Aether Beasts

The next few hours of training felt a lot easier since my mind no longer had to worry about Misty, although I did find myself glancing at her every so often and a few times I was caught, she only seemed to appreciate my looks or at least that what I thought from all the blushes and smiles she sent my way.

Zirani seemed to be in a better mood as well, though you wouldn't tell it since she was in instructor mode, I had a bond with her so I could feel her emotions to a degree and she was most certainly pleased with the outcome of things.

Once we were done for the day we headed back to camp with tired smiles on our faces. Unfortunately, those quickly faded as we entered the camp and noticed the increased activity. Tents were being pulled down and packed away, along with all the other structures. The sound of crying was loud as steel heart disciples seemed to be saying goodbye to what I could only assume were relatives and friends. There was no jovial aura at all, and the usual smiling and happy faces were replaced by serious faces that held a variety of emotions. Fear, courage, anger, and even a few looks of despair.

"What the hell's going on?" Misty asked.

"War," Sandra replied in a cold voice. "News must have finally come. It seems the final battle will happen sooner than expected."

Before I could reply to her words, a voice called out to us.

"Aiden! Sandra."

Kara looked worse for wear as she jogged up to us. Her face was disheveled and she was panting heavily. "Elder Kaylin wanted me to make sure you got the news."

"What news?" I asked, though I already knew from what Sandra had just said.

"The twin horn are marching, and we're preparing to meet them," She replied in a somber voice. "Those not officially part of the steel heart are going to be leaving soon for Orton."

So people were saying their goodbyes then. I clenched my fists as I tried to calm my mind. I'd known this would happen, but even so, I found myself getting nervous. Soon we were going to take part in an actual battle and even if I had a backup plan, who knew what could happen. Perhaps I'd be killed by a stray technique or surrounded. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew I was scared.

"As you should be," Zirani said in a serious voice. "War is nothing to take lightly, and this is your first. You shouldn't feel ashamed of your fear, and your right in who knows what might happen, but nevertheless you should always try your damndest to survive and come out alive."

"What should we do?" Sandra asked.

"Pack and then find me or Elder Kaylin. You're in Kaylin's group with me and a few others," Kara explained. "We're all marching together, but we're being placed in groups, essentially battalions. Kaylin will be leading ours."

With that said she turned and sprinted off, leaving the three of us looking at each other with nervousness and fear.

"Well then I guess we'd better pack," I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, which wasn't much if I was being honest. I was already tired from training, and now this? Why couldn't things have just waited for a day or two? Things had seemed like they were going so well today. Perhaps there was some god toying with me.

The three of us didn't really have anything to pack since we kept all of our stuff in our spatial rings, so instead, we headed in search of Kaylin. It didn't take long to find the young elder as he was managing arcanists and seemed to be sorting out groups and other various problems. He looked relieved when he caught sight of us.

"Good, you're here. I need the three of you to do a quick task for me, are you up for it?'

We glanced at each other before we nodded in unison.

"Good." He sighed. "I need you to head to the outermost outposts we have. We weren't expecting the town horn to move this soon and our arcanists out there weren't scheduled to return yet. I just need you to head over there and bring them back."

"How many?" I asked.

"Only four," He replied. "Just let them know you're under my command and tell them what's happening. I've got a map, here."

He handed over a folded piece of paper. "Now as quick as you can. We'll be leaving in a few hours and it will take you that much to get to all of the outposts."

The three of us didn't stop or wait for anything, instead, we immediately began sprinting towards the first outpost. I may have been nervous about what was going to happen, but I was still a part of the sect and would do what I could to help. Every arcanist we had on our side meant a better chance for us, not that we could win without reinforcements, but perhaps we could hold them off long enough until help arrived? Even to me, that sounded very optimistic.

I let my adrenaline power me as we tore through the forest.

We arrived at the first outpost in less than an hour and a half and quickly relayed the information. The disciples there were shocked but quickly got into gear and we didn't even wait for them to finish packing before we began towards the next outpost.

Hours passed as we moved from outpost to outpost and it was seeming like things were going to go off without a hitch, but then we made it to the final outpost. We burst into the clearing where the small camp was set up and found four steel heart arcanists clashing against a group of dog-like aether beasts. I wasn't familiar with the species, but I didn't need to be. They were only one core beasts and their cores were only at the smoke stage.

The steel heart arcanists seemed to be having trouble, but not because of the strength of the beasts, but because of their numbers. There must have been at least a dozen of them and the steel heart arcanists had already sustained a few injuries.

Luckily nobody seemed too hurt and we were able to kill off the beasts. My impact seeds sent viscera and blood flying as my seeds would dig into the flesh of the beasts then the shockwave would detonate inside them. The dog-like creatures seemed to be nothing but skin and bones and honestly looked far more like large rabid dogs than aether beasts. Misty aether claws made short work of them, and Sandra's projectile easily pierced their skin.

"Thanks for the help," A tall lanky looking teen said, but I cut him off before he could say anything else.

"Save it for another time, the twin horn are marching and so we'll march to meet them. We were sent to let you know that you need to return to camp."

"Under whose orders," An older-looking woman asked.

"Elder Kaylin's," Sandra shot back. "Now get your asses moving unless you want to die when the twin horn army passes through here."

That set them moving and together we quickly made our way back to the camp, though, by the time we made it back, it couldn't really be called a camp anymore. There were no tents or structures in sight anymore.

I panted as I dropped to one knee. Training usually took a lot out of me, but I usually went to sleep almost immediately afterwards so I never felt the tiredness as much, but now the adrenaline was wearing off and I was feeling my sore muscles and aching bones protest as I tried to move.

"Come on," Sandra said. "Let's get to Elder Kaylin and let him know we're done then maybe we can get you onto one of the caravans or carts."

Both Sandra and Misty helped me as we made our way over to Elder Kaylin who took one look at us then directed us towards one of the caravans that held crates full of weapons and other odds and ends. There wasn't much space but enough that I could sit back against a wall with my legs stretched out in front of me. That along with a blanket and pillow from my ring made it decently comfortable.

Kara came to visit us just before we began moving to let us know she'd come to get us when we arrived at our destination which Misty asked about. Kara explained that the plan was to cut off the Twin horn in an area that would make it hard for them to swarm us, and simply overwhelm us with their numbers.. That was about all I took from her words as my eyes began to droop and before I knew it, I was out like a light.