"THEY ARE HERE!"
Sulean's scream was the final push all the mercenaries around who, just like Namidia were aware of their surroundings enough to act.
But by now, it was far too late.
The group that Namidia saw has long since vanished from her vision, either by using some sophisticated spell... or by simply walking behind something and cutting her direct line of sight.
But now, it didn't matter. What did, though, were the supplies of her entire unit evaporating to the sky in a pillar of dark smoke!
The fire was big, far bigger than it had any right to be. And yet, thanks to all the dark and heavy smoke it produced, one could barely see its shine from just a few meters away, making it practically invisible to anyone further away.
'Shit!' Namidia cursed, torn between rushing to the depot in hopes of stopping the fires and actually giving chase after the sneaky invaders.
"WATER!" Sulean, who had more time to overcome whatever caused him to be so struck by terror, now came in clutch, finally rallying even those who failed to notice the thickening of the air. "FIRE! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!"
Bit by bit, the nearby part of the camp was waking up, with people coming out of their tents and then taking a moment to properly wake up, some more time to assess the situation before finally starting to move.
'Slow!' Namidia cursed under her breath, following Sulean's order even though she actually outranked him and rushed to the nearby, freshly dug-out well.
Thankfully, by now there was already someone operating it, pulling out a bucket full of water, and swiftly pouring it into whatever containers the first few people brought with them before throwing the bucket right back to the well and repeating the process.
Soon, Namidia was rushing back with her helmet full of fresh, cold water. Reaching the edge of the fire, she took a swing and sent the water into the fire... Only to almost jump back when it nearly instantly turned into steam, expanding into the space she threw it from.
If not for the girl's quick wits, her entire front would be heavily burned.
But Namidia's luck and swiftness were exceptional. And all around, the crying and wailing figures of burned men proved just how close of a shave it was.
'Everyone is too slow!'
Screaming in her mind, Namidia simply ignored what just happened and rushed back to get another helmet worth of water. Only once she reached the end of the queue at the well and waited some time for her turn, the absurdity of her actions struck her.
'The water evaporated long before even touching the fire. It's too hot...'
With the feeling of powerlessness spreading through her body, Namidia left the queue and... just walked off.
No, not right at her.
He was looking at something right behind her!
'Shit! Fuck!' Realizing what was going on a tad too late, Namidia bent down, and brought her hand to the handle of her saber before turning around and swinging at the perceived outline of the enemy behind...
Only to watch how her blade shatter when met with the hand of a man so beautiful his skin appeared to ooze silvery shine from the gaps where the dried-out mud failed to cover his flesh.
"Good thinking, Varus!" a voice uttering familiar sounds appeared next, only for the silvery hand to reach out and grab the broken sword in Namidia's hand, wrestling it out of the girl's grasp in a single, leisurely move.
Namidia froze in place, petrified by the sight before her eyes and what she could understand through it.
'Those are not people...' she thought, struggling to even gulp her saliva down. 'THOSE ARE THE MONSTERS FROM THE FOREST!'
And among them... a human.
Or rather, one of the lucky few who managed to overcome their limits and become something greater than just a human. That much Namidia could feel from the young man's aura; so overwhelming it actually made her feel light-headed a bit.
And as it turned out, it was this young man who was the owner of the voice.
"I nearly forgot about this part of our task," he casually spoke, clearly not minding the fact that Namidia could both hear and understand him.
The girl gulped her saliva again.
The fact that this young man allowed her to hear something as big as this... didn't bode well for her.
"NAM!" Sulean shouted, stupidly announcing his advance as he rushed to help the girl.
"A second volunteer?" the young man's face visibly brightened, he even went as far as to clasp his hands in amusement. "Great! Now we will be able to cross-check their words!"
The young man showed absolutely no hint of hesitation or doubt at the sight of Namidia's charging partner. Soon enough, one of the young man's soldiers simply revealed their aura, releasing it out to the wild... and instantly stopping Sulean in his tracks, forcing him to a complete halt.
Yet, rather than celebrating a successful capture, the young man looked deeper into the camp only to have his amused expression sour a fair bit.
"It seems like we are out of time," he muttered. Then, he shook his head and turned around before waving his hand in the direction of the couple. "Grab them and let's ditch," the young man ordered. "This mission will lose its purpose if we allow them to bait us into a fight."