Chapter 3

Saranie escaped the city. It was night time now. After waving off her family, she used the rest of the haste in her to find a horse. Luckily there was one that was about to be eaten. She saved it and it didn't run away from her. Once they were safe, it kicked her off and ran away. Possibly too scared.

Drained of both mana and lifeforce, she had to spend the night catching up to her family.

---

"The horse is too tired to go any further." Petarian said to his family. "Thank you Mer… I can't remember it's name." He turned towards his family a little embarrassed. Considering the events that night, that small smile he was giving was brighter than the moon right now.

"I'll get some sticks. Aidelan stay here and watch your brother." Eryll spoke up.

"Eryll, take this." Petarian handed her a dagger. He still had his sword. Considering Nehmet didn't see him carrying one when he left for the wall either he got it there or off a body.

Eryll and Petarian worked to make a camp. Muricottle was drinking from the river and eating grass. Aidelan was tasked with the easiest job of taking care of Nehmet. The problem with that was the big brother was starting to have a breakdown.

"… my friends… Mom, dad… Nehmet, I'm so happy you're alright." He was sniffling and crying, but aware enough that noise was a very bad idea in the forest.

---

The family started a fire and took turns on watch during the night. Saranie was on her own, tired and exhausted still jogging towards them. She was running alongside the road in case of survivors or another horse. She needed to recover her energy and if she stopped now, she would fall to the ground unable to move and pass out.

Thankfully she spotted a carriage up ahead overturned and on the ground. The horses were dead, but it would provide some cover tonight. Checking around the carriage, there were no bodies, alive or dead. She ripped the seat out, as they were padded, and used it as a bed for the night. She had her dagger at the ready, just in case.

---

Morning came and Nehmet woke up. Saranie's body was still asleep, so she had to force it awake. Just in case it was dead, though she didn't even want to think like that. Thankfully she woke up, although nowhere near able to move. She rested with her eyes half open and just stayed there for now.

All three family members were asleep as Nehmet looked around. That wasn't good, but Saranie could keep watch in their place.

A bell or so later, the sun was starting to make it through the trees. A branch cracked and Nehmet saw that no one reacted. So he started crying to get them awake. Saranie barely had mana and only in the worst case scenario would she spend it.

"Everyone alright?" Petarian asked right away.

The bushes moved and everyone turned that way. The sound got quieter as the thing ran away from the noise of a baby. Saranie felt proud of herself and her ability to cry. Although being a baby that doesn't normally cry made everyone fear for the worst. Especially considering the past.

---

By the time Saranie started moving it was well past midday, although about seven or eight bells until sundown. Her family had already started moving down the river, but weren't on Muricottle. That would help her catch up, even when she wasn't at top shape.

Taking a drink from her water skin, she made her way towards the forest and river. She chewed on dried meat along the way and eventually built up to a slow jog. Being out in the open did her no favors. Once in the forest, she could slow down, but a whole new set of dangers would present themselves.

---

"Do you think anyone else made it out?" Aidelan said this to no one in particular. Everyone was just down in general, so he asked a rhetorical question that the others were probably thinking about.

"I don't know." Eryll said in a similar somber tone. "At least we have each other. We're a strong family." She forced me to be cheerful. In that situation, it was the best they had.

Petarian was silent, just looking around every-so-often. The only way Nehmet could see that was Aidelan was doing the same, but larger movements.

To help bring up their morals, Saranie decided to be the cutest baby right now and start giggling.

---

The family followed suit and started making the worst jokes ever. It actually helped Saranie as she laughed at their absurdity. Though entering the forest alone, laughing out of nowhere, she could be seen as an insane person.

Anyway, keeping her head looking around for danger, she spent the time thinking about what she was going to say to them.

'I'm your son.' She shook that one right out of there. 'My soul may or may not be in your son.' Never gonna happen. 'I save the world from monsters and a part of my soul is in your son.' Truthful, but not happening. Maybe she should try something completely different. 'I'm under contract to protect you all for the rest of my life, so don't kill me?' Needs some work. 'I'm not allowed to tell you who hired me, but I'm under contract to protect you all.' Sounds good enough. A mysterious backer and a reason to stick close.

'If I ever had to tell them the truth…' She couldn't even imagine telling them that.

Once they know her name, they will think of the bounty out for her. Their trust might drop, although she did save them. That would give her a certain level of trust.

---

Night fall passed safely for both groups and Saranie did her best to catch up. She was still about a day behind them as she just managed to make it to their first campsite. Maybe less now that she was here. She rested for a quarter of a bell, taking care of her business and eating a snack. She was running out of food and her family hadn't eaten since the city was still standing.

Though they didn't stop to search for food. They kept following the river. If she wanted she could slow them down by crying. Having Nehmet do that, it would make it easier to catch up. Although alerting everything to their presence was the worst idea she could have.

Getting to her feet, she looked around before moving forward. She hopped over branches, leaves, rocks and anything else in her path.

---

Eryll was currently carrying Nehmet right now cooing a soft song to him. She kept softly caressing his hair and around the ears. It was making Nehmet tired, which was a very bad thing right now. Saranie needed him awake when they were moving to know where they were going. Especially when they were this deep in the forest.

Nehmet suddenly started attacking her fingers. It was cute yes, but Saranie needed to make an effort here to prevent falling asleep. If all else failed, she would have him cry.

"Shh…" Petarian put his finger to his lips and crouched down. The rest of the family followed suit and Eryll put her hand over Nehmet's mouth because Saranie was making noise with him. She quickly shut her mouth… Nehmet's mouth and listened.

Footsteps. Four to six pairs. People. They too had started moving slower and quieter. Clearly aware of her family's presence. Saranie started jogging. She had a long way to go still, but quickly picked up her pace.

"Over here!"

One of the people spotted her family. Muricottle wasn't the most subtle, but they were far away. Luck and hope failed them. Since they were heading north along the river, the people, bandits probably since they made no effort to say they were friendly in any way, were on the western side. Instead of going east, their family followed the river north, which made it that much harder for Saranie to catch up. From Nehmet's position he could just barely see the bandits and they had no horses. As long as they didn't have a mage, her family would escape.

---

Lots of running later, Saranie made time and ended up on the trail of the bandits. Although depending how fat her family fled, she was always behind them once again. Slowing down, she hunted these bandits. She was going to need food and they likely had some.

Stalking through bushes and leaves on the ground, she followed the bandits trail. It was already night, but the moon wasn't in the sky just yet as she caught up to them. They were at a camp. Dozens of bandits.

They were discussing how a patrol lost some potential 'slaves'. That angered Saranie. Once again she was brought back to how these people treated her. They took care of Nehmet, an extension of her. As much as they cared for their son and brother, she cared about them too. Her relationship with them was one sided, but it didn't feel any less real than how she felt at the orphanage.

She was going to kill the slavers.

---

"Do you think we lost them?" Aidelan had been sitting in front and Nehmet and been moved to him while Eryll was holding the reins. Petarian was on the back of the horse to protect the family and watch behind them.

"I think so." Petarian huffed out as he landed on the ground, before grabbing his wife and sons.

"Nehmet and Aidelan need food. We need to search for something." Eryll was trying her best to not worry. To not break down like her son had last night. Nehmet could easily see it in her after looking back and forth from Aidelan and Nehmet.

"You're right. Aidelan helps your mother catch a fish and I'll search for some berries or something."

---

Saranie had taken down everyone in the camp. After the first few people were assassinated when they had to take care of business, she moved in to take the whole camp. It was a tough fight even if she had the upper hand. At least she made it out with a few cuts and a still intact mana pool. Her lifeforce was regenerating, but she was only going to use it if it was a life and death situation.

She collected the food in a large sack, the money and a few extra daggers. Thankfully she already had a decent sword and her dagger she made all that time ago. She watched the light flicker off it as she cleaned it. There were horses nearby. She released the rest and took one with her towards her family. She would probably meet with them by morning.

---

Aidelan was asleep and Nehmet was cuddled between him and his mother and Petarian was on the other side. He was sitting up while Eryll lied down with her sons.

"Do you think a village will even take us in? There are bound to be many more refugees." Eryll asked her husband in a whisper.

"Probably. It's tough to say. What do you think about living in the forest if that doesn't work out?" Petarian wasn't even looking at his wife. He was keeping a watch around them.

"Are you seriously asking that?"

"Didn't you hear about that battle down south. It was supposed to end the war, but it didn't. Whoever believed that is naïve. A city might not be safe anymore." He was a little frustrated, but calmed down. "I'm sorry for doing that to you. I just wanted to get you guys some food."

"No, your right. It might be best to find something out in the middle of nowhere. Once we are far enough away we could start searching for food, then shelter."

"Get some rest. I'll wake you in a bit."

"I love you."

"Eryll, I love you more." He gave her a grin and leaned in for a kiss.

Eryll followed suit before laying back down to sleep.

---

The sun came over the treetop and Eryll was nodding off. Nehmet had gotten some sleep, but Saranie was just about there. There was this hill that she needed to crest over to see them. Of course Nehmet heard something Saranie sped up for.

*Growl*

A group of six wolves popped out of the brush. Seeing that Eryll was just about alert the others, they pounced. Saranie popped off some mana darts to stop the first one and hold off the rest.

"Wolves!" Eryll screamed and pulled out her knife to stab the one coming to attack her, before it was hit by a mana dart. The momentum carried through with the would, knocking Eryll over. Nehmet couldn't see how bad it was from here.

The wolves must have just found their prey and knew Saranie was just about there. Attacked them before she could get there. It didn't matter though as going down the hill made her faster and she jumped off the horse, firing more mana darts to hold off the wolves.

"Eryll!" Petarian shouted as his wife was hit. The wolf was getting back up and so was Eryll who tried to stab it with a knife. She traded hits with the wolf, both of them backing away from each other.

"Stay together. Defend yourselves. I will take care of them." Saranie called out to them, letting the horse she was riding go towards her family and Muricottle.

Petarian and Eryll pulled their family close together and protected each side. Saranie was already in combat with one of the wolves. She swung her sword as it tried to take a swipe at her. Her breath flowed out of her mouth in the cold air as the paw was removed from the wolf and quickly taken down. Two more pounced towards her as she pulled her sword. In a desperate attempt to not get hit she swung her sword behind her as she dodged forwards and hit one of them. She fired a mana dart at one off the side, before turning around towards one of the injured ones made a swipe towards her. Planting her feet in a wide stance, she drove her sword right into the head of the wolf. It was still alive until she twisted the sword. A howl came and the rest of the wolves fled. She was a threat and she would kill them all. Out of the six, four fled.

"Take this. It's food and some water skins in there for you all. Stay here I'll be right back." After tossing them the bag from the other horse, she went over the ridge where she came from. There was a log there and pushed it down the hill. It was a dry piece of wood and would give them a nice fire.

Carrying it over she got a few more sticks and started a fire. They were all just standing there checking each other over for injuries. Eryll had sprained her wrist, so Petarian had already healed that up.

"Thank you for saving us again." Eryll spoke up first. "I'm Eryll. These are my sons Aidelan and Nehmet. This here is my husband Petarian. We are in your debt."

She was a good mother, but being Saranie didn't need them to be in debt to her. They were her one sided family. She had no plans to tell them and her lie would solve that.

"You don't owe me anything. I was hired. My contract tells me to keep you all alive and unharmed. I'm just doing my job." Saranie explained.

Their expressions were priceless. It had been a long time since she lied and did a prank on her family.

"Who hired you then?" Petarian stepped forward. He had been relaxed, but at the hint of some mysterious benefactor, she pushed his family behind him.

"Other than what I said, I'm not able to speak about the contents of the contract. I mean you no harm and will make sure you all remain that way to the best of my ability. Now I suggest you guys get something to eat. Also you guys didn't make it easy on me, so I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up if anything happens." Pretending to be the hardened mercenary was kind of easy, but she was pushing a bit.

She took her spot on one of the trees and sat down.

As they slowly gathered around the fire. Saranie spoke up to them. "My name's Saranie. Nice to be working with you all."

---

The family theory crafted many ideas as to who hired her. Also going on about if they should trust her. Of course everyone made the point that she saved them, not once but twice, but both adults had their reservations. Aidelan kept asking his parents if 'Saranie' could teach him. He also bragged to Nehmet that he wanted to be like her one day. Saranie thought that was interesting, but ultimately disliked that idea. She was a fighter and had been fighting for six years. To have her brother… well he is her proxy brother. Whatever. To have him follow in her footsteps didn't feel right.

It was still strange to be sleeping and awake at the same time. Though it was necessary and she had gotten used to it to a point. Although it was absolutely necessary as it was her new normal.

Around noon, they woke her up. She was still tired, but needed to seem like a competent mercenary-bodyguard thing to them.

"Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine. Here we made you something." It was literally boiled water, some meat and veggies. Nehmet just had the broth as Eryll wouldn't be able to provide his normal food. Eryll seemed to at least be the one to step forward and offer her food. After all Saranie couldn't blame any of them. The truth was worse than this.

"Thank you Eryll. Where are you guys heading?"

"We don't know." Eryll was honest.

"Then we should talk about it."

---

Aidelan was playing with Nehmet off to the side. Letting the adults talk. A part of Saranie wanted to jump back in her unit and get back in the war and the other part of her wanted to grin until her face stretched to its limits. Being a single person, but having two bodies was strange and telling them to see their reactions just as a random comment made her prankster-self come back. Family. The other part of it was as a soldier she followed orders. She didn't make any plans. Sure her goal to return to the orphanage was still there, but after coming to the conclusion her family was with these people right now, that would need to wait. So making plans to help them wasn't her strong suit and gave her a bit of anxiety. The same thing would have happened if she went back home either way.

"I just want to make this as clear as possible. I will be here to protect you. That is my job and I mean no harm. Even if my contractor tried to harm you or force you into anything, I would still be on your side. If you give me an order, I will follow it as long as it has your best interest at heart."

"If I told you to leave us alone would you follow it?" Petarian asked. He got a glare from Eryll, but Saranie knew why he asked. He was just being protective. Maybe he didn't like her, but that was alright.

"Right now, no. Being alone in a forest and after those wolves attacked, would not be in your best interest." It was the truth. They knew it too.

A silence took over their conversation, so Saranie spoke up.

"Right now we need to leave. You all were following this river north. So we have a few options ahead of us. Find a village to take you in. Get supplied there and head to another place. Or find some place off the map and make a home there. Whatever option you go for or if you have a better idea, I'm all ears. This is all your money as well courtesy of those bandits that attacked you. Yes, they are no longer a threat."

They looked in the pouch and were shocked. Saranie was the same when she found it. Of course it was all her money too mixed in, but those slavers had a lot on them. Thankfully it would help them.

"You're giving this to us?" Both of them were in disbelief.

"If you want to think of it as a bribe to make me more food, go ahead." At that statement she went a little too far as she realized it. Her shocked expression must have confused them by their faces. She just stood up and walked off. "Just going to take a look at the perimeter. Call me if you need anything."

---

"What's in the bag?" Aidelan asked his parents. Eryll snatched the bag up before he could look in there.

They had some time to talk before he walked over towards them, so they already had a plan. Although neither Nehmet or Saranie heard their decision.

"We're going to be travelling. How do you feel living outside a city?" Petarian brought up the subject to Aidelan. "There might not be anyone living nearby us, so you might not be able to make friends."

They were right about that. If they did live away from others, friendships or even romantic relationships would be difficult. Sure Aidelan was young, but his city was just destroyed a few days ago. All his friends were either dead or missing. If he had a crush on someone, that ended in that city too for all Saranie or they knew. So this was a big moment for them as a family.

"I do want to make friends, but I can wait. You two already talked about it. If that is for the best, I'm okay with it. It also gives me time to be the best big brother in the world."

To be able to give up making friends for safety must have been difficult for him. If Saranie had to go into the war without her family, she would have died early on.

As they were hugging she walked back to camp with a mask. It was made out of extra cloth, moss and dirt. It would be suspicious, but if she was going to stand by them in the open she needed it. She hoped any guards they came across didn't ask her to take it off or know of her bounty.