Journey to Defy

Anthony returned after a few minutes, with a frown on his face. His pursuit had been fruitless; Tilch had gotten away from the Knight Captain. Mateo already knew his knife had caused no real damage to the Demon Lieutenant; at most, it was just a mild annoyance.

“Hero, are you alright?”

Mateo gave the man a nod while several others were hovering over him, including his party. One knight stepped forward and gave his input.

“The Hero is just slightly injured. There’s no need for him to even rest to heal, instead he will fully recover after a few hours as we make our way to the city.”

“Good to hear. I believe it’s time for you all to make your way to the city and meet the Count. The other parties should also be on their way.”

“The other parties? It’s not just us that the knights have met up with?”

This time it was Helen who spoke up. The others were also paying close attention.

“The Count believed that the area was too unsafe for the Heroes to wander around alone. There is also the matter of the intel we have on the bandits that would be imperative to your future actions. Especially the layout of the bandit hideouts.”

All of them nodded at this notion. The hideout had been a literal maze with an abundance of traps. The chance of the party being able to make their way through without injuries was slim to none. Most likely they would have to give up on the pursuit.

“Then I believe it is only proper for us to give the Count our thanks.”

Mateo stood up as he gave a nod to the man while shrugging off the hands that tried to help him up.

Instead of backtracking their way through the hideout they proceeded down the path that Tilch had fled through. Seeing the exit up ahead Glenn couldn’t help but voice a question that all of them wondered.

“Why didn’t we just enter through this path? If all of the hideouts are the same surely you already knew of such a path.”

“The other hideouts have a secret exit, and while it would be possible for us to discover them, it is also far more dangerous. These paths are rigged with explosives. Don’t worry, the trigger has already been disabled. However, if we had tried to enter through this path the bandits would have been able to collapse the path on our heads.”

As the group made their way out of the underground cave they found their surroundings still encased in darkness, night had fully fallen upon these lands.

“We’ll camp here for the night and head off to the city tomorrow at dawn.”

Anthony voiced the plan and then set up a watch for the night. Thankfully the party was exempt from the duty of keeping watch and was able to get a full night's rest. At dawn the group first made their way back to the ruined village and rejoined with the ten knights that had been left behind along with the captives.

These captive bandits combined with those that surrendered last night made a long line of bandits that were bound together as they set off. It wasn’t just bandits either as the knights had fully emptied the hideout of the stolen goods that were stored away.

All of this made the journey a slow one; with what should have been a two- to three-day journey took over a week. The only positive aspect was the fact that there had been no more bandit ambushes.

However, while the party was still about two days' journey from the city at their current pace, Mateo felt a sensation run through his hand. The demon sigil was notifying him, there was a demon nearby calling for him.

He quickly got a read on the direction that the demon was in. He informed a knight that he was going out to hunt for food, something that several others had done throughout the journey. The knight thought nothing of it and wished him luck, the fact that Mateo’s weapon of choice was a bow probably played a not so small role in this lie of his.

He walked for quite a distance from the camp, until he made sure that no one followed him. Once he confirmed that he was truly alone he finally headed off in the direction of the demon. Unsurprisingly, the demon that was waiting for him was Tilch.

“Are you sure it’s appropriate for us to meet up like this? So close to Defy?”

Mateo couldn’t help but frown. This sudden meetup was extremely dangerous for him. The Knights weren’t just sitting around in the camp doing nothing. Several patrols had been set up. Mateo had even met up with several of them. Fortunately, all that happened was them wishing him luck in his hunt while also warning him to not stray too far.

“There will be an ambush tomorrow.”

Tilch was straight to the point as he dismissed Mateo’s worries, still not too happy about the near fright along with the knife in the back.

“Really? The bandits are setting up an ambush? Is this your doing?”

“Wrong, not a bandit ambush. It’s a demon ambush.”

Mateo couldn’t help but feel shocked at the correction. The demons were taking action now?

“I thought the demons were planning to play behind the scenes while making use of the bandits. Why the sudden change?”

“There has been an order to thin some of the Heroes.”

“So you're attacking the parties before they can reach Defy?”

As he was scrutinized with a steely gaze with no confirmation of his question the truth of the matter flashed across his mind.

“It's just this group isn’t it? The plan is to thin the numbers of my party.”

Mateo couldn’t help but frown at the implication. While he had no qualms with his group members being put down, it was part of his goal after all, he didn’t like the implications behind it. His party was his strength, every member gone would be a portion of his own strength diminishing.

This was both in his standing among the party leaders and the kingdom, but also in a more literal sense too. His party was also a card he could use against the demons. Just because they were currently allies did not mean his own interests would be considered.

“You’re going to have to tell me who the targets are.”

“Knight Captain Anthony is the primary target.”

“The Knight Captain? I thought the heroes were the reason behind the ambush.”

“While the Heroes are the reason behind the ambush, the intermediate combatants of Defy need to be dealt with for future plans. As for the target amongst the heroes, it's the woman who wields a sword.”

“Alicia? You want to take down two intermediate level knight captains? How strong is the strike force for the ambush?”

“There will be two demon lieutenants taking part in the ambush, including myself.”

“What makes you think that’s enough? Don’t expect me to just lie down and do nothing. I still have to put on a performance. This means I will probably have to tie down one of the Demon Lieutenants; then it will be two against one. I doubt you're capable of doing that.”

“You will do it.”

“No. I can’t afford to reveal myself yet. Taking down two Knight Captains is a horrible trade-off.”

Mateo knew that keeping his identity hidden from his classmates was just wishful thinking. Every time he took action, he risked revealing a flaw that could expose him. However, just taking down Alicia was not enough for him to proactively reveal himself.

“Don’t worry, you won’t be exposed. A plan has already been formed to protect your identity and won’t risk our hidden alliance.”

With a frown Mateo listened to this so-called plan of theirs. While he could see how his identity was safe, he still didn’t approve of this ambush, or at least the targets they had in mind.

“I’ll go along with your plan, but choose a different party member. You’re underestimating Alicia.”

The two argued for a few minutes before Tilch begrudgingly agreed to Mateo’s demand. With a smirk Mateo and the demon went their separate ways. After a dozen more minutes Mateo made his way back to the camp with a couple of rabbits in his hand.

Before he could return though he was stopped by one of the patrolling knights.

Mateo felt his heart rate speed up as he saw the stern gaze directed his way.

Has Tilch been discovered? Had their meeting been exposed? Had he been exposed?

His body tensed up as the hand grasping his bow tightened.