Bab 68: Destination
The group resumed their march after dealing with the Kred. The new recruits had the chance to introduce themselves, but the conversation stopped there since the team's mood was as heavy as it could get.
The two recruits' names were Abel Tairnu and Jill Ranster. The boy was as tall as Khan, while the girl was shorter. They both had black hair, respectively long and short, and their bodies appeared quite frail even after six months of training.
It was clear that the Global Army had used those weaker recruits to balance Luke's talent and wealth. The boy had gotten quite strong after his time on Onia. He wasn't like Khan and George, but he surpassed the average by a lot.
Khan and the others didn't explain what had happened to the two prisoners, but the other recruits understood anyway. They had even talked among themselves and heard the Kred's pleas, so everything was quite clear in their minds.
Still, no one dared to say anything about the matter. Some felt glad that the Kred were dead, while others realized how scary their companions could be. After all, they had to sleep alone and without supervision with recruits who could deploy lethal force. Being worried about their safety was only normal, especially when it came to the girls.
Panic and desperate situations could lead to disgusting outcomes. Ethel and Jill tried to distance themselves from the boys since they were aware of that fact, and they even warned Cora about that issue.
However, Cora trusted Khan too much to decide to take precautions against him. She didn't even care if some of the boys snored loudly during the night. She felt safe next to him, and she even tried to walk close to him during the march.
Khan was far from ok. Yet, his face didn't show any emotion even after days passed from the events with the Kred. He appeared cold, detached, and confident, which only increased his status as a group leader.
George, Luke, and Dorian wore similar expressions during the travel. Some of them were only trying to imitate Khan, while others were really managing to suppress their emotions.
The interactions among the group grew scarcer as the days passed. They didn't talk, and they even ignored the suppressed sobs of some of their companions when the night arrived. The roots could provide nutrients, and the bad weather gave water, but all of them were reaching their mental limits nonetheless.
The cooperation among Khan, Luke, George, and Dorian grew tighter and smoother. Killing the Kred had created a bloody connection that they couldn't ignore. The four boys instinctively relied on each other whenever a Tainted animal or other issues appeared on their path.
Ethel, Jill, and Abel remained apart, at least mentally. Knowing about the killing had created a wall among them even if some agreed with the four boys' decision. Yet, their lacking battle prowess demoted them to mere walking backpacks for supplies. Khan and the others didn't even trust them for the guard duty.
Only Cora tried to act as a bridge between the two groups, but her efforts didn't lead anywhere. She even managed to muster her courage and talk with Khan multiple times during the days, but she didn't manage to achieve anything.
The main issue with that division was the acceptance achieved by the various recruits. All of them could understand that the current layout of the group expressed its full potential, and no one was willing to change anything since everything was going smoothly.
The lack of communications ended up benefitting Khan. No one dared to bother or contradict him. His new companions didn't even try to question him about the azure scar on his chest. He could wholeheartedly focus on maintaining his mental walls.
Cora was an issue that Khan did his best to ignore. She wasn't annoying. Actually, her concern and efforts were quite heartwarming, but Khan couldn't let her behavior endanger his mental barrier. He went along with her and made sure to reassure her about her state, but their interactions stopped there.
The anxiety among the group began to build as more days passed inside the jungle. Their phones were still working, but they had crossed the one-week mark by then. Only a few rays of light had reached the surface in that period, so the devices felt ready to turn off.
The many days of travel had even created doubts among the group. Some recruits started to think that they had lost their way at some point, and the deceiving scenery of the jungle didn't help their mindset.
All the trees looked the same after more than a week of travel inside the jungle. Gaining familiarity with the environment made them doubt their path. Every bush could represent an already crossed area, but they could never confirm if their worries were real issues or simple tricks of their minds.
The heavy atmosphere among the group ended up preventing internal fights. Everyone remained silent even if doubts filled their minds. The recruits limited themselves to follow Khan, whose determination appeared unbreakable.
The doubts, worries, and heavy atmosphere vanished when a large plain unfolded in their vision. The familiar metal landing areas brought immense joy to their minds. They had done it. The recruits had returned to their starting point.
Yet, the area was empty. Khan didn't even manage to sense anything. The complete stillness that had filled most of his days of travel covered the spot and brought a new wave of worries to the group's mind.
"Where is everyone?" Dorian asked while keeping his voice down.
"We should check the teleport," Khan ordered.
All the recruits had reached Istrone through the same teleport. The location of their training camps on Earth didn't affect the matter, so Khan's group had a vague idea of how to return to the structure.
The vegetation on Istrone had already changed by then. The recruits couldn't find anything familiar in the path that they had originally taken to reach the plain, but they knew the general direction of the teleport, and that was enough.
The group had to rely on their compasses again and work together to ensure that they covered all the possible areas where the teleport could be. The changed environment played with their memories, so they could only overcome the issue through many attempts.
Resting at night remained mandatory under Khan's leadership, but the group managed to find the building with the teleport in only two days of exploration. Yet, their hopes shattered when they saw that the structure featured large holes and many crumbled walls.
It was clear that the Kred had assaulted the building, but that knowledge didn't help Khan's group. They were out of options now. They didn't know anything else about the planet.
"What now?" Ethel asked, giving voice to the question in everyone's mind.
The recruits turned toward Khan, but he had no plans or answers for them. He had hoped that the plain and the teleport could be valid destinations, but the rebellion seemed to have spread more than expected.
Still, his senses suddenly warned him about masses of mana moving at some distance from the building. Khan could identify them as Kred even if he couldn't see the actual source of that power from behind the thick layers of trees, but he also noticed that something was off.
The Kred weren't alone. Other fainter presences moved behind them. The pace of the group was even slow, which made Khan consider a few possibilities.
The fainter presences didn't belong to Tainted animals, but they didn't seem Kred either. Khan couldn't get closer for fear of exposing himself, but he had an idea that sounded quite reasonable.
Istrone didn't seem to have a fauna, so Khan could only think about one type of living being that didn't belong to Kred and Tainted animals. There was a high chance that the aliens in the distance were dragging humans.
"Follow me," Khan suddenly whispered before crouching. "Try not to make sounds, and make sure not to bump into me. I don't know if this will work, but I can't think about anything else."
The recruits had doubts, especially since they couldn't sense the Kred hidden by the trees, but they decided to follow Khan's orders anyway. He was the only one who could save them in that desperate situation.
Khan began to follow the Kred. He moved slowly among the trees and made sure to keep enough distance from the aliens. He remained at the edges of his mental range, accelerating and holding his steps according to the movements of the group ahead.
The group had to advance like that for hours, and they couldn't stop even after the night fell. Khan had officially forced his companions outside of every known path, but his teammates were too desperate to mind that.
Khan suddenly stopped at some point, and George inevitably slammed into his back. The same happened for the recruits behind the boy, but everyone managed to maintain their balance and avoid creating unnecessary noises.
Khan's sudden actions came from the arrival of an area completely devoid of trees. The forest stopped and created an empty zone that featured only short vegetation and a narrow cave that seemed to lead underground.
The faint figures of a bear-shaped Kred who dragged two young humans inside the cave had appeared in Khan's eyes during the abrupt stop. He didn't know what that structure contained, but it looked like a gathering point for prisoners.
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