Heron held in a wince when he stepped in a depression on the path, jostling his left shoulder and sending a spike of pain that ran up and down his arm despite the numbing ointment Krystal had slathered on his wound. His left arm hung in a makeshift sling and, hopefully, a bout of Recovery tonight would be enough to return his left arm to function.
They were moving at a brisk pace, not quite a jog, but close enough. It was a pace that Heron could keep up for hours. He was guarding the rear, a position that allowed him to keep an eye on everyone, though he paid the most attention to Yuriko whose movements were so graceful that he couldn't help but stare. The swaying of her hips was hypnotic enough that he could barely feel the pain radiating from his shoulder. Orrin and Mikel were actually between him and Yuriko and, most of the time, they blocked the wonderful view but it was still easy enough for him to sneak a peek.
Shaking his head ruefully, he looked away from her and kept watch on their surroundings. Krystal had been leading them down another narrow dirt path that was left by an animal. Deer, he guessed, since it was narrow but he was the first to admit he was no expert when it came to the outdoors.
What was supposed to be a one-day outing had turned into a fight for their lives and an extended outdoor slumming. It had been distinctly uncomfortable and nearly unbearable. The only thing that made this worthwhile for Heron was the beautiful blonde girl trying her best to make sure they lived through the experience.
His thoughts were getting muddled again.
'I'm not normally this easy to distract,' Heron thought.
Their last enemy had been terrifying and he could hardly believe they managed to drive it off. Well, Yuriko drove it off, if he was completely being honest with himself. Her skills had grown by leaps and bounds and he wasn't sure he could still put up a fight if the two of them were to spar.
They had been moving for half an hour when Yuriko called for a halt. The trail had ended up in a clearing with a small brook running through it. Animal tracks covered the muddy banks and Heron thought he saw a fawn in the bushes, though it could have been the light playing tricks on his eyes.
The sun was close to its noon zenith and strong beams of light illuminated the forest floor. Yuriko stood where the sun bathed her in light which made her skin and golden hair glimmer. Her eyes were glowing gold while she scanned the surroundings. After a while, she nodded in satisfaction.
"I can't see it or hear anything untoward," she declared.
The incessant buzz from annoying insects had filled in the silence and there was yowling from up in the trees which Heron thought came from monkeys or some similar beast. The cacophony helped ease the tension. It wasn't that reliable as a danger sense but the animal sounds always stopped when the Wyldlings were near.
"Are we taking a break?" Orrin asked hopefully.
Heron sneered at his rival, though he kept his face turned away so Yuriko wouldn't see. Well, if only it was someone else on the team instead of Orrin, it would have been a perfect outing. At least the kid had his uses. He was certainly helpful when it was time to clean up.
"Yes," Yuriko said curtly.
"Oh, thank the Ancestors!" Orrin gasped.
Mikel nodded enthusiastically, too.
"Heron, how are you feeling?" Yuriko walked up to him as he sat on the ground. It irked him that she was a little bit taller than he was but he expected he'd catch up to her height soon enough.
"Still hurts but I can handle it."
She crouched down in front of him, reaching out towards his wounded shoulder, only to pause just before touching. She bit her lip, and the look of worry in her eyes was such a change from her normal indifference that Heron's heart skipped a beat.
"I would have been badly hurt if it wasn't for you," Yuriko said in a low voice. "Thank you."
"It's, uh, it's nothing. No, I mean, it's my duty and pleasure."
"Do you, uh, do you need help with Recovery?"
"Just some time. It might take a few days actually."
Yuriko nodded, stood up and walked over to Krystal.
Heron sighed to himself. How long has it been since he first became infatuated with her? Like the three other members of this impromptu team, he had been born and raised in Faron's Crossing. He attended primary schooling in the only facility in town and he had been in the same group the entire time.
Yuriko had always been a self-absorbed child, always focused on what she wanted to do and she didn't let anything get in the way of that. It wasn't until a couple of years ago, he thought, that he started noticing her in particular. It didn't help that she was the most beautiful girl in school, or the town for that matter, though her standoffish personality and her illustrious father made sure that most people who admired her also kept their distance.
After a minute, Yuriko came up to him with a bowl of cubed rations. He opened his mouth to speak and was surprised when she shoved a cube into his mouth.
"We need to decide things." Yuriko waved at the others who gathered around. "What are your thoughts?"
"Why are you hand feeding Heron?" Orrin asked.
"He's wounded."
"He still has one good arm."
Heron smirked at Orrin but since his mouth was full, he kept it shut.
"Well, here. You feed him then," Yuriko said, handing the bowl over to Orrin. Heron glared at the smaller boy who scowled back at him. He grabbed the bowl from Orrin's hands. He certainly didn't need to get fed that way.
"So, what's the plan?" Krystal asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"I think we should stop trying to break past the swarmlings," Mikel volunteered. "It's too dangerous."
"And where will we go?" Orrin asked sharply.
"I don't know. Krys, you have an idea?"
The other girl shook her head. "I don't know. I don't know how far the swarmlings will enter the forest too. To be frank, I don't even know why they're here. What was that last thing by the way? That was not a Wanderer!" There was a hysterical note in her voice and from the way her hands trembled, Heron figured she was at the end of her rope.
Not that he was in better shape than Krystal. For that matter, Heron looked at each of the other kids and he could see the worry and fear. Yuriko's eyes were different though. He saw anger and determination there in the way her eyebrows were furrowed and how there was a slight downturn to the corners of her lips.
No, she wasn't frightened at all, but he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. He wasn't at all sure if they could survive another encounter with that Wyldling, much less any of its pals.
"I think," Orrin interrupted, "I know what that last Wyldling is. It's a Hunter."
Heron drew a sharp breath. A Hunter. It was the next tier higher in the Wyldling scale. It was smaller than the Wanderer but was far more dangerous, mainly because it knew how to retreat when it had to.
"Do you think it'll come back?" Yuriko asked.
"Maybe." Orrin shook his head. "Hunters aren't common outside the Tidelands and any that appear outside are, well, immediately hunted down and eliminated. I've only read about them in a few books."
"They certainly aren't part of the curriculum," Krystal said.
"Then?" Heron asked. "What are we to do?"
Yuriko closed her eyes, obviously in deep thought. Heron kept eating his cubes while staring at her face. Orrin, Mikel, and Krystal were eating their rations too.
"Aren't you eating?" He asked Yuriko who was startled when he spoke.
"Hmm, yes. In a bit." She sighed. "I thought we had a chance to get past them when there were only swarmlings, but now…if we encounter another Hunter, or even the same one, and we get surrounded by the little ones," she gulped, "I don't think we can survive that."
Heron nodded. He had pushed to return to the outpost earlier but, well, their circumstances had changed. "Let's head further north? What's the plan? Look for a defensible area and wait? Or do you think we can circle around them?"
"We'll need to stay put for a while," Yuriko decided, "At least until you get better. As for afterwards…well, I'm not sure how far into the woods the Wyldlings will go."
"I say we head north long enough to find a place to hole up in," Mikel suggested. "We can keep watch and if the swarmlings come, we can move further north. How long do you think it will take before the Legions come and mop them up?"
"Two weeks, maybe." Orrin shrugged. "It depends if word got to them early enough. It might be faster than that too."
"So two weeks," Yuriko repeated grimly. "I didn't think we'd spend our training camp like this. Think we'll still get that recommendation letter?"
"If they don't give those letters to us after this, I don't know what else would convince them to," Heron laughed. "Speaking of that, where do you intend to continue your studies?"
"Hmm, oh. I'm not sure actually. I had planned to go to Agaza Academy but I'm not sure what course I'd take. I'll ask Armsmaster when we return."
"Agaza, was it?" Heron mumbled. That was the top military academy in the plane. Graduates, more often than not, served as an officer in the militia until they reach Journeyman or Knight level then transfer to the Imperial Legions. "Are you planning to continue in the militia or legions?"
"I don't know yet," Yuriko muttered, her face a little flushed. "With my Facet the way it is, I'm not sure I'll be accepted."
"If the way you fought earlier was because of your Facet, even indirectly, I don't think you'll have any trouble," Heron smiled.
Yuriko couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks, Heron," she pulled out a ration bar and carved it up to eat.
The rest of their break passed in relative silence. Those annoying bugs refused to shut up. They continued on their march northwards. Heron didn't feel they would be safe until they were far from the edge of the woods, though he also wondered what they'd run into there.
Krystal kept them at a steady pace, more a brisk walk than anything else. They ended up following a river upstream since at least they'd have water wherever they might choose to rest. Heron struggled to remember what he learned about Shillogu Woods while they walked.
Most of the area they passed in wasn't the actual Shillogu Woods but the surrounding forest. He couldn't quite remember why the name was important, but he knew it was. Geography classes were dry and boring, especially when they often didn't have the chance to visit such landmarks. Paintings reproduced in their textbooks were not enough to draw his attention. History was more interesting, at least to Heron. He particularly liked reading about battles and wars, though he also liked stories of explorers, especially those who ended up finding livable ground in the Chaos Sea. It was why he loved watching the Fall of Annise Delovine: it had exploration, wars, and adventure.
In the late afternoon, the forest subtly changed. For one thing, the bugs weren't screeching anymore, though it may have been because the sun was nearly setting. The tree trunks were further from each other now and Heron thought they were bigger and wider, too. At least, the canopy didn't let more light through than before.
They were still following the stream Krystal found, though it was noticeably wider now. The undergrowth wasn't as bad, he thought. There were more fruit trees and berry bushes, not just the lavan variety.
Eventually, they came up to a small lake that was the source of the stream. Dragonflies flitted amongst the reeds and wild geese paddled along the serene waters. It was maybe a couple of hundred paces across or more. He couldn't see past the thicket along the bank across from them.
"Let's continue east," Yuriko said.
They picked their way along the banks, keeping far enough away that they weren't waking in the mud. An hour later, the sun was already touching the western mists.
"We should look for a campsite," Mikel reminded them.
"Look!" Krystal shouted from ahead. Heron exchanged glances with Orrin then they rushed forward.
Past some berry bushes and around a copse of trees, Krystal pushed aside a curtain of vines. Beyond it, there were piles of tumbled stones covered in dirt and more vines. It took a while for Heron to see past all the detritus and recognise what it was.
"Is that...a house?" he wondered.
"A small building, I think." Yuriko said. "Maybe an old tower. What is this doing here?"
Heron shrugged, less interested in history for now and more in the possible shelter.
"Does it matter? We can make a comfortable and secure place here."
Yuriko nodded. "You're right. Well, I guess let's get to work."
The weight on his shoulders eased a tiny bit. Yes, they couldn't get back to the outpost, but at least they'd found a tiny corner of civilisation here in the wilderness.
And with the lake nearby, at least he'd be able to take a bath.