As the now significant-sized group was running through the island’s fauna with renewed zeal as the prospect of nearing home and safety gave them the final push needed for this entire operation, the group was led by Layla and now the new companion known as Asta, a striking beauty as the rest of them Max thought, though this one did have a distinct air around her, a much more mature and commanding presence, he assumed she was someone important or perhaps was.

As they ran Layla looked forward avoiding brunches and any obstacles that came her way, but it did not stop her from questioning Asta “How much further from here?” she remembered that she had given the order to move the ship to a more suitable location after dispatching everyone around the cluster of islands.

“Not much, we need to pass this island and an additional one further ahead, the island connected to it is the one we docked Solium at” Asta for her part did not change her expression as she answered, her answer was clear and direct, many people have called her ‘cold’ in the past but she did not mean to appear like that to others, that was simply how she was.

Layla looked for a moment behind her and saw that the group even without her instructions took similar positions as they did before, Max was in the middle surrounded by various soldiers from various groups, she wondered for a moment what they all thought about this situation, they were never told the truth about him and they will never know as long as she has anything to say but this did make the situation a lot more complicated for them, after all, they are all risking their lives for a single one, one that they know nothing of.

Zindah was to the far left of the group looking ready to jump on anything that appeared next to her as her own girl was running next to her, Estelle was at the far back, after all these years Layla knew that she could leave her back to Estelle anytime and that she’ll never fail her, as for Marcus, she did not know much but from what she could see, he was an excellent fighter and loyal, at least to Max and that was enough.

Turning forward again just before they passed the first island and jumped across as it was so close you could say it was more of a chasm that led to the harsh dark sea below instead of being its own island, and on this island the scenery was different.

Again that smell… the same one she has been smelling all night… blood.

She saw ahead several bodies on the ground, some with deep cuts, one had his head bashed in so hard parts of his skull were spread next to his squashed brain, blood ran deep on this island as well, and she could tell that there were more bodies in this location but that some were drugged somewhere, from the looks of it, it was towards Solium that meant it was friendlies.

More dead friends and subordinates.

She raised a question without looking “your doing?”.

“What we could” Asta admitted “It was probably an ambush, we took the bodies back” There was a pause before she continued “It was the least we could do”.

Confirming her fears Layla’s face was illuminated by the moon, as the gods watched her determined look forward knowing that she would not fail her master, and would never be called weak again.

But the moment was abruptly cut short as an explosion could be heard and the island shook violently for a second causing the advancing party to stop dead in their tracks.

“What was that?!” Estelle shouted in the back, helping an injured soldier who lost his footing.

Meanwhile, Zindah’s and her companion’s tails and ears perked up from the sudden sound, Zindah herself meowed her frustrations out for being cut off guard.

It was Marcus who noticed the smoke that arose further ahead “Over there” he pointed drawing the group’s attention to said direction, they could see what looked like smoke in the distance that was illuminated for a few moments before it grew dark again.

They could see flashes of various lights from that direction, and the sound of weapons and magic, for the elves and felines in the group the wind carried another indicator, the screams of the dead and injured.

The sounds of battle… and it was coming from the island the Solium was docked at.

“We must hurry! Let’s move!” Layla commanded as the group shook themselves off the shock and sped up towards their ship.

When they came to the edge of the brush that obscured their vision of what was happening the group slowed down and pushed past it, the sight that greeted them was absolute chaos.

The plateau of the island had become a sprawling battlefield, with multiple skirmishes between allies and enemies scattered across the area, the Solium was docked and attached to the edge of the island by some rope and what looked like a draw bridge, it was located to the northwest from their position and between them the chaotic battle with no lines or organization.

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Now the group could see that the light they were seeing was the enemy ranged combatants that were pining their allies next to the bridge of the ship, raining spells arrows, and bullets their way, meanwhile, they were getting reinforcements from the forest, additional enemies joined the fray as if spawning out of the brush itself, soon they would overwhelm Layla’s forces and make it to the ship.

“They dare attack the ship like this?” Asta commented, surprised there were still people in this world brave enough or stupid enough to attack an airship with only infantry with no air support of their own.

“They probably assumed we wouldn’t open fire on our own” Estelle answered her as she clenched her hand into a fist “Cowards!” she said with spite in her voice.

Layla’s face grew cold as she knew they couldn’t afford to lose their airship, as it was the only way off these dammed islands.

“We must…” she began but before she could continue she was interrupted.

“Wait”.

She knew the voice well even with the mask he wore so she turned around and looked at Max who now drew the attention of everyone in the group as he stepped forward and was now overlooking the battlefield.

He crossed his arms as he continued to look at the battle and what was happening, he could see that the enemy was far outnumbering their own forces and it looked as if they were trying to get to the ship, but then why did they send so little of their forces onto the battle and instead feed themselves to the slaughter a little at a time, he continued to analyze the battle and saw the position of all the small battles that were happening at the same time, his mind focused and was clear, he spared only a moment to his own thought that this was the first time he felt his blood pumping truly though his body.

“They’re buying time” he said under his breath ‘but why’ he asked himself, unfortunately, he did not have enough information to make an educated guess, so the only guess he had been left with was that they were waiting for him.

“If we simply join the battle we’ll simply add to the chaos” he highlighted the need for this pause as he was sure the rest were eager to join the fray.

“Zindah” he called out, when she heard her name her ear twitched in response and she took a step closer to him.

“Over there” Max pointed towards the enemy ranged units “I want you to take some of our forces and go take care of them, ignore the rest for now and just focus on shutting the ranged group” he crossed his arms again as Zindah looked on the battlefield “once you’re done with them make your way to the ship, we’ll reorganize and counter-attack the rest, understood?”.

As he finished his explanation Zindah grinned menacingly and nodded “yes”.

“Estelle, Marcus” he began again this time he pointed towards the ship’s bridge that connected it to the island “We’ll take all the injured and ranged combatants with us, we’ll make our way to the ship, we should avoid as much combat as we can, stay close to the edge and move fast” he crossed his arms again.

“Once we reach the bridge we’ll help the defenders there and form a semi-circle with our own ranged forces and focus on supporting the rest of our allies and pinning down as many of the enemy as we can, I want this done fast because we need to secure the entrance to allow the wounded to evacuate”.

As both Estelle and Marcus listened to the plan they both nodded “A sound plan lord commander” Marcus said.

“Indeed” Estelle nodded taking a step forward and putting her hand on the hilt of her sword.

Another explosion in the distance sounded as an enemy caster attacked a group fighting close to him managing to hit 3 of the allied fighters but in turn, he also managed to kill or injure at least 8 of his own allies and yet he shot again looking as if it meant nothing to him, as it meant nothing to the rest as no one stopped nor did anything about it.

This was in complete contrast to Layla’s forces that with every new injured man in the group, those that were close came to their aid and defended them, working together in order to survive, this was probably why they managed to hold against such numbers Max thought.

“Layla, Asta” he called to the last two “I want you to take the rest of our forces and join in the main event”.

Layla continued to look at him as Asta nodded to his words.

“Stay close to each other and help any of our allies to fight but do so in tandem, focus on individuals as much as you can, anyone that can still fight effectively should join you and assist the rest, anyone who is too injured send him back to the ship they’ll help with the defense there, but be careful the most important part is not to separate from the rest of the group, pick your fights and outnumber the enemy as much as you can”.

As he finished explaining to her and Asta, Layla came closer to him now standing to his right, she turned and looked at him seeing his profile from where she was standing with the night sky and the edge of the island in the background, in that quick moment she forgot about her past with him and instead it felt as if he was with her all this time and he never left her all those years ago.

Hearing him give orders like this felt nostalgic, though they were never directed towards her she still heard them, a memory flashed in her mind as she remembered when she and the other youngsters in the camp used to pretend to be their adult counterparts, and how embarrassing it felt when she once got caught by him as he looked at her with a smile.

‘Will he ever remember?’ she asked herself for a moment, but now was not the time nor place, strange how with him beside her even hell would be a pleasant place probably.

“So you want us to rescue as many as we can in the beginning to increase our fighting power, regroup, and counterattack at full force?” Layla asked though it was more to affirm the plan she already understood.

As the master does so does the pupil.

Max nodded to her “Exactly, once we organize we’ll be in a better position to win this battle, no matter how long it’ll take”.

He then turned from the battle and instead looked at the group in front of him, as he did so all of them gazed upon him, with the battle at his back, the sky stars and moon above ‘he truly looked like our leader’ those who knew him thought at that moment.

“Do your job and we’ll get out of here alive and with victory in our hands” Max said and nodded at the group then turned around and outstretched his hand towards the battle.

“Forward!” he commanded.

And they obeyed with renewed fire in their hearts.