As the journey continued Ki found that they all had to pass through a potential danger zone in order to get closer to the border.
Just as everyone was nearing the location Ki sped up and arrived next to Alf and the others signalling to slow down.
Her senses were screaming that there was danger ahead so she decided to act first instead of waiting for an ambush.
Alf got off his sleigh and asked. "What is the problem?"
Ki crossed her arms over her chest and spoke in a calm manner. "For this next part of the journey I think it would be best to rest up and set up camp somewhere nearby before we enter and have checked it out."
Alf frowned as he was aware of the dangers but he believed they could handle it if anything happened. "Are you certain? We can make it through safely even if something goes wrong."
Ki shook her head in disapproval. "No we cannot risk it. We have given more than enough time for others to surpass us and potentially lay out an ambush on our route and we or I have made some potential enemies within the city who do not wish for their power to be challenged. Within that ravine it is easy to block off and set up an ambush without being seen by others until we are already within the trap. I will go myself while you go to a designated place and wait there until it is known to be safe."
Alf frowned a little more and sighed as his voice became a little more helpless. "Can't you at least take someone with you?"
Ki shook her head again and smiled calmly. "I can handle it so don't worry. I will leave my escorts in your hands for now so they should be of help if anything else happens all of a sudden."
The enemy would not expect that she had already long realised the dangers in front of herself so they did or would not usually make a counter plan.
Their full forces should be within the ravine but that did not mean that other variables would not appear and cause them trouble during their time waiting so Ki had left Lumi and Rayleigh with them so if something unexpected happens then they would have extra help to overcome it.
Ki pointed to a location nearby on the map that they could rest up and meet back up at and then turned around once more with her back to them all. "I will be back soon. Look after my dogs and sled for me until I return."
Alf hesitated for a moment and then softly spoke. "Stay safe out there. Do not take any risks."
Ki nodded as she walked towards her sled and loosened the harness on Nova who stood at the front of the dogs and the sled.
She stroked her head and gently spoke into her ear in a soft voice. "You can be of help to me so you may come along. Let's go hunting."
Nova's intelligent eyes seemed to show that she had somewhat understood Ki's words or intention so what followed was a 'Woof' of approval.
After recruiting a follower to accompany her, Ki began to arms herself with her weapons and anything that could be put to use in case of an emergency.
Not long had passed before Ki had walked towards the location of the ravine while the others had changed their direction towards the location Ki had told them to go to.
Navigating through an icy ravine would be a test of Ki's skills and the results of her training over the past couple of days so she walked there expectantly.
She also had a certain confidence about her that even if she was careless she would still come out without injury thanks to her bodies resilience from body tempering.
As her steps grew closer she began to enter the ravine but took a small detour to climb up onto a ledge to gain higher ground.
She also helped Nova get up and they both began to stealthily make their way further in.
Many large rocks were laid out on the icy path which needed to be avoided or navigated around but could also be used to hide behind.
There were also some ledges within the ravine that had been made or formed with fallen debris, snow or ice.
Thanks to the ledges Ki was able to get a good view from above but it also made her a little easier to spot but that did not matter since the enemy was already in hiding and was just waiting for her to go deeper.
Ki took out her bow and and arrow and took up her aim ready to let the arrow fly the moment she spotted an enemy and Nova walked a little ahead while sniffing and looking for traces of peoples tracks.
They both moved quietly and carefully between places where there were places to hide like behind larger fallen rocks or by the ravines walls.
Suddenly just as they both stopped and remained extra vigilant Nova quietly returned to Ki which signalled that something had been noticed.
Nova must of picked up on a scent or sound and came back to let her know.
Ki waited while in hiding and then out away her bow and arrow.
She took out her sword from its sheathe as quietly as possible and had her back to the part of the ravines wall.
In front of her was a small part of the wall which stretched out and blocked her path so she could not just walk around without remaining vigilant.
Just as she was about to step forward an axe was swung towards her neck.
As if expecting it and reacting accordingly Ki's body bent back while taking a knee and slid forwards.
The next moment her sword struck to the side and aimed towards the attackers waist and hit its target.
Before the could respond the sword was swiftly removed just as Ki had steadied her footsteps and balance once more, she pushed herself back to her feet again and thrust the tip of her sword towards his throat.
This time the attacker was able to partly avoid the strike but suddenly Ki's wrist flicked to the side as she did the blade turned and then the sword left a long cut on his neck before he could escape.
The blood from his body began to leave his body and travel towards Ki as if it was seeking a new home while his body was going to fall towards the ground.
Ki caught his falling body and gently placed his corpse down so that his death wound not alert his allies right away.
After placing the body she continued on her way with Nova assisting her to navigate through the ravine.
After killing a couple of people silently in the same manner she finally came across the sight of some people in hiding on the main road behind some large rocks and on the upper ledge on the other side of the ravine.
Ki removed her bow and arrow once again and began to take aim while placing her sword close by in case of emergencies.
Taking aim she let out a short and controlled breath and then released the arrow.
The arrow flew across the ravine and flew towards a man who was trying to hide by the ravine walls upon the ledge but had exposed himself a little now that Ki was on the other walls ledge.
Just as the arrow pierced through his head Ki had already took out two more arrows and taken aim towards the road where two people were hiding out.
Just as her arrows were being released the dead body of the man fell down the ledge towards the ground alerting their allies of an attack.
Perhaps the sudden crash alerted the two people on the road so much that they stood up and ended up in the direct path of the oncoming arrows.
While one was pieced in the chest the other was pierced close to their neck.
As if making sure that the targets were sure to die another more precise arrow flew towards his head and killed him after suffering a chest wound while the other man bled out from his wound next to him under the cover of the large rock.
Unknown to others but in the locations of their bodies the blood began to gather into a mist like form and had began to slowly travel between the cover of the rocks and hiding places towards Ki's location.