Avria let out a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. She picked at the dried blood, still caked in her fingernails and looked at the group of nobles before her.

“My Lady.” Atun said, “The battle is won, but the enemy is not broken. We must consider our evacuation of Vul Dema.”

Avria’s eyes closed, but she remained silent. The events of the day had dragged on through the night. She had spent hours clearing dead and wounded Dae from both sides of the battered and broken walls and now she sat in utter exhaustion. Daniel had survived but was now unconscious in his quarters.

“My Lady.” Atun pressed, his persistence winning him a cold glare from Avria. “Are you listening to me? Our people are exhausted, and I know you wish to contemplate the day’s events… but the time is not now. We must evacuate. It is the only way we survive.”

Avria stood in frustration and stormed out of the room. Her boots thudded on the stone floor as she moved and entered where Daniel was resting. There were several warriors within and a healer who sat beside him on his bed. All in the room looked at her and bowed. Lieutenant Rorick and Jori stood to salute, and she returned it with little enthusiasm.

“How is he?” she asked, her voice dry.

The healer stood and bowed again. “My lady, his body is healed. It was quite miraculous actually. He should have been dead… any normal Dae would have been. But the spirit-sent is extremely durable… and of course his strange power… well, all this to say that he is resting peacefully.”

“Can you wake him?” She asked.

The healer’s eyebrows raised, and she looked at Daniel’s unconscious body. “Well, I believe so. Normally I would insist that we let him rest, but then again… there is much about these spirit-sent that I do not know.

“Do it.” Avria crossed her arms.

The healer put her hands on Daniel’s bare chest and closed her eyes. After several moments of silence, his eyes shot open and he sat up abruptly, nearly knocking the healer over.

Daniel took several moments to orient himself, and he looked at each of the warriors in the room with him. Then his eyes set on Avria.

“Are you done taking a nap?” she asked, her face twisted in frustration.

Before he could answer, she barked. “Leave us.” and the room was cleared by all but the two of them.

“So, I take it we won?” Daniel asked, rubbing his face with his hands.

“Dan, what you did was the stupidest thing I have ever seen in battle.” She snarled. “I asked you to be weary, and told you that you were worth more to all of us alive than dead. Yet you throw your life away on some small battle.”

Daniel sighed and hung his head. “I needed to disrupt their advance. If they had taken the top of the wall, we would have all been killed. I made a choice, and we won the battle.”

“I cannot do this alone.” she said, her stern and obstinate voice cracking for the first time.

Daniel saw her eyes begin to moisten, and he knew she was on her last legs emotionally. She had been through so much since the fall of Vul De Rah. Her entire world had been shaken, and Daniel saw that she had begun to lean on him for support.

“Avria…” he said, shaking his head. “I’m sorry.” He began to remove his blankets so he could stand, but realized he was naked underneath. “Uh… where are my pants?”

“You burned them off.” She said, her face was now completely normal. Any trace of her emotions now gone.

“I see.” Daniel looked around the room for something he could wear. “I don’t suppose you could get me some?”

Avria shook her head. “I will have someone get you some. That isn’t our concern at the moment, we need to talk about what happened.”

“I’m not concerned about it Avria, we won the battle. I know you aren’t happy with what I did, but it seemed to have worked.”

“They will be back.” Avria pressed. “And Atun keeps telling me that we have to evacuate. I don’t want to admit it, but the man is probably right. We need a direction on where we’re heading. Next time the Visgo return, we will be in no position to fight. We lost sixty of our warriors, and many more were injured. We had to bring in your fourth platoon to bolster our inner defense. Your weapons are effective, but our people are still new to them.”

“Ok… slow down.” Daniel began to stand, pulling the blanket around his body to cover himself.

“Daniel, just sit down and let me finish. I need your input.”

“I’m listening.” He insisted, looking through drawers for clothes. “When they come back, we can’t be here. We should probably make our way to one of the other clan territories. They have blocked all of the major paths North, last we heard from our scouts.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” Avria started to rub her chin. “Perhaps the Baa’yega would welcome us. We could work with their warriors to retake some of our territory. I don’t see Alektor moving too quickly now that he has to split his forces. These small raiding parties and war-groups will be of little use against a true defensive force.”

“Yeah.” Daniel lifted a small pair of pants. “You think these would fit me?”

“By the Spirits.” She huffed. “You are being ridiculous. It is just a body, I have seen plenty. Why are you humans so obsessed with covering yourselves up?”

“Ahhh, so that’s why you barge into my room unannounced, or when I’m bathing. For all your talk about how we cover up, I’ve been here a while now and still haven’t seen a naked Dae.”

“Can we finish our conversation please!?” She asked angrily.

Daniel turned in frustration and let the blanket fall to the floor. Crossing his arms, he looked at her in irritation. Avria’s face stiffened, and she ceased all argument. “I’m all ears now. Go ahead, I would love to hear your plan.” He said sarcastically.

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Avria’s eyes wandered over his naked form, but brought them back to his eyes when he snapped his fingers. “Hey! Stop looking at my junk and get to the point, I thought this didn’t bother you.”

Avria growled and turned to slide the stone door open and leave. As she did, she said. “Meet me in my office with Atun and your platoon commanders in twenty minutes. And find some damned pants!”

~

Daniel made his way to Avria’s office after acquiring some clothing. The situation was bad. What else was new? He thought. The battle ended in a victory, albeit a very costly one. He brought his hand instinctively up to his throat where the spear had pierced him. The thought brought shivers down his spine. He had come so close to death, but somehow Avria had saved him.

He knocked on the door and heard a muffled “Enter.” From the other side of the door. The door slid open, and he saw Avria sitting at her desk looking over a stack of papers and scrolls. “Alright.” Daniel said, making his way to one of the empty chairs in front of her. “What’s your plan?”

Avria’s eyes darted through the letters before her, then she glanced up at him. “These are all reports from Vul De Rah. Old intelligence, but still very terrifying to look at.” She sighed, leaning back in her chair. “The noble houses have pledged themselves to Alektor. We’ve lost any hope of a true resistance in the city.”

“Shit.” Daniel picked up the paper, looking at the words, reminding himself he couldn’t read their language. “We need to move. You mentioned Baa’Yega territory. How far is the trek?”

“About four days on foot.” Avria leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk. “We won’t make it. Our scouts are telling us that they have blocked every main road. Which means we will be traveling through dense forest and marshes.”

Daniel’s mind went back to his time in the Marines. He remembered slogging through the swamps in Estonia for a bilateral training exercise with the Estonians. There weren’t any good ways to put it. It sucked. Wet boots, cold feet, misery. “We don’t have a choice. We can’t stay here. They almost broke through last time. If they come with a similar force, we’ll be overwhelmed.”

“I know.” She stood abruptly, placing her hands behind her back. “If only we had stronger warriors. Lokkadonian elite could annihilate these Visgo whelps without so much as breaking a sweat. Instead, we have civilians, and the poorest excuses of warriors of Lokkon I’ve ever seen.”

Daniel reached over to her desk and brought one of her maps to look at it. Vul Dema was at the Eastern edge of Lokkadonia. The forests made sense to him. The last time he ventured into Baa’Yega the trees were dense. “When do you want to leave?”

“I want us to leave tonight. Under the cover of darkness.” She turned to face him. “Be prepared to fight. They’ve more than likely surrounded us.” She paused for a moment, looking him over. “Are you fit to fight?”

Daniel met her eyes then rolled his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. Fit or not, we’re fighting. We’ll kill any of these bastards who get in our way.”

~

The hours ticked by, and Daniel with his remaining platoons organized their egress. The women and children were massed in the center, two platoons on each side to cover the right and left flank. And He, Avria, and the remaining Lokkadonian warriors were at the front. The idea was simple. Move silently and swiftly through the bordering forest and head East to Baa’Yega. Several scouts had reported back that there was, in fact, a blockade of sorts surrounding the village. They would have to punch through; kill as many of them as possible and escape into the darkness without getting overwhelmed.

“Are you ready?” Daniel asked, walking toward Avria mid argument with Lord Atun.

“Yes.” She said, giving Atun a very terrifying look. “We push through. And no more talk of surrender. Remember what I told you. Traitors die.”

Atun’s body stiffened, then he bowed and turned to go to the center of their formation.

“Coward.” She spat.

“He’s a Lord. What do you expect?” Daniel shook his head.

“I expect the sons and daughters of Lokkon to rise with courage and fight these invaders. Not cower and beg for mercy from them.” She drew her blade, signaling the rest of the Lokkadonians to do so. “Our clan will not be destroyed, Daniel. I won’t allow it.”

Daniel drew his own incisor and signaled for the large group to move into the forest.

The air was heavy as they moved. Faint curses and cries from children could be heard, but the discipline they displayed was admirable. The darkness of the forest reminded him of his first night in Pelemont. How the trees and alien world he found himself in brought him a fear and uncertainty he had never faced. But he had come so far since then. He had found his place in this world; found something to fight for.

Ahead, they could see the glimmer of campfires through the trees. There were dozens of them stretching to either side of his vision. Vul Dema was completely surrounded. But this was also a bit of an advantage. They were more than likely spread thin to encompass the entire village. They should be able to break through if they focused all their strength in one spot.

Daniel had taken point, and lifted his hand up, bringing all of them to a halt. He turned and silently made his way back to Avria. “This is it.” He pointed. “There aren’t as many fires this way. Which means there are less warriors here, or a bunch of them are asleep. Either way, this is our spot.”

Avria nodded, then passed the word down the line.

They creeped forward until Daniel could see the outlines of warriors sitting and conversing around the fires. Some were laughing, others eating and drinking. Not even a proper sentry. Visgo was severely lacking. Daniel brought his hand up and began to channel his Dunamis. Within moments, his body was filled with roiling energy, ready to be unleashed.

With a savage yell, Daniel shot forth a massive blast of crimson flame. Beside it was an even larger blast of electricity that screeched as it slammed into the camp of Visgo warriors. An ear bursting boom echoed throughout the night, shaking the ground and trees all around them.

The Lokkadonian warriors bellowed war-cries as they charged into the obliterated camp. Daniel leapt over several burned and scorched bodies searching for any resistance. He scanned the area, glowing crimson with the fires that now burned. He saw a flash of white as a blade swung right at his face. He brought his weapon up and felt the impact in his arms. There were shouts and yells as Visgo warriors came from all sides engaging with the Lokkadonians. Daniel focused on the Dae he now faced. He was injured by the looks of it. Blue blood streaming from a wound somewhere on his head. He snarled and started to swing his blade at Daniel, who blocked the clumsy attacks easily.

Daniel parried a horizontal strike and sliced the Dae’s abdomen open. He had a moment to gasp in pain before Daniel reversed his swing and cut the Dae’s head from his shoulders. He scanned for his next opponent, and saw the crimson cloaks of Lokkadonian warriors overwhelming the Visgo. Then cracks and pops started to pepper the night. This told him the flanking platoons he put in place were being engaged by warriors from the surrounding camps. We’ve got to move, He thought.

Daniel fought two more warriors as he slogged forward. Horns were now blaring in the distance. A call for battle. Shit, we’ve got to move! Turning, he saw Avria blast several warriors with electricity. “Avria!” He yelled over the chaos. “Let’s get the civilians through here!”

Seconds ticked by, agonizingly slow. Each moment there were more and more warriors coming to surround them. Before long, the platoons fortified on either side. Using their rifles to keep the tide at bay, but he knew they couldn’t hold forever. If they got too entrenched, leaving would be much harder. Civilians started to pour through the camp into the darkness beyond. “Let’s move!” Daniel roared, commanding the rifle wielding warriors of his platoons to get up and move. They bounded into the darkness. Squad by squad, one stopping and firing at the Visgo while the others moved, then repeating the process. It was an efficient method of fire and maneuver he learned in the Marines.

Avria ran up to him and grabbed him by his cloak. “They’re through! We need to move faster. It will take them some time to organize a proper chase.”

“Right!” Daniel lifted his hands behind them and unleashed a massive wave of crimson fire from left to right. The trees burst into flames and a barrier was created. “That should hold em for a bit!”

Daniel could hear the terrified cries and wailing of the citizens of Vul Dema as they made their way through the dense forest. It’s gonna be a long night. He thought.