章 71: Chapter 71
Jake thought Liam had gone back to Evergreen Castle.
Yet, he is here, and got to get a lucky hit into that samurai, sending him flying back several feet.
There were also several awakeners with him: five of them were standing between them and the samurai, while the other ten were helping Jake and Song escape.
Moments after they vanished downhill, it was Hammer who recovered his wits and rallied his awakeners first.
"After them!" he cried, once again starting the chase.
"Open your eyes, man!"
"Li… Liam? That you?" Jake asked, his vision swimming and his consciousness flickering in and out.
"Are you still okay?"
"I've been better, but I'm good now…"
"Bullshit!" Liam said, and the sudden exclamation jolted Jake enough to see that they had finally gone downhill enough to be in the forest – a location that was slightly more advantageous to Evergreen.
He also saw that Liam was carrying him on his back, and they were moving through the forest with surprising speed.
"How… how'd you get here?"
"Told the guys from Evergreen to go back home without me, said I'd go and check up on you on my own," Liam replied. "Those troops didn't want to go back without their vice-master, though. That was why I ended up with the same guys from the ambush we had planned – oh, and you're welcome, by the way."
And because of that, Liam hastily set up a plan for them to assist Jake and Song – they were able to find the two while they were running away from Froad, but they weren't going to be of any use unless the timing was perfect.
Lo and behold, they ended up finding the best chance for a rescue when the enemy had thought Jake and Song were defeated.
"Looks like I owe you and those Evergreen guys some thanks… Thank you," Jake answered, his voice calm despite the dire situation they were in.
The large number of troopers from Froad chasing them meant they weren't out of the woods yet.
And they were closing in, judging by the shouts they heard behind them.
"Guess we're fucked, huh?" Jake asked, flashing Liam a smile that was more red than white before he took a look around; suddenly, the foliage came to life, with multiple awakeners emerging from hiding only to run alongside Liam, guiding him to a clearing somewhere in the forest.
"What's going on?" Jake asked again as he saw the gathered crowd, not quite understanding what was going on.
These awakeners didn't look like they were prepared for a fight – each of them was carrying another on his back, looking like Liam carrying Jake, and another like an Evergreen trooper carrying Song.
"You guys know what to do from here, right?"
The awakeners all nodded their heads.
"We had no choice but to do this," Liam said, his voice becoming thick, "but do not worry as we'll make them pay. This… I promise."
One of the awakeners spoke.
"This is what we were here for… it was what we swore when we joined here. Song and Evergreen gave us a chance when no one else would."
Liam nodded solemnly.
"Really wish you didn't see that, man," he said as he turned to Jake. "Go back to sleep."
It took Liam just a small application of his power to send Jake into unconsciousness, as Jake himself was having difficulty staying up.
Liam felt Jake's breathing begin to slow down; that was when he knew that Jake had gone back under, he then turned to the awakeners before him and relayed his orders.
"All right: everyone, scatter!"
All of them moved in every possible direction.
***
As Liam and the awakener carrying Song were making their way to safety, the former criminology student couldn't help but think of a poem he had read back in high school.
'Theirs not to reason why, theirs not to make reply, theirs but to do and die, into the valley of death… rode the six hundred.'
He found his eyes becoming misty as he saw the nobility of the Evergreen awakeners made manifest as their resolve to ensure their leader's safety – even at the cost of their very lives.
This resolve took form as each of them broke cover, every one of them going in separate directions, all while carrying someone on their back.
"What the hell's going on here? Where's the real one?"
While the pursuit was going on, Evergreen's troops also draped green cloaks around Jake and Song, to aid their disguise and further confuse their pursuers.
The gesture caught Froad's tropps completely flat-footed, taking several crucial moments to gather their wits about them, as they had absolutely no idea as who to go after.
"After all of them! Divvy up in groups!" Hammer ordered.
Of course, Liam predicted this situation as well.
'They have the advantage in manpower and strength, they can afford to separate into groups… but I've already planned for this.'
This was one of the hardest choices Liam had to make: a gambit where they would put the decoy awakeners behind them to waylay the groups pursuing them.
Before he ordered them to disperse, there was one unified purpose in their eyes.
'Bring Song back home. That is our final wish.'
They were each paired off. They were going to get themselves caught.
Once caught, they will fight.
Once fighting, they will die.
And every moment they spend getting chased and killed will be moments that Liam and the elite awakener carrying Jake and Song will use to make even further distance from their pursuers.
Liam found himself mentally cursing in anguish as he could not raise his voice due to the lump in his throat when he heard the first scream some distance away.
It's the worst-case scenario for their rescue.
Still, this desperate move is the only measure they can take: if they die in a group, with Jake and Song unable to defend themselves, this would have been for naught.
That was why when Liam suggested his plan, he found himself in awe of the Evergreen awakeners' loyalty.
They were prepared to sacrifice even their own lives to ensure Song's safety, and given their vice-master's unconscious state, he wasn't in any shape to object – how would he react when he learns about this?
Liam's anger made him move faster.
He can't afford to let their lives be sacrificed in vain – they have to be taken to safety to Evergreen Castle; defeat is not an option now.
"Bring them home safe," another Evergreen member said as he slowed down to become bait.
"We will," Liam promised as he saw them break away, his voice full of grim resolve.
He moved into the brush even faster, and didn't bother to look back, remembering their nobility and resolve, burning the moment deep within his soul.
'I won't forget all of you,' Liam thought, his eyes starting to fill with tears that the way forward was now being obscured.
He didn't care, and stepped forward even faster.
The screams followed.
And then, Liam heard a voice that chilled his soul to the core.
"What are you doing? Kill everyone blocking the way!"
The samurai had returned after having disposed of the five Evergreen troops.
***
The success or failure of the pursuit now rested on a knife's edge as the awakener from Musashi rejoined the chase, as he struck down the decoy Evergreen troops without a moment of hesitation.
He never bothered identifying who he cut down.
"If I kill them all, I'll figure it out anyway!" he said as he continued the chase.
Everyone in his way was simply slashed aside.
Once more, Liam found himself unable to make as much distance as he wanted, despite the decoy teams sacrificing themselves.
'There should also be a bunch of Froad guys or Hunters Guild people surrounding Evergreen Castle right about now.
With two wounded, it's impossible for me to make any sort of move towards Evergreen Castle.
Right, next best solution: find a place to hide.'
Liam led the last few Evergreen elites deep into the mountains, looking high and low in order to find a place secluded enough to make a hiding spot in.
'Until these guys are at least good enough to stand, we have to hide and wait for a chance to make a break for it!' Liam thought as he was looking for a place within the mountain ranges surrounding Evergreen Castle for a place to hide.
And thanks to the awakeners from Froad camping within the mountains, that means the monster presence was drastically lowered.
All in all, it was a good situation in which to scramble within a hiding place and lay low for a while.
'Now… to find a good spot.'
Liam nearly stumbled into the spot – a small cave under a cliff, the entrance hidden by a copse of thick-branched trees, and then led the last remaining awakeners from Evergreen within.
Thanks to their experience within the forest, the Evergreen awakeners were able to help hide their traces; Froad troops would have difficulty finding them now.
'Only God knows how much time we've been able to buy.
Liam doesn't know how long they'll be able to hide out undetected. One day? Three?'
They're out of options here – but they may be able to buy more time with their silence.
Or Froad could get tired of hunting them down and return to their camp.
"All right, now that we've made a spot here, watch your breathing. Keep it low and slow, and let's minimize our noises. No matter what happens, do not go out; even if they light a campfire outside. Hide yourself here as if you'd rather end up dying in this cave."
***
Jake Smithson opened his eyes to see a gray ceiling.
'What's going on?' Jake thought, momentarily puzzled as he couldn't figure out where he was, and why he was here.
The gray ceiling looked like rock or something, but he couldn't make heads or tails of why he ended up in a cave, but something interrupted his thoughts.
"Why'd you save me? Why?" a voice full of despair asked.
Now I remember, Jake thought as he finally grasped what was going on. 'Liam barged in like a big damn hero and nailed that samurai guy with his trademark slash attack… saved my life as well as Song's.'
He decided to close his eyes again – Jake knew he couldn't control his feelings if he kept his eyes open.
As he took deep breaths to calm himself, he could hear the despairing man beside him.
"You saved my life, but at the cost of the rest of Evergreen's best… why?"
It seems they found a hiding spot in a nearby mountain; while there may be Froad scouts looking here and there, Liam couldn't stop Song's outburst.
He was feeling just the same as he did; it was he who came up with the plan, after all.
"Vice-master… Liam did nothing wrong. They all volunteered to keep you safe," one of the elites answered, conveying the will of the deceased awakeners towards their vice-master.
Jake opened his eyes and pulled himself up from the leaves, furs and cloaks the awakeners turned into a makeshift bed, then made his way to where the other members of the part were.
He saw Song's back, then Liam seated opposite the Evergreen vice-master, and the five Evergreen soldiers surrounding them.
"Damn it," Song said, tears carelessly falling down his cheeks, "…their lives are more precious than mine. I'm no better than them. Why would they…"
He looked like the complete opposite of the brave warrior who faced down an elite awakener of a Ten Stars division proudly, and as he continued his lament, Liam could only lower his head and not say anything.
Jake saw the state of Evergreen's vice-master and likewise kept quiet.
All they had to do was wait for Song to stop mourning – and even that was not accorded to the vice-master of Evergreen.
"What about the castle?"
"Only the remaining awakeners are guarding the castle. You can imagine how much of a pickle we're in right now, back there…"
Evergreen is in extreme danger – with Song, its heart and soul, missing – many awakeners sacrificing their lives to save him…
Somehow, Song found what little reserve of fortitude he had, past the pain and past the sadness… and stood up.
His eyes were still rimmed with red, but it was with the strength of duty that needed to be fulfilled that resolve once more filled his face.
"Then that means we have to return and protect Evergreen Castle. We have to survive, so that our division will know of the noble sacrifices our fellows have made on my behalf. Their will, I shall inherit, so their memories will remain forever," he declared, and when he opened his eyes, he knew they turned the corner.
Jake and Liam were sporting smiles, as well as the elite awakeners remaining.
***
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