Heroes to Hunted

"Hey... Hey, get up..." Mizuno whispered and nudged me awake. When I opened my eyes, she had her index finger to her lips, signifying me to keep quiet.

I nodded to show I understood.

"Good," she whispered and removed her hand. Then, crouching low, she gripped her longswords beneath her cloak.

I assumed my own stance to remain stealthy and looked upward to see that the dawn hadn't yet fully appeared. Instead, the wilds were misty and dark as the Sun rose from beneath the treetops.

'An enemy patrol, maybe,' I thought, retrieving my blade. I then turned to see Joseph and Barik. They were wide awake, each bracing themselves against a tree next to one another.

Joseph brandished a long sword and a leather-banded, thin iron shield he must've stored inside his pack. Beyond that, his expression was one of anxious anticipation. It was a look I knew all too well.

'This kid... he's never experienced a real fight.' I either forgot to ask or assumed he was capable since he was picked for the mission. 'I guess the camp's personnel are stretched pretty thin, too,' I sighed.

Barik, on the other hand, as one would expect of a veteran soldier, was calm and collected. He sported a smooth-gripped flail. It had a ball on the end of a long chain and was embedded with numerous spikes long enough to de-brain anyone it struck.

Beyond those two, I cast my gaze in every direction to eventually see what had my companions on high alert. The faint orange glow of torches between branches and shrubbery accompanied the stomping of boots on crunching twigs.

"Hey, why do they have us out here anyway?" a guard said.

"Probably to find more heroes? I heard a bunch escaped from Blackwood," another sighed.

"Bah! What are they even doing?! Letting heroes escape... Who knows what they'll do!"

"Just shut up and keep an eye out!" the lead guard snapped back. "If there are heroes around, we've gotta be ready."

Slowly their silhouettes gave way to a complete view. There were roughly six of them. Three had iron-framed oak round shields and longswords fitted into leather holsters. The final three sported a large steel warhammer, dual daggers, and a shortsword with a bow.

"What's the plan?" I whispered to Mizuno.

We had two options.

We could hunker down and hope they passed us by, or we could capture one for questioning and eliminate the others. Option two would likely yield lucrative information, but it'd also put us on a time limit. A missing patrol would be obvious to whoever was in charge.

After a brief internal deliberation, Mizuno gestured for us to stay hidden. I guess she was the "take no chances" type when leading a mission. It was something I agreed with.

Even with all our planning, we were running into this mission blind. We had no idea what to expect, so the ripple effect from taking unnecessary risks was simply too dangerous.

I nodded, then concealed myself behind a fallen log, and Mizuno took cover next to some shrubbery.

The guards were nearly upon us, and their conversations grew louder.

"So, what'll we do with that hero girl you found?" the warhammer guard asked.

'Hero girl? Did they capture another of my countrymen?' my ears perked up in surprise.

"Oh, her?" the lead guard shrugged. "The Cap said we can't kill her. He's calling over some noble from Blackwood to pick her up."

"Seriously?!" another guard threw up his arms. "After they practically let them go, they expect us to just hand her over?!"

"That's the plan," the lead guard replied matter-of-factly. "Those monsters will probably just eat her anyway, so all's well that ends well, I guess."

'Great,' I sighed. 'Not even in the farm, and our plan already hit a snag.'

With their conversation, the mission became entangled within a whole new layer of "complicated." We'd have to decide whether to leave the girl to her fate or risk the mission's success to bring her home.

As much as I hated it, my suggestion was on the former. Of course, the preferred outcome would be to save her AND escape, but I wasn't so naive. 'There's no way we can accomplish both.'

Knowing undertaking one goal would inevitably risk the failure of the other, I could tell what the right call was. We couldn't endanger the lives of an entire camp over a single girl. I guess some would call my decision "for the greater good."

Plus, I had my priorities. As of now, the ones I wanted to try protecting were back at camp. Agawa, Takagi, and Kamida: those three held my full focus.

'How're the others reacting,' I thought. Turning my head, I saw an apparent moral conflict brewing within Mizuno. Hers were the eyes of hesitation.

Meanwhile, Barik and Joseph also shared looks of concern, Joseph especially. His expression was one I'd expect from an inexperienced soldier. He clenched his teeth while gripping his sword tightly. Based on the fire in his eyes, it looked like he readied himself for "option two."

I silently shook my head in protest toward him, but he was too focused on the guards to notice. Then, he took a step out from his cover.

"Shit, don't do it!" is what I wanted to shout, but even the slightest whisper could alert the guardsmen, given they were directly upon us at this point. I was helpless to prevent Joseph's impulsive action. 'This kid is going to ruin everything!'

However, we lucked out.

Though Barik seemed unnerved by the mention of a captive, he didn't let that stop him from focusing on our primary goal. He placed an arm on Joseph's shoulder and pulled him back. Joseph shot Barik with a hateful glare but stopped after noticing the grizzled warrior shaking his head.

Joseph silently cursed and stood down from an attack stance.

Thanks to Barik's effort, the guards passed us unalerted. Eventually, they and their laughter faded into the dark forests, leaving us to ponder their words.

Joseph furrowed his brow in frustration. "Why did you stop me?!" he whispered a shout.

"Because we can't afford to give ourselves away," Barik asserted emphatically.

Joseph growled at Barik, then turned to Mizuno with a look of passionate determination. "Captain, please? We're going to attempt a rescue, right? We're saving her!"

I wearily shook my head. While he was morally justified in his reaction, it did not inspire confidence in his judgment. 'Those kinds of words will get you killed,' I sighed. 'Hopefully, they won't get us killed too.'

My distrust flared up as I considered making the three follow from a distance while I cleared a path. 'I know I'll make the right calls. These three might only get in the way.'

However, my fog of doubt was dispersed when a dim light of hope shone through. The light being Barik's reply to Joseph's naivety. "No, you can't save everyone. The camp should take priority." Thanks to his experience, Barik must've known what risks saving the girl entailed. However, despite his and I sharing agreement, it was ultimately our leader's, Mizuno's, decision.

She took a hard swallow and a breath. Though she undoubtedly knew the correct answer, it was a tough one, regardless. "We'll focus on the mission," she asserted. "If we can, we'll help her. But the mission comes first."

I was relieved upon hearing her words. However, Barik grimaced, and Joseph ground his teeth in frustration.

"What're we even doing if we're not saving those that need it," he growled.

"We're saving ourselves first, kid," Barik replied. "We aren't much use if we're dead."

Upon being shot down, Joseph turned away and cursed numerous profanities beneath his breath.

Eventually, the Sun rose above the trees, and, despite the tension among the group, we officially started the operation.

We traveled down the hill and took refuge in a ditch to avoid detection. Upon the passing of another patrol, we dove into a nearby cornfield to mask our approach toward the compound.

As we observed yesterday, only a few guards patrolled the cobblestone wall. Thanks to that and Mizuno's lead, we avoided detection with ease. However, upon crossing a narrow dirt road separating the wall and the cornfield, we encountered another patrol of three.

They walked side-by-side and quickly closed in on us.

Moreover, while the rest of us managed to cross the road and hide in another ditch beneath the wall, Joseph was forced to hunker down in a spot with poor coverage.

Diagonally planted cornrows were the only things preventing the guards from seeing him as they approached. Once they passed by, they'd gain a complete view of a late teenager crouched down in leather armor.

'He's going to get seen,' I grit my teeth. 'Looks like he's a liability, after all.

Mizuno gestured to Barik and me, signaling for him to take the guard closest to Joseph and me to take the one closest to us, which left her the middle guard.

We signaled in agreement and steeled ourselves for the first kills of the mission. I preferred knocking them out, but we couldn't leave loose ends that could complicate things further.

'This is where everything could go wrong,' I sighed, then gripped my sword tightly in anxious anticipation.

Seconds later, they were adjacent to us, and, like we feared, one noticed Joseph.

"Hey! Who's there?!"