Chapter 17 - Ambush

Tentatively I looked to my left to find the source of the pain, but I was cautious because seeing it would make everything a reality. While the feeling was not entirely familiar to me, I felt that I could say what it was before getting any confirmation. It was something you heard about enough, especially among drunken soldiers swaying in the streets. You didn't try to listen but your ears would pick up the descriptions against your will and the descriptiveness made it difficult for you not to feel it too. Only now the vicarious feeling had become my own experience.

My eyes eventually landed on the arrow that had struck me, lightly coated on the tip with my blood. Everyone around me moved in a frenzy but my body was stuck in slow motion. My mind was processing everything at a leisurely pace‌, as if this was the time or place for complacency. The longer I stared at the arrow, the more painful my cheek became as if I was being struck again and again and again. It wasn't until we had heard more arrow flinging through the air aimlessly that I felt someone grab my arm recklessly to pull me behind a tree.

I belatedly came to the realisation that we were being ambushed. But that knowledge provided no support if we couldn't answer the questions of why or by who. We could not find solace in the little understanding we had of the present situation. Amidst the otherwise quiet forest we were traveling through, footsteps could be heard running in every which direction. As I could not afford to step out of the little shelter I had to survey the surroundings, the noises only amplified my anxiety. My stomach was doing summersaults and I wondered if they too could hear it. Would they find me simply because I could not remain calm?

All of our men had scattered at the first sign of danger, abandoning their horses without remorse. Since I did not know which directions they all went, the rustling of feet I could hear could not be differentiated from one of our own and one of the others. Holding my breath, I hoped for the worst to be over and for the breeze to pass us over. This was not a situation we were prepared for, and there was little students with no experience could do. It would fall on the other eight as part of the original expedition team but we had no idea how many we were up against. It is unwise to attempt to take them on without even knowing how many there were, and none of us were quite so unwise.

So we waited. With bated breath I waited for the rustling to slow to a stop, praying that it would not come to a halt near me. Only now did I realise that I cherished my life in a way that I had imagined to be impossible. The fear I felt when I was first struck spoke volumes of my will to live. Even the fact that I was standing here rather than stepping out told me that I valued my life at least to some extent. Or I just hope that to be the case but it doesn't matter, right now I longed to live.

Scratching my hand out of restlessness I felt something firmly holding my bicep. It wasn't until then that I noticed the person had not let go of me. Both of us were unaware, focusing solely on what we could hear rather than what we were actually doing. Subconsciously however, I think the feeling of the touch of a comrade brought the sense of peace we needed to function without breaking. I followed the hand firmly grasping my arm until my eyes landed on the owner of it, Klaus. Due to the chaos I had forgotten that he had also joined the expedition, though it is also partly due to the fact that his usual bravado was not present. Rather than being the vocal leader that he was known for, Klaus had retreated into himself during this trip. If he was the king of the academy, right now it was clear that he was only a student and nothing more. He and I were the same, so too were the other two students whose whereabouts I knew nothing of.

I could sense his unease flowing into me and it only made him more human. The man who was trembling at this very moment had been the one to drag me to a place of safety without even thinking about it. I did my best to avoid feeling his mana. It is not something that can be explained in words but I felt that I would be looking at his greatest insecurities. Mana is not simply about power but also about the state of mind, and I knew he was not in a state he would be proud of. Irrespective of how I felt about him, there was no way I would belittle someone in this way, especially when they had been the one to help me.

Gradually, the footsteps began coming closer to us scouring the vicinity. Klaus met my eyes for the first time today before promptly lifting a rock and throwing it away from us. The hurried footsteps that followed would put hungry animals to shame. We crouched behind the tree covering us and watched patiently as no less than seven men hurried in the direction of the sound. Branches swung as they passed and would attempt to tangle themselves on the arrows and swords, as if the world itself was on our side. But branches could not stop them, and for that I was grateful they forced their way through the forest until they were getting farther and farther away from us. Only when they were out of sight could I breathe a sigh of relief. As if out of instinct I looked at Klaus and caught his eyes before we both separated to look for our team. Yes we were comrades right now, but that was all. Celebrating our survival together was a far fetched dream.