Chapter 186: Encirclement

Chapter 186: Encirclement

The younger Tigran climbed out of the stream with water dripping from his boots and blood running down his wounded thigh. He followed the older soldier into thicker forest while the rest of the surviving group spread several paces apart behind them.

The soldiers pursuing them had not stopped at the water. Voices occasionally carried through the trees from behind and from both sides, showing that the small unfamiliar soldiers had divided into several search groups instead of following one trail.

The older Tigran slowed beside a fallen tree and raised one hand. He listened toward the rear, then turned his head toward the eastern side of the forest.

"They are farther apart than before. We keep north until we reach higher ground, then change direction again before one of those groups gets ahead of us."

The younger soldier looked back at the wounded fighters struggling through the undergrowth. "Changing direction every few minutes is slowing them down. The one with the leg wound can barely keep up now."

"And running in a straight line makes it easier for the soldiers behind us to stay on the same trail. We change direction, but nobody who can still walk gets left behind."

The wounded fighter in question heard them and pushed himself away from the man supporting him. "I can keep moving. Save the argument until my leg actually stops working."

The younger soldier gave him a tired smile. "You have been limping for the last half mile."

"That means one leg is still working perfectly."

The older Tigran shook his head. "Use the working one and keep moving."

They continued north through dense vegetation. Thick roots forced them to slow in several places, while branches caught against clothing and weapons as they pushed deeper into the forest.

A sharp crack sounded behind them.

Something struck a tree trunk several paces to the younger soldier’s left. Another impact followed farther east, showing that at least two enemy groups were still close enough to fire through gaps between the trees.

The younger soldier pulled more nature energy into his legs and increased his pace. The response was weaker than before, and the warmth faded quickly once he stopped forcing energy through his wounded muscles.

One of the archers looked toward him. "We should use everything we have left and put as much distance between us and them as possible. They cannot match our speed if we stop holding back."

The older Tigran answered without slowing. "You can still run. Two of the wounded cannot, and another can barely maintain this pace."

"Then the rest of us carry them."

"And cut our speed in half. If everyone empties their remaining energy now, what happens when the soldiers catch us again ten minutes later?"

The archer did not answer. He adjusted the quiver on his back and continued walking.

A low mechanical sound reached them several minutes later.

The younger Tigran initially ignored it because he assumed another vehicle was traveling somewhere beyond the forest. The sound grew louder, however, and it came from directly above them rather than from any road.

He stopped beneath a gap in the branches and looked upward.

An airship passed across the opening.

It was much smaller than the large vessels he had seen traveling high above distant settlements, and it was flying low enough that he could make out the shape of its body beneath the wings. A second craft moved farther east at roughly the same altitude.

One of the wounded fighters looked up beside him. "Why are they flying so low over the forest?"

The younger soldier watched the first airship continue north. "Maybe they are searching for us."

The older Tigran looked up just as the craft began banking.

"Under the trees. Move."

The group entered the thickest cover nearby.

They continued north whenever the mechanical sound moved farther away and slowed whenever an airship passed close overhead. The canopy hid most of the sky, but the repeating engine noise made it clear that the craft were not simply traveling past.

The younger soldier glanced upward when one of them crossed again. "It keeps coming back over the same part of the forest."

"Then assume whoever is inside is looking down," the older soldier replied. "Do not cross open ground unless we have to."

They reached a narrow clearing created by several fallen trees. Broken trunks covered the ground, and the wounded fighters could not cross them quickly without assistance.

The older Tigran climbed over the first trunk and turned toward the others.

"One at a time. Get across and move straight back under cover. Do not stand in the clearing waiting for everyone else."

The younger soldier crossed next and helped the fighter with the injured leg over the final trunk. Half of the group had reached the opposite side when the mechanical sound above them suddenly grew louder.

An airship passed directly over the clearing.

Instead of continuing north, it slowed.

Then it began turning.

The younger soldier stared upward. "It saw us."

The older Tigran immediately waved toward the trees. "Everyone under the canopy. Move before it comes around again."

The surviving Tigrans hurried out of the clearing.

The airship continued circling above the same area.

They ran north for less than a minute before the sounds behind them changed.

Voices came from the western side of the forest.

Another group could be heard moving through brush somewhere to the east.

The younger soldier slowed enough to listen. "They were spread out before. Now both sides are coming toward the clearing."

The older Tigran looked toward the sky through the branches. "The craft saw us, and somehow the soldiers below know where to go."

"We did not hear anyone shout from above."

"It does not matter how they told them. What matters is that they are not searching randomly anymore."

A projectile struck a branch ahead and sent leaves falling around the group.

The older soldier pointed north.

"Run. We need to leave the area they are closing on."

The Tigrans accelerated.

The younger soldier forced nature energy through his legs again and moved near the front. The wounded members followed as quickly as they could while two healthier fighters remained beside them.

Shots began coming from the west.

The older Tigran immediately turned the group northeast to place more trees between them and the incoming fire.

They had traveled only a short distance when voices sounded ahead.

The older soldier stopped behind a thick trunk.

"There is another group north of us."

The younger soldier listened. Branches were breaking somewhere beyond the rise in front of them.

"Then we go east."

They changed direction.

Several cracks immediately came from that side.

A projectile struck the ground near the leading Tigran, forcing everyone back behind the trees.

The younger soldier looked from east to north. "They are closing both routes."

The older Tigran pointed southwest. "We move around the western group before they get closer."

They turned again.

Less than a minute later, the younger soldier heard movement to the west as well.

Another airship passed overhead and began circling.

He looked through a gap in the canopy and followed it with his eyes. "Every time one of those craft finds us, the soldiers below change direction."

The older Tigran listened to the movement around them. "Then we are done trying to outrun the search. We choose one side and break through before the circle gets tighter."

He led them into a dense section of forest where thick trunks limited how far anyone could see. The remaining Tigrans gathered with several paces between each fighter while they listened to the enemy movement surrounding them.

Far fewer Tigrans remained than had entered the convoy ambush.

Several were bleeding heavily.

One swordsman could no longer lift his left arm.

Another fighter had wrapped cloth tightly around his thigh and was using his sword as a support whenever he stopped moving.

The nature energy around those still able to summon it was faint.

An archer pointed north. "I can hear several of them there."

Another fighter listened toward the east. "More on that side."

The younger soldier turned toward the west. "West sounds thinner."

The older Tigran nodded. "Then west is where we go."

The wounded swordsman looked at him. "And if there is another group behind them?"

"Then we hit that group too. Standing here guarantees that all of them eventually reach us."

The younger soldier tightened his grip on his sword. "At least once we reach them, we still have the advantage."

"If we reach them," the older soldier replied. "Do not forget the distance between here and their weapons."

The archers prepared their remaining arrows.

The swordsmen gathered nature energy into their legs and blades.

The younger soldier forced the last strong layer he could manage across his chest and shoulders. His wounds immediately began aching more sharply as the energy spread around them.

The older Tigran waited until the voices to the west came closer.

"Archers first. Swordsmen move the moment the arrows leave."

The first arrows passed between the trees.

A cry followed.

The Tigrans charged.

The younger soldier saw one small soldier turning toward him with a long weapon. He crossed the distance before the man could properly aim.

His nature-coated sword cut through the weapon and entered the soldier’s shoulder.

He pulled it free and continued forward.

Another unfamiliar soldier stepped from behind a tree.

A sharp crack sounded.

Something struck the younger Tigran’s side, but the remaining nature energy absorbed enough of the force to keep him standing. He rushed forward and cut the soldier across the chest.

Other Tigrans broke into the enemy position at the same time.

One swordsman vaulted over a fallen trunk and killed two soldiers before they could create distance. Another cut through a long weapon and then struck its owner across the neck.

For several seconds, the western line began to collapse.

The older Tigran was already moving through the opening.

"Keep going! Do not stop to finish anyone who is already down."

The younger soldier saw open forest beyond the enemy position.

Then sharp cracks sounded from the north.

The Tigran running beside him jerked sideways as two impacts struck his shoulder and neck. He fell before reaching the next tree.

More shots came from the south.

The younger soldier threw himself behind a trunk.

"They are firing from both sides now!"

The older Tigran looked north and then south. "The group in front of us was only one part of the circle. The others are closing behind us."

A deeper continuous roar started farther west.

The younger soldier recognized the heavier weapon from the road.

"Down!"

A stream of projectiles tore through an open lane between the trees.

One Tigran tried to cross the gap.

The first few impacts flashed against the nature energy around his body. More struck before he reached the other side, and the protective layer disappeared.

He fell face-first into the leaves.

The younger soldier looked toward the weapon’s position. Several small soldiers had set it between two trees, while others protected both sides.

"We cannot rush that position while the groups behind us are firing."

"Then we break the rear group first," the older Tigran said.

He moved before anyone could stop him.

The older soldier crossed a short opening and reached the nearest enemies. His sword cut through one long weapon and continued into the man holding it.

A second soldier fell moments later.

A third fired at close range.

The impact struck the older Tigran’s chest, but he stayed upright long enough to kill the shooter.

Then several sharp cracks sounded from his left.

The older Tigran’s body jerked under the impacts.

Nature energy flashed around his shoulder and side.

More projectiles struck him from another direction.

The green protection broke apart.

The younger soldier shouted and started toward him.

The older Tigran took another step, then fell beside a tree.

A surviving Tigran grabbed the younger soldier’s shoulder and pulled him back.

"Do not cross that space. They are watching it."

"I can reach him."

"You will be hit before you take three steps. Look at the ground between us."

Several projectiles struck the leaves near the older Tigran’s body before the sentence finished.

The younger soldier stopped.

Another heavy burst ripped through the trees and forced the remaining Tigrans farther behind cover.

Only a handful of them were still standing.

One archer had two arrows left.

The swordsman with the wounded arm could barely hold his blade.

The fighter with the injured leg had stopped trying to hide his limp.

The younger soldier looked around at them.

"If we stay behind these trees, they keep closing until there is nowhere left to move."

The archer nocked one of his final arrows. "Then we choose another direction."

"There is no open direction anymore."

The wounded swordsman gave a tired smile. "Then we make one like we did before."

The younger soldier looked once toward the older Tigran’s body.

"We move together. Nobody stops until we are through or cannot move anymore."

The remaining fighters gathered what nature energy they had left.

The younger soldier could barely form a complete layer around his body. Instead, he concentrated most of it into his legs and sword.

The archer fired his last two arrows.

The Tigrans charged immediately behind them.

They reached the nearest enemy position before the soldiers there could fully adjust.

The younger Tigran cut one down and drove his sword into another.

A projectile struck his back.

Another hit his thigh.

He staggered but forced himself toward the next tree.

A Tigran beside him fell under several impacts.

The younger soldier kept moving.

Nature energy flickered across his chest.

Two more projectiles struck.

The protective layer disappeared.

The next impacts entered without the energy reducing their force.

Pain tore through his chest and side.

His injured leg folded beneath him.

The younger soldier fell onto the forest floor with his sword still clenched in his hand.

The fighting continued for only a short time after that.

One final Tigran reached a small soldier and struck him down before projectiles from another direction brought him to the ground. Afterward, no Tigran voices answered through the trees.

The younger soldier tried to lift his head.

Through a break in the canopy, one of the airships was still circling above the forest.

Below it, the unfamiliar soldiers moved between the fallen Tigrans and checked the surrounding ground. Other groups continued outward through the trees, searching beyond the battlefield instead of immediately returning toward the road.

The younger soldier finally understood why they had been unable to escape after the airship found them. Every direction they chose had been met by soldiers who already knew which part of the forest to close off.

He tried to tighten his grip on the sword.

His hand did not respond.

The airship passed over the opening once more as his vision darkened.