Free Web NovelChapter 209: Chapter 202: The Last Miles
Day 8 — 04:50
Team Three
The horned beast remained somewhere below the western ridge.
Team Three couldn’t always see it, but its passage followed them through the darkness — branches snapping beneath its weight, hooves striking exposed roots, sounds drawing closer whenever the team slowed.
The border veteran stopped beside a patch of disturbed earth as dawn began to thin the shadows. The tracks crossed the slope from east to west before turning back toward the hollow. "It is patrolling."
The court-trained knight looked downslope. "Patrolling what?"
"Territory."
"That territory appears unnecessarily large."
The beast emerged briefly between two trees — shoulders above the surrounding brush, curved horns framing a broad skull, layers of dried mud covering the plated hide around its chest. It didn’t charge. It watched them, then disappeared among the trees again.
The veteran unfolded the incomplete map. Their extraction point lay beyond an open meadow north of the ridge. To reach it they would have to leave the dense forest that had prevented the beast from building speed.
The court knight followed the line of the route. "It is waiting for us to enter the open."
"Yes."
"We could fight it here."
"Why?"
"To stop it following us."
"It has followed for half a day without attacking because the terrain favours us. That does not mean the fight does."
Another candidate checked their remaining food. Only scraps. "We need to pull it away from the route."
The court knight removed his cloak — plain by noble standards, better made than the field layers beneath it, one of the few pieces of equipment he still had that hadn’t been issued at the start of the trial.
The veteran looked at it. "You will need that tonight."
"Only if we are still outside tonight."
He placed the remaining food scraps inside, added a strip cut from his sweat-soaked undershirt, and tied the bundle around a branch. One candidate watched him. "That is your plan?"
"It smells like food and me."
"Mostly you."
"I have suffered for realism."
They moved south along the ridge for nearly a kilometre, dragging the bundle across exposed roots and low branches. At a fork in the terrain, the court knight threw it into a narrow ravine. The team doubled back across bare stone where tracks and scent would be harder to follow.
Minutes later, the beast changed direction. A heavy crash came from the ravine.
The court knight stopped. "I believe it found my cloak."
The border veteran continued north. "Mourn after extraction."
"It was a good cloak."
"It is performing public service."
They increased their pace.
Day 8 — 06:25
Team Four
Rellan discovered the water shortage before sunrise.
He counted the containers once, then again. The engineer saw his expression. "How much?"
"Less than expected."
The team leader approached. "Why?"
Rellan lifted the container he had received after the false trail. "When we transferred the remaining water, I estimated how much was still inside the leaking vessel."
"You estimated badly."
"Yes."
No pause, no excuse, no attempt to blame the heat or the scavengers or the torn seam.
The leader examined their supply — enough for the day if rationed hard, not enough for the full remaining route. Rellan waited. The leader gave him an order instead of an accusation. "Wake everyone. We move until the heat rises, shelter through midday, and travel again after sunset."
The engineer unfolded the map. "An old livestock trail crosses the next valley."
"Water?"
"Possibly a well."
"Possibly dry," another knight said.
The engineer glanced at him. "Everything useful is currently possibly dry."
They left before the sun cleared the ridge. Rellan carried the lightest water container. Nobody trusted him less for having admitted the mistake. They would have trusted him considerably less if someone else had found it.
Day 8 — 08:10
Team One
The lower valley appeared through a break in the mountain cloud — for the first time since deployment, Team One could see the tree line marking the end of the frozen terrain.
One candidate stumbled during the descent. The mountain veteran caught his harness before he fell. The man’s face had lost colour, his reactions were slow, and he struggled to close his fingers.
"Cold exhaustion," the veteran said.
"I can walk."
"You have been saying that while walking progressively worse."
The team stopped behind a stone outcrop. The rescue flare remained available. Nobody suggested using it — the candidate’s condition was serious enough to slow them, but warmth and assistance might still restore him. They gave him heated water, wrapped him in the driest remaining layers, and used rope and two straight branches to build a simple drag harness.
The court-trained knight examined it. "We are dragging him."
"We are carrying part of his weight."
"That is a generous description."
"It is also the useful one."
The exhausted knight tried to stand. "I do not need it."
The veteran looked at his shaking legs. "The mountain disagrees."
They secured him in the harness and rotated the pulling. Progress slowed. The team continued downward together.
Day 8 — 09:35
Forward Extraction Camp — Team Seven
The written debrief began after breakfast.
The five candidates sat at separate tables beneath a canvas shelter, each with paper, ink, and the same instruction: *Record every significant decision made during the route. Include mistakes, disagreements, equipment losses, mana expenditure, and every occasion when the rescue flare was considered.*
Daren read it twice. "They want us to list the mistakes?"
An examiner looked up from the opposite table. "Yes."
"Voluntarily?"
"Yes."
Daren glanced toward Arven, who had already begun writing. "This phase is hostile in an entirely different manner."
Pell adjusted the clean bandage around his arm. "You could use that as your opening."
"It may be my best line."
The examiner returned to his notes. "It would be a poor one."
Daren stared at him. "Are you assessing writing style?"
"We are now."
Daren lowered his head and began.
Outside the shelter, a signal runner entered the camp and spoke quietly to the senior observer. The candidates weren’t told another team had entered the extraction region. They noticed the sudden activity anyway.
Day 8 — 10:40
Team Two
The direct descent from the final forest ridge required more rope than Team Two still possessed.
The slope looked passable, but rain had softened the ground. Without a full anchor line, one slip could carry several candidates into the rocks below. Varro measured what remained. "Too short."
One knight looked east. "The longer route adds four hours."
"Then it adds four hours."
"We are close."
"That does not lengthen the rope."
The candidate stared down the direct descent. "We could use mana."
"On wet ground, carrying packs, after seven days?"
"We are still knights."
Varro pointed toward the lower trail. Deep claw marks crossed the mud — something large had travelled through recently. The candidate studied them. "Four hours appears reasonable."
Varro folded the map. "I am pleased the terrain strengthened my argument."
They turned east. Behind them, something moved beneath the trees along the shorter path without revealing itself.
Day 8 — 12:15
Team Four
The livestock well existed. Its lifting mechanism did not.
A circular wall of old stone stood beside an abandoned enclosure, the wooden frame above it collapsed, the original rope rotted into disconnected strands. The engineer dropped a pebble. Several seconds passed before it struck water. "Deep."
Rellan looked into the darkness. "We have rope."
"Not enough to lower a man."
"We do not need to lower a man."
They tied their cooking vessel to the rope and lowered it. The handle slipped on the first attempt, sending the container sideways against the wall. The second reached the water but returned half empty because the vessel tipped during the lift. The engineer tied a small stone beneath the base to alter the balance. Rellan added a second control line from harness straps. The third attempt succeeded.
They pulled up muddy water. One knight looked inside. "Excellent. We have collected the well."
"We filter and boil it," the engineer said.
They used cloth cut from a damaged inner layer to remove the worst sediment and boiled the water in batches, which consumed time and part of their remaining fire-starting material but filled every container.
Rellan checked each one. The engineer watched him. "How much?"
"Enough for one day and a careful morning."
"That sounds like experience."
They rested in the well’s narrow shade while the midday heat crossed the valley. For the first time since leaving the spring, thirst no longer controlled every decision.
Day 8 — 14:30
Team Three
Team Three reached the open meadow. The horned beast did not appear behind them.
The court knight looked toward the southern ridge, where his cloak had last been heard performing public service. "Successful."
The border veteran examined the grass. "Celebrate after crossing."
The extraction point stood beside a cluster of stones on the far side, red cloth moving in the wind. The six candidates entered the meadow in a wide formation, watching the tree line, maintaining enough distance that one attack couldn’t strike all of them. They didn’t run — their mana reserves had become too valuable, and the open ground offered no shelter if something noticed them.
Halfway across, a roar sounded behind the ridge. The horned beast had found the deception.
The court knight looked back. "It sounds displeased."
"You fed it cloth."
"I included food."
"Generously."
The beast emerged at the meadow’s edge and lowered its horns. The open terrain offered exactly the charge it had been waiting for.
"Move," the veteran ordered.
The team increased pace without breaking formation. The beast entered the grass and distance vanished quickly beneath its hooves. The extraction marker remained two hundred metres away.
One candidate reached for mana. "Controlled reinforcement," the veteran ordered. "Nobody separates."
Strength entered six pairs of legs. They accelerated. The beast still gained.
At one hundred metres, the veteran noticed a change in the grass — a shallow drainage ditch crossing the meadow, hidden beneath the taller growth. "Jump!"
The first five cleared it. The last landed badly but stayed upright. The charging beast reached the ditch moments later — front hooves struck the concealed drop, momentum drove its heavy body downward, forcing it sideways. The delay lasted seconds. It was enough.
Team Three crossed the red boundary at 14:37, all six together.
The horned beast recovered outside the marked area. Hidden observers rose from behind the stone cluster carrying long spears and compact deterrent devices. One activated a sharp pulse of mana and sound. The beast recoiled. A second pulse drove it toward the tree line.
The candidates watched it retreat. The court knight turned toward the observers. "You had weapons."
"Yes."
"You watched it follow us."
"Yes."
"You waited until we crossed."
"Yes."
He considered the consistency of those answers. "I dislike this assessment."
The senior observer checked the team and equipment. "All six present. All remain mobile. Essential supplies retained except for documented losses."
A candidate bent forward with his hands on his knees. "Did we pass?"
"You completed the route."
The court knight looked toward the others. "That answer appears institutional."
Day 8 — 14:55
Forward Extraction Camp
Team Three entered the camp covered in mud and still carrying the smell of charcoal smoke.
Daren noticed them first. He sat outside the medical shelter with a cup of hot broth and the expression of a man who had arrived several months earlier. "Welcome. You took your time."
The court knight stopped. "How long have you been here?"
"Long enough to understand how this camp operates."
Arven looked up from his debrief. "He arrived yesterday."
Daren ignored him. "There are procedures. Medical examination first, food second, questioning afterward."
Pell stepped outside. "Food comes first when the healer allows it."
Daren frowned. "I was simplifying."
"You invented authority."
"I arrived first. Authority developed naturally."
The border veteran looked toward the camp officer. "Is he in charge?"
"No."
The answer came quickly enough to improve everyone’s morale.
Team Three became the second group to complete the route. Eleven candidates now waited for the next phase. None knew what it would be.
Day 8 — 17:20
Eastern Training Grounds
Cedric moved Team Three’s marker into the completed column.
"They used civilian assistance correctly, avoided the beast’s original territory, and created a false trail when it followed them," Lucien said.
Malen nodded. "The court knight sacrificed useful equipment without being instructed."
Lucas read the supply-loss entry. "One cloak."
Cedric looked toward him. "Against six candidates."
"I am not complaining. I am recording a rare favourable exchange."
The next report concerned Team Four — water restored at an abandoned well, improvised lifting system successful, Rellan having admitted the shortage before it became a full crisis.
Malen placed a note beside his name. "His correction is becoming consistent."
"He created two of their largest problems," Cedric said.
"He also helped solve both."
Lucien studied the record. A flawless route revealed very little. Mistakes revealed more, provided the person survived long enough to learn from them.
"Team One?"
"Cold exhaustion. They built a drag harness and remain in motion."
"Team Two?"
"Final descent delayed by the rope lost at the gorge. They chose the longer route."
Lucas looked across the active markers. "So the sensible decisions remain expensive."
"They are usually cheaper than the alternatives," Malen said.
Every earlier loss was returning now as a new constraint — missing rope changed routes, lost shelter weakened bodies, wasted water changed when and how far they could move. The final miles were built from consequences created during the first.
Day 8 — 21:30
Team One
The lower valley trees stood less than two kilometres away.
The exhausted candidate remained conscious in the drag harness. Warmth had returned to his fingers, but he still couldn’t walk for long. The court-trained knight took another turn at the front. "The extraction point had better contain beds."
The mountain veteran carried the opposite side. "It contains a marked point."
"That is not a bed."
"You are learning."
They reached the tree line after dark. The air beneath the branches was warmer and the wind weaker. The exhausted candidate asked to walk again. The veteran allowed fifty steps. He managed thirty-seven. They returned him to the harness. Nobody mentioned the rescue flare.
Day 8 — 23:20
Team Two
Team Two completed the longer descent beneath moonlight.
The claw marks along the direct route multiplied as they moved below it. Near the base of the slope, they found the remains of a large animal dragged beneath the trees.
One candidate looked toward Varro. "You were right."
"Yes."
"You appear pleased."
"I am cold, tired, and carrying half a rope. Allow me one thing."
The extraction region lay beyond the next ridge. They continued through the night.
Day 9 — 00:00
Assessment Record
Team Three reached extraction at 14:37 with all six candidates alive and operational — the second team to complete the survival route. Team One had entered the lower valley while assisting a candidate suffering from cold exhaustion. Team Two had completed the longer forest descent after reading the claw marks correctly. Team Four had restored its water through an improvised well mechanism and resumed travel after sunset.
Two teams withdrawn. Three still in the field. Two had completed the route.
The eighth day ended with the remaining candidates discovering what every earlier decision had actually cost — nothing lost had stayed in the past, and the final miles were made of everything that came before them.
Day 9 — 00:00
*Knight Candidate Assessment — Updated (Classified)*
Candidates active in field: 17
Teams active in field: 3
Teams completing survival route: 2
Candidates awaiting next phase: 11
Teams disqualified: 2
Rescue flares available in field: 3
Elapsed time: 186 hours, 30 minutes
*Ninety-Day Review: 49 days remaining.*
*Arsenal Before the Breach: 2 years, 324 days remaining.*
