Hazel took charge of leading my horse I was firmly tied to, bell wasn't far behind her as she tried to use light magic to heal some of my internal wounds but it was like her mana wan anathema to me, it did more harm than good and soon gave up and just observed my condition.
The twins kept pace behind me acting more of a rearguard while Richard rode ahead with sergeant Kace leading the group as a whole into the mountain pass a few hours after we left the camp.
Hazel couldn't help but feel excited upon my arrival, she seen the changes on my body and the way I reacted when Kace touched my crown and she was fascinated, her heart sped up slightly seeing the magical fire that was ever-present in my hair now as if I was a creature of magic that she very much wanted to study, it wasn't a look of infatuation or anything more carnal, it was more like she wanted to dissect me and see why I was so special, you know the creepy type of stare.
Bell poked Hazel once she noticed just how long hazel stared at me before shaking her head in warning.
Sergeant Volk was concerned with how stable I was as they made good time into the hidden pass that led into the Southlands, just what had they done to the boy he mused as he kept rear guard always keeping an eye on the ever-present scouts, the persuing group of enemies was quickly closing the gap and could be seen just entering the valley some 10 miles down. At this pace, he was concerned that the group would be caught somewhere in the Southlands. "KACE! we need to do something about these bastards or else we are going to have hell to pay when they catch us in the hills with nowhere to hide!" he called out loudly so that Sergeant Kace could hear him from the front of the retreating group.
Kace looked back at the call and seen that Volk was right, he had to do something so he motioned for volk to switch places with him. An earth mage was good at hindering pursuers with either walls or jagged spikes or even simple pitfalls that could break a horses leg easily, so he did just that, at a bend in the path he added more than a dozen jagged spikes that came out of the side of a particularly narrow spot that the pursuers would have to go through to keep following. The next corner he created a large hollow spot in the road with a paper-thin covering of stone to camouflage it.
Kace was utterly exhausted after using so much mana in such a long time after he had already used a lot of his personal reserve keeping my heat at bay when they first got ahold of me so he rode to the front of the group and instructed a few soldiers to keep watch on their rear and to let him know if the pursuers got within 10 miles of the retreating group.
Volk nodded at Kace as he arrived and seeing the exhausted look he kept his place of leading the group much to Kace's appreciation. Kace inspected his charges, they had made decent progress in magical studies these last few weeks but still, they were only trainees and this ride was going to be hell on all of them, he knew he shouldn't have brought them but he had been ordered to by commander Harriot so that they could get real combat training. desperate times called for desperate measures and he wouldn't question a direct order especially from her.
Kace rode the group hard and even had them light torches and canter through the night, only occasionally did they stop to let the horses rest at streams but still they kept on through the night and well into the next day.
I woke back up after midday the next day just as we passed into the Southlands. "Where am I?" I managed to croak out before I felt a hand reach out and touch my shoulder making me flinch and almost causing me to fall off my horse but thanks to my hands being tied to the pommel of the saddle I kept a firm grip and didn't fall.
"Sorry, Bruni!" I heard hazel apologize as I cracked my eyes open to bright light making my eyes water. It had felt like ages since I felt the warmth of the sun on my face. I coldly looked at my old comrade and glared at her before speaking, "Do not touch me, girl. This is your only warning, next time I will kill you." I said before I started laughing quietly as hazel moved her horse a small distance away from mine with a concerned look upon her face.
Bruni clearly wasn't the same person she knew from the training camp, 'what did they do to him to make him so hostile I wonder she said as everyone who heard my threat gave me worried looks, even Sergeant Kace was concerned with just how damaged I had become.
That was when 2 soldiers who had been keeping an eye on our pursuers came galloping up to Volk at the head of the group and informed him that a group of over 50 horsemen and what was possibly a handful of mages were going to be on our group within 2 hours at the pace we were traveling.
Hearing this my heart lightened, "Perfect! let them come, I'm not done repaying their hospitality!" I laughed madly as I started to slow my horse while everyone gave me a worried look hoping I wouldn't ignite my mana on the spot as this was a terrible area to fight in.
Kace shook his head at the 2 soldiers who grasped their swords behind me warning them not to do anything, he had tasked them with keeping an eye on me and to try to knock me out if it looked as if I was losing my mind as I had clearly done inside the castle.
Seeing Kace look behind me I knew what he was doing so I looked at the 2 soldiers behind me and gave them a savage look as mana flared brighter in my eyes, "Try it and I turn the both of you to dust." I warned before I looked back at Kace, "So where are we going to make our stand?" I asked as everyone stared at me with worry etched into their faces.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My P.A.T.R.E.O.N. account is/ OGYMpw. For those that want to support me, it will help a lot for me to be able to keep up the release rate of my chapters! THANKS ALL!