When the army Commander called a halt, I dropped onto the trunk of a tree that had conveniently fallen nearby without bothering to keep up pretenses. We were moving quickly enough that even the increased toughness and stamina of my cultivator’s body couldn’t protect me from the strain of it, and I breathed deeply, sucking in much-needed oxygen.

But after a moment, I turned my head to look at Yarani, who’d plopped down beside me and was half lying off the tree trunk. If this was a strain for me, it had to be exponentially worse for her, since she was still in the fourth stage.

I straightened up and focused on the qi in my surroundings, quickly pulling in some of the abundant nature affinity qi. I carefully shaped it and then let it flow into her, watching closely with my qi senses as it settled into her body, soothed burning muscles and calmed her racing heart.

Yarani sat up, giving me a quick smile. “Thanks, Nari.”

I nodded. Healing techniques were pretty difficult, not least because you had to deal with your patient’s natural defense against the intrusion of foreign qi, but this one was simple enough. Once we started running again, she’d get another air technique that assisted her in moving.

“Path clear!” The cry cut through our heavy breathing.

I suppressed a groan and levered myself to my feet again, stretching my arms and legs for a second before I started moving. Yarani fell in beside me, and I felt Aston behind us manipulating a small flow of air.

The short rest had helped, though, and I found it easier to manage as we continued on our way. When I glanced around, I noticed that we weren’t the only ones showing some strain from our pace. Some of the weaker soldiers had a bit of sweat on their forehead or were breathing more heavily, and of course Jin actually had two of the Imperial soldiers helping him along with subtle techniques.

The Zarieni I’d brought with me didn’t seem to care for him much. I didn’t know if it was his stage, coupled with his age, or the fact that he was a civilian. At least they stuck to ignoring him rather than trying to insult him for living in the Empire or anything like that. But the reinforcements he’d guided here for me were mostly Imperial soldiers, so the composition of this task force had changed considerably again. I couldn’t help but feel a little relieved by that.

“My lady, we’re getting close,” Aston spoke up.

I glanced at him, then quickly returned my attention to the path ahead. We were moving through some fairly dense underbrush, and especially at our speed, it wouldn’t be wise to take your eyes off it for long. “Finally,” I mumbled.

It didn’t take long until the lead elements of our force started to slow down, and the rest quickly followed. We were moving faintly downhill at the moment, and when I drew in a deep breath, I could just make out the smell hinting at a river somewhere to our right. My qi senses showed that the area was mostly deserted of spirit beasts, which had obvious benefits, but also meant that the risk of us being discovered increased.

I glanced around, then took a deep breath and focused on my body and the qi in it. Shapeshifting while walking was a pain, so I did it slowly and carefully. I had considerably fairer skin than most of the people here, and my light hair wasn’t making it any better. So I changed it until it was a dirty brown with greenish patches, then darkened my skin and experimented a little until I got something vaguely resembling camouflage patterns, though I kept the coloring muted and mostly natural. It blended with my brown and gray clothes.

“You look weird,” Yarani mumbled. “Good thought, though.”

I smiled at her, then focused on making my way through the jungle. By now, I could sense our destination in the distance. We slowed down further, drew together and increased our concealment efforts, putting a bit more qi into our shroud. It probably wouldn’t hold up too long, especially if our enemies had a reason to suspect that someone was coming from this direction, so we’d have to move quickly. I sensed more people ahead than there’d been even in the hidden base of our Zarieni allies, though I doubted that all of them would be in a high stage.

We continued to sneak closer, using the cover of the dense forest. It should help that we came from the direction of a section that was ‘known’ to be impenetrable. If I didn’t have a cultivator’s reflexes and the subtle help of my domain, the underbrush here would have been a severe hindrance. As it was, it was just an annoyance. We’d had worse during our hurried journey here.

I glanced at the people with me. The Zarieni looked focused, moving with the grace of long practice through the forest. My soldiers weren’t as good, but they managed to keep a loose formation, and their movements still betrayed their discipline. No one made any sound or gave off anything that could have betrayed us.

Of course, our enemies weren’t amateurs, either. I knew they probably had scouts patrolling the forest, who should also be hiding their presence. That was why I listened keenly to my intuition, as well as keeping a sharp eye out, and tried to stay alert to any change I could detect with my qi senses. It was wearying to keep that level of alertness up, but it had to be done.

Luck, or perhaps Rijoko’s influence, was indeed with us, and we managed to get pretty close without being detected. At least that we knew about. It was still possible that they had actually seen us and were preparing to take us unaware with an ambush. But I can’t worry about that too much, or I’ll drive myself crazy.

Still, when we stopped that time, I almost jumped out of my skin at the rustle of a nearby bush, which I realized after a second was just a small animal running away. I took a deep breath and told myself to calm down.

“Any sign of the others?” I asked quietly.

Aston looked into the distance for a moment longer, then exchanged hurried words with the other officers, before he returned to me. “We’re not certain yet, my lady.”

I frowned, and saw that Yarani and even Aston himself mirrored the expression. We had too few fighters to launch a successful attack on our own, and the longer we stayed close to our target, the higher the chances that we would be discovered. If something had happened that prevented our other forces from attacking — or if they’d called the whole operation off — things could get dicey. I wasn’t too worried about my safety, but I did want this to succeed.

“Let’s sneak a little closer,” I said. “Quietly and carefully. And keep a close eye on the surrounding area.”

I wasn’t entirely sure from where the attack would be launched if it did come. I hadn’t had time to worry about that, and it wasn’t something I should or could decide, anyway. So I let my gaze sweep over the tops of the trees I could see from our slightly elevated position, whatever peeked through the foliage of the vegetation around us, and focused on my qi senses.

We stopped a little further in. Going any further would mean too high a risk of being discovered. But we were still too far to launch a real surprise attack, especially without anyone else’s support.

“Let’s wait,” Yarani said quietly. “There isn’t anything else we can do.”

“Indeed, my lady,” the Imperial commander, who’d joined us, agreed quietly. He looked at me. “Your Highness, with your permission, I’ll ready the soldiers for an assault.”

I nodded and watched him for a moment as he withdrew to talk to his officers and the Zarieni, then returned my gaze to our enemies. We’d found a pretty good hiding spot that still allowed a mostly unobstructed view of the main part of their camp, and I paid careful attention to their watchtowers and patrol patterns.

For at least half an hour, we waited there, our nerves gradually wearing thinner as we watched them go about their business. There was clearly a gathering of leaders in one of the large central huts, with a few people occasionally coming and going, and dressed up fighters standing guards. Mostly Zarieni themselves, just a few Zarian. But we didn’t see anyone else closing in on them, although, given the distances we had to cross, they should have arrived before us. And they knew our hiding techniques and should be able to see through them, at least well enough to be aware we were there, if they were.

Finally, guards and fighters on the right edge of the camp began to stir. Quickly, the commotion spread, until soldiers on that side grabbed their weapons and hustled to gather in an open area by their walls. I frowned, trying to make out what prompted this.

“Look up!” Yarani hissed. “There’s a cultivator up there. Is he harassing them or something?”

My frown deepened. I could see it now, little more than a black spot even to my vision, but more importantly, I could feel their presence faintly.

“Is that Regent Kiyanu?” Aston asked, his eyes widening.

I shook my head but didn’t answer, not because he was wrong, but because I didn’t know what Kiyanu was doing here. It really was him, and he seemed to be deliberately drawing attention to himself. But without, quite, attacking the Zarieni directly.

“My lady!” Commander Aiki was back, his expression tight. “What should we do? Launch the attack?”

I frowned again and eyed Kiyanu’s distant figure as I considered. He has to know we’re here, and he’s obviously creating a distraction for us. An opening. It would still be a huge risk to fight them like this. I chewed my lips. But if he’s doing this, he must be doing it because he thinks it would succeed. So he probably knows that the others are here or at least getting close, or he wouldn’t be provoking a fight.

“Yes,” I decided, putting all the calm and confidence I felt into my voice. “We’ll attack now. Make it happen, Commander.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” He saluted and moved off, though his tightness hadn’t faded.

“Why didn’t he come talk to us?” Yarani asked quietly, as we stood up and prepared for the charge.

I shrugged. “Most likely because he didn’t want to take the risk of them discovering us,” I answered. “He’s probably right. Besides, that we don’t see any eighth stagers fighting down there doesn’t mean there aren’t any.”

The order to advance came, and I watched Aston carefully as he guided me and Yarani into our proper place towards the back of our force. It was hard to hold formation while running down a forested hill, but our soldiers managed the best they could.

Personally, I was a little more interested in why Kiyanu hadn’t contacted us telepathically, even if qi or radio waves would have been too risky. I knew he was good at using telepathy. But from what I’d been able to figure out, even with strong cultivators all seeming to be reluctant to discuss the subject, someone’s telepathic range depended on the individual. This indicated that Kiyanu’s wasn’t exceptionally high.

I tucked that speculation neatly away at the back of my mind as we closed the distance to the Zarieni camp. By now, they’d spotted us, but their reaction seemed slow, perhaps because they were preoccupied with Kiyanu. Our first fighters, the strongest elites, reached the outer guard posts before they’d properly taken any defensive formations. I sensed the discharge of qi as one of them burned out a formation array. That, at least, was one area where we had far less to worry about than with the Zarian, considering the nomads’ lack of any long-term settlements in need of defense. Their formations tended towards the quick-and-dirty.

I slowed down as we reached the outer ward perimeter and sent some of my own qi into the wards, trying to get a feel for them. Aston and the other guards formed up in a protective formation around me, while further out, our soldiers clashed with the enemy tribes.

By the time I moved on, leaving the alarm wards a smoking ruin behind me, our people had managed to clear the outer posts and taken the wall. It was little better than a palisade, but some of them hunkered down now to cover the rest while they advanced further into the camp. Aston made room for us at one of the main strong points at the base of a watchtower. I knew he’d have felt better about me staying back, but under the circumstances, that would have been at least as dangerous. I’d rather not open myself to attack by our enemies like that.

Before I could continue that thought, I finally felt the brush of a familiar mind against mine. I responded to the contact. ‘Kiyanu?’

‘Inaris. What are you doing here?’

I rolled my eyes to myself. ‘Well, in case you haven’t noticed, there’s a battle going on here. What are you doing here? Distracting the nomads?’

I almost felt Kiyanu’s mental sigh. ‘Yes. I apologize for not rendezvousing with you sooner, but I felt I needed to move quickly.’ He paused for a moment. ‘This battle isn’t going well, as you can see.’

I looked up and frowned. After a moment, I realized he was right. Our advance had stalled, and Zarieni defense was firming up. They still had an advantage in numbers, and it was beginning to tell.

‘I wish I could do more to help, but I can’t,’ Kiyanu said.

I glanced around for a moment and sighed. Aston was still sticking close to me, and so were most of the Imperial guard who’d come along on the trip with us.

‘If you’re alright with the idea, you could come and get me and Yarani, then Aston and my guards could join the fighting,’ I offered. ‘It wouldn’t make much of a difference, but it’s better than nothing.’

‘Alright.’ Something changed in the sensation of the telepathic link, and I realized he’d opened it to Aston and established a three-way connection. ‘Captain, I’ll take Inaris and Yarani and keep them safe,’ he said. ‘I won’t allow her to run off. Take your soldiers into battle, and make them count.’

Aston replied after a moment’s pause, his voice expressionless. ‘Yes, my lord.’

Before we could continue the conversation, a slight whoosh of air made me look up. Kiyanu landed beside us. He nodded at Aston, then reached out his hands to me and Yarani. I barely had time to grip on tightly before I sensed the ground under my feet drop away as what felt like a living gust of wind lifted us off.

Kiyanu stopped at a point just low enough we still had a view of the battlefield, and I clenched my fists as I watched the battle. I didn’t like sending my guards, people I’d come to know, into this kind of danger, especially when I was hiding away myself. But I knew I had to be able to ask the same things of them as I did my regular soldiers. Besides, they’re good. Aston especially. He’ll make it through this.

But even with them, I could tell this wasn’t going too well. “There are too many of them, and we may have come in too fast,” I muttered.

“We can’t pull out now,” Yarani said.

She looked a little pale, and I absentmindedly took the hand Kiyanu had let go of. We kept watching. I winced as a large explosion tossed several Imperials soldiers as well as a wooden hut around like bowling pins. I’d lost track of my guards in the confusion of the battle.

“We haven’t lost yet,” Kiyanu replied. Suddenly, he grinned. “And I’d say we aren’t going to.”

“What?” I asked.

He nodded at a point beyond the camp. “It looks like your husband came through after all.”

I sucked in a sharp breath as I saw what he meant. I’d been too focused on the forest around the camp and almost missed the glittering band of the river. Which now had black spots snaking their way towards us.

I snatched my spyglass out of my storage ring and took a closer look. The ships had a low, sleek look, almost reminding me of Viking longboats. Although I could barely make out the arrangement of the sails and qi machinery that marked it as the kind of vessels Terbekteri built to be able to take to the air in short bursts. Not like our ships could have made it here.

As I watched, they coasted to a stop and ramps lowered onto the ground while cultivators lifted off the ships like a murder of crows. Our enemies’ hastily assembled, distracted resistance at the riverside fell before the last ship had even disgorged all of its soldiers.