Following three days of nearly uneventful travel, Val was beginning to feel run-down.
They had just spent a night camping under the stars, and were packing up to set out on the road to Ulareg once more. Val was used to roughing it on the road, but her recent conversation with Keth had put her on edge. The fact that they were closing in on their destination wasn't helping matters as well.
As they drew closer and closer to her previous home, a pit began forming in Val's stomach. It was a mixture of fear and anxiety that coalesced into a physical sensation that sapped her strength.
For the past day and a half, she had eaten little, and spent many sleepless hours at night with her mind racing. As tired as she was, she would often find herself drifting off to sleep while riding on the cart, only to be jostled awake again minutes later by a bump on the road, or a question from Keth.
It seemed like every time things would settle down in her life, something would come along and shatter her worldview. It would take her time to process the new information about Terry and what that would eventually mean for their plan. While mulling over the current situation, it had struck her that their initial plan to seek out the kidnappers and rescue her sister as well as Clair was getting sidelined.
"That might explain why things have cooled between Carl and Terry," Mand thought.
As she predicted, Keth's revelation about Terry had indeed made things awkward. Keth made very little mention of the man, save for conversations about their current mission or when it was required to pass along any relevant information. Val avoided bringing up Terry as well - she had questions for Keth and she would not be able to get them answered until she could have a conversation with him without the guards present.
Speaking of the guards, the two continued to keep to themselves in a professional, yet somewhat cold manner. Val knew very little about them save for their names - Gatyn was the male, and Sterma was the female.
It was Sterma that had alerted Val to the trouble.
As Val was attaching her bedroll to her backpack, she saw the woman approach her.
"We have an issue," the woman said softly but with urgency, her hand on the pommel of her military pick. "Remain calm. Keep doing what you are doing, and make no sudden movements. Follow my instructions as I give them."
Val nodded, and continued to work on her pack. Despite the woman's words to stay calm, Val found her fingers starting to fumble with the straps, her hands shaking slightly. Her fatigue wasn't helping matters either.
Val stole a glance upward. She saw that Gatyn and Keth were slowly loading gear back aboard the cart, both of them looking very tense with Gatyn keeping one hand near his weapon at all times.
Val finally managed to get her fingers to obey her commands and finished securing her backpack.
"Good," Sterma said. "Let's get back to the cart. Walk slowly, but with purpose. By this point, they probably have figured out that we know that they are out there. We have to show them we are not afraid. Make yourself as ready as you can."
Val opened a side pouch on her backpack and withdrew three metallic spheres and dropped them into a pocket sewn inside her cloak. She closed the pouch and lifted the backpack on to her back, walking towards the cart with Strema trailing close behind.
As they got closer to Keth and Gatyn, Val saw the male guard briefly and subtly hold up four fingers.
"Four?" Val thought. "Four what?"
Val removed her backpack, laying it in the bed of the cart. The guards guided both her and Keth to board.
"Start moving," Gatyn said. "For now we will proceed like we normally do, but if we tell you two to run, take the cart and continue on as fast as you can. We will catch up with you later."
Keth nodded and flicked the reins to get the cart moving.
The wheels began to turn as the horses pulled them forward. Val pulled the cloak tightly around her, slipping a hand inside to one of the metallic spheres that she had pocketed there. The guards fell in on either side of the cart as they brought the cart back onto the road.
Nobody spoke, there was a palpable tension in the air as the minutes dragged on. Foot by foot, they were putting distance between themselves and their campsite.
Val clutched the sphere tightly as she waited for the other shoe to drop. With every second that went by, she felt her heart thumping in her chest. Nobody said anything as they continued forward.
The cart continued unmolested for another mile, and then one other. Finally, Strema signaled for them to slow.
"What's going on?" Val asked as the guard approached her and Keth.
"Bandits of some sort I believe," said Strema. "I managed to notice them, so they lost the element of surprise. I'm sure they would have struck if I hadn't. It would have been four on four, but without the ability to get the drop on us, they probably found those odds unfavorable."
"Outcasts," Val suddenly said with realization. "We are getting close to Ulareg."
"Who?" asked Keth.
"Gang members from Ulareg who have been cast out into the wilds," Val said. "At some point, they proved themselves disloyal to the organizations in the city. Most of the time they are killed, but sometimes the are cast out to fend for themselves."
"Why don't they just move on when that happens?" asked Keth.
"Most grew up in the city and the gangs and don't know life outside of it," said Val. "A lot of them don't know how to move on."
"We have to keep moving," Gatyn said. "We should keep putting distance between ourselves and....."
Gatyn's word's were cut off with a grunt. The guard looked down wide eyed, a crossbow bolt suddenly blooming from his chest.
"NOBODY MOVE!" A voice shouted.