SAGE (under edit)

Chapter Twenty Four - Ambush

The Shadow Soldiers were sticking close to Green Coast and Lion Crest, despite the risk. They were more concerned of RedEarth tracking them down and by staying close to Lion Crest, they hoped that RedEarth wouldn't suspect it.

So they had travelled south from Abernay to Dallan, a town nestled in a valley between Green Coast City and its southern border. There was a traveller's tavern on the crest of the valley, where a man-made path sloped down through the trees to the town below. Even so far from the coast they could smell the sea-salt in the air, could feel the ocean breeze as it swept across the open woodlands that dotted Green Coast.

'It feels like we're running,' Sage admitted, resting her head back against Dante's as they sat back-to-back on the small terrace their room had.

'We're keeping ahead,' Dante corrected her. 'And we'll keep keeping ahead for as long as we need to,' he added, nudging his elbow gently into her side.

She hummed noncommittally in response, turning her gaze toward the little garden of the stone terrace. There was a small shard of guilt in her heart, because she knew the Shadow Soldiers were risking so much by lingering near Green Coast and Lion Crest – and she knew they were taking that risk because of her.

'I—'

'Don't,' Dante cut in. 'Sage, if we didn't want to keep you safe then we wouldn't. We're not doing this for any other reason than we care about your safety.'

She smiled to herself, and then returned the nudge. 'Thanks.'

'But you know you can leave if you ever... wanted to,' Dante added and she could hear the uncertainty in his voice. 'You're not hostage anymore, after all. If you ever change your mind...'

'I won't. I enjoy being with you and the other Shadow Soldiers,' she replied. 'As strange as that sounds.'

Dante chuckled. 'You must be just as odd as the rest of us then.'

'Must be,' she agreed softly. After a beat, she lifted herself up and turned around to face Dante. 'Do you remember the day before I returned to Lion Crest? You told me that RedEarth was the reason you became a criminal.'

Dante turned around as well, his brow lifting. 'Yeah, I remember.'

'Would you... tell me about it?' She saw his gaze avert her and she quickly back-peddled, concerned. 'You don't have to, of course! I just wanted to know more about you, but if it's something you don't want to talk about then—'

'It's all right. I don't mind talking to you about it,' he assured her, but his expression had turned sombre and again Sage regretted asking the question. He continued though, saying, 'I was a Nin-Soldier when I was sixteen and I lived in Sector Five.'

'Sector Five?' she asked, puzzled. 'There is no Sector Five.'

'There used to be, but Sector Five was small and purely a farming town. There were more civilians than Soldiers, which was stupid really considering Sector Five was on the edges of Sky Expanse, isolated. One night, Sector Five was attacked.

'It started as a fire in one of the farmhouses and it drew a lot of people out of their homes to help put it out, but that was what the rogues were waiting for. They slaughtered the civilians.'

'The rogues were with RedEarth?'

He nodded. 'I didn't know it back then, of course. While they killed the civilians, they captured the Soldiers. I would have been caught too but when I joined the fight, another group of Soldiers had already joined the fray and were fighting against RedEarth – Shadow Soldiers.'