"Oh, I forgot about Anashta, she worked as a palace guard back in wolf shield" Pam was still excited to tell her about the wolf shield's base. How they had more women in their groups, how everything looked more organized, how they had bigger dining halls and how they were treated as honorable guests. Looks like they are already playing in-laws.
"Get in line" Leu asked as they've been reaccessing everyone's progress for next month's duties. He was incharge in the absence of Lord Kan. That means they can try for a scouting team.
"You'll go against Collin" Even with her ability she practiced day and night, more for further distraction than to prove anything. It was the only way she kept moving and not think about a woman of highest status possible, for an eligible bachelor..
She lifted her sword and let Collin come, he extended his front leg while pushing off himself with the back, swinging his sword side by side, 'Is he playing fencing with her?'. She pushed his sword aside with a wide upward swing. He was stuck. Moving back he got down while swinging the sword towards her calves, she just jumped to let it pass. But what she didn't consider was, he could swing it back like an annoyed kid. How childish !.. She had to arch back to get on her hands, then come back down on her feet. She was getting worried for their safety.
Collin didn't stop there, he got up to swing his sword forward with great momentum but Daria simply side stepped before deflecting it by hitting his hand. The momentum caused it to fly but Rubby's sword stopped it in time. How do they train them?
"Why are you wasting so much energy in swinging?" Daria had to ask. Everyone applauded. But all Daria saw was a broken pride on Collin's face, after all he was a man and a rider, pride was their weapon. But it still felt misplaced.
"Was it good?" Daria asked Leu.
"Good enough" Daria knew what he meant, "But next round is more important"
Next round was archery, an important skill for the scouting team, archers provided cover, so scouts don't have to get too close to creatures. Though Daria was good, Pam was the master.
They went one by one, Rudy and Daria hit all the targets, whether far, moving or flying, But the real showstopper was Pam with her lively aura, she not only hit the targets but hit them with grace. She jumped…bull's eye, arched back…three targets in a row, swirled…shatterd bottle. It was clearly her passion. Daria always envied that about her.
She can see many jaws hitting the floor.
"To be honest I'm not sure why Lord didn't let you three in" Leu came to show the results.
Tomorrow they will be riding with troops.
************
It was barren land, the ground was dry without any vegetation, hard and brittle. She had done the field watch a few times before, with new recruits, just to get familiar with the surroundings. But they never came this far.
There were around ten places emitting the black smoke like stuff, but more defined. Extending straight up to the clouds, not even deflected by winds, almost like a sheet of thin black threads.
"It's black plasma," Leu mentioned as he pointed to one of them. What's a black plasma?
"Why is it there?"
"What does it do?"
Both Pam and Ruby asked in unison.
"Not sure, No one went that far" Leu said like it was nothing.
"But why?" Daria pressed.
"Do those bolls on your fore head not work, can't you see that" Collin almost lost him calm, but she didn't care, she simply turned to check what he meant. There was a deep trench in between.
"Do they crawl up then?" Pam asked, referring to the dark creature. Thinking about the human-like creature Daria encountered on their way, she found herself more and more baffled, 'how do they actually cross?', 'Why do they cross?', 'Where are they coming from?'
"Not all, many die falling ". That's crazy.
"Hmm, can they smell us? Is that what makes them cross?"
"Maybe, who knows? " Leu answered. There were clearly many gaps to be filled.
************
They went on scouting every day, rotating among three troops. Which made Rubby, Pam and Daria split from time to time, but being alone with a group of men was something she still felt uneasy about, especially when most of them were strangers.
That made her think about the unfairness of this society, why women have been pushed indoors so much, that men declared the whole world their own territory.
"Where's your head?" Jerry asked, falling next to her.
"Women" the word skipped her mouth without a thought.
"Oh men, you hit the spot…Is…there anyone waiting for you?"
"Ah ..No, that's…not what I mean" His scrunched face expected some juicy details for sure.
"It's just…lack of women here…it seems unfair" she cautiously put her thoughts out, which has always been a dangerous topic.
"What do you mean? It's for their own safety" His tone turned a bit stern. But she wanted to find out how men think, how their head truly worked.
"Should'nt we leave it to them, to decide?" She thought it was a fair point.
"Do you think that's what it is? We don't have many women here because we hate their presence while working?" His words didn't make sense to her.
"Isnt that's the reason?" She wanted a proper answer.
"Hah, I didn't know you are that oblivious to these things" He really looked surprised this time.
"What do you mean?" She found herself anxious.
"Women are not allowed on the field, not only by us, but by any other bases, it's technically breaking the rule" He made sure others were far enough to not hear them before giving her the details like uncovering a hidden secret.
"That's absurd" She was furious at the whole system by now.
"No, you're not understanding, there were some strange occurrences around women, though this part is a bit secretive and only a few knows about this" He almost whispered. Allen's words came in her mind 'those creatures seem to get agitated by females'.
Daria was completely shocked, a fear creeped in her heart, Ruby, Pam and her. They were scouting for the last four days, unaware of this? Wait…
"What about breaking the rules?" He looked back, a bit proud of his knowledge.
"Any woman, if comes out on field would be thrown in jail, or first lashes then jail, but not only that" she held her breath, Is there more?
"Any one involved in bringing them here would also be punished severely" His words sync deep with realization, any one involved !, Lord Kan !.