"Ashton, take thirty people and clear the road ahead. Quietly. Don’t alert them."
Ashton Honda, twenty-seven or so, sharp eyes and firm jaw, was soone Magnus had once pulled out from a shelter. Now, she led her own squad - tough, proud, never one to hide behind others. Her husband was gone, but she stood tall, commanding her team.
Magnus rembered her well - not just for her looks, though she was beautiful - but for sothing more. A kind of quiet grace mixed with a colder edge.
Ashton gave a nod, raised her hand, and her squad of won moved in. Magnus and the Doyle sisters - Emma and Abigail - stayed back. He lit a smoke. Not because he was dodging the work, but simply because Ashton had already scouted this path earlier when they’d ambushed the other faction’s negotiators. Magnus had no clue about the route layout.
Roughly forty minutes later, Ashton ca back leading her team. They were splattered in black centipede blood, but not one had fallen. Magnus gave a short nod. Wordless. He led them up the path, the one Ashton had just cleaned out.
It was steep. Took them over twenty minutes to crest the hill. On the other side, Ashton passed him a pair of binoculars. Magnus raised them to his eyes - then frowned.
Vehicles. Rows and rows of them. Couldn’t see where they ended.
Thirty thousand n, give or take? Damn. Even if they stuffed ten into one vehicle, that was still about three thousand vans and buses. Magnus didn’t have exact numbers, but that was a hell of a force.
Clearly, Cliff’s n didn’t have that many vehicles. Most were repurposed long-haul buses and city transport. Mixed into that lineup was a series of heavy trucks too. Probably filled with soldiers, not cargo.
Sleeping arrangents? These weren’t the Ice Regint - there were no luxury sleeper models here. If those n got a seat to slump in for the night, they were already lucky.
Magnus watched for a while longer, then lowered the binoculars, dragging deep on his cigarette. He’d underestimated them.
The cargo trucks - they weren’t just hauling supplies. They were packing people in too. That alone made it nearly impossible to tell which trucks carried grain and which carried bodies.
Blow them all up? Hundreds of vehicles? Not realistic.
"Ashton, stay here," Magnus said suddenly. "I’m going to catch one of their n."
Ashton instinctively caught his arm, "Be careful."
He felt a flicker of warmth. Her helt covered most of her face, but those big eyes, shimring under moonlight, said more than words could.
"I will," he said softly, then slipped away, jogging alone down the mountain, activating his tal Crystal shield as he moved.
Cliff’s troops had solid discipline - their guards tight, habits military. They weren’t so backwater warband. These were forr soldiers - trained, hardened.
Catching a live one wasn’t going to be easy. But Magnus circled low to the back of the convoy - the spot most likely used to store supplies. It was also slightly more exposed, less fortified than the middle.
He ducked behind a small tree off the roadside, ears wide open.
Guards manned the vehicles from inside. He carefully picked out the ones with voices drifting through the night.
Seven box trucks in a row - each with a driver keeping watch, chatting lightly, bored but alert.
Too many people in one place - and that only made Magnus more certain. These were most likely food transport trucks under Cliff’s command. Magnus pressed himself low, crawling silently until he reached the last truck in the outer row.
He rose slowly, keeping his back to the tal cargo box, and crept toward the driver’s side. From under the truck, two massive centipedes slithered out. They couldn’t touch him with the tal Crystal active. Still, it wasn’t the Fire Crystal. The beasts crawled up his ankles, wriggling higher.
He didn’t flinch. Wasn’t his first ti. He grabbed one centipede, sliced gently at the joint under its jaw. Black blood sprayed across his chest. He did the sa to the second. Alex’s words ca to mind - saring centipede blood on the body might work. Right. He hadn’t told Emily or the others. Tonight could be a good ti to try it himself.
Now, the hard part - grabbing one of their "tongues" without making noise. Guards everywhere. Even if in vehicles, they weren’t just sitting ducks. As he weighed his options, voices drifted down from above the cab.
"Damn it, Luke! Pissing in the truck is one thing - but shitting too? What the hell’s wrong with you? I gotta sit through this stench the whole night!"
"Chad! There’re centipedes and webs all over the ground. I - I really don’t wanna go! Can’t I just crack the window a little? Or maybe you nap for a bit, I’ll stand watch instead. Deal?"
Sounded like Luke. Magnus frowned, stomach turning.
"Shit! Fine. You said it. I’m off to the back for a nap. Enjoy marinating in your own stink, I ain’t sticking around!"
"Sure thing! I’ll call you in the morning!"
The door on the far side of the cab opened. Chad jumped down, stomped a centipede to death, and wandered off toward a nearby bus, humming.
So that’s Luke. Magnus held his breath, listening to the wet squelching sounds coming from above. Ten minutes later, silence. Just as he was about to move, the clank of a door opening reached his ears. He ducked aside. A plastic bag dropped from the door, landing dangerously close.
Damn! Magnus clenched his jaw. He knew it wasn’t personal, but this was disgusting. One drop on him, he’d be ruined. Screw this!
The door was probably unlocked. He paused, then tapped gently on it.
"Luke, get your ass down here. What the hell is that thing?!"
His voice was muffled by the helt, not recognizable. Luke thought Zhao had co back. Without a second thought, he opened the door and jumped down.
"What is it, Chad? You - " Before he could finish, a hand clamped over his mouth and a cold blade pressed against his neck.
"Don’t shout. One word and I cut your damn throat," Magnus whispered into his ear.
Luke could only nod like crazy.
Not taking any chances, Magnus dragged him by the neck back up into the cab. He closed the door behind them.
Luke coughed hard, gasping.
Then the first thing out of his mouth almost made Magnus laugh out loud.
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