at your service."
Drake's shocked expression at the revelation must have been pretty funny, because Ruli laughed out loud. For a second, Drake thought she was messing with him, but then again, this wasn't the type of information you joked about. Not with General Lilac, Menoraz Kingdom national hero.
"What..."
"First time you broke your 'cold rescuer' facade, Drake. Is it that surprising?"
He just stared at her. No matter how much he looked and scrutinized her face, he couldn't see any similarities. Sure, they both had an active disposition, but that was all.
"O-Okay... Oka... No, not okay! Timeout! What the actual f*ck?! You look nothing alike! No offense."
"None taken. Mother took me in when I was four. I was... Am, the daughter of some close friends of hers, who died during the wild Iferes' rampage of twenty-six years ago. I'm her adopted daughter, if that makes it any easier to understand."
It did. Somewhat. Giving Ruli a once-over that would have made her uncomfortable in any other situation, Drake stuttered, unsure of what to say. His reactions weren't exaggerated, not at all. Everyone in Menoraz knew General Lilac. They studied her feats at school, for the Mystic Iferes' sake. And yet, Drake had never heard of her having a daughter.
"If you are asking yourself where did I come from, don't bother. Mother didn't want me to have privileged treatment in the military. I kept my parents' surname because of this. Even my squad only got to know about that after a few years of working together."
"Yeah, uhmm... Remember when I said you have nothing in common? I was wrong. It's like I can see her talking through you."
Staring at her, Drake corrected himself, to which Ruli laughed even more. He had a feeling his reaction was within the range of what she considered normal.
"Which is why I knew you were sent by her, and that I can trust you. I know how mother behaves, and chooses her people. So, changed your mind about leaving us?"
Scratching his forehead, Drake muttered a curse under his breath. Then, he chuckled. He hated the fact that he had, indeed, changed his mind. However, he couldn't bring himself to say no to Ruli, not after discovering her identity. He had an inkling he shouldn't mention that, though. She didn't seem like the kind of woman who liked to rely on her mother's reputation.
"All right. I don't dare to think what General Lilac would do to me if you told her I left you guys behind. Not that you seem to need much help, but... F*ck it. At least this way I can keep an eye on Holber, and make sure he doesn't do anything that would make me regret freeing your 37th Squad."
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Drake was right on keeping his mouth shut. Ruli hated the most the moment when people's eyes changed after she mentioned her full name. The way they changed their attitudes, and started fawning over her. Why should they despise normal soldiers, but not her, just because of who her mother was?
She laughed it off when Drake's eyes widened at the revelation. She had seen it happen many times, and was used to it. However, deep down she was frustrated. She had grown up amongst soldiers, and had been raised by one, so she was used to following orders, but, as a scout, she was also used to a certain degree of liberty. But now, she had to depend on Drake. Worst, she had to make her team rely on him.
The 37th Squad was weak right now, like never before. In front of a somewhat hostile stranger, like Drake, they tried to pass off as strong, but the truth was they were still shaken by the losses they suffered. The others more than Ruli.
Almost all members of advanced units, whatever kind they may be, had Ifere companions. These companions were 'issued' to them by the military in a very simple and crude, but effective, way. When a soldier joined an elite unit, they were given a newborn Ifere - of the species considered more useful to them.
They weren't asked if they wanted one, neither did they have the option to refuse. It was a task like any other.
No, that wasn't entirely true. They did have a choice to make. They could keep the Ifere, and raise it, or they could kill it. Nine out of ten soldiers kept the creatures, and of them, all ended up becoming companions. Ruli wasn't amongst those nine.
She killed the Ifere, an Amberlli not even two days old. Her mercilessness shocked everyone, including her mother. According to Ruli, the reason as to why she did what she did was because while she would be able to sacrifice other soldiers and Iferes for the sake of the mission, she wouldn't be able to do the same with her own companion. As such, it was better that she did not have one. Whether that was the true motive behind her actions or not, only she knew.
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And so, while the loss of two members of her squad, as well as their companions, still pained her, she wasn't nearly as affected as the others. She didn't feel that heart-breaking agony, as if part of her soul had been ripped out, after all.
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Drake wasn't having fun. He was cold, tired, soaked, and, worst of all, he was sneezing. The nonstop rain that had been pouring down for the last three days also made his newly healed wounds start hurting again. He wasn't sure what was the correlation there, but he knew for a fact that if he was sunbathing on a nice beach somewhere else, he would be feeling much better. He sighed. One could dream.
Another gust of chilling wind hit him, and Drake shivered. The scouts behind him weren't doing much better, but since they didn't complain, he wouldn't.
"Hey, Ruli!"
Yelling over the storm, Drake looked at the blue-coat. She turned to him, hair plastered over her face as she uselessly tried to block the wind that was threatening to sweep her right off her saddle.
"What?!"
"How long before we cross the border?!"
He had to repeat the question a few times before the woman understood. She raised three fingers, meaning that they still had to spend three more days in Lapidum before getting to Menoraz. It was within his expectations, considering they had to maintain a slow pace, both because of the relentless storm as well as the fact a good part of their group was on foot.
Ever since he had that conversation with Ruli, Drake had been letting her lead them, mainly because he now had a lot more trust in her. The many years of experience the soldier had also meant she had been to Lapidum - covertly, obviously - more than a few times, so she knew the terrain a lot better than he did.
"Remember that those f*ckers are at our doorstep, so even after we cross the border we still have to be careful! I don't wanna stumble right upon one of their armies!"
Nodding, Drake urged his Yscalent to go a little faster, so it could clear a particularly muddy stretch of the path. Well, to call it a path was too much. It was more like a trail left behind by a wild Ifere. Gazing at the dark clouds above him, Drake silently gave them the middle finger. Three more days, hum?
...
Drake had a weird dream. On it, he was swimming in a dark blue sea. He saw several huge shadows pass under him, but he didn't feel afraid. They weren't going to hurt him, since they all had the same objective. And so, he swam for a long time, never getting tired.
Eventually, Drake got somewhere. It was a deserted island, except it wasn't deserted. On the golden beach there was a single Ifere. Creatures hundreds of times it's size, so big Drake wouldn't amount to a single scale of them, stopped in the sea a respectful distance away.
Drake didn't understand why. The sleek Ifere, with it's blue fur and dark eyes were the reason they were there, after all. He swam to the beach, and got out of the water. Shaking his body like a wet Lisio, he approached the Ifere, not caring about the sparks that were flying around him, transforming sand into glass.
The creature stared at the human, who boldly stared back. After a few moments, the Ifere shook a claw, and a gigantic pillar of seawater came smashing down on Drake. He continued to look at the somewhat familiar being in front of him, even as he was engulfed by the attack.
"Ugh!"
Gasping, Drake woke up. There were black circles under his eyes, and he was hunched over. Under him, his Yscalent was still inexorably moving forward, even after it's rider had accidentally fallen asleep.
"Mystic Iferes, I hate these kinds of nightmares."
The details of the dream were hazy, and vanishing moment by moment. However, he was sure it had something to do with water and rain, because of course it had. Shaking his head, he squinted his eyes at the sky. Yep, still raining.
Like before, Drake had no idea when they passed the limits between the two kingdoms. He only knew they had done so because four days had already passed, and they had made good progress. And the f*cking rain never stopped.
He had never seen anything like that. It's been over a week now, and it was still raining with the same intensity, if not worse. Yesterday, a member of the 37th Squad had almost been crushed by a falling tree, and a few days before that, a landslide had almost buried all of them.
Looking back, he saw that the blue-coats were in a similar state to him, somewhat akin to zombies. They walked dragging their feet, and their eyes saw nothing but the endless rain. They had long given up trying to hide from it, because it was clear it wasn't going away any time soon.
"If you want to take a nap, no one is going to stop you, you know?"
He nodded weakly at Ruli, who was riding next to him. It wasn't easy to sleep in this weather. If he did so, it was purely out of exhaustion. He really hoped they would find somewhere civilized - and with a roof - soon. He felt like moss was going to start growing in his brain due to the humidity.
"Man, I almost wish you hadn't saved us. At least I wouldn't be wetter than a f*cking... Uhmm... Forget it."
"Yeah, you would be dead instead. Although I agree, especially because of these f*cking... Achoo! Sneezes! F*ck, I hate this! Argh!"
"That sucks. Have you tried drinking water upside down? Wait, that's for hiccups, ain't it? Haha!"
The glare that he threw at Ruli must have held a bit of murderous intent, because the blue-coat shut up almost immediately. Unfortunately, her silence didn't last for long. One thing Drake had learned about General Lilac's daughter in the last week was that she was surprisingly talkative.
"Look at the bright side. We don't have to worry about dying of thirst!"
"Yeah, instead we are going to drown to death. Yay."
He expected a snarky retort to his sarcastic tone, but it didn't come, which surprised him. Over the last few days, he had grown used to these kinds of interactions with Ruli. They used it as a way to take their minds off all the worries they both held.
Raising his head, he saw that the soldier had suddenly made her Yscalent use Boost, and ran forward. Frowning, he clenched his fist, signaling the rest of the 37th Squad to stop.
Forcing his own mount to use the skill, he followed the captain through the forest. It didn't take much for him to catch up to Ruli. She had dismounted, and was kneeling in the middle of nowhere, her head pressed against the ground, not caring that half of her face had been smeared with mud.
"What are you doing?"
"She is listening, idiot. You should do that too."
Glancing back, Drake saw Holber and the other blue-coats. They didn't heed his orders, because why would they? Too worn out to discuss with the annoying scout, Drake opened his ears, but still didn't notice anything unusual.
"Listening to what? All I can hear is bloody rain and thunder."
"That's not thunder. Not at all."
Getting up, Ruli pulled him, and walked in what seemed like a random direction. There was a slight inclination in the terrain, and soon they found themselves on a hilltop. For a moment, it was as if the rain had stopped, giving Drake a clear vision of the fresh hell below him.
"What the..."