The next day we left early in the morning. Being on the road to the Korrah Forest again brought back some memories. But this time I did not have to walk, I had my horse. And sadly Skadi and Cassie were not with us. They would follow in two days with the other students.

We had two supply wagons with us. Besides food there were medical supplies, additional weapons and armour and we had some room for monster parts. The military did collect useful parts for its own use, or to sell.

Nyx and Yoru were inside a box on the back of Chariot. The cats certainly drew some attention at first until the soldiers got used to them. My skeletons were a more normal sight and most appreciated their help guarding the camp at night. Hatsumi was treated with a lot of suspicion. Most soldiers only knew vampires as dangerous enemies.

The weather was great for the first two days. But on the third we could see dark clouds forming. A storm was coming. It was the last day along the Jinso river, tomorrow we would head west towards Korrah.

When we made camp in the evening we could hear some thunder in the distance. The storm still had not arrived but it was getting closer. We had the road on one side and a stretch of forest on the other. Our camp was on a nice patch of grass.

"Make sure to properly set up your tents. It looks like there will be a lot of rain. There might even be some hail." Sarah said. "The storm could drive some monsters into the open, keep your eyes open."

"Would also be great for an ambush." Helena said to me.

"I suppose. But you can't plan the weather." I replied.

"A powerful enough mage could summon a storm." Helena pointed out.

"Sure, but that would take quite a bit of power." I said.

"The storm has been brewing for hours now. Anyone wanting to ambush us could have used that time to set up, assuming they had been observing us." Hatsumi added.

While we had been talking Sarah approached us. "Koyuki, do you see those trees over there?"

I nodded.

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"If anything gets pushed out of the woods it will emerge from there. I want you to place some undead there. I have a feeling we are going to kill some monsters tonight."

"Shouldn't the road be safe? It's patrolled regularly, right?" I replied.

Sarah looked at me. "Who do you think does the patrolling?"

"Um… But we are here to secure an area for the trip…" Then it dawned on me. "We are also here to secure the road for the trip."

"Yes. And since our superiors knew that they might have diverted the regular patrol elsewhere." Sarah replied.

"Actually, aren't you part of the first legion? Wouldn't this normally be work for the 5th?" I wondered.

Sarah smiled. "You remember some of what I taught you, good. I am here to keep an eye on the princess' investment, of course." She winked at me.

"Is everyone here part of the first legion?" Helena asked.

Sarah shook her head. "No. That is why you haven't seen my old squad. I am the only one here from the 1st. I am on loan because they needed more mages. Oh and Koyuki, your squad has second watch."

I sighed, then I saluted. "Yes, ma'am."

Second watch was not fun. First watch was the best, you simply had to stay awake longer. The last watch was not that bad either, you had to get up earlier but you could sleep uninterrupted until then. Anything in between meant you had to get up after too little sleep, try to stay awake and then go to sleep again.

"Looks like I have no watch and get to sleep the whole night." Helena said, grinning at me. I stuck out my tongue, then went to my squad to give them the happy news.

It started raining while we tried to cook dinner. It was just a stew but I certainly did not want it watered down. Thankfully a simple water shield protected our cooking.

The rain intensified and we retreated to our tent. Helena managed to cover it in an ice shield to give it some additional protection. While it should be hail proof without magic it was better to be certain, I suppose. Despite the weather I fell asleep quickly.

I woke up when I felt something on my face. I opened my eyes and stared at two glowing purple orbs. Helena was asleep next to me. Another pair of glowing eyes was visible on top of her.

A paw poked my nose again and I looked back at Nyx. "What do you want? Is it time for my shift?" I asked.

Nyx nodded. I crawled out of the sleeping bag. Yoru was curled up on Helena and watched me with a yawn. Then he closed his eyes.

I belted my sword. I did not put on any armour although we had some with us. But my magic should be enough for guard duty. As I opened the tent I saw a flash of lightning, followed by some thunder.

"Lovely." I murmured and summoned a water shield.

"Ah you are awake." A soldier said, who had been approaching my tent. "It's your shift now. Good luck." He turned around and quickly retreated to his tent. He looked rather wet and miserable.

"I asked Nyx to wake you." Hatsumi said while she was standing next to my tent under a water shield. "I thought you might prefer that over a soldier entering your tent. I have also spoken with the first shift, nothing of note happened."

I nodded, then I met with my squad. All were awake and I quickly gave them some orders. "Brie and Bram, I want you to observe the forest for some movement. Irma and Mac, you watch the road. Finn and Jeff, you are on patrol around the camp."

"Ma'am, you shouldn't be alone." Finn pointed out.

I nodded. It was certainly something I had learned early on, work in pairs. A single guard was a lot easier to dispatch. "I have Hatsumi, so I won't be. I will be on patrol too, or near the fire. My skeletons are watching the woods. Frank and Hatsumi's minion will be at the road."

We also had Chariot and the ibex standing around inside the camp. And there was Nyx. She was curled up next to fire, having summoned her own little water shield. My squad deployed and I yawned. Hopefully it would be a boring night.

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