*1
We froze like two startled deers caught in headlights, subconsciously holding our breath. They didn't seem to be coming for us, but their backpacks and casual walking could all be a ruse. Doubt and anxiety flowed through my brain as I realised that their path would take them right next to us. It wouldn't matter if they did or didn't know we were here if they walked into us. Thoughts of ambushing them flew wildly through my head, before being chucked out just as quickly. They weren't bunched up enough and we stood no chance against their overwhelming numbers and power. Even if we attacked them with surprise, we would just be chicken sending ourselves up to be butchered-not to mention that they had reinforcements at their camp just below.
The five man group continued to approach us, and the urge to flee was beginning to kick in. Yet I knew that the moment to run had already passed and at this range we wouldn't stand much of a chance of fleeing. I resisted the urge to turn around and look at Shiara, knowing that any movement at this range would be fatal. 3 meters...2 meters....and then directly next to us...
...-and they continued by, without looking at the bush we were in. My eyes continued to follow them out of the corner of my field of vision, not daring to stray off their backs. Suddenly, a messy looking guy at the end of the line stopped about 6 meters away from us and I felt my heart jump up into my throat. His arm reached backwards towards his backpack-only to give it a good scratch, before he continues along. They proceeded out of sight, as the trees and foliage covered their sight. We waited another few seconds before we released our pent up breath, just short of choking. I heard a barely audible sigh from next to me and was just about to berate Shiara, when I realised that I had also sighed at the exact same moment. She had done nothing wrong.
I turned to Shiara, noticing that her face was tinged slightly blue, the original pale rosiness to her cheeks only gradually returning now. After the tense episode, I couldn't help but smile at her and say "...or people might leave. Now's the chance we've been waiting for right?"
...
We had settled ourselves onto a branch, the afternoon sun shining through the outstretched branches and leaves, glaring at us from above. Getting up quietly had been difficult for Shiara and I struggled a bit as well, but now we had the right angle so that we could directly see the princess inside the cave. The map I had with me, although quite crude, had actually noted down the size of this campsite cave.
We peered cautiously between two branches, leaning slightly forward, though not enough to fall off. I spied two of the remaining bandits playing with a die right outside the cave, but the third one, the person possibly carrying the bow was out of sight and nowhere to be seen.
"Hey how long are we going to play monkey in the tree?" It would seem like someone was getting impatient already.
"We only just got here, hang on will you?" Shiara must have always been the energetic and cheerful type and now that we were actually doing something, heading somewhere and had goals, her suppressed personality seem to explode from her. Of course, her constant facade of cheerfulness and caring in front of her patients, who often were legitimate citizens, may have resulted in a few loose screws...
Shiara made a sullen face at me, before going back to staring at the princess. It would seem her moody persona had taken over her again. Well, this would be a long wait, so it was better that she was mentally prepared. The chances that Princess would look sideways, upwards and out of the cave towards us were slim, so I would expect that it would required at least about 1/4 of a blue-moon's time to 2/3 or maybe even 1/2 of a white-moon's time.*2 There was also the chance she would never look here. Thus, Shiara and I agreed that if by this evening she still hadn't noticed us, we would just go ahead with this rescue operation without notifying her. It would help if she was in on it, but it wouldn't be a necessity.
***************
I swung my sword. I swung my sword again. And again. And again, and again, and again. The up and down motion was tiring, yet it had a soothing effect on my heart. My breathing started to become ragged and my mind emptied itself of all trivial thoughts and worldly desires. It was just me and my sword. My short wooden sword, perfectly carved and polished to prevent splinters, perfectly weight for my tiny little delicate and cute hands. I felt the handle slide and fall out of my hand as I finished the last of the overhead swings in my practise set. I sat down on my bottom with a thump, too tired to even cry out in pain. Exercise seemed to dull my pain, just like it dulled my mind, and it was one of my best escapes from all the politics, parties, studying I normally did. What most adults found so appealing in wine, alcohol or even some of the other unmentionable illegal activities, I found in the sword.
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"Princess...maybe you should just focus on your studies. Your mother doesn't want you playing with a sword and the King has also agreed to let you study magic. He's looking for a good responsible teacher for you already."
Hah. As if I wouldn't know that already. My maids all treated me like a child still, as if I was like most of the other high handed, snobbish noble kids.
"Sarra, you should listen to your maids. Your mother is really worried, she doesn't want her daughter playing with a sword, even if it isn't sharp. If you-"
"But Jasmine! Even my brother is starting to learn the sword! And he's YOUNGER then me! Why can't I-"
"You already know why...You won't find many other female knights. And DON'T try to argue with me about mages, your father has already given his consent to that and..............."
I turned around to look at why my female bodyguard had stopped talking suddenly. But no one was there. I turned back around. The maid was gone as well. I started to feel a chill in my heart as I suddenly heard the crunching of footsteps. I twisted around.
I screamed in horror. The bloody corpse of Lara, twisted and mangled, dripping out blood, the empty eye sockets and orifices all wide open lay floating before me.
-I woke up, cold sweat dripping from my forehead. I looked around startled for a moment before regaining my bearings and memories, recalling the recent misfortune of events. The dry blood was clinging to my skin, but a wet sensation in between my legs notified me of my accidental leakage.
I lifted my head and took a look around me. Quite a few of the baggage and camping gear that were lying strewn all over the ground messily yesterday, were already gone. They must have left like they said. I looked around noticing only two of my captors playing a game or sorts at the entrance. They were lying in the sun alternatively throwing a die. I looked around again. There were three sleeping bags in the cave, where was the third person?
Either way, I concluded that this would be my best chance to escape. My magic flare, which I normally carried, had been confiscated. I hadn't noticed its disappearance previously. The bloody clothes clinging to me had cloaked the removal of the flare I usually carried on my thigh, and my brain had tunnel visioned somewhat previously, even though I tried to remain calm.
"SHOO!"
A loud shout echoed around the cave as pair of birds suddenly took flight, flying past the cave. I looked up at them.
"Stupid birds! Trying to steel my sunflower seeds. I should have killed them!"
"You know they wouldn't have much to any meat."
"Well at least we would then have bones to play with."
"Just leave that to our deputy Huntress!"
"Ha...hahaha!" Their combined laughter harmonised eerily inside the cave as they went back to their game outside. I didn't recognise either of them, but they were probably one of the lower ranking members. I was just about to look down again-to deal with the magic absorption inhibiting rope that I had been tied with, when I suddenly caught a glimpse of something red in a distant tree atop of the cliff. I slowly looked up again, and sure enough, in a tree on the higher ground, there was a patch of red among the green. I quickly looked at the two guards, and after confirming they has settled back into their game, looked up again. I could barely see the red patch past the cave entrance, with it being on the very edge of my view.
Suddenly the red patched disappeared, then popped up again, then disappeared, and then popped up again. It repeated that five times. By now I was entirely focused on it. If I wasn't wrong that was the starting code for our countries military message signalling. I had learnt it during my military logistics' lesson. The blob or red continued to appear and disappear. I silently mouthed out the letters as they began to be formed, straining to remember them. It signalled "R E S C U E A T T E M P T U P O J H I U. H A L F B L U E N P P O."
I frowned. The code didn't make sense?! Who were these amateurs?! Were they really part of the military?! What were 'U P O J H I U' and 'N P P O' at the end meant to mean? Did I forget something?!
Author Notes: If you want to guess the code error/figure it out, do it now before you read on.
I was starting to panic. Like did I miss a flash? Did I break up the letters incorrectly? And why was it a red patch bobbing instead of a light....oh, a light would of been too obvious, the guards would have seen it....
Then it suddenly hit me. My Dad once mentioned to me that the old military code, back when he was a child, they didn't have the value shift after every second word. If that was the case then they should have meant...uh....'TONIGHT' and 'MOON'. Now that made sense. 'Rescue attempt tonight. Half blue moon.'
I gathered my thoughts for a reply, calculating the amount of flashes and ways to minimise the amount while retaining clarity. I twisted my body so that my lap was hidden from the captors view; not that they were even looking. One of them had just lost in the game, and they were both crying. One from joy and one from sadness. I refocused my thoughts and started chanting underneath my breath. I focused my entire being, taking that little bit of mana left in me and pushing it into this bit of magic. "From darkness there first came light, shine."
A tiny ball of light formed in my lap. Dim to the point that it would be barely noticeable under sunlight. The darkness of the cave however helped provide the extra contrast making it visible. I decided to skip the pre message protocols; I didn't have enough mana or stamina to do that. Leaning over the light to produce the flashes, I quickly sent 'O K. W A T C H O U T T H E R E A R E T H R E E O F T H E M.' I just finished when my spell ended. I sighed in relief. The message was rushed, but they should be able to decode it.
Then I remembered, I had used the new military code.