-Callia-

  Through the first night I ended up breaking roughly six camps. It would’ve been more, but tracking them down and then listening in unnoticed to determine intentions took time. The rising of the sun was cause for me to stop and evaluate my progress. My eyes felt heavy from the long duration spent awake.

  Busting small camps wasn’t going to cut it. At this rate I would be out here for months tracking down surviving soldiers. Instead, it might be more effective to cut the head off the snake. The only reason these men consider staying in a region as dangerous as this is because of the rumors that one of the baron’s knights was staying. If I remove this ‘Ralf,’ then the rest will scatter.

  I quickly closed the remaining distance between me and the river crossing. The fortifications had been left in place but also opened for passage. Knowing Callen, it was likely a feeling that removing the fortifications was unnecessary work. He likely justified it to others, saying it might be helpful later.

  I found the river and followed it northwest. Just like how I approached the camps last night, I travelled along the branches in the trees searching for any signs of passage. Despite the river washing away many of the traces, it was abundantly clear that many had gone this way. I slowed my pace even further, focusing on my approach and stealth.

  Then I felt that instinctive pull as my mind locked on to a target. Just up ahead at one of the river's curves, a ragged band of three people wandered upstream. They weren’t the people I was hunting, but it shouldn’t interfere if I cleaned them up first. They didn’t even have time to cry out as my arrows pierced the thin armor around the throat.

  I moved on as the bodies washed down the river. Just past the bend I noticed an outcropping of rocks overlooking the river. I quietly moved up, and just as I suspected, I noticed the presence of two people. I moved down to the entry of their little bunker, but the moment I was about to step in, my senses flared in warning.

  I don’t know if it was the exhaustion from two days without rest, but I had let my guard slip. Before I could run, men swarmed in from behind and encircled me. A quick count put the numbers at roughly 20, with a mix of bows and spears among them. I almost felt it would be manageable, but at the front was a massive hulk of a man. I could identify him from Callen’s descriptions of the knights that had breached the walls. This was the berserker who had fought with Sir Ella of Forest Side.

  Now wasn’t the time for hesitation. I dashed towards the weakest side of the encirclement directly away from the man I assumed to be Ralf. I rapidly fire arrows ahead to try clearing the path. They are clearly ready for my resistance, and one parries the arrow with his sword. Another tries to block with his shield, but my arrow pierces through and lodges in the man's skull. I slide by, narrowly avoiding the sword. I’m back on my feet right in front of the tree and jump with everything I've got.

  Just as I’m lifting off the ground, a hand wraps around my foot. I feel my ankle dislocate as Ralf yanks me back to the ground. He slams me into the ground. The impact shatters my shoulder and fractures my arm that I used to shield my head from the impact. I feel Ralf adjusting his position to swing me like a bat into the tree. I curl the leg he has me by to close the distance between us. He begins to swing me, but I’m close enough now to swing my other leg right into his jaw. His head snaps back, and his grip on my leg breaks. The momentum of the swing still carries me into the tree, fracturing a rib from the impact.

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  The minions come between me and Ralf with weapons swinging. I shift most of my weight to my uninjured leg and meet the first man to arrive with a dagger in his eye. Two others try to capitalize on my attack with their spears, but I gracefully spin in place, knocking one spear aside and pulling the other past me and into his companion. I reverse my knife in hand and end the spearman who I pulled with a powerful stab to the throat.

  Ralf isn’t waiting, and my instincts flare as the man knocks aside the soldiers between us and violently charges me with a raised fist. Jump into one of the soldiers next to me and use him as a springboard to narrowly slip past the charge. I break my dive with a roll, but I get clipped by a sword. Now bleeding lightly from the thigh of my good leg. I forcefully make space by shifting my roll into a leg sweep, knocking over the men around me.

  My sprained leg has recovered enough to hold my weight again, and I waste no time plunging my knife in the chest of the man I tripped. Again danger flares, but this time I barely have time to react. An arrow from one of the archers crashes into my chest. My right lung is pierced as I adjust my position just enough to save my heart.

  In a flash I close the distance to the archer and land a brutal roundhouse kick, shattering his skull. At the same time my knife slashed cleanly through the wrists of another charging me with a spear. Ralf stomped into the ground, shaking everyone nearby, and launched himself at me.

  Unbalanced from the stomp, I don’t have the footing to dodge again. Instead, I grab the handless soldier and his spear. I drop low, raising the man's spear and holding him like a shield. Ralf breaks through the spear with only the tip lodging into him before it snaps. The human shield doesn’t stand a chance as Ralf sends me and the man flying.

  I feel most of my ribs on the impacted side crack and my arm break in multiple places as I roll uncontrollably, sliding to a stop at another tree. My vision is a shaky blur as my body gives, and I collapse.

  Predatory Testing

  Lexia saw the next town on her path just ahead. She already knew this wasn’t Port Town, but it was still worthwhile to check among the inhabitants for anyone who met her criteria. However, in the last town, the ‘Talent Show’ strategy was a complete waste of time. Therefore, she had a new plan.

  In the dead of night she easily scaled a random portion of the town's walls and snuck inside. She quietly stalked from building to building, getting a sense of who lived where. She identified around eighty targets in the age range she wanted to test. One by one she sneaked into their rooms and startled them awake. She would let them resist with everything they had before beating them to a pulp for disappointing her.

  Over the course of the next month randomly all across town the guards were run ragged responding to the screams and desperation of terrified children who had been violently pummeled in their own homes. Rumors of a vengeful ghost of some girl who had returned to bring suffering to everyone her age began to swirl in town. The children who hadn’t been visited tried sleeping in the guardhouse, but the ghost girl would simply target them one by one whenever they left.

  Eventually the last child of age was left following the captain of the guard wherever he went. Whispers all around as people watched and waited for his turn, but it never came. Just as mysteriously as it started, it ended. The town was confused. Why was that one boy spared? Was he in on it with the perpetrator? Eventually all was made even as the victims banded together and shared their experiences with the lucky survivor.

  All the while Lexia moved on to the next town. Reflecting on her experience, she realized she had made a critical mistake. A good number of humans don’t specialize in unarmed combat. By ambushing them, she denied them the chance to properly resist. Another plan failed, but there were still more towns and chances to try other plans. She quietly contemplated what her next plan would be.