As the Zanian warriors that battled Dyrin's forces made it to the main pathway through the swamp, the mages who were using their Magic Art, Enhance, now focused on using Heal on the injured champions.
Bok, Alex, and the Swordsaint ignored the strongest mages' healing, offering to focus on the three in critical condition. "How a-are they look-ing?" Alex asked one of the mages, her voice shaky and worried.
The mage turned to Alex, worry evident on his face as well, "Not good, three or four more big spells and they could've died." The news hit Alex hard, her hands began to shake as well as her jaw. To calm her down, the mage put a hand on her shoulder, "Look, they are going to be fine, don't worry about it, your healing helped stop their convulsing, give it a few hours, and they'll wake up, I promise."
Bok, as the oldest in their team, hid his worries and fears as he came up to Alex, "Hey, he said they are going to be alright okay? Just make sure you're alright as well, it's not like you're in tip-top shape as well, y'know what?" Bok turned around, bending a knee as he presented his back towards Alex, "Why not ride on and rest for a bit, don't worry, I'm strong enough."
Hesitantly, Alex went on Bok's back, leading the swordsman to stand up and chuckle. The injured three and some mages got on top of Rico as Bok and the Swordsaint walked beside the beast.
Rico's scaly face showed an expression of worry, something Bok had caught. " Are you okay, boy? " he asked, leading Rico to grumble in response. "What'd he say?" he asked Alex, who took a while to respond.
"...He's worried," she blankly explained, causing Bok's eyebrows to curl in a worried expression, but Alex couldn't see it, all she could hear was his joyous chuckle.
"Is that so? Is it because of a Magic Art that you can do so?" Bok asked, leading Alex to shake her head.
"No, Rico's trainer just taught me, he has a lot of noises that express certain emotions, and I can get a response by knowing them." Bok smiled, hearing Alex's voice light up a bit more.
"Just wanna say Alex, you did an amazing job in that fight, especially for someone so young as you," Bok praised, leading Alex to burrow her face into Bok's back in embarrassment.
"No, it's just… I was just trying to pull my own weight." Bok's eyes softened, and even he was beginning to lighten up a bit.
"You carried more than your own weight," he said, causing Alex's eyes to widen before softening again. Soon, she smiled, "Say, you act very much like your brother."
"I mean, I am his sister after all." The Zanian force continued to walk through the crossing without any interruptions, and after ten minutes, they reached the other side. The people of Krome, who had been resting, celebrated their soldier's arrival. Some hugged in joy, thankful for their family or friend to be back, while others cried, the sacrifice of their loved ones striking deep within their hearts.
"We'll give another ten minutes for our warriors to rest, but be prepared to leave at a moment's notice," one of the officials directed as he approached Bok and the others, "How's the champions?"
"Not good," Bok responded, letting Alex down as he continued to inform the official, "We met heavy resistance, but we gave more than we took." The official smiled, his eyes showing off how impressed he was.
"All because of Lord Ashkin and Lord Sevi's plan, I swear, I don't know where you five came from, but if you all are the future of Zan, I think our Empire's going to be fine." Alex was let on Rico's back as the mages informed her and Bok that the three would be fine, they just needed rest.
Bok beckoned Alex to rest as he stood on standby. After ten minutes, the fifty-thousand Kromian citizens continued their march through the dark night; although still tired and a bit worried, the news of their soldier's victory resulted in their spirits being heightened a bit.
The city had been walking for almost nine hours now, and they were halfway in their travel towards Magri. An hour after departing from the Dark Swamps, Alex woke up from her nap, seeing Bok still awake she came up towards him, "Hey Bok, I think you should rest," she suggested, her tone going back to her regular calmer one.
Bok confidently scoffed, "I'm fine, Alex." But Alex wasn't asking for a response, as she grabbed Bok's collar, with the swordsman being too weak to resist, was put in a lying position next to the injured three.
"Stop pretending, it's alright to rest, especially with everything that happened," Alex remarked, earning a soft smile from Bok.
"Alright I guess, just don't make Rico too lonely." And with that, Bok closed his eyes as Alex began to talk with Rico. The city walked through hilly terrain, to another swamp, and an open field, with no interruptions.
Eight hours later, the eyelids of Rapl were being shined on by a subtle light, a very light hue of blue, he groaned as he felt his body ache. But all of that exhaustion left as his ears began to hear the things around him.
Screaming.
Instantly Rapl sat up, his eyes peeled wide open, he was still on top of Rico, with both Sevi and Leena, "WHAT'S HAPPENING!!" Rapl asked in a hurried tone as he was almost flung off as Rico hurried his pace.
"They caught up," Sevi replied, his hair flowing with the wind as he was looking at the army behind Rico. Last night, as Dyrin got back to his troops, he knew he didn't have too much time left before the people of Krome met up with Magri, so an hour and a half away from Magri's lands, Dyrin and his army surprised Krome as they hoped to save as much Zanians before it was too late.
Rico, along with the champions and soldiers, were running behind the fifty-thousand, ready if Dyrin and his army caught up, but they knew that if the battle did happen, they could only give time to escape instead of victory. Rapl, wanting to be assisting, tried to move, but his legs wouldn't budge, "We also can't move," Leena remarked, "We used too much of our mana, we'll need a few days to even cast a single spell."
This news came hard on Rapl, as it did to the other two, "We can't do anything, our only hope is escape, but Dyrin's soldiers are experienced, meaning they can run more than Krome's regular citizens," expressed Sevi, observing how much faster the Huldians were than the Zanians.
Below Rico, Bok, Alex, and the Swordsaint were panicking, "How about I make an ice wall to stop them all?" Alex suggested, but Bok shook his head to disagree.
"You can't, unless we find a tight gorge you'll die even just casting the move," he responded, making Alex's brows curl more as she was beginning to panic.
Meanwhile, Dyrin and his champions were running full speed at the city, some were even flying. Almost fifty of Dyrin's champions ran alongside him, along with all his head captains except for Ja'Klei who was still recovering but observing from above, riding atop a griffin.
Dyrin carried a more serious face as he was going into battle, "I will not fail again," he promised himself, gripping his knife tightly, as his eyes showed a very intense fire, as he stared at the people of Krome beyond the soldiers of Zan, "For them Dyrin, do not fail for them."
The Huldians were now only about a thousand feet away from the Zanians, and with them slowly approaching, the soldiers could only hope for a miracle to come.
And it did.
Three figures from the blue skies descended, creating a massive smoke cloud that stopped the Huldians in their tracks. But suddenly, the morning blue sky was swallowed whole, by red, as children, began to sing.
Fear has come, fear is here
With might by its side, and desolation near
A mountain of bodies will be left behind
As cruelty will be defined
"Are you going to fight your Majesty?" One of the figures remarked, his face hidden by a massive hat. Next to him was a towering figure, with shoulder ornaments resembling that of horns.
"No, but I will show off a bit of my power if I have to," he replied as he turned to the person beside him. He was a smaller boy, with tied messy raven black hair, but his eyes were a bright violet, and he wore no robes like the other two, instead wearing a type of armor given to a select few people, the Klariac set. On his face was a mouthguard, and on his hands were two weapons, a knife, and an axe, "Quix, break their spirits."
"Yes, your Majesty."