157 157 Long Way Home
The goodbye was emotional but short. The convoy needed to get the wounded well back from the fighting before full dark since the mundane army didn’t respect medical vehicles.
The two Elders were also summoned to provide security and pick up a freshly trained unit of men at the military academy, so they were catching a ride with the wounded and would be in touch when they could.
That left Wolfe with just over twenty witches who were still in fighting shape but only ten who could currently use mana, and that ten included the servants who were only beginning to recover.
It wasn’t exactly the special forces, but it was enough firepower to get back into the Wastes safely if they didn’t run into a main army unit.
The group had been looking to Cassie and Ella for leadership since they were the strongest of them, which meant that now everyone looked to Wolfe.
“Get what sleep you can. We will head northwest in the morning toward my safe spot. It will be two days on foot, and we will almost certainly meet resistance, but with a little luck, we can get the drop on them.
If I set the terms of the battle, a single unit isn’t a problem, so we just need to be careful and loot what we can so that we have something to survive on once we arrive.
In the morning, I will get everyone outfitted with armour spells again for safety, and we will head out at first light.”
There were no objections, so Wolfe curled up against the wall of the overhanging ledge between Cassie and Ella and began to meditate. He had been working on his capacity, but with the distance between them, they hadn’t been able to properly balance their power levels.
With direct contact, their aura levels were growing at a noticeable rate, even with the amount of mana Wolfe had dedicated to the other five witches he had a bond with.
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The group ate in silence and packed their few belongings before the sun was up, mentally preparing for the push to make their way back through the front lines to the dubious safety of a monster-infested mountain range.
“Who has their armour coin still with them?” Wolfe asked, and every hand raised with a coin in it.
“Good. Here we go.” He activated them all, using the snow camo amulets for Cassie and Ella, and began to walk in the direction where he could sense Stephanie.
The presence of his Familiar was a better beacon than any map or GPS location. Even when he wasn’t focusing on it, he knew exactly what direction she was in and if he was getting closer to her.
They weren’t going to follow the established roads, and they weren’t headed for a location marked on any map, which gave Wolfe hope that they would have a safe day, but by lunch, there were mundane soldiers everywhere.
[Keep sweeping the area. The snow demon was headed south, and we have had three more units who were reported missing since yesterday, not including the one who reported the incident behind the lines.] The mundane army handheld radio that the witches were carrying reported.
“We’re popular. But we’re almost straight west of the last fight right now. If we attack another unit and use stamina spells to run North, they will think we’re headed west around their search zone.” Ella suggested.
“Not bad. We will head straight west until we find one and hit them hard, then run. Can you take care of the endurance spells? I will need most of my mana for the attack.” He asked.
“We’ve got it. When do we run?”
“As soon as the attack begins. You don’t want to be nearby when the army comes looking for their friends. Getting some distance should keep them from realizing that I’m not alone.”
“That makes sense. We will wait on your signal. Be safe. Those anti-magic bullets will pass right through barriers. If they are using them, the only thing to do is run.” Cassie warned him.
“Don’t worry. I’ve had practice dealing with army patrols. Just make sure they don’t find the group while we are separated. If they do, pull all the mana you can to keep the barrier around the group up, and I will return as fast as I can.
I can run a lot faster than the average witch, so I won’t be too far behind you.”
The witches didn’t question his judgment. He had rescued them, after all, and from the worst of situations when he appeared in the middle of the battle.
So, they began their trip to the west and started looking for enemy units to ambush. There were multiple signs that armoured vehicles equipped with treads had passed by but no signs of the units, so it was possible that they ended up behind the lines during the night.
“Let’s turn North and hit their reserves. They should be just inside the Wastes, waiting on orders, and they get gloriously mad when I bomb them.” Wolfe finally decided once they started getting too far west of the path he wanted to take.
From here, the path into the Wastes was a rough one, through steep foothills, but with the stamina spell active, everyone was making good time. But still, there were no signs of the enemy or their reinforcements.
“Do you think it’s possible that they fled into the forest? They reported a lot of casualties, so they might be too afraid to stay in the hills, and that would mean pushing forward with everything they have.” Ella asked.
“It’s possible. When we get further in, I will ask the mutants and see what they say. They’re cursed to be unable to talk to witches, but as long as it is just me, they can talk pretty well.
I think we will find the back line soon, though. They were keeping them an entire day into the Wastes, and they’ve got soldiers on foot and wheeled vehicles that have to travel over this terrain. They won’t be moving very quickly.”
They walked until mid-afternoon before a whistle, and a series of barks could be heard in the distance. It was the same pattern he had heard the mutants use to warn of danger before but too far away to mean that the warning was about them.
“The locals don’t know you are friendly yet. Stay near me, and I will find the army unit. Just keep your heads down, and we will help clean up the area.”