I took my time walking back, checking whatever tents I passed for clues. There were no signs of what had happened to the soldiers. Their clothing and food remained, and so did the defensive fortifications along with a few vehicles.

  It didn’t make any sense.

  No matter the type of evacuation they would have taken all they could—unless the enemy was already upon them. But judging by the state of the compound, that had not been the case. It looked more like they had been swallowed by the earth. Gone without a trace.

  Most of the spartan furniture that filled the tents had been torn through in a rush, but they were still filled to the brim. Maybe they had been looking for something of particular value before leaving, maybe animals had gotten to them since. There was no telling without any clues or signs.

  I gave up on the investigation and headed to the vehicles. Two large jeeps made for rough terrain and armoured to the teeth stood parked next to each other. One of them had a machine gun mounted at the top, it looked like something straight out of a video game. I tugged at the door which opened with a click. Everything inside looked in order, no hiding scorpions.

  I nodded to myself, satisfied that the scouting hadn’t been a complete failure. Now we just needed to find the keys, or someone that could hotwire the cars. Goodbye walking in the scorching sun and hello AC.

  The storm surrounding the compound had almost died completely now. I could make it through without much difficulty. No reason to delay more.

  I hurried back to the gate and pushed myself through swirling clouds. A mirage of the others loomed in the distance. It was hazy and unclear from the heat reflected onto the sand. As I got close enough to see, many of them sat huddled, helping each other with bandages and wounds. The birds had descended at one point or another, taking advantage of my leave probably. If only they knew how much stronger Nyla was, then they wouldn’t have. But she was adept at hiding her strength. I’d fallen for the same ruse.

  I waved and shouted, “All good?”

  A few heads perked up at the sound of my voice. Their eyes were filled with hope until they saw it was me. They were probably hoping for the soldiers to actually come and escort them as planned. They had no such luck.

  Quinn waved and Nyla nodded in greeting without a word. Her eyes were solemn and deep in thought. It wasn’t hard to see why.

  Many of the soldiers had sustained injuries in the skirmish. Add Julia’s injuries to the mix—and she was there, along with Daryl—and our group’s state had deteriorated significantly.

  The atmosphere weighed heavy, so I held my tongue for once and snuck over to the women.

  “You alright?” Quinn asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah. There were some complications inside, so I dealt with it.”

  “Scourge beasts.”

  “Yeah. Bunch of corrupted scorpion things and a real strong mutant freak. Probably equal to me in most ways. But not clever enough to take me down.” I chuckled and tapped my temple.

  “Daryl said you were toast.”

  I glanced over at him. He sat with Julia and a grey haired man wearing white gloves, the medic. They prodded her with tools, starting with her toes and moving up to her stomach. Her face was pale, eyes filled with tears. The blow probably severed her spine.

  Not even being blessed protected you against injuries like those. Maybe an unsung could recover, maybe Daryl could. But Julia was neither.

  I sighed and shook my head. “He thinks too little of me. I took a few damn good hits and could use some patching up, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”

  “I’ll punish him when we rendezvous with the troops,” Nyla muttered.

  “Nah, no need. They would have just gotten in the way.”

  “He left you for the same reason you wanted to leave the corpse of his comrade. There is no more moral high ground for him to shelter on. I will not allow the squabble to continue any longer.”

  Her tone was cold and offered no ways to retort. Not that I wanted to. I was tired of feeling his glare. I welcomed any attempt at brokering peace. I just didn’t quite believe that it would be enough to help mend our tattered first impression of each other.

  First, I had disarmed him and put him in a chokehold. And then, I tried to force him into seeing reason when his friend died.

  The truth hurts in times like that. I knew that first hand. You do everything you can to rid yourself of the guilt. You tell yourself whatever it is you need to hear to not be devoured by it.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  I realized that he would probably blame me for what happened to Julia as well. Even though he was sent first to prevent anything like that from happening. It was just easier for him that way. A coping mechanism.

  A stronger man would have shouldered his glare for the good of the group. That man was not me. I wasn’t strong, not in that way.

  I did not mind being hated, or whispered about. What I did mind was the looks.

  I hated how exposed and naked they made me feel. Like they knew me for what I truly was.

  When I escaped the Layered empire I had told myself that I was ready for the world to see. For everyone to know the real me. But that didn’t make it any easier when people actually did.

  How could someone like me ever be strong enough to shoulder the expectations of others? I wanted to laugh at myself for the foolish notion. A small group seeing me for me was all it took to make my resolve crumble.

  “Did you find anything inside?” Quinn asked, pulling me back to reality.

  “Oh… No. I tried to find signs of the soldiers, but apart from their clothes and the mutated scourge beast I found none. It’s weird, almost as if they just evaporated.”

  “Food?”

  “Yeah, there’s food and water. There are two off-road cars too if we manage to get them running.”

  Nyla nodded and turned to the group. “Let’s move. Better to lick our wounds inside the compound.”

  The group grumbled in agreement and gathered their discarded belongings from the ground. When they stood I got a better look at them all. Every soldier except Daryl bled. He would have too if he didn’t have that handy blessing of his.

  The civilians were unharmed, albeit pale. Nyla must have put on quite the show to keep them all alive.

  We began marching. I walked shoulder to shoulder with Quinn at the tip of our formation.

  “Were they strong?” I asked and hinted at the pummelled birds.

  “Not really that strong, just really fucking unfair,” she groaned. “They swooped down with razor sharp talons and then ascended before we could retaliate. I’ve never felt so damn helpless. If it weren’t for Nyla we’d all be ribbons of meat by now.” She shivered.

  “I figured she did most of the heavy lifting.”

  Quinn shrugged. “No helping it. The rest of us couldn’t react fast enough. I could probably take them on one at a time, but they worked as a group, swooping down from all sides. A real bad matchup for blessed without range.”

  I cringed. If I had stayed I could have shot them down. The rest of the group probably knew that too.

  “How is Nyla holding up?”

  Quinn rolled her eyes. “She’ll get over it. Sending you inside was the only logical option. She knows as much, and the others should too.” She understood my concern immediately.

  “I suppose...” I conceded.

  Most of the group didn’t trust me. They had no reason to. From their point of view everything started turning to shit since the day I joined. I could only hope they wouldn’t pin the blame of this day’s pain on me as well.

  The storm surrounding the compound had died entirely when we returned to it. I held the gate open as the others poured inside. After I told the group’s mechanic where to find the cars, Daryl took Nyla and Quinn to the tent where we ran into the scourge mutation. That left Julia in the care of the group. She didn’t seem to mind as two of the younger ones carried her between themselves, with her arms wrapped around their shoulders. The medic kept urging them to be careful, to not twist her torso and what not.

  I couldn’t see how being careful helped. She was already paralyzed. The me from a few days ago would have said something, but I had learned when to hold my tongue. There was no need for further animosity. And that’s the only thing I could create by speaking.

  I followed the soldiers carrying Julia at a distance. After they’d settled her onto a bed and the medic was satisfied with her position, the medic ordered them to leave the tent.

  They shot me an icy glare when they walked past. Daryl’s dislike for me seemed like it had spread despite Nyla’s best efforts.

  I scratched my neck with a sheepish smile and tried to play it off.

  The medic eyed me standing in the corner. “What can I do for you?”

  I turned to him, the smile on my face fading. “I took a few nasty hits and cuts when I was scouting,” I said and removed the crude bandaging on my hands.

  He winced at the sight of the deep wounds. “Nasty cuts was a nice way of putting it. Come here,” he said and gestured at the bed next to Julia’s. “Sit down.”

  “Thank you,” I said and sat down. And I meant it.

  “Don’t mention it. It’s in our best interest to keep you in fighting condition, whether the whelps like it or not.”

  I chuckled. “Whelps? You talk as if you’re an old man.”

  He grinned, showing a patchwork row of bloody teeth. He must have smashed his face in the scuffle. “I am. Compared to most blessed.”

  “You’re blessed? How come you don’t fight?”

  “Can’t stomach it. I’d much rather mend than break.” He gestured at me with scarred hands to lend him mine. “So you became unsung in a matter of months? You must have pulled some crazy stunts, eh?” I felt the corners of my mouth begin tugging into a smile when he sprang into motion, pouring a generous portion of alcohol onto my hands. It might as well have been acid with the way it burned. “Oh to be young,” he exclaimed.

  I bit my tongue to not curse at him. My eyes watered from the pain, much to his enjoyment.

  “Oh man up. You don’t want the wound to become infected, do you? This place is filthy, and you have probably touched more surfaces than you can count.”

  I had.

  The burn subsided, and he wrapped my hands with sterile bandages he kept in zip lock bags in his med pack. “No healing?”

  He scoffed and shook his head. “How would I do that with a blessing meant for fighting? I swear I don’t know what my patron thought when she offered it to me. If only I’d been old and wise then.”

  He was an oddball, that much was for sure. I wanted to ask what his blessing was, but that wouldn’t be very prudent.

  “Anything else?” His gaze wandered down to my ribs. And he smiled.

  “Please,” I whispered with a shiver. “Be gentle.”