Banished Pt. 19

"Fuck. How do we even counter that?" Nolan asked.

"We don't. We just need to strike fast, and hard, and take out as many as we can before they have time to pin down our location."

"How? Our armor alerts them to our presence from a mile away," Nolan asked, and I nodded, gesturing to Casey.

"We go without the armor," she answered, and a few mutters of concern sounded around the group.

"Wow, really? Do you really expect that anyone besides you or Francesca can win a fight without taking a single hit?" Nolan asked.

"Speak for yourself," Bianca cut in. "But I haven't been touched in combat yet."

"Lucia too!" the girl cut in, and Nolan scowled.

"Well hold on there, hun; some of us aren't quite that skilled," Molly added. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but it kinda feels like if some of us are just gonna be dead weight in this plan."

I shook my head.

"Our numbers are essential for covering a wide area as we move," I explained. "And for the fights themselves; even more so. I can parry well enough with my halberd, but for the most part, we'll be relying on overwhelming our enemies before they can react to us."

"Hence all of the group combat lessons the past day?" Francesca asked, and I pointed a finger at her, and clicked my tongue.

"On the mark," I said, and she smiled a little at the praise. "We're gonna split into three teams; two for combat, and one for information relay and command. The first team will be Leanna, Blair, Lucia and myself. The second team; Francesca, Jordan, Bianca and Jeannie. Everyone else is with Casey."

"Athánatos; if I may?" Iduma cut in, and I gestured to him to proceed. "My Accalian warriors excel at sniffing out the presence of our enemies. As long as they are your kind, we can effectively detect them, and indicate accordingly."

I tilted my head at him, a smile creeping across my lips.

"Well; it seems I may have underestimated your importance to this mission of ours," I said, as I shot Francesca an appreciative smile, and she blushed.

"In that case, we'll split up your warriors amongst our groups. Casey?" I called, gesturing to her, and she moved to my side as the group split off to make preparations.

"This Iduma; he's wearing armor, but like-"

"Yeah, I see it," she said.

"We didn't detect him with danger sense, yet it seems to me that he's gaining some of the skill benefits from them," I said, and she bit her lip.

"I've never heard of using armor like that. Although, I didn't even know fighters who don't use armor at all even existed."

"Do you think we could wear the armor like that, then activate it pre-battle?"

Casey bit her lip a little.

"Could be risky; activating armor uses a bit of energy. It might cost us in the long run," she said.

"How many pieces can we wear without triggering danger sense?"

"Two," she replied. "My first instinct was to wear only the pieces for speed and endurance, but if we can get the benefits from wearing it like that without activating them, then maybe we just need to activate the pieces that are most immediately useful."

"Breastplate and armguards?" I asked, and she nodded.

"Although, boots are pretty handy for running," she replied. "Maybe forget the breastplate. We might move faster without it."

As I tried wearing the pieces in sliver form, however, I noted that we were only able to access the enhancements from two pieces at a time.

So, with that in mind, we split the armor up amongst the group, distributing the tier-three speed pieces that we'd acquired from Jacinda amongst our main fighters; Bianca, Francesca, Jordan, Blair, Lucia, and myself.

Lucia seemed pretty excited to be given armor, but it wasn't without conditions.

"You need to keep an eye on your core, okay? If it starts to deplete too quickly, you need to tell me," I warned, and the girl nodded.

"Nathan can trust Lucia! Lucia is better than Byaka!"

I bit my lip a little nervously, and felt slightly relieved that she was on my team where I could keep an eye on her. Though it did occur to me that more recently, I'd been much more of a Casey when it came to her security.

It took a bit of mixing armor around to get everyone covered with the basic skills, but eventually, we were ready to go.

"Nathan..."

Astrid placed a hand against my chest, and took a deep breath.

"Perhaps I can try one more vision?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"We're already getting into midmorning," I replied, and she bit her lip.

She glanced over at Casey, and hesitated for a bit, before moving into my arms, hugging me, and giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I will focus my waking on thoughts on willing your safe return to me into being," she said, and I smiled a little, brushing her hair out of her face as I caressed her cheek.

"Knowing that not just one, but maybe two princesses are waiting for me is definitely motivation to return," I assured her, and she smiled a little, though as we turned to leave, I noted that her brow was creased and wrinkled with worry.

I'll be back, I thought. I want to be back.

I waved one final time before turning to leave.

We headed out, deciding on a range of three hundred strides between the main groups and the support group, giving us an effective range of detection of about eight hundred strides, which we could easily maintain while moving at between a T-one and T-two marching speed.

The Accalians struggled a bit to cope with the speed, but as we came to the campground within the blighted grove where we'd first made camp, we left behind those who had not been selected to come along on our quest, and the going got much easier.

At my direction, we moved northwest from the camp area until I was fairly certain we were within range of the little cave where Danica and I had our little rendezvous on the night we ran into her, and after confirming that we were in the right place, I gathered everyone up for a final pep talk.

"This is it," I said. "Remember, you can't hesitate. Strike hard and fast, and keep your eyes open."

We spread out and began to move, but it didn't take long before one of the Accalians alerted me to a signal coming from the other group, and I quickly made my way over.

I caught sight of Jeannie first, a shell-shocked expression on her face, and as I moved to her, the scene came into view; three corpses, all otherworlders.

"Nate, I-"

"I don't expect this to be easy," I said to Jeannie, and she blinked back some tears.

"They begged," she replied, her voice a hoarse whisper. "They begged for their lives, Nate."

I put an arm around her shoulder, offering what comfort I could before spotting Casey's approach.

"Three, huh? Strip the armor," she said, but the Accalians were the only ones who seemed to be able to respond.

Francesca's hands were shaking, and I bit my lip as I considered the scene.

This could get out of hand, and fast.

I released Jeannie, giving her one final reassuring squeeze before moving to join Francesca.

"Who got the kills?" I asked, and she swallowed uncomfortably.

"Uh, I got two. Iduma got the final one. Bianca choked and uh... I- I hesitated too. He almost stabbed her," she added, gesturing to the man lying off to the left, and as I turned, I spotted Bianca crouched down, her arms wrapped around her knees.

"How strong were they?" I asked.

"Tier one. Their armor is low grade tier one as well..."

I pursed my lips, frowning as I considered the development, before turned to Casey.

"If everyone in this zone is T-one, then killing them all is gonna mentally destroy us before we ever get to the fort," I said, and she frowned.

"Nate, we don't know for sure that they're all T-ones. We cannot be soft about this."

I bit my lip, as I weighed her argument.

"Maybe that's what Ethan wants," I said, and she frowned.

We moved the bodies into a bit of brush, and I gathered up the group afterwards.

"What's wrong?" Blair asked, as she glanced around at the sullen looks.

"Change of plans," I replied. "Two teams; Blair, Francesca and Bianca with me. Iduma; you and your best fighter as well."

"Athánatos," the man replied, bowing.

"Everyone else with Casey. We'll move two hundred paces ahead of you," I said, and Casey nodded, though her expression was a bit uncertain.

"We hit fast, but I want some survivors to question. The more the better."

Blair shot me a pouty look, and I returned the gaze with a stern glance that said 'behave'.

We took off again, and after another twenty minutes, Iduma signaled to us, and we pulled up to a stop.

"Ahead, Athánatos. Four warriors."

I nodded.

We signaled to the rear group, then fanned out, and began to make our way cautiously forward until we spotted them.

There were four of them gathered in a small circle and eating what appeared to be bits of bread or some kind of biscuits.

As I slung my halberd around my shoulder, I raised a hand to signal to the others, and as I brought the hand down, we darted in, and we were on them before anyone could get out a cry, much less a weapon.

I got a knife to the first man's throat, and Bianca did as well with her dagger.

Francesca's target tried to fight, but she quickly pinned him face down onto the ground, a hand twisted painfully behind the back.

Blair's target tried to scream, however, and the girl didn't hesitate, slitting his throat almost immediately.

I frowned a little, but as the others quickly became very compliant, I decided to let it slide.

We disarmed them, then moved the rear group forward, and while the others looted and handled the corpse, I began to question them.

"I don't have much time, so either you're talking, or I'm cutting," I said. "How many of you are in these woods?"

No one answered, so I withdrew my dagger, and stabbed one of the men through the hand.

He screamed out, but Francesca was on hand, taking a piece of wood and shoving it into the man's mouth, silencing him.

He bit down as the pain coursed through him, and I turned to one of the others.

"How many?"

There were still no answers, but as Blair moved forward to inflict another injury, I stopped her.

"Is there some reason why you can't answer?"

The men glanced at each other, then nodded, and I cursed under my breath.

"Who did you pledge to? Is it Ethan?"

One of the men shook his head, but as he did, his eyes went wide, and suddenly he grasped at his chest.

He went down and began to writhe, groaning as he did.

"Is he faking?" Blair asked, but as he began to cough up blood, she studied him with interest.

"Nate; his heart just exploded," Francesca said, and I turned to her, then studied the man with sensory perception.

I couldn't see his heart, but I could see the threads stalling, and the light of his core fading to darkness as his body went still, and as I leaned down to examine him, I confirmed that his heart had indeed stopped.

"Is that what happens when you tell me something that you shouldn't?" I asked, and the men nodded.

I let out a sigh, before pulling Casey aside.

"What can control someone to this extent except for a pledge?" I asked, and she bit her lip.

"Nothing; as far as I know, at least. Maybe he lied?" she suggested, and I shook my head.

"Would his heart explode if he lied to us? I think he told us something we weren't supposed to know."

I turned to the men.

"The name I just mentioned. Is that who's controlling you?" I asked.

The men looked at each other, then one of them shook his head.

"But this person; they answer to him?" I asked, and the man nodded.

I turned to Casey.

"Can someone who's pledged offer another pledge to someone else?"

She bit her lip.

"Yeah, but you can't use the new pledge to contradict any of the terms of their original pledge," she replied, and I nodded, turning to the men.

"Will you take the pledge?" I asked.

The first man shook his head, and I clicked my tongue in annoyance.

"You pledge, or you die," I said. "You have five seconds to decide."

I moved to the first man, and he swallowed uncomfortably.

"Nathan," I said, telling him my name, and he gestured to his throat.

"Mouth the words," Casey said, and the man took a nervous breath in, then nodded.

I placed my hand against his chest, and as he mouthed my name, my implant began to glow.

"Walking corpse two," I said, and the man swallowed uncomfortably.

His buddy also took the pledge, and as they did, I created a series of clauses compelling them to follow my command, and forbidding them from killing any living creatures, with disobedience of either clause resulting in death.

I then gave them directions to the campground where Iduma had left his kinsmen, and commanded them go there and await my return.

"How will your warriors receive them?" I asked Iduma.

"Honorably. Prisoners of war are treated with respect; it is the Accalian way," he answered, and I nodded.

"So, we can't get information out of them, and we don't know when we'll end up coming across more skilled warriors," I noted.

"Nate; I understand your concern about murdering these people, but we're gonna pay for it if we aren't careful," she said, and I nodded in agreement.

"Let's just do what we can for now."

We set out again, and this time we were able to cover a bit more ground before encountering another group, this time, of three otherworlders.

These were, however, walking through the forest, moving east to west, so we moved a bit south of their location, then hid in the bushes until the neared us, then we leapt out and attacked.

Francesca got the first man into a chokehold, and grappled him to the floor, but as the second moved to stab at her with a sword, I cleaved the arm off, and as he screamed, I stabbed through his neck, silencing him.

Bianca moved quickly to get a dagger to the third man's throat, but Blair moved in as well, and she hacked into his shoulder blade from above, sending a spray of blood in Bianca's direction much to her annoyance.

"Hey~, I had that one," Bianca complained, as she moved off from the man, and Blair scoffed.

"Kinda looks like I had him," she replied offhandedly, and Bianca pouted at me.

As I turned to the only survivor, however, a call came to me:

Nate! Help!

Francesca caught the look in my eye as I darted off, but to my surprise Bianca had moved as well, and was already at my side, and as we got to the group, I spotted four otherworlders engaged with them.

Jordan and Nolan were engaged with one otherworlder apiece, while a third was fighting with Molly and Jeannie, and a fourth was being fended off by the Accalians.

We moved in, quickly overwhelming the fighters, until another cry drew my attention.

I spun around to see that the otherworlder engaged with the Accalians had apparently broken through their ranks, and as he stood poised to attack Casey, Lucia leapt onto his back and began to stab at him from behind, jabbing his dagger into his neck from the side several times.

A spray of blood erupted from him, and as she panted, her hands shaking, I quickly moved to pick her up.

"Nathan!" she cried, as soon as she was in my arms, and she began to sob and wail as I held her, stroking her back soothingly.

"It's alright. I'm sorry," I began.

I spotted a stream off to the east of us, and I quickly made my way over there, sitting by the water way and scooping up some water to wash the blood off of Lucia's hands and body.

She was still sobbing, and as I held her tight, a worried looking Casey came over to join us.

"Nate; we shouldn't linger here too long," she said, but as I looked past her, I saw that the expressions on everyone's faces were downright distraught.

"They aren't killers," I said. "Or warriors."

"Nate, we don't have a choice here."

I shook my head.

"We're killing all of these people just to rescue one person; and yeah, I'd kill a lot more than this to rescue Cameron, but maybe I'm forcing a burden onto everyone that they can't bear," I said, and Casey furrowed her brow.

"Nate; this isn't just about Cameron. If we're gonna survive, we need to accept that there will be threats, and not all of them are gonna be monsters. They need to learn to deal with this," she reasoned, but I shook my head.

"I'm the one who led them into this; this should be my responsibility; not theirs."

I stood up and moved back to the group, where the forward group was now gathered up as well, and as I noted the despondent looks on their faces, I made up my mind.

"I think I've made a mistake," I said, and everyone turned to study me. "Asking you to take lives wasn't part of the deal when you decided to follow me, and it might not be fair of me to expect you to do that."

"So, what do you expect them to do? Lounge around while you and Francesca do all of the dirty work?" Casey cut in. "Look, dealing with this is gonna be tough; but no-one followed you here against their will, okay? We're all in this together."

I bit my lip, but as I returned my gaze to the group, I could see their expressions shifting.

"Casey's right, Nate," Molly said, as she approached me. "This sucks. It really does. I haven't killed anyone yet, but I feel it already... a heaviness. Anxiety gnawing at my chest until I can hardly breathe. But we're in this together. If anyone was taken from us, we'd all come together like this to get them back; no matter who it was."

"Except Blair. She can suck a nut," Bianca added, and as Blair smirked, Molly ignored the two, continuing:

"You taught us to support each other; to trust each other, even when it was difficult," she said, glancing at Leanna as she did. "But you were right. We're stronger for it, and this is how we're gonna survive; so, whatever we have to endure, we'll endure it together. Because that's what it means to be a group, isn't it?"

I bit my lip, glancing around.

There few nods of approval, sure... but from what I could tell, the blood had only just begun to flow, and this fleeting sentiment wouldn't last if their resolve remained lacking.

I tried to figure out how to articulate the thought, but the moment was cut short by the Accalians suddenly going on alert.

"Athánatos, something approaches," Iduma said, and I nodded.

I set Lucia down, gesturing to her to go to Casey, but she quickly wiped her eyes and shook her head, putting on a serious face as she drew her dagger and got ready.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"Lucia wants to save Cammy," the girl said, and I nodded.

Bianca waved her over and we moved into position, with Blair at my side, and Francesca sitting back just behind us, but as our attackers came into view, I noted with interest that there were just four of them, and with a quick glance using sensory perception, I could tell that they were below tier-one.

"You all seriously don't stand a chance," I began, and the group exchanged some nervous glances.

But rather than respond, they charged, and I clicked my tongue in annoyance as we moved to meet them.

The one nearest to me had a spear and he stabbed at me as soon as he was in range.

I evaded the clumsy stab with ease, grabbing the weapon and kicking him in the stomach area of his armor.

He went flying, leaving his weapon behind, and as the second man approached, Bianca darted past me; he swung at her with a sword, and she evaded, stabbing him on the hip.

He tottered back, and Blair used the opportunity to cleave into his neck, much to Bianca's annoyance again.

I moved forward to my own quarry, aiming his own spear at his throat, and keeping him pinned.

As I glanced around, I saw that Francesca had grappled her quarry to the floor, while the fourth was engaged with Lucia and Jordan, and as a few of the others surrounded him, he spun around, looking for an out, but all the while swinging his weapon in warning at everyone.