The three mounted their horses and resumed the journey to Greenhill Village.
After the delay on the cliff road and the stop at the river, G6 permitted no further rest. Nevertheless, darkness had settled over the countryside by the time the village lights appeared through the trees.
They reined in near the entrance, where voices carried from farther inside the settlement.
"It appears we must lodge here for the night," Lord Zen observed.
"Why?"
G6 turned toward him, apparently finding the lateness of the hour an insufficient explanation.
"The hour is late, my lady," Edmund interjected.
"I told you not to call me that."
"Forgive me. I find it disrespectful to address you so familiarly, even by an alias."
G6 considered him for a moment.
"Hmm. Then you two will address me as Captain. That will suffice?"
"It will, Captain," Lord Zen answered.
Edmund nodded, then looked toward the source of the distant conversation.
"This village seems unusually lively, however."
"I can feel outsiders."
"You can tell?"
Lord Zen's curiosity drew another glance from her.
"Yes. I can sense the tension in the natives here."
"How?"
"Because I can use the wind."
The sharpness of her answer discouraged another question.
Beneath the louder laughter and unfamiliar voices, G6 could hear the villagers responding more cautiously.
The gathering did not sound like neighbors enjoying an ordinary evening together.
"Let's go."
She urged Kira forward at a slow walk. Edmund and Lord Zen followed until the angle between the nearest houses gave them a clearer view of the gathering.
"We must not approach," Lord Zen said quietly.
G6 had already noticed the armed men occupying the open area beyond. Lamplight caught on armor and weapons while villagers moved among them carrying food and drink.
"Are those the knights bound for the capital? There's quite a bunch of smug."
"It seems they are stopping here for the night," Edmund confirmed.
"Should we stay within the forest?"
"That would be wisest. Once we have completed the assignment, we can return tomorrow for the village chief's seal."
G6 turned Kira away from the entrance. The men followed her toward the trees, taking care not to ride directly past the knights' encampment.
Their departure did not go entirely unnoticed.
A man standing near the village boundary watched the three cloaked figures disappear between the trunks.
"Hmm. Who might those three be?"
"I do not know," his companion replied. "But they appear to be actively avoiding us."
"Do you believe them to be a threat? Mercenaries, perhaps?" a third man asked.
"Impossible to tell beneath those cloaks. Remain vigilant, and inform Captain De Lune of these suspicious travelers."
"Understood, Vice Captain Cortez."
The men continued watching the trail after the last horse had vanished from view.
❈.❈.❈
G6's party established camp well inside the forest, far enough from the village that its lights no longer reached them. Once they had dismounted, Edmund began tending to the horses while Lord Zen settled near the small fire.
"Did you store water from the river?"
"Yes, Captain. It is better to be prepared than regretful."
G6 lifted the cup of tea Edmund had already brewed.
"You possess a collection of utterly weird things in your vault. You are truly not merely a butler."
"Being a butler is etched into my very soul," he replied with complete sincerity.
"Yeah. What a nerdy thing to say."
Lord Zen took a cautious sip from his own cup before looking toward her.
"What do your own vault holdings consist of, Captain?"
"My two daggers."
Both men waited, apparently expecting her to continue.
"All I require is my weapon."
Edmund nodded without comment and returned to preparing the food. He warmed the two torpedo sandwiches Alistair had packed, then cut each in half. He and Lord Zen shared one, while both halves of the other went to G6.
The first mouthful brought a quiet sound of approval from Lord Zen.
"Alistair's cuisine is truly the finest."
"Indeed. It is said that the surest path into a person's heart is through the stomach," Edmund observed.
"What a stupid thing to say."
G6 examined the filling before taking another bite.
"Is that why Janin married that ill-tempered old man? I truly do not comprehend the workings of people's brains."
"Captain speaks as though she is not, in fact, a person," Lord Zen murmured to Edmund.
G6 looked up.
"Ah. That is correct, you do seem remarkably different from your persona as Zen. Your personality as Zero possesses quite a loud mouth."
"Unlike you, Captain. You have become colder than the Northern Region itself."
"Is that so? That must be why I enjoy the sight of blood; you see, it is warm."
Lord Zen choked on his food.
Edmund passed him water immediately, though the remark had recalled the cliff road for him as well. G6 watched Lord Zen struggle to swallow, a small smirk appearing as he accepted the cup.
She seemed satisfied with the response. Before he had fully recovered, she moved to another subject.
"That is correct, your hair is sage green, is it not? How is it now black?"
"The magical earring I am using alters its color," Lord Zen answered, clearing his throat.
"Hmm. Is my hair color common?"
I've noticed it's quite rare. Haven't seen anyone with the exact same shade, though plenty of people copy it. They never quite get the depth of color.
"The natural shade is not common. It is a distinctive trait of Duchess Worthon's family," Lord Zen explained. "However, it has been widely imitated by both nobles and commoners. There are enough imitations throughout the kingdom that the color alone need not identify you."
"That is a relief then. Then I suppose I must simply keep my shades on."
That is right. The grey eyes belong to the Worthon bloodline.
Hair can be imitated with dyes or magical tools, but the eyes cannot be altered.
"Do you not find the glasses difficult to see through?" Edmund asked. "You have kept them on since darkness fell, Captain."
"Ah. I have been employing my Perception skill since the sun set. And I must say, this body is finally beginning to show its use."
A faint note of pride entered her voice.
The improvement had become difficult to miss. Movements that had once punished Reise's body now left G6 with soreness she could tolerate, and regulating her output had become easier with practice.
She still needed to judge what the body could endure, but using her abilities no longer meant approaching the same immediate threshold of failure.
Cryomancy remained a different problem. The sudden pain in her chest during that first experiment had resembled none of the familiar strain, and the Queen's warning had supplied little explanation. Mastering it would require more than repeating what already worked with Wind.
Their conversation continued through magical equipment and the people capable of making it. G6 listened with increasing interest, considering which of her current acquaintances might be useful for a future project—and whether she would need someone else to help recreate the weapon she missed most.
She was still considering the possibilities when the atmosphere beyond the fire changed.
An oppressive sensation reached them from deeper in the forest. G6 lowered her food and turned her head toward the darkness.
"Hmm. Could it be the dogs?"
Echo Trace.
Wind moved away from the camp beneath her direction. The returning sounds carried movement, but the impressions overlapped too indistinctly for her to separate the creatures or establish a reliable count.
"I cannot discern if it is them. Furthermore, I cannot accurately gauge their number or movements."
"They may be traveling as a full pack," Edmund suggested.
He had already begun gathering their cups and securing the remaining implements. Lord Zen set his meal aside and rose.
"Ah, that is correct."
G6 looked between them.
"You two, memorize this code, and use it at all times. Code Blue: if you sense an enemy presence. Code Red: if we, or you, are in a disadvantageous situation. Code Black: if your opponent is too strong for you to face."
"Understood," both men replied.
"Utilize military time to communicate direction during the mission."
This world does not use military time. This will serve as a secure secret code between us.
"What is this, Captain?" Lord Zen asked.
"It is simple. The time here only revolves between 01 and 12. But we shall use the hours between 13 and 24."
Their expressions told her the explanation had not been sufficient.
She clarified the arrangement using the same twelve positions of a clock face, numbered from thirteen to twenty-four.
They would establish a shared forward direction before moving: twenty-four directly ahead, fifteen to the right, eighteen behind, and twenty-one to the left.
The positions between them followed around the same circle.
G6 looked toward Lord Zen.
"Do you low lives not employ the military time tactic in battle?"
"No. We ordinarily use directions such as 'behind you,' 'at your back,' or 'beside you.'"
"Are you stupid? Well, you will use it now. And we shall employ my time system for security. Do you understand?"
"We understand," Edmund answered, with Lord Zen voicing his agreement beside him.
"Good. Now, let us proceed to investigate the source of that disgusting aura. And be cautious; I believe there is a reason why my wind cannot precisely detail their number or movements."
The men pulled up their hoods. Lord Zen extinguished the fire while Edmund finished packing and secured the horses, leaving them concealed beneath the trees.
G6 waited only until both were ready before leading them into the darkness.
❈.❈.❈
Whisper of the Gale. Echo Trace.
G6 sharpened her focus, drawing more detail from the gloom through her tinted lenses. She climbed into the lower canopy and moved onto a broad branch, where she could examine the forest floor without the intervening undergrowth.
Edmund's quiet invocation of "Speed" reached her from below. Lord Zen repeated it before following him upward, both men using the trunks and lower limbs to reach her level.
G6 moved first. Wind supported her steps as she crossed from one tree to the next, catching the weight of her landings before she pushed off again.
Maintaining her enhanced sight, listening to Echo Trace, and carrying the men's voices through Whisper of the Gale required steady attention, but the effort was far more manageable than it would have been during her first days in Reise's body.
The ominous presence strengthened as they advanced.
Through an opening beneath the branches, movement finally resolved into recognizable shapes. Wolves passed between the trunks below, their bodies appearing and disappearing behind the undergrowth as they descended the slope.
G6 followed them from above. The closer view allowed her to track what the earlier echoes had failed to distinguish, though she remained alert to the strange magic accompanying them.
"This path leads directly to the village," Edmund observed through the Wind link.
"Could it be…?"
Lord Zen moved onto a neighboring branch and looked farther downhill.
"This is unusual. They are indeed descending toward the village. Wolves do not ordinarily behave this aggressively unless driven by hunger."
"They also seem to be drawn toward something specific," Edmund added.
"What they will do if the teleportation circle is in the Town?" G6 asked.
"Villages use alarm magitech to request help from nearby town security." Lord Zen answered.
"I see. The forest itself feels… normal. Could their natural prey be gone?"
"That is one possibility."
"What is your order, Captain?" Edmund asked.
"Let them proceed."
G6's attention remained on the wolves.
"There are knights present, after all. I am… curious."
Lord Zen glanced toward her across the gap between their branches.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
"I can sense traces of magic upon those pups. I wonder what exactly it is. Let us move."
They continued after the pack.
As the village drew closer, the wolves' pace changed. Their movements grew more abrupt, and crimson light kindled in their eyes. What had been a rapid descent became a rush through the final stretch of trees.
"Hmm. At this rate, they may indeed consume a few villagers."
G6 crossed another gap without slowing.
The trio stopped near the forest's edge, high enough to overlook the village square. Houses bordered the open ground, with the knights gathered among the lights below and livestock kept farther along the settlement's edge.
Edmund settled on a thick branch with his hand braced against the trunk. Lord Zen took a position nearby, his gaze moving between the approaching pack and the people who had not yet noticed it.
On the opposite tree, G6 leaned against the bark and folded her arms.
Both men looked toward her. She had chosen a clear vantage and appeared entirely comfortable remaining there. The set of her mouth suggested anticipation rather than concern.
Wind moved through the square under her careful direction. The knights' conversation reached the three observers, followed by the quieter voices of villagers moving between the tables.
Lord Zen turned toward her at the sudden clarity of the sound.
"A play without audio is boring after all," G6 said.
"They are nearing the edge."
His attention returned immediately to the wolves.
"Why are you so distressed? They are knights. And nobles."
"Captain, are you, perhaps… interested in their magic?" Edmund asked.
G6's smirk deepened.
"You truly know me, Eddie."
Below, a woman carrying tankards of beer stepped past one of the tables. She saw the first wolf emerge from the darkness and screamed.
"AHHH!"
The conversation broke apart as the knights turned. Chairs scraped across the ground, and villagers recoiled from the shapes rushing into the square.
"GET INSIDE YOUR HOUSES!" one knight shouted.
Another turned toward a man farther behind the tables.
"HEY YOU! CALL THE CAPTAIN AND VICE CAPTAIN NOW!"
Weapons came free as the nearest knights moved between the wolves and the fleeing villagers. Some beasts advanced directly toward the men, hissing through bared teeth, while others broke away toward the livestock.
From above, G6 watched the hurried attempts to form a line.
"Are you certain they are knights?"
Several men advanced with elemental magic spreading along their swords. The effects differed from one blade to the next, drawing her attention along the formation.
"Hmm. I observed some utilizing four elementals. I was under the impression only direct descendants could wield such complexity?"
"The affinities may also appear in branch families," Lord Zen explained. "Some inherit weaker manifestations, others strong ones, and some inherit none. Distance from the main line does not determine the result with absolute certainty."
A knight brought his glowing blade down toward a wolf attempting to pass him.
"What you are watching is Magic Coating," Lord Zen continued. "They are applying their own elemental affinity to a physical weapon. Some find that easier to control than an independent spell, particularly when their training is centered on swordsmanship."
"How tedious. This world really does run on pedigree."
G6's gaze shifted toward the end of the line.
"And look—that child just had his leg bitten for it."
A young knight staggered as a wolf caught him below the knee. His companion struck the creature before it could drag him down, and the animal collapsed with its jaws loosening around the wounded leg.
The men had barely begun pulling their companion back when the fallen wolf's body shimmered.
Its wound closed. The limbs that had folded beneath it straightened, and it rose again beside the man who had struck it.
"A resurrection spell," G6 said.
"It certainly resembles one," Lord Zen replied.
Elsewhere, another apparent kill ended the same way. A knight drove his blade through a wolf and pulled free as the creature fell, only for its body to gather itself beneath him again.
"Are we not going to intervene, Captain?"
Edmund had shifted forward on his branch.
"Why should we? They bore me with their incompetence."
He looked toward her, then back at the square. The wolves were no longer allowing the knights enough time to recover between attacks.
"This is dire," Lord Zen said. "Each time they return, they appear considerably stronger."
"They are becoming more aggressive as well," Edmund observed. "They no longer behave as though they are hunting prey."
The knights continued holding the approaches to the houses, but their movements grew strained. Every successful strike brought only a brief reprieve before the same threat returned.
"FUCK THIS! WHAT ARE THEY, SOME UNDEAD?!"
"DO NOT TELL ME THEY ARE MONSTERS!"
An enormous wolf emerged from the darkness beyond the others.
Drool hung between its exposed teeth, and its eyes burned with the same red light as the pack's. The oppressive presence around it reached even the observers in the trees.
Several knights adjusted their footing as the Alpha advanced.
It charged before the nearest man could clear its path. Its jaws closed around his arm and tore it away, wrenching a scream from him as blood struck the ground.
"AHHH! FUCK! FUCK!"
His companions dragged him back while another knight stepped forward to keep the beast from following. The rest of the pack surged toward the opening in their formation.
A forceful invocation sounded beyond the square.
Blades of water swept through the advancing wolves, striking them from the side before they could reach the injured man. The sudden attack broke their rush and gave the knights room to withdraw him.
G6 straightened slightly against the tree.
"Hmm. Now that's interesting."
Lord Zen glanced toward her.
She did not even blink at the lost arm, but this catches her attention, he thought.
Five figures had entered the square. Their arrival immediately drew the remaining knights toward them.
"Forgive the delay. We were investigating a disturbance. Report."
The man who spoke took in the wounded, the scattered wolves, and the civilians retreating behind doors.
"Those are?" G6 asked.
"Captain De Lune, Vice Captain Cortez, and Lieutenants Libert, Thonson, and Nocturne," Lord Zen answered. "Captain Kepler is Lord Keith's elder brother. Vice Captain Cortez is a third son of House Cortez. Lieutenant Nocturne belongs to a tertiary branch of the main Nocturne line."
A subtle tension entered his voice at the last name. G6 noticed, but her attention had already moved to another of the officers.
"And Thonson?"
"I thought you would know, Captain. Lieutenant Thonson is from the second house of Worthon. He is your cousin."
"Is that so?"
Of course I wouldn't. Reise's memories aren't part of the package.
"They are commonly called the Five Angels," Lord Zen added.
G6 gave a short, derisive laugh.
"Five Angels? Let's see if they can sing—"
Lieutenant Libert's chant cut across the square.
Lightning gathered before his raised hand, narrowing into a spear that tore through a cluster of wolves. The impact lit the surrounding houses and left the beasts sprawled across the ground.
Their bodies began shifting again.
"Fireball."
Vice Captain Cortez released his spell into the same cluster. Flame expanded across the open ground, engulfing the reforming wolves in a mass of fire almost as large as one of the nearby cottages.
Lieutenant Thonson's invocation followed. A whirlwind closed around the blaze, feeding its heat and driving it through the beasts before they could scatter.
Along the sides of the square, Lieutenant Nocturne spoke his own spell and raised earthen bulwarks between the fighting and the vulnerable huts. The barriers caught the force spreading outward and sheltered the doors behind which the villagers had retreated.
Edmund watched the coordinated attacks without speaking until the light began to diminish.
"My first time witnessing them in combat. They do live up to their reputation."
The five officers had not simply added more power to the disorganized struggle. Their attacks gave the other knights space to recover while their defenses kept the violence from spilling farther into the village.
When the fire receded, the bodies inside it remained still.
A ragged cheer rose from the exhausted men. Lieutenant Nocturne lowered the walls once the danger to the houses appeared to have passed.
"THOSE DAMNED WOLVES ARE NOTHING TO OUR FIVE ANGELS!"
"Silence! Secure the perimeter."
Vice Captain Cortez's order cut through the celebration.
The knights moved to obey. Some took positions facing the forest while others remained near the houses, watching the fallen wolves with weapons still in hand.
Captain Kepler went to the man who had lost his arm. He knelt beside him as his companions made room, the brief hope around them tempered by the blood soaking the ground.
Up in the trees, the three cloaked observers remained out of sight.
Ten minutes passed.
The wolf bodies did not move at first. Then one paw twitched beneath a scorched flank, followed by a slow contraction along another creature's spine.
Dark strands coiled from the earth around them.
The tendrils wrapped the bodies as they re-formed, drawing across wounds and burned flesh until the wolves began rising again. A far heavier pressure spread through the square, carrying a viciousness that had not been present during the earlier attacks.
Lieutenant Libert turned toward the nearest movement.
"What in the hell are those?"
"This is no jest," Vice Captain Cortez said. "Their malice has intensified tenfold."
The Five Angels re-formed their line. Behind them, the other knights tightened their grips and moved away from bodies they had believed safely dead.
Lieutenant Libert raised his hand and began another invocation. Energy gathered, but one of the wolves moved before he could release it.
The beast crossed the gap with a speed that broke every expectation established by its earlier attacks. Its jaws opened toward his throat as he turned to meet it.
A black-cloaked figure dropped from the trees.
G6 had pushed off a branch overlooking the square, using the descent and the Wind supporting her movement to carry herself into the charge. Her boot struck the wolf beneath the jaw, throwing its head upward and turning its open mouth away from Lieutenant Libert.
She landed beside it with her weight already moving forward. The dagger she had drawn in the canopy drove into its chest before it could regain its footing.
The wolf dissolved into black smoke.
G6 withdrew her blade as its body disappeared around it. A cracked crimson marble struck the ground and rolled several inches through the dirt.
Lieutenant Libert checked his forward movement, staring at the place the creature had occupied. For the first time that night, nothing began gathering itself for another attack.
G6 stepped clear of him and raised one hand.
Edmund and Lord Zen descended from the canopy behind her. Their enhanced movements carried them onto the edge of the square, where they landed with swords drawn and immediately moved toward the returning pack.
Edmund recovered the marble near G6's feet as he passed. Lord Zen closed on the nearest wolf, stepping outside its lunge before driving his sword into its chest.
The beast vanished around the blade.
Another crimson object dropped where it had stood.
The two men continued through the pack without attempting to hold the broad line the knights had formed. They entered close, struck precisely, and moved before the surrounding wolves could pin them in place. Their weapons remained physical steel; no great elemental attack announced where the next blow would fall.
"Who are they…?" Lieutenant Nocturne asked.
"They are the suspicious travelers we were discussing," Vice Captain Cortez answered, watching the cloaks.
G6 did not join her companions. She remained a few paces ahead of Lieutenant Libert, following the fight with her dagger held low while the two men worked.
Each fallen wolf left smoke rather than a body capable of rising again. Edmund and Lord Zen retrieved the strange objects as they moved, leaving none beside the places where the creatures disappeared.
At the edge of the square, the Alpha turned.
Its gaze passed from G6 to the collapsing remnants of its pack. Then it withdrew toward the trees, abandoning the village as abruptly as it had entered.
G6's eyes followed it beneath her hood.
"You dare run from me?"
Her sharp whistle cut through the square.
Edmund and Lord Zen completed their last strikes and gathered the remaining marbles. By then, G6 was already moving toward the forest, her cloak snapping behind her as she accelerated out of the lamplight.
The men followed immediately. They reached the first trunks, pushed upward onto the lower branches, and disappeared into the dark canopy after her.
"AFTER THEM!"
Captain Kepler's command broke the stunned silence.
Lieutenant Libert moved first, with Vice Captain Cortez and Lieutenant Thonson close behind. They crossed the square and plunged into the trees along the trio's route.
Behind them, the remaining knights stood among scorched earth and houses that had survived the battle. The Five Angels' spells had filled the night with lightning, flame, water, and walls of stone. The strangers had arrived beneath black cloaks, struck at close range, and left almost as quickly as they appeared.
Where their blades had passed, the wolves were gone.
The three pursuing officers had seen enough to understand that the difference mattered. Somewhere beyond the village lights, the people responsible were retreating through terrain they appeared to know how to use far better than their pursuers had anticipated.
The chase carried deeper into the forest, beneath branches that concealed all three shadows.
—To Be Continued…—