Like fools, they had offered up their lives on a silver platter to the enemy and once the enemy was well fed, they let them escape peacefully.
Prince Kolt saw the shameful situation of his forces and almost went crazy in his wrath. His nostrils flared with each breath and his chest heaved up and down like a machine in overdrive. His face was flushed as he tried to rein in the burst of anger he was about to let loose on his soldiers who had thrown the pride of the royal family to the dogs.
He called for the commander of his troops and told him to organize a pursuit. Prince Kolt decided to lead the pursuit himself. The commander just needed to convey his orders to everyone on the behalf of the prince.
The commander happily handed over the reins of the troops to the prince in order to wash his hands off of such an unorthodox battle. He had never seen such a battle before despite having spent the major portion of his life on the battlefield as the prideful soldier of the royal family. The tactics of the enemy were so different from what he was used to and the weapons in their hands were capable of overpowering the mages and the soldiers alike from a long range.
Before long, Prince Kolt was leading a group of bloodthirsty soldiers who were especially working hard because they wanted to leave a good impression on the prince. They knew that as long as they managed to get into the good graces of the prince, they wouldn't have to worry about anything for the rest of their lives.
…
Zach kept a watch on the mini-map as he rushed towards the rendezvous point that he had decided on with Diana earlier. With Luna and Bruce in tow, he was being extremely cautious since he knew that the mage who was escorting Kolt could be upon them any minute. No matter how powerful and smart Christina was, he knew that she would not be able to hold off the mage for a long time. The reason was the difference in the combat experience between the two. While the mage had spent majority of his life fighting for the royal family, Christina was nothing more than a flower in a greenhouse that had never been exposed to the wind and rain in the storms.
Therefore, by monitoring the map at short intervals, Zach would at least be able to prevent any sneak attack on them in advance.
Thankfully, they experienced nothing too threatening along the way and even the forces that Zach spotted on the map were either too far away or were heading in entirely different directions. It even looked like the royal forces were unable to locate him and were searching for him like headless flies in the wilderness hoping to spot his traces.
Before long, Zach, Luna and Bruce managed to reach the rendezvous point where they could spot some figures waiting for them in advance. Zach was sure that Diana had already arrived and was keeping an eye out for him so he waved towards the group so as to grab their attention and to indicate that his intentions were aboveboard.
The Special Forces team members who had been lying prone on the ground camouflaged in the trees immediately signaled towards each other in a hurry and before long a message was delivered to their team leader who was visibly pleased at the news.
Diana who had been anxiously waiting for the news rushed out to greet the people she had been waiting for.
The team members responsible for the mission enthusiastically greeted Zach as soon as he reached the clearing that they had been using as the temporary camp. They bowed slightly as smiles spread on their faces. Since Zach had successfully reached this place, it could only mean that their mission was a success and they could finally breathe a little easy. Their nerves had been taut ever since they retreated from the battle in which they were severely outnumbered.
Bruce accompanied Zach towards the center of the temporary camp where his sister was supposedly waiting for them. He was very surprised to witness the changes that had occurred in the servants of the Luther family who had successfully completed their transition into well-trained soldiers. As soon as Diana entered his sight, he wanted to rush to her and ask her if she was okay after all the bloodshed she must have seen during the earlier battle.
But Diana beat him to it as she lunged in his direction with the speed of a tigress. His eyes watered as he looked at the running figure of his sister who was so excited to see her brother survive through a tough ordeal.
Just when he thought that the mini-sized rocket in the shape of Diana was about to make contact with his chest, Diana turned abruptly and slammed into Zach with the entire force of her being as if she wanted to merge her soul with his.
"Thank god you are safe." Diana muttered as she practically rubbed her face onto his chest as if to confirm that he was real.
"Me too" Although Zach was surprised at this kind of reception, he still mirrored her thoughts considering the fact that they truly had lost their lives there for a second had it not been for Christina who came as their salvation at their desperate moment.
Unlike Zach and Diana who were quite happy to see each other, there were two souls who were feeling extremely uncomfortable with this reunion.
One was of course Bruce who had been thinking that Diana's earlier enthusiasm had been for him and the other person was Luna.
Even though Luna was clear about her position in Zach's heart and her status, she couldn't help but be possessive of him. She knew she had no right but she wanted to monopolize his love for herself. She couldn't stop Zach from going after as many girls as he wanted since Zach was her master. Luna wouldn't dare to say a word about it just as she hadn't said anything when Zach asked Christina to marry him.
But when some other woman tried to hit on Zach like Diana was, Christina felt aggression in every cell of her body as she wanted to keep Zach away from such foxes.
Zach on the other hand didn't notice the fire in the eyes of Bruce and Luna as they looked at the couple who were still clinging to each other. He was too focused on the mini-map that was currently displaying the number of enemies who were in pursuit.
Unlike the previous times, when the enemy forces did not know their location at all, this combined effort seemed to be carefully directed and it looked as if this leader somehow knew Zach's location as they were making a beeline towards his group.
Zach grew worried since they couldn't afford to get held back this time. There was no one who would be able to save him this time if such a thing happened again.
"We need to leave immediately. Everyone pack up whatever things you have left and get into the trucks. We can't delay any longer." Zach urged all those who were within the listening range to gather their things. The enemy would soon be upon them if they dared to stay in this place any longer. At the very least they had to change location before thinking of their next course of action.
"What happened?" Diana who was unaware of the entire situation got alert with Zach's warning and asked with a hint of surprise in her eyes.
"We have enemies on our six. It looks like Prince Kolt hasn't given up on us yet and is planning to catch up to us at top speed. Have you prepared the trucks as I asked?" asked Zach with urgency in his voice.
"Of course, two trucks are ready for departure at your order. I have long since made sure that nothing would go wrong. The maintenance specialists have taken a look at their condition already so that they wouldn't break down on the road."
Zach could only show his thanks with his eyes as he motioned to her to lead the way as he didn't want to dilly dally any longer.
Two trucks were waiting for Zach and the others. Camouflage efforts had been put in to keep the trucks from being noticed by any stray soldier or passerby.
Zach nodded in appreciation at the precautionary measures taken by his Special Forces team.
"Get on fast. We're leaving." Diana shouted towards her team who formed two straight rows near the rear of the truck as they stood with their guns in salute towards their true leader.
Zach, Bruce and Luna were the first to get on followed by Diana. After that the rear most soldiers in both the rows abruptly turned on their feet and climbed the back of the truck. The same procedure was followed until everyone was in the truck.
Zach couldn't help but nod to himself in appreciation as the conduct of the Special Forces team was quite admirable. They were completely disciplined even in such a life-threatening situation.
When the two trucks were fully boarded and loaded with luggage, the group set off on their long journey towards freedom.
As they rode away from danger, Zach was unable to put off the feeling of insecurity as he looked all around and checked the map continuously only to find no anomaly at all.
