Year 765 Hippocampus Rush

The reckless plan is to ride the carriage back to the orphanage and get them all out of Renuo.

The plan wasn’t relayed right away, so when she asked Ranko to get the last two keldios, he gave her a strange look.

“We are going to take the carriage!”

The fear colored his tattooed face, “But we will stand out with that-”

“My child.” The vicar patted the boy on his back, smiling. By the grace of the gods, he caught at what Rhea was implying. “This will help us leave the town safely.”

“Leaving Renuo? I-” The boy’s shoulders shook.

“There is no time.” Rhea felt terrible rushing them. The breaths are being counted and more loyalists will surely come back to the mansion. Rhea took over one Keldio steed, guiding the complacent beast out the open double door. She never liked handling these tamed creatures, suspecting they would turn on them in breaths.

“Ah....does anybody know how to work this thing?” Rhea pointed to the carriage. It was big with a canopy covering the back side. It’s run by two steeds at a time, but Rhea has the knowledge of a jungle person.

She wouldn’t know the first thing about stirrups and straps.

“Oh! I got it.” She had to thank Vicar Jal for having the background knowledge.

It took him sixty breaths to get the straps on the steeds. Rhea watched for the enemy-or Connor-her weapon drawn as a precaution. Ranko got in the back of the carriage, sulking. He wasn’t too thrilled to have to be moved out so suddenly and against his will. It drove her to fill the silence with her own logic.

“My mother once said that a home is not just a building or place. It must have great meaning to be a home. A home for the heart is what she would call it.” Rhea rambled, keeping close the carriage flap. Making sure that he heard her words.

“Did...that ever work for ya?” Ranko scoffs through the sniffling.

A question that hit so hard, she stops her perimeter surveillance to look up at the sky. They have been fighting for some time, Manuk’s throne is sinking closer to the horizon.

Rhea was looking for something in the clouds. No matter how hard she tried to search every day she will never be able to see the Trail: where the souls go. The Trail is a milky starry expanse filled with souls, often either being in suspense forever, or when the great mana god chooses it, he will take a soul and gift it a new body and life. Souls are recycled a lot, her father would claim in his crazy re-saying that Chemuk perfected the aging body, but Manuk has not found a way to shorten the lifespan of a soul.

If that theory is correct, then a version of her parents are up there somewhere.

“Unlike you, I am still looking. You do not need to search far; you have Vicar and Grace.” She lowered her gaze from the skies, noticing from the corner of her eye Vicar was walking around the carriage.

“Rhea. We are ready.”

Rhea turned back towards the mansion. Not seeing Connor anywhere yet. What is taking you so long?

The sounds of footsteps, many footsteps and a lot of hollering made her right ear twitch. She turns to see a few goons heading straight their way.

There was no turning back.

“You two go! Tell Grace and the children that if the gods ordain it, our paths will cross again.”

“Rhea!? Wait!” Vicar Jal pinned her down by the arm.

She nervously glanced between the Vicar and the goons in the distance. These goons haven’t noticed them yet, but they moved around with a lot of purpose. She suspects that the cowards that ran away earlier actually brought them back here.

A growing danger, she wanted to help Connor out of this no matter what got in her way.

“I am sorry for being so scared of you. All this time, you have been such a kind soul to us, and I should have never looked at you that way...If you can forgive this old fool, please come with us.”

The ultimatum, damning one just to retain her own comfort with a pseudo family. It sounded so tempting if she was that kind of person.

No, she cannot damn this pirate. The worst thing he had ever done was put his nose in their business and boss her around.

That is not how she was raised to be.

“I forgive you, but I cannot go with you. Please go back and get everyone out of town. I will be just fine.” She grinned, pulling her hand out of his grip.

He smiled right back at her, with tears streaking down his wrinkled face. “Of course, child...be careful.”

“Ya crazy or something!?” Ranko poked his head out of the carriage gaping at Rhea.

A bigger reckless smile flashed his way. “I do not want to be any other way. Look at the rooftop. There are things that might help your journey. Chathalic-whrenris.”

She turned her heel and used the outdoor clutter to sneak away. The huntress then hugged the building wall, tightening the string of her bow.

When the Vicar stirred the Keldios to gallop, the goons took notice.

“EH! THEY’RE ESCAPING!” A few of them pointed to shoot. She counted three with their backs perfectly turned away from her.

That’s how many arrows she strung up.

She shot one after another, then the last one flew. All three embedded deep in their lower backs.

“It’s the wench!? Get hur!?”

This is where she must run. There were twelve of them, which is five more too many for her to fight without injury. The cut on her lip still throbbed to remind her of the last time she was so reckless.

Mana fueled the muscles in her calves, and she sprinted from where she hid, heading right around the crowd. Following the walls of the buildings to stay close in case Connor comes out. It was a comedic scene of her running around the building with a bunch of hooligans chasing after her thinking they would catch up.

It took a long time before they smartened up to send a few the other direction.

She could tell when four of them appeared around the corner and took aim at her with their pistols.

Crap! Rhea jumped through an open window to avoid the death balls.

The running continues, noticing that she is in some random storage closet. Her body crashed into some headless and limbless mannequins donning armor. Scattering anything loose from the armor. The noise of her grand leap can be heard for miles. She scrambled back to her feet, seeing a few decent-looking swords and daggers. Quivers filled with arrows.

Replenish time! Like a bona fide thief, she grabbed handfuls of arrows and added them to her quiver. Then she went to grab two daggers resting on a random table. Both of those daggers found a home in her leg straps. By then, a man crawls through the window struggling all the way. Not many have the flexibility of someone like Rhea.

“EH!? There yar are ya sneaky little bitch!?”

Time to go. ”Chathalic-whrenris vishka!" Rhea could have stopped to shoot at him but this time she chose to keep running. She ripped the door open and shut it, using mana again to warm her finger hot till the handle melts. It melted metal locked the door in place unless these idiot smash through the door they will be stuck for a little while.

Rhea flicked the heat away from her fingers, bounding as far away as she could from the storage room.

“EH!?THE BITCH LOCKED US IN!?”

The sound of banging and screaming lost volume the further away she ran. It is good that she had created the distance, she found herself back in the main corridor, the carcasses of goons still lying where they were. Her legs slowed her to a stop, her lungs craving for oxygen. Drinking air to ease the strain of them.

“Rhea?”

The huntress whipped her head towards the voice and found the very man she was trying to assist just standing there on the steps. Not a drop of blood stained his clothes, he looked as clean as possible even if he was a pirate.

Not perplexed, nor was it gratitude that surfaced in his face. It was pure annoyance and painted with a dash of intolerance, already slipping another critique out of those lips of his. “Why aren’t you with Vicar or Ranko?”

Thank you, Rhea, for-you know-being selfless to help my pretty bratty face from getting one too many holes.

“T-they left. The rest of the gang are here...I could not just leave you behin-” CRASH!? BANG! “COME NOW!” Rhea paces in place, waiting for him to move. If she doesn’t wait, she might accidentally outrun him.

“By the gods...fine. Get us out of here.” Connor leapt from the last flight of steps.

“Follow!” They rushed towards the main door; the fools never suspected them of using the front door.

It was barren as a wasteland out here. Rhea is glad about her quick thinking, but now she had to get Connor out to safety.

The thundering boots and hollering from the inside of the mansion stirred the captain.

“Take me to the harbor! Quick!”

Why?