SAGE (under edit)

Chapter Four

Sage had expected to be the first to arrive at the gates, but Leah and Trey were already waiting. Like her, they were dressed in the sleek black uniform with silver detailing, their weapons of choice either strapped to their back, their hip or around their thigh. Trey was armed with his usually array of blades; several palm-sized throwing knives sheathed around his left thigh, two double-edged swords crossed at his back and a dagger just slightly shorter than his forearm strapped to his chest. Leah's hands were her weapons, giving how accurately she could hit a body part and disable movement, but she carried several throwing knives as well.

They both greeted her with a Lion Crest salute by pressing two fingers to their Lion Crest pendants. Sage returned the gesture, and a moment later Sydney and Rhun appeared.

'So where are we heading?' asked Sydney, adjusting her belt that was adorned with several spare ammunition clips.

Sage tapped the cylindrical container secured through a loop on her belt. 'The Coastal Soldier we're to meet will be on the north border, five leagues in from the coast. We're due to meet at dusk two days from now, then required to head straight back to Lion Crest. If all goes well, we'll be home just under a week.'

If all goes well.

She signalled to them and clipped a small communication device around the shell of her ear, a thin, unobtrusive microphone folding down the side of her cheek. The others did the same, and Sage heard a small crackle of white noise in her ear as the radios linked.

With their hoods raised, Sage led her squad out of the city. They didn't stay long on the traveller's track, if only because it was quicker and easier to reach the border if they traversed the forest that made up most of Lion Crest's terrain.

Sage didn't plan on spending the night with an outpost camp like they had with Leon either; the nearest outpost camp deviated too much from the route she had mapped that would take them to the border. So when the sun began to set, Sage stopped her squad and Rhun, knowing the landscape more than anyone else in the squad, led them to a nearby area where they could make camp.

Trey and Sydney prepared a small fire while Leah rationed the night's meal, and once dinner was finished Sage scouted a suitable tree to climb up in and take perch on one of its branches. She always felt more comfortable keeping watch from a height. It was a comfort most Soldiers shared purely because vantage points were more advantageous when they were at a height, though others argued that higher vantage points meant you were more visible, more vulnerable to a long-distance strike.

Sage looked down to the campsite, seeing Leah and Sydney engrossed in quiet conversation while Trey stoked the fire in silence, content with his thoughts. So where was Rhun?

The branch she sat on suddenly jostled and Sage placed both hands on it, keeping herself steady. Rhun appeared, pulling himself noisily up on to the branch to crouch opposite her. He had leaves in his hair.

'What's up, gorgeous?' he said, winking. The side of his face was illuminated by the firelight.

'Nothing. I was simply sitting here in peace, enjoying being alone,' Sage replied, not hiding her sarcasm.

Rhun was impervious to it. 'But a beautiful lady such as yourself shouldn't be alone on such a clear, lovely night,' he told her, throwing up his arms to encompass the sky.

'Oh, I don't mind.'

'Nonsense.'

'Really, I don't mind.'

Rhun chuckled. 'You're such good company, Captain.'

Since she was trying to be the opposite, Sage considered Rhun a poor judge of "good company". Honestly, she didn't have a problem with Rhun; she appreciated his sense of humour, his loyalty, his carefree nature, but she wasn't often in the mood for it. Then again, her mood never really mattered. Rhun's was infectious, much to her chagrin.