It was impressive, very impressive. More for the boy’s guts and determination than his physical prowess, as it was clear that the only thing keeping him moving was sheer blood and guts and a stubborn refusal to stop. Kaern had seen such in the past, but only rarely, and usually wasted. He didn’t know what he would do when this was over, but if the boy lived, he might consider hanging around.
Potential for greatness was always worth cultivating.
They were running a little ways up from the beach, on the harder and more predictable ground, while he kept an eye for trace of the two groups they were pursing. As long as they didn’t see any trace, and there was no signs of the groups between them and the water, Kaern could be certain that they had a distance yet to run.
He was distracted slightly as he noticed Caleb beginning to flag behind, but didn’t want to say anything until he also noted that Elan was started to slow.
“Don’t. We can’t slow down,” he told her. “He’ll have to catch up.”
Caleb nodded, still unable to speak much, and waved them on. “I’ll…catch…up.”
“Let’s go,” Kaern said. “Pick up the pace.”
He and Elan increased their speed, leaving Caleb behind in short order.
“I can’t believe I’m moving this fast,” Elan admitted. “I’m not even worn down.”
“You’re high on pure oxygen and the hormones the suit is tricking your body into releasing,” Kaern answered. “Otherwise, even with the augmentation, you’d be feeling it by now. When you crash, and you will, I doubt you’ll be able to move much for a couple days. We’ll worry about that if we live, however.”
Elan shot him a worried look. “Is this dangerous?”
Kaern snorted. “This what? The armor you wear, or what we’re about to do? Because I assumed you knew the answer to the second one.”
She flushed under her armor, though he couldn’t see it. “I meant the armor.”
“You’re untrained, barely fit, and have no idea what you’re doing. The fact that Merlin gave you that armor is proof of how desperate the situation is,” Kaern told her. “You could kill yourself just by misjudging how strong you are right now, so yes, it’s very dangerous. The demons we’re about to fight, however, are far more so. My advice? Don’t worry about it.”
Elan nodded as they continued to run.
“The real danger of the armor is depending on it,” Kaern said after a moment. “Your people were great warriors, but they depended on their tools too much. When the infrastructure needed to build and maintain them fell, they were caught depending on tools that would eventually break without hope of replacement. That was when the war was really over, when the soldiers were reduced to fighting with sticks and stones, and had no skills with either.
“You have a powerful tool there, Elan,” he went on, “but someday it will fail you. When it does, will you be ready to fight with your own hands and skill? Or will you fail, like your tools, and like your ancestors?”
She shot him a glare that, again, he couldn’t see.
“I won’t fail,” she said heatedly.
“Good. For now, run faster.”
*****
The demon forces fell upon the outer sentries, swarming around the boulders they’d used as their primary cover and charging up the hill to where the sentries were positioned.
“Run,” one of the guardsmen ordered. “I’ll hold them as long as I can. Warn the others!”
Some obeyed, some didn’t, but that was all he had time to say as he gathered his blade and stood forward as the demons closed.
They were charging the high ground, and those who remained to hold them back used that to their best advantage as the stood their defense. The initial wave fell in a quick, brutal engagement that left fifteen demons smoking on the ground and three guardsmen bleeding out beside them, but the second wave was already charging and it was far, far larger.
The guardsman knew they couldn’t do more than delay them, but every second now might buy a life.
He met the charge with one of his own.
*****
“The lead elements have engaged the human sentries, Lord General.”
The demon general nodded. “Push the rest through. I want to close on the main group as quickly as we can.”
“It will be done.”
Most of his force were sent on ahead, pushing hard to close the distance before the human refugees could get themselves in order to again flee. He did not want to chase those vermin all across the continent and back, and to avoid that, the battle here had to be finished and quickly.
“Leave the guards for our captives,” he ordered. “Everyone else to the front.”
“Yes, my Lord General.”
*****
Simone drew her blade at the first call of alarm, already turning back to the direction they’d come. A few men were running in, looking bedraggled and worn, such that she didn’t need to hear their report to know what was going on.
“Get everyone together! We have to move out!” she ordered, slapping men on the back as she ran toward the returning sentries, not slowing until she got to them. “What happened?”
“Demons. Swarmed our position,” the sentry gasped. “A few stayed to hold them, but it won’t be long now.”
Simone closed her eyes for a moment, but nodded.
“I understand,” she said.
And she did. Men had given their lives for time. She couldn’t waste that sacrifice.
Simone turned around, shouting orders. “If you can’t move in two minutes, we are leaving you here!”
That set everyone moving faster and grumbling loudly, but she couldn’t care less about their grumbles. If they lived, they could bitch to her later.
In two minutes, amid many complaints, Simone started moving the group upriver. They’d have to stay close to water as long as they could, and she knew their only chance was to evade the demon forces in the badlands, where they could use the sun as a real weapon against them.
People were running through the shallow waters, stumbling in the mud, and generally making the whole situation worse, by far, than it needed to be. They were moving, however, and that was all Simone could ask for, given the situation. With an eye over her shoulder, looking for any sign of the enemy, Simone joined them as the large mass of people moved slowly out.
*****
Kaern held out a hand, slowing their pace.
Elan didn’t ask why. She could easily see the mass of red and blue ahead of them. It was taking some getting used to, the abilities the armor granted her, but it was also a rush the likes of which she had never experienced in her life.
“That’s their prisoners and some guards,” Kaern said, slowing to a stop and dropping to a crouch as he looked on for a moment and then past the grouping. “The main group won’t be much farther.”
“We should go,” she said, eagerly twitching as she forced herself to remain still.
Kaern looked at her for a moment, knowing that the girl was running on a hormone high that she didn’t really have any idea how to control, but there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. Hopefully it wouldn’t get her, or anyone else, killed.
“I’ll go on,” he said. “I see mostly lower-level demons here. You take them, then catch up.”
“But…” Elan objected.
“No!” he snapped, keeping his voice low. “Those people need to be saved as well. Do what I tell you. I’ll deal with the main group.”
“How? You’re only one…person?” she said, sounding hesitant.
“Leave that to me,” he said, getting back to his feet. “You handle them, then hurry and catch up. Trust me, there will be plenty left for you when you arrive.”