Karabell drew in a deep breath as they drew closer to the large rocks. He felt like he shouldn't have left Alice to look after both Shono and the horses. She was tired too. Lyra looked into the distance as she spoke. Her voice trembled, but she seemed to have more or less gotten a hold of herself. Following Squad Ress' departure, things had steadily begun to go downhill. At first, they'd been able to stand their ground against the creatures. Kei had managed to slay an insane number of regular Aberrations and Garglings. Aided by Annie and Squad Leader Arago, she'd even taken out a scaled Superior. During their fight with the beast, however, the medic had gotten injured. Arago and Mero had brought both her and the Superior to the wagon, but she was still unconscious.
"At least that's what Kei told me. The creature's name is East, apparently. It's a Superior, so it will probably come back to live eventually. That's why they said it would be a better idea to take it with us. Though it likely won't remember anything," Lyra explained. "That was our first victory. And the only one, really. After that, all hell broke loose. To be honest, I only remember a few things."
As per Karabell's request, Ono and Ergo had given the spare weapons to Arago and Kirru's Aberrations, enabling them to finish the enemies off. That, however, hadn't changed the fact that they'd been outnumbered. More than half of them had been killed in battle. Some of them had even lost their lives trying to protect the apprentices. At one point, Lyra had lost her bow and had thus been forced to engage in melee combat. Luckily, she'd gotten off with only a few scratches and bruises. Fen, on the other hand, had suffered grave wounds in the early stages of the fight. He'd ended up sacrificing himself to save Shono after an absurdly large Superior and a whole bunch of lesser Aberrations had attacked them. He'd killed the Superior, but one of the Garglings aiding it had managed to retrieve its body before withdrawing. Upon hearing that, Karabell's eyes went round. So the teacher had died, too...
"I tried to join up with them, but I got there too late. I'm not sure, but I think that's when Shono lost his arm. Imagine him running around the battlefield, wielding Fen's weapon in one hand and hitting Aberrations left and right like he'd been possessed by evil spirits. He'd probably lost his mace or something. It didn't seem like he was overwhelmed with rage, anyway. But it was kind of hard to tell. After all, I had to focus on the monsters trying to take my life. At that point, it wasn't looking too good for us. Even the Aberrations were having a hard time." Lyra paused for a moment, letting out a sigh. She rubbed her forehead, hoping it would ease the headache. "Sorry if this is a letdown, Captain, but that's about where my memory cuts off. I think I lost consciousness sometime during the battle. When I woke up, I found myself propped against one of the boulders. And I'm pretty sure I have to thank Arago for that. It was curled up on the ground right next to me. But by the time I regained consciousness, the battle was already over. Needless to say, the battlefield was littered with bodies. You saw it with your own eyes earlier. There was no trace of the enemy, either. Arago clumsily handed me a roll of bandages and pointed towards the bodies. For once, I actually understood what the Aberration was trying to say. After a few minutes, I stumbled across Shono. As I patched up his wound I asked him what'd happened, and I was just as confused then as you probably are now. Apparently, the Aberrations had turned tail. Simple as that. Out of a sudden, the creatures halted whatever they were doing and fled. Shono suggested that you might've slain the Ringleader. If that were the case, it was only natural for the creatures to run away. But, frankly, we were both too tired and too relieved to ask ourselves any other questions."
"And then you noticed me and Alice," Karabell murmured, trying to comprehend the situation. "Strange. Why would they flee?"
The two soldiers went around the odd formation of rocks. The wagon itself was almost intact, but the same couldn't be said about their allies. Corpses lay all around the wagon, some more damaged than others. Karabell bit his lower lip unconsciously, almost drawing blood. He recognized some of those children He'd only exchanged a few words with them, but he definitely remembered their faces. One of them was the boy who'd warned him about the second wave of Aberrations, the same one who'd willingly given up his own safety to help Shono fight the creatures. Karabell hadn't even gotten his name. The Captain's expression went blank. Annie's chest rose and fell rhythmically. She was just unconscious, but the right side of her face was covered in bandages. Her uniform was dirty, and she was missing a sleeve. But that didn't change the fact that she was still alive. Karabell stole another glance at the bodies. So many had fallen, yet Squad Ress' members were all alive. Had Annie, Lyra and Shono's experience helped them survive? But Kei didn't have any. Had they just gotten lucky? He couldn't tell.
Karabell's eyes fell on two of the few apprentices who were still alive. The boy was awkwardly wrapping up the girl's leg, and she winced in pain. The boy hesitated for a moment, but didn't stop. He was her shield. It was his duty to protect her. He'd failed to do that during the battle, but...
"Those are the guys who helped me earlier," Lyra said proudly as she approached the two children. She walked up to the boy and asked him to let her take it from there. A smile of gratitude transformed his face. He extended a shaky hand holding the bandages.
"You're back!" a familiar voice suddenly yelled. Ono jumped to his feet, staring at Karabell's face in disbelief. "You're really back, Captain..."
Ono's clothes were ragged, and there were large scratches all over his arms. He almost looked like a soldier. Well, at that point, he technically was one. Karabell smirked. Was that the same Ono who'd abandoned them without giving it a second thought less than a month before? The coward who'd ran away from a mere Gargling?
"We killed the Ringleader," the Captain finally declared. "Lyra told me what happened. You did a great job, both of you."
"Thanks, Captain. It really means a lot coming from you." Ono's voice quivered. A look of sadness flashed across his face, and his hands tightened into fists. "Ergo..."
"I know, you don't have to say it. He did a great job," Karabell repeated, putting a hand on Ono's shoulder. "But why aren't there any Aberrations here besides Mero?" he added, waving a greeting at the feathered Gargling.
"Those that are still alive are helping Arago and Kei out. As for the dead ones... We'll be leaving their corpses behind. Kirru's decision."
Karabell nodded. Most of the survivors were either unable to walk because of their injuries or unconscious. The Aberrations could probably manage, but they couldn't bring all those corpses with them. They simply wouldn't fit in the wagon. Transporting the Ringleader was yet another problem. Leaving the creatures' bodies behind was the only way. The Captain clenched his jaw. But what about the children? What about Fen and Ergo? Leaving them behind too was...
"You and Lyra continue tending to the wounded. Alice and I will bring Shono and the horses here. Our top priority right now is rescuing any and all survivors. We need to move as quickly as we can. The Aberrations might decide to come back and finish the job." Karabell folded his arms. How could he have forgotten? Gull wasn't the only Superior they had on their side. "I also need to look for Kirru. It might be able to help me with something."