Fiher stood in a small clump of trees, north of the western source fields outside the walls of Prin. They would either go north or straight west. His position was closer to the north path, as that had been the way the other deployments had gone, but it gave him enough of a view of the western path to see a large group on it. He waited for the girl, gripping the tree beside him and moving his fingers over the bark. The Old Man would be with her, so he had to stay on the fringes of what he could sense with Intuition.
The afternoon sun was beating hard, but the waves of heat in the summer air had faded into the sharp bite of impending winter. The ground had just woken up from the overnight freeze, but would be under a new one in just a handful of hours. He thought about the mountain passes where her kind and his kind would fight and wondered why his kind had come now. Was it overconfidence in their superior numbers? Did the Mahari finally break the schism Merende had formed against her? No matter, many Xenai would see their first real winter soon. It would be as hard on them as it had been on him the first year he had been near Prin.
He knew of patrols scattered along the mountain passes. Prin’s deployment had plenty of scouts to alert them of the best routes to take and to adapt to the Xenai movements, but their communications would be slower than what he could manage. He thought of ways to bring patrols near enough to the paths the Old Man would take the girl on in an attempt to thwart their attempt to meet up with the main camp. Perhaps he could force them back to the city, where the girl would be in his reach a little longer. Once she entered the sprawling Pact camp, there would be no way for him to get close to her.
The other Xenai would try to take her if the opportunity arose. He hoped the Terrans would not be so careless as to place her where that could happen, but as with everything Terrans did, eventually they would let their guard fall or they would make a mistake. And, just like that, the girl would be gone. The benefit of a mind that never sleeps is that they would never lose vigilance. They would get to their target. His only hope was in delaying them and his only way to delay was to keep her away from both armies.
The northern gate swung open. Fiher focused on it and felt each presence as they passed out of the gate. So small, most of them cowering in the fear of duty. They filed out, around fifty of them, walking at a slow pace and radiating vulnerability outside the walls. Then, a large presence split between concern and determination. The Old Man. After him followed the girl Fiher knew so well. He could sense the girl, filled with confidence and purpose, wrapped around a tiny core of uncertainty. She walked beside an Inari presence, anger and resolve and a strange flutter of curiosity that confused Fiher drowned any fear in that boy.
He focused on her, tuning out the others around her, and pushing his own feelings towards her.
You’re not alone.
He felt her uncertainty retreat and let his focus broaden to the group as he leaned down to scoop up the small pack at his feet and slung it over his shoulder and prepared to move. It surprised him when a wave of warmth and emotion passed over him.
Thank you, Friend.
He smiled. So the girl has finally sharpened her Intuition. This could serve him. He walked through trees, searching for the right message to send the girl that would make her reconsider her choice to come. Ten years of guarding the girl, and he knew well what her mother felt when she called the girl stubborn. There was nothing that will not make her more set in her way.
I could show her the entire Xenai army and the city of Xenai, ready to come here if they are needed, and she would only become more determined.
He kept searching for an idea to discourage her as he reached out with his Intuition carefully, aware that she could sense him now. Watching her feelings as she walked up the path, he felt her sense of duty toward the Old Man and her flickering nervousness when interacting with the bitter Inari boy. If Fiher could not change her mind directly, perhaps he could use theirs.
She’ll be heartbroken, but if the Old Man is lost, her mother wouldn’t think to let her play at war.
They come to us with the idea that killing us is how they survive. They cannot consider that we are the only way they can survive. And so, they force our hands. They must join us or die.