"Who's up for night duty tonight?" Shera asked the group she was leading, which included Cassian's team and a few others, as their caravan took a quick break before moving on.
No one raised their hand, everyone looking worn out. Cassian, noticing his team's exhaustion, sighed and stuck his up. "I'll do it."
"That's one down, need a second," Shera said. "I'll sweeten the deal—extra healing potion for each." Suddenly, every hand shot up. Nobody wanted to miss out on an extra potion—everyone got three to start, but they were too pricey to stockpile, practically a second life for healing deep wounds.
With most people having burned through one or two healing potions in the last fight, everyone was desperate for more. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way to get extras, they all wanted to stock up. Thе аuthеntiс vеrsiоn is оn М|V|LЕМРY_R.
Shera, her fierce eyes like a lioness's, scanned the group of about two dozen. She pointed at a guy, and Cassian glanced over, recognizing him as around his age. The kid's aura screamed circle warrior, same as Cassian, and the massive halberd on his back confirmed it—no mage would lug around a weapon that big. "You, Kalso, right?" Shera asked.
The guy nodded, and Shera went on, "You and Cassian are on night duty. Everyone else, dismissed—get to your assigned carriages, we're moving out soon." As the group scattered, the two young circle warriors eyed each other. Shera approached them, adding, "You two get your own horses. Stay sharp, don't fuck around. You're only watching four carriages, from Cassian's team to yours, Kalso. Got it?"
Cassian and Kalso nodded at Shera's orders, but Cassian piped up, "What if something goes down on our watch? What's the first move?"
Shera's lioness eyes narrowed, sizing them up. "You spot trouble, you signal—two short whistles, one long. Don't play heroes and try to handle it solo. Wake the nearest mage, probably Wanni, and get her to throw up a flare. That'll pull the rest of us in fast. Your job's to keep eyes on the threat and hold the line 'til backup shows. Luckily for you, I'll be close enough to hear you screwing up."
Kalso shifted the weight of his halberd, his face serious but calm, like he'd seen his share of fights. "Got it. Stick to the four carriages, signal if it hits the fan."
Shera gave a curt nod. "Exactly. Keep your domains sharp, you miss something, we're all screwed. Now grab your horses and get ready." She turned, her wild aura lingering as she headed to check the caravan's lead.
Cassian and Kalso traded a quick look, each scoping the other out. Cassian could sense Kalso's domain, a low hum matching his own circle warrior vibe. "You done night watch before?" Cassian asked, grabbing the reins of his assigned horse—the same one he'd seen a soldier riding before getting his head lopped off last night.
Kalso shrugged, fiddling with his halberd's strap. "A few times. Dull as hell until it ain't. You?"
"Same," Cassian said, swinging onto the horse. "Here's hoping it's boring as those nights."
"Yeah," Kalso nodded, clearly not wanting a repeat of last night's chaos. "So, last night… any of your team, you know…" He tilted his head, mimicking a limp neck, like someone passed out or dead, and added, "died?"
Cassian shook his head with a low chuckle. "Nah, my team's all good. Nobody went down. You?"
Kalso, his brown hair just a shade lighter than Cassian's reddish hue, shook his head too. "Nope, we got lucky. Our mage took a nasty hit, though—roughed up pretty bad. He's fine now, but we burned through a ton of healing potions in that fight. Guess you can figure why I jumped at this night watch."
Cassian nodded, understanding the hustle for extra potions. He adjusted his grip on the reins, his horse shifting under him as the caravan started to move. The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and campfire smoke, the four carriages they were tasked with watching creaking along the uneven path. Kalso's halberd gleamed faintly in the fading light, strapped securely to his back, while Cassian's own blade hung ready at his hip.
"You think we're in for a quiet night?" Cassian asked, scanning the darkening treeline, his senses sharp for any hint of trouble.
Kalso gave a short laugh, patting his horse's side. "Hope so. Don't need another ambush, but we're better set than last time. Got a solid chain of command now, and I heard reinforcements showed up today with some high-grade magical gear—way better than what we were originally hauling to Karem Earldom."
"Really?" Cassian raised an eyebrow, caught off guard. He'd been out of the loop, too caught up with his own thoughts and thoughts about secret mission to keep up with the news. He was supposed to know more about what was going on, but he was coming up short.
Lucky for him, Kalso was chatty. "Yeah, our thousand-man crew was just supposed to bring mana guns and a few mana cannons to bolster Karmen Earldom's front lines. But I heard they added some advanced mana armaments too. No clue what they are, but the mana vibe coming off the carriage carrying 'em? Felt like fifth or sixth-circle warrior domains. And there were at least dozen of 'em."
"That's a hell of a lot," Cassian muttered, surprised, as their caravan finally started moving. They'd reach Karmen Earldom by the afternoon after next. But still, there weren't many crafted armaments that could match the mana intensity of a fifth or sixth-circle warrior's domain, let alone a dozen of them.
"Hm," Kalso nodded, "but will it even be enough? The Earldom's still getting wrecked by those monster waves we dealt with days ago. What're some mid-circle level armaments gonna do when a seventh-circle warrior in war armor couldn't hold the line?"
That's what was eating at Cassian and why he'd signed up for the secret mission to begin with. The current earl was supposed to be rocking the Karmen family's ancient war armor, but his forces were still getting hammered. Meanwhile, Julius, in a similar spot, had pushed the cult back hard, which made Cassian wonder why Karmen forces were in such rough shape.