The Chase - Part 4

With the plan to flee being agreed between the group, they got to work implementing it. With the message from Yoban having arrived only recently, it was likely the Mercenaries were on their way here, and it might not be too long before they arrived.

This meant they had to make sure they had everything they needed for their trip.

Thankfully, having headed out into the wild to save Ameril, they had a good number of necessities. Tinderboxes, waterskins and tents were a few of the many items that they needed and already had. Well, everyone except Ameril.

"Why would I have all of that?" was the reply she gave when questioned about whether she was prepared for a long journey of travel and camping in the forest.

"Why wouldn't you? You planned to get saved from that carriage but didn't think you would need anything for camping out in order to travel with Olivia. I mean, seh is technically a monster... she can't just stay in a town or village without being attacked."

Everyone looked at Lyrika after she spoke but did so with a look of confusion. It took her a while before she realised why she was receiving such a look.

"Yoban's village doesn't count... and given what happened when we arrived here, this village sort of proves my point. Pretty much anywhere else and she would be attacked and maybe even killed."

"Well, it didn't occur to me. It's not like I've ever left my town to go camping or travelling through a forest." Ameril said with a shrug.

As Olivia heard this, she couldn't help but recall their first meeting. While it was not the best of circumstances, she realised that they had used gear from that man that attacked Ameril for camping out. For herself, she had just arrived in the world and so had nothing to her name, but for Ameril, at no point did she have anything herself that could be used for camping. It wasn't like she had lost it when the man attacked her, as she would surely have asked her to retrieve it. She had tried to run away from home without any gear in order to survive being… well, on the run.

She decided not to be mean and kept this information to herself. She could already see the slight annoyance on Amierl's face that she had realised her mistake. That or she didn't like what Lyrika was saying to her.

"What did you bring with you?" Lyrika couldn't help but ask.

"Essential things. I brought several sets of clothing, all the coin I earned, some food, a knife and my lockpicking tools."

Lyrika blinked a few times once she heard that. Some of what Ameril said made sense and was definitely needed. The several sets of clothing just made her seem more like the noble that she was.

But as she had suspected, there was nothing else that was needed for travelling and camping.

"Okay. It's not a problem. We just need to buy some more stuff. We still have plenty of coin to do so…" Olivia brought up.

"We won't after we buy her a load of gear." Lyrika jumped in with.

"…and I'm sure Ameril won't mind helping us with her own coin should we need it."

"Not at all."

"And besides, you can't have forgotten that we've had to buy gear for you as well Lyrika." Olivia brought up hoping to stop her from going at Ameril.

"I…err. Well, I was banished from my…home…" Lyrika said with a very quiet voice, as while a plausible reason, it did occur to her that she could have taken some things with her when she had to leave. Even just something small hidden in her clothes, food or a tinderbox, but all she did take was her knife. And so, because of that, they had to spend their hard-earned coin on gear for camping.

Not that any of it really mattered to Olivia. They needed to buy gear, and they had the coin to do so. For some reason though, Lyrika was making an argument out of something minor.

Having said all that, Lyrika decided to stay quiet. Olivia decided not to mention that Philly was also another person that needed someone else to pay for her gear, as she was sure that may cause another argument to happen.

So, knowing what needed to be done, they needed to hurry to the store and grab some bits and bobs for Ameril. But before they could, Teagan called out to them.

"Before you leave, take this."

Teagan reached over and grabbed a communication orb from the table before handing it over to Olivia.

"I had it commissioned after you told me about your plan. It links to one I have here, so should anything come up you can let me know. Or I to you when the Mercenaries arrive. It can only be used half a dozen times before the magic fades inside it. It was a rush job after all."

"Wait, so you can make ones that last longer?" Olivia asked, showing a look of confusion on her face that Ameril mirrored. It was clear that both had thought they could only have a small set number of uses. Olivia only had Ameril's orb as a reference, but Ameril had bought the one she gave Olivia, and as far as she could recall, they were all the same in the store.

"Of course. It all depends on the materials and the amount of magic used to create it. The ones in the communication room can be used around thirty times. They did however take a long time to make and cost quite a lot."

Having heard this, there were probably a few implications to what he said. For Ameril's side of things, it seemed pretty simple. Either there wasn't someone who could make any better ones, or they made the same types that were limited in use so you had to come back and buy more. If you hardly left the town and didn't know about orbs from other locations, you would assume the ones they make which can only be used several times were the best there were.

They had plenty of time to mull over what he had said, but right now they were on a ticking clock. So, saying their goodbyes, they headed off to the store.

With a mad dash to the camping section, they brought more provisions, another tent, a tinderbox, waterskin and a few other necessities for the outdoor life. They could have just left the tinderbox, but the way Olivia saw it, if they ever got separated, it would be best if they could all manage and survive on their own. Having just one tinderbox between the four of them, would not help with that.

With everything paid for, they headed to the exit of the village to begin their journey. However, a quick word from Ameril stopped them.

"We are going to walk?"

Everyone, aside from Lyrika who couldn't care less, gave her a quizzical look. They had been walking everywhere. What else would they do?

"Do you not have a carriage we can use?" Ameril asked.

"…No. Why would we." Lyrika bluntly brought up. "We have to travel through the forest. A carriage won't make it through that."

"You could buy some Umbrea".

"Ahh," Lyrika jumped out of her skin as she heard a new but not unfamiliar voice from behind her.

"Milly! Don't do that!" she seethed at the girl who was just sniggering at what had happened.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. So, how is everyone? I take it this is the girl that you kidnapped," she said looking over at Amierl, "and now that you did, you need to get away from people after her. Am I right?"

"Correct." was the only word from Philly's mouth.

"Well, if you need to leave and get away fast, riding on a few Umbrea is the way to go."

It was tempting. They were beautiful. Having seen them galloping around the field before, the grace and speed they had would be a great boon to them. There was one problem though.

"None of us know how to ride an Umbrea."

"Actually, I do," Ameril said with a slight raise of the hand.

"Problem solved."

It all happened so fast that Olivia didn't have time to stop it. Not that she had any reason to do so, as what they ended up with, would help them immensely.

Milly took them over to the stables and very quickly saddled four Umbrea.

Before long, all of their possessions were attached to the saddles.

Olivia had no idea how much it cost to buy the Umbrea and riding gear, but she had to imagine it was a lot. But before she could even broach the subject of cost, Milly stated it was all paid for. She had thought that Ameril had paid for it, but when asked, that was not the case. This was just another mystery they needed to solve at some point.

But, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, or well, an unknown one at that, they mounted their Umbrea and headed to the exit of the village.

Well, the heading to the exit was more done by Ameril who actually knew how to ride one. The rest ended up following her, all the while attached to hers with rope.

Milly explained that there should be no issue with this. When close together the Umbrea act very much like pack animals, where one is the alpha and the leader that the rest all follow. In this case, said alpha was the Umbrea that Milly was riding, so as long as they stayed close to her, the ones they were on should remain calm and just follow the leader.

Once they reached the exit, the guards let them pass through after seeing their permits, and with that, they set off towards the village that Teagan had spoken of.

Hopefully, they would learn something about the new chief. What it would be they had no idea. But the main hope was that by doing this, they could evade the Mercenaries and get them off their tail. None of the girls wanted bloodshed, especially when it was likely going to be their own blood being shed. All they could do was hope that just this simple act of fleeing would deal with them.

If not, then they needed to think up another plan…and fast.