Part 49

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***

-We need a proper rest. Three days and three nights of chasing, no food or sleep. Only the footprints of these savages on the bare rocks.

Petty Officer Con, who had taken over from Deputy Yu, leaned tiredly against the side of the exhausted komodo. The poor beast looked no better than its master. Tongue out, the animal sprawled on the ground, refusing to move on.

Looking around, the young earth mage was forced to admit the truth of Kon's words. Their troop was exhausted and now presented a pitiful sight. For the first two days they had travelled on bare enthusiasm, constantly encountering traces of savages. Today, however, they had hardly covered a few kilometres. The thick thickets of the Baru made it difficult to move properly, forcing them to cut their way through the foliage.

In addition to the unbelievable heat and humidity, the forest was full of poisonous bugs and plants that could send a person to a hospital bed. There were hardly any water sources or fruits familiar to the soldiers, and it seemed as if nature itself had turned against them on this trip.

With a tired shake of his head, the young man agreed with the words of the petty officer, authorising the setting up of the camp. The soldiers who had been watching the conversation immediately perked up their spirits, finding the strength to build a fire and set up defence traps.

Together with Kon, Yu Yu assigned the men to their jobs and decided to get down to business himself. His magic allowed him to create small fortifications and fire pits. There was no need to talk about the latrine, since the first day in the forest it was only allowed to go to the bathroom in the presence of the others. Fearing that the hapless fighter would be poisoned or killed, Kon and Yu discussed the problem first.

As they went about their usual business of the past few days, the young man thought about their next steps. Now that the adrenaline and battle mood had subsided, he could think about what was going on. The constant ambushes and attacks on the camp were too precise and successful. It felt like someone had told the shrews about the patrol schedules and the location of all the tents inside the walls.

An eerie hunch was now itching in his brain, preventing him from concentrating. The very thought that there were traitors among the officers or soldiers was unpleasant. The teenager's whole being rejected this option, but rationality told him otherwise. Everything was too successful for the enemy. Surely Iron Fist's officers and retinue were not so bad and incompetent as to botch so many attacks in a row.

Deciding to share his thoughts with his petty officer, Yu encountered a surprised and sceptical look. Kon even stepped aside and, wiping his hands with a cloth, approached the lad.

-It's obvious, isn't it? Everyone in the camp was talking about it. In less than three months we've lost more than half of our personnel. There can't even be any other options.

The patronising voice was filled with surprise. The man even allowed himself a panibristic gesture and patted the commander on the shoulder. Without continuing the dialogue, the petty officer went about his business, leaving the stunned Yu to himself.

His inattentiveness and total immersion in the matter had backfired. If he continued to ignore things like this, he might get himself killed one day.

Shaking his head and patting himself on the cheeks, Yuu walked back to his tent. There were still a lot of things to do, and there was less and less time to rest.

The further advance through the Baru Forest was long and tiring. Many times, the soldiers had already expressed their thoughts about their venture, but they were careful not to say it around their young commander. Yuu's fanatical stubbornness frightened the warriors. The teenager firmly believed that Sun Ce was alive and was now somewhere deep in the forest, so any talk of turning back was taken at bayonet.

Mastering the subjugation of the land and wielding the guan dao quite well, he had long since earned recognition for his martial skills. No one wanted to be summoned to Agni Cai in this godforsaken place. Yes and the elder along with the veterans were on the teenager's side, fully supporting the endeavour to save their lord's son.

Walking in the middle of the column and listening to the quiet whispers behind him, Yu was tired of listening to the whining and ravings. Shouting at the youngest members of the group besides himself, he caused a second of silence in the neighbourhood with a voice that was too loud. The silence of the forest lasted only a moment, but it was enough for the teenager to pick up on the subtle vibrations in the ground. Raising a clenched fist, he halted the troop, calling for silence.

The tense warriors grabbed their weapons and stood in battle formation, dividing the column into two squads. Bristling with blades and fists in all directions, the men waited for the commander's next move.

Having fallen to the ground and put his ear to it, the orphan was surprised to realise that all this time some manipulations were taking place under the zemlya. The petty officer crouched beside him watched the changing facial expressions carefully, preparing to drag the lad away at any second.

Without further ado, Yu pointed to the ground with his free hand. Hurriedly remembering sign language, he was able to convey his thoughts to Kon.

-Below. Enemy. Movement. Far away.

-Attack?

-Yes. -Come on. Down.

-Down?

-Down!

Their glances didn't go unnoticed, eliciting silent chuckles. Shouting at his subordinates, Kon's eyes widened and he gesticulated furiously, clarifying the question.

Concluding that there were no other options, the man nodded understandingly and began hastily issuing silent commands. Sensing some change in their long journey, the fighters perked up and hastily reorganised. Most of them surrounded their young chief and petty officer while the rest protected their backs.

Assuming an upright position, Yuu began a slow countdown with his left hand. Stabbing his glaive into the ground, he brought his palms close together at chest level. A clap echoed through the forest, as if they were in a closed room. Abruptly punching his fists downwards, Yuu created a circular platform that travelled underground. After a couple of metres of rapid descent, the soldiers fell into a spacious tunnel. With a rumbling sound, the Fire Nation warriors appeared in the middle of a group of savages going about their business.

The dust had not yet settled before clots of flames flew out of the darkness, accompanied by the shouts of the elder and Yu.

-Attack!

Surrounded by the native element, the conqueror of the earth was in full swing. Having identified his brothers in magic among the enemies, he rushed towards the three warlike men who were throwing stones at his soldiers with wild faces.

The first boulder Yu repelled with his blade. Using magic, he split the boulder into two pieces, which scattered in different directions without hitting his soldiers. The second one was kicked away by his foot on a U-turn, and the third one was strung on his halberd. Spinning round on his axis, he threw a stone at the savages, sending several waves of stone flying back at them. They swiftly followed the cobblestones in a snake-like fashion, heading for the enemy.

While the remnants of the forest dwellers were being roasted by his fighters in the background, Yuu slid along the ground. The circular tunnel allowed him to climb the wall and from there, he collapsed onto the two remaining mages on his feet.

The first had no time to do anything before the glaive pierced him through. Dropping the halberd, Yuu somersaulted close to the latter, engaging in hand-to-hand combat.

The savage fought well, using classic stances. He was a dangerous opponent for most Fire Nation warriors, but not for Sun Ce's bodyguard. Taking a couple of blows on a hard block, the young man easily moved his toe, creating a small protrusion under his enemy's heel. As he stumbled backwards, the forest dweller began to tumble backwards, waving his arms absurdly, but two solid blows to the body knocked the spirit out of him. Viscous drool flowed from the mage's mouth, and he dropped to one knee, bent in half. Before he could do anything, the man was killed by the throw of a small pebble directly into the back of his head.

Panting and looking around, the orphan realised that the battle had been a resounding success for them. Half of the enemy remained under their improvised lift, and the rest were no threat to the outnumbered, hardened veterans from their long journey.

A couple of survivors were brought to their knees in front of Yui. Covered in burns and bruises, the two men and one girl tried to grimace menacingly, hoping to scare their attackers, but only evoked contemptuous pity.

-Sister Con, I'm not very good at interrogation techniques. Do we have any experts in these cases?

-We didn't bring any real masters, but I know a few tricks myself.

After stretching his fingers, Kon grabbed one of the prisoners by his long hair and pulled him away. Asking Yui to set up a small room for them, he began his dirty work. The prisoner had to wear a stone mask so that his screams would not scare away all the soldiers and enemies. Howling in pain, the man didn't last a couple of minutes of rapid interrogation, quickly telling them what this place was and where their squad was headed.

The stuttering voice of the savage echoed through the small building. The news received by Kon and Yui stirred the mind. It turned out that the bastards had conducted a whole network of caves under the entire forest. It was too dangerous to live on the surface, so they mostly moved underground. Since the day the small tribes merged into two large clans, only a few remain up there. They have outposts and special lands - small valleys, something like local oases where you can grow food and get drinking water. Such little islands of tranquillity in this eerie and wild forest.

The captive, who wouldn't shut up, told me that few people could survive on the surface, in the centre of the forest, for more than a couple of days. Wild animals and insects torment travellers, preventing outsiders from disturbing their habitats. Even the forest dwellers themselves try not to go up unnecessarily: it's too hard to protect large groups, and special herbs that repel poisonous creepers are quite rare.

But the most unpleasant thing was that Baru is connected to all the nearest cities. Tunnels stretch for kilometres, connecting Taku, Gaipan and Xiahou Fortress. There are many other caves that lead into the unknown, but they are guarded by the personal guards of the chiefs and are off-limits to ordinary people.

Overwhelmed by the news, the elder and Yu returned to the squad, unsure of what to do next. Without a good guide and a pack of earth mages, the tunnels would be impossible to traverse, and getting to the surface would mean their slow and painful deaths one by one.

Taking a seat on the stool created by the sweep of his hand, Yuu rested his elbows on his knees, grasping his head. The rest of the soldiers stood tactfully to the side while the superiors pondered their next course of action.

-What should we do, Yu?

The petty officer's voice seemed to have aged a dozen years. New knowledge, new sorrows. After brushing his hair and furiously brushing the top of his head, the young man jumped up from his seat, pacing briskly from side to side.

'Just when I had a decent clue as to where to go, and there you go!' Swearing in his head at this whole situation, Yu wistfully thought back to everyone who had refused to go in search of Sun Ce. If they had more people, it was possible to scour the caves, but like this..... Two dozen people could wander these corridors for an eternity until they came across a couple of enemy mages that would collapse the tunnel. And there are still rhinoceroses up there, those animals are certainly unpretentious, but how they will react to a long journey underground, Agni only knows.

'Now if only there were more earth mages to protect the others...'.

A simple thought flashed through the teenager's head. If he couldn't cover the others, he could easily get through alone. Swimming in the ground was one of the first techniques Master Kai had taught him. With a burning look in his eyes, the young man returned to the elder to outline his plan. While he and one of the captives would go underground, the squad with the other two would go on the surface and stand on the border from the centre of the forest. It would be in the interest of the captured savages to tell them the truth, otherwise they too would die at the clutches of the natives.

A long argument in quiet tones echoed through the tunnel. The soldiers who tried to eavesdrop could only distinguish the swearing and the repeated questions of the petty officer. Eventually the superiors came to some sort of decision and announced a further plan.