After expertly avoiding the nightly patrols of the Lions Guard, Andrew guided the group into a dark alley.
There was a moment where he seemed tense, more tense than he had ever been before.
Neither Xaryus nor Zadius could see what Andrew was looking at but it was surely something that could foil his plans.
Out in the beautiful night sky, Andrew could vaguely see an awakened soar through the sky with tremendous speeds.
"They know she wasn't taken out of the city." He spoke internally before moving out the alley and back on his planned path.
Eventually, the group snuck their way to the outer wall of Rosa and tipped off a coachman to take a ride in his carriage. Surprisingly the ride out of the city was rather smooth.
Xaryus was worried that Rosaly would make a fuss at the city gate, but no such thing happened.
The rest of the journey after leaving the city walls was smooth as can be. The group made their way northwards along the northern road that led to the next city, Castillan.
Keeping to the forests and quickly moving across the expansive plains as well as any aether beast that would have posed a threat being long dealt with gave the group a rather fast travelling speed.
Even if they were attacked, Xaryus and Zadius' cores were currently at the eighth stage of the inept rank so they would be able to handle low ranked aether beasts.
Their days consisted of hunting small game when needed, avoiding the occasional aether beast and setting up camp to rest.
One thing Andrew observed was that for as long as they had travelled, Rosaly hadn't said a single word. Her gaze remained calm and composed.
"I'm surprised to say the least young Lionheart. To think that you would keep up your unbothered facade for so long…" Andrew said to Rosaly as they sat across from each other, separated by a campfire.
"But you can't fool me, I can sense your heart racing… You're scared, aren't you?" Andrew questioned.
Rosaly's expression didn't change but Andrew could tell from her body language and using his abilities he could sense subtle vibrations around him.
She was scared out of her mind.
Chuckling underneath his mask, Andrew got tired of teasing Rosaly and went to bed.
That night she was bound to a large boulder near the campfire to prevent any attempts at escaping.
Rosaly glanced at the two smaller figures wearing porcelain masks staring at her. Feeling too uncomfortable, she turned away and also went to bed.
Xaryus and Zadius glanced at each other for a moment and then went back to keeping watch.
"Andrew's nervous, he's a perfectionist that likes things done thoroughly. It's completely out of his nature to rush things to such an extent… So, what's changed?" Zadius thought.
How many more days would they have to walk until they reached their destination?
"But that's a thought for later, for now…" Zadius concluded inwardly, slowly rising from the ground.
To his front, Xaryus was also slowly rising from the ground with his short sword already drawn.
They were currently being surrounded, Zadius could feel various shadows swarming them.
"There's five of them…" Xaryus spoke before quickly glancing to his left, "... Seven." he added.
From the bushes, he could see two extremely large grey wolves strapping into the light provided from the campfire.
Long curved horns protruded from each of their heads and their eyes were filled with anger and hunger.
The sound of the beasts shook Rosaly awake, her eyes wide and filled with fear. The first set emotions she had clearly displayed since they left Rosa.
"I assume you two can handle this…" Andrews' voice sounded, barely being heard out over the cacophony of growls that ran around the campfire.
Zadius moved first, drawing his daggers and rushing into the dense forest around the campfire.
The aether beasts that were surrounding them were merely grade one, meaning they were equivalent to an inept rank awakened.
Zadius was more than skilled enough to defeat a handful of them.
With his daggers drawn he slid under the pounce of one horned wolf and rose to his feet just in time to drag a dagger across the chest of another.
The damaged beast squealed out in pain as it received another flurry of well-placed attacks.
By the time the first wolf gained its footing from its pounce attack, its kin had already fallen.
Raising from one knee, Zadius looked at the beast and the two others that slowly circled him from either side. Gripping his blades tighter, he willed the animus in his core to fuel his ability; [Herald of Shadows].
Moving to his will, the darkness behind Zadius became denser and darker as if the shadows were rushing to answer his call.
Whilst they embraced the area around him, he could feel his strength grow because of his [Kin of Shadows] ability.
Not even allowing his boon of strength to fully set in, Zadius launched his daggers towards the aether beasts to his front and his side.
A reckless attack made to create a small moment of time.
Immediately after, he quickly dashed towards the third beast. As he moved the coalesced shadows moved with him.
Gathering shadows was a small task but holding them there and moving them with him was not. His animus was burning away, and he didn't have much like his younger brother.
The aether beast lashed out at Zadius intending to rip his flesh from his face, but its vicious fangs only slammed together.
Using enhancement, Zadius' speed suddenly increased, allowing him to avoid the wolf's attack and position himself at the beast's side.
In a single motion, he gripped the upper and lower jaws of the wolf before ripping it apart. Whilst the horned wolf's body fell to the ground Zadius waited for the other two to charge towards him.
***
Xaryus had locked eyes with the two wolves for a moment as they stared at him.
It was strange though, none of the beasts seemed to want anything to do with Andrew.
They could sense he was dangerous, but it was funny because they couldn't sense how dangerous Xaryus was.
"Solaris."
Xaryus activated his ability, infusing his body with energy. His eyes slowly gained a soft yellow glow, and he prepared himself to attack the two wolves in front of him.
Instead, he swung his body around and launched his short sword towards Rosaly.
The young girl's eyes widened for a moment at Xaryus' sudden attack.
But the trajectory of the sword was slightly higher than it should have, finding itself lodged into the neck of the horned wolf that had tried to lunge at Rosaly from behind.
The beast yelped in pain as it fell back to the ground, but another had already rushed past towards Rosaly.
Clicking his teeth, Xaryus rushed towards her with the first two wolves following closely behind. He preemptively drew his dagger as he approached Rosaly.
By the time he got to her, the beast was already lunging through the air.
Xaryus was too slow to stop the beast's attack safely.
He lurched forward, recklessly grabbing the wolf by its neck and stopping it in its tracks. A gust of wind blew past Rosaly from the beast's sudden halt in motion, but not even a second later the wolf clawed and bit into Xaryus' arm.
"Argh!"
Xaryus screamed out, throwing the horned wolf back into his two pursuers.
The three beasts tumbled to the ground momentarily and in that brief moment, Xaryus dropped his dagger to the ground and outstretched his uninjured arm towards the horned wolves.
There was a brief silence before he chanted once again.
"Solaris."
This time, the faint yellow glow that rested within his eyes slowly faded and a vibrant light-like energy began to coalesce in his palm.
The light began to shine brighter and brighter, releasing a faint hum. Xaryus flooded the ability with all the animus he could in such a short moment.
The energy roared forward with a boom, faster than the three wolves could react. The ball of light exploded upon impact, kicking up a wide swath of dirt and outing the campfire in its wake.
As the dust settled, Rosaly could see that only bits and pieces of the horned wolves had remained. She glanced towards Xaryus for a moment, wondering what he looked like under the mask.
Her attention then shifted from Xaryus as she saw the second masked figure return from a part of the forest that was clearly darker than the rest.
In one hand he held a handful of bloodied horns and in the other, a dagger soaked in blood.
Rosaly was rather happy that she didn't try to break free from the ropes. She was newly awakened herself and could easily break out of her binds, but she felt as if her captors, specifically the larger of the three wanted her too.
So, she never tried… instead she decided to wait for the right moment.
After the horned wolf attack, there wasn't anything as eventful and in the blink of an eye four days had passed since they left Rosa.
They had finally reached their destination.