Chapter 284: Sticks and Stones

Frey frowned as Thomas rushed ahead. The young noble had spent a week training how to go up and down the side of the mountain, and he was eager to show it. He silently swung from branch to branch like a monkey while Frey lumbered behind with Elero on his back. "Slow down," Frey muttered as his companion lept out of sight.

"You should just hurry up," Thomas called back, making a vein bulge on Frey's forehead. The cold night air plunged into the scratches the giant had received from the passing branches, bringing with it a stinging pain that kept him awake at the late hour.

They met up at the bottom. Elero wiped the huge grin off Thomas's face with several curses and insults. She had suffered far more scratches as a result of being further up in the dense vegetation. "So where are we going?" Thomas asked, scanning the frozen swamp. Frey spat a leaf at him, stormed past, and waved for him to follow.

Thomas ran his hand along one of the sunken walls, which sunk another inch into the frozen muck, before following behind. "Shouldn't we explore deeper in the swamp?" He pointed over his shoulder, to the north. "There might be even more ruins there, meaning we find Elero's salvation faster."

Frey didn't even turn Thomas's way, still heading towards the Knight's Academy, or at least the general area. "Maybe if you had slowed down for us, you would have heard me explain the reason to Elero."

Thomas sighed, focusing on Frey's back as he followed behind. 'I can't throw mud at him since it's all frozen. Maybe I'll just put a rat under his pillow or something.' At the very thought of the animal, he salivated and shivered. 'What's wrong with me?'

He then noticed the goosebumps on Frey's and Elero's skin, and the lack thereof on his own. For a moment, everything turned back to those colorful wafts of air. Night turned into day. He winced, but after rubbing his eyes, his vision returned to normal. 'I'm sure Doevm can fix whatever this is. The sooner we break him out, the better.'

Thomas was glad to walk on the slippery ice as opposed to the usual thick muck. Sure they had Amphiboards in Initiation, but that had not been enough. He was even more glad to see that he didn't have to get back at Frey. The swamp did it for him!

With each heavy step, cracks shot through the thin ice like spiderwebs. Thomas had chuckled the first time that Frey's feet fell into the cold muck below, but he steadily grew more concerned with each following occurrence. For with each break of the ice, Frey increased his pace. Light cracks of the ice turned into loud, echoing plunges and splashes.

Eventually, Elero hoped off his shoulders and got into her wheelchair. Thomas thanked the goddess Alexander wasn't there or else they would be caught in a second. He nimbly maneuvered about the terrain. Frey stomped over everything, leaving an obvious trail.

"Frey, do you think you could be a little quieter?" Thomas eventually broke the silence of the walk, making the other two turn towards him. He pointed at the trail. "You would wake a giant the way you walk."

Frey shrugged: "Then we'll fight a giant." He turned and kept walking carelessly. "You may be quiet, but no matter what skillset you have, stick with your comrades." Thomas turned to Elero, expecting her to take his side, but she had lowered her head and turned away. She grasped the wheels of her rickety, creaking wheelchair, and followed behind Frey.

Thomas looked on for just a moment before realizing what he had done. They couldn't be quiet, not with Elero on Frey's shoulders nor if she were in her wheelchair. Her creaks gave away too much noise, and they all knew it.

'What did I just say?' Thomas thought as he let his posture wilt. 'They're the soldiers. I'm just an idiot.' He caught up to Elero and apologized as they went on. She seemed to recover fast, yet a lingering guilt had already taken root in Thomas's mind. Still, the further they went, the closer he stuck to the shadows.

An hour of frigid sloshing, groaning, and sliding later, the familiar southern section of the swamp greeted them. The many mutant creatures from Initiation had become a rarity, most of them having gone into hibernation.

The path Frey led was extremely familiar, heading straight for the destroyed church. Leaves and vines blanketed the mountain behind the building, disguising the cavern entrances. If Thomas hadn't already known of the hidden caves, he would have questioned how he was able to see them now, even in the dark night. 'Why would he take us back here?' he thought. Despite it being winter, the area was still very much alive with insects, birds, delicious frogs, and…patrolling groups of students.

Thomas noticed the students first. He pulled Elero into a nearby bush, wheelchair and all. Frey was right behind him. It was a tight fit, but they were hidden. Frey put a hand on Thomas's shoulder and gave a slight nod although Thomas wasn't sure what that meant.

The group of students emerged from the destroyed church, looking a little agitated. All of their movements - whether it was scanning the surroundings or communicating - were quick, quiet, and coordinated. Another hand placed itself on Thomas's shoulder. Elero pointed to her own ear, which a blue mist emanated from. Thomas nodded and pulled out his own life essence. Distant bird calls became deafening shrieks, cricket calls evolved into echoes, and intelligible whispers became audible.

"Did you hear something?" One member of the group whispered to the rest. "What if it's the general?" The students' voices dropped out of audible range as they huddled together.

"We can't hear anything. Can you move closer?" Frey breathed into Thomas's ear.

"You said to stick with the group," Thomas whispered back.

"Don't go too far," Frey pointed to a secluded spot closer to the students, on the right side.

"On three," Elero aimed a stone to the left of the church as Thomas slowly inched out the right, deftly bending the livelier branches away and avoiding the drier ones, the kind that would snap. 'A week,' Thomas thought, recognition gleaming in his eyes. 'Why hadn't I thought of using a tactic like this in a week? I guess I was too focused on being quiet.' Elero counted and threw. The stone broke the ice to the students' left, buying Thomas just enough time to creep around their right flank.

The tall, lanky student with green-tinted goggles lifted his head and scanned the spot where the stone landed. A bead of sweat went down Thomas's cheek as the student turned to his companion, more elegantly dressed than the others. "Squad Leader, should we alert Dag?"

The one referred to as Squad Leader shook his head. "Tank and I," he gestured to the biggest of the group, who had a large brown pack on his back and a long sword at his side. "We handle the threats, but if it's the general, Dag wouldn't change a thing. Besides, general Finlish wouldn't care about the more southern groups like ours. Let's continue. Just point our Looter in the right direction." He pat the smallest, skinniest member of the group on the shoulder. "Looter, you're our most valued member. You find things in these ruins and Eugene will make all of us more equipment."

"What if he decides to keep it for himself?" Muscle asked.

'What a shitty name,' Thomas thought. 'Or is it a title of some kind? They all seem to have one. What's changed since Initiation? Why do they seem more…threatening?'

"Jackal wants group cooperation, so that kind of selfish act is discouraged," the Squad Leader laughed. "We stick together and we thrive, just like the commoners under his command. I may have come around, but Jackal is still working on breaking the other nobles. I hear that they're trying to form a rivaling faction."

A dull crack sounded, and the four students drew their weapons. Thomas looked around, expecting some wild animal. 'This is good,' he thought. 'I can see what they can do if they fight something. Then with Elero and Frey…Frey?' Thomas's heart sunk as Frey stumbled out of a bush. 'Why?' He thought as he heard a loud crunch behind him. Glancing back, he found a long, scaly snake inches away from his ankle, with a hole the size of a stone through its head. The students rushed forward.

The scout cursed and took off in a sprint. "Get the runner Thomas," Elero yelled as she drew her rapier. Thomas wiped out his crossbow and fired, yet the bolt just struck a wall a few feet wide. The scout vanished in the darkness.

The two groups converged on each other.