Once the breaks were finished and the garbage was packed into a compacting bin at the front of the bus, the occupants slowly began to fall asleep.
None of them had slept well at all the night before, so they were soon out cold, except a few guards, Wolfe and Roger Noxus, who was used to pulling all night shifts back in the city since his job with the Family was mostly cleaning up issues created by others.
Wolfe knew that the family had taught all Elders the basic method for expanding their mana focus, which would no longer be at its limit now that Wolfe had helped him out a little, but he didn’t know any spells except the two Wolfe had shown him last night.
“Did you manage to learn them?” Wolfe signalled using the bike courier standard hand signals, commonly known as sign language.
Roger gave him a thumbs up, and Wolfe signed again. “Focus on transferring mana into your Witch as you meditate. It will help her aura grow much faster.”
That would naturally have side effects of the pleasant kind, but Roger couldn’t move as much mana as Wolfe, so the effect should be minimal.
Wolfe sensed when he began and heard the Witch mumble happily in her sleep, but that was it. If he managed to keep this up all night, she should experience a noticeable increase in her aura by morning.
The other Elder caught on quickly and did the same, only his Witch was much weaker, and the effect more pronounced. Her squirming attracted some attention before she woke up enough to realize what was going on and for him to silently warn her not to tell anyone.
The increase in her aura was much more noticeable since she was not a strong Witch, and the Elder was actually capable of using more mana than she was now, the same way it had been with Wolfe and his witches at the start, but on a much smaller scale.
It was similar to the situation with Wolfe and Ella at the very beginning, but this Elder wouldn’t be able to grow at the rate Wolfe did and was closer to the limits of his potential. Still, a night’s worth of effort would actually make a real difference in his group’s survivability.
Wolfe began to focus on his own mediation, letting the excess mana flow to all five Witches and build their Aura. The only ones that were certain to feel the mana flow were other Magi or magical creatures, so he didn’t worry too much.
With all the tension and the conflicting auras in the bus, it would be nearly impossible for the Witches present to tell what was going on, but even if they did, it would all be attributed to Wolfe anyhow since he was known to be a Demon.
Of course, that meant that every Familiar wanted to be his new friend, but Pup got there first, laying in the aisle with his head in Wolfe’s lap and enjoying the overflow of mana for his own gain.
The first stop occurred just after dawn the next day, and over half the bus, including both Noxus Elders, disembarked at a camp containing hundreds of Witches and Guardians.
The last message that Wolfe could send out was a silent “Be safe,” and then they were off to the front to fight the monster tide that could be heard even from the road where the bus had stopped.
As soon as they were off, the bus raced away down the bumpy dirt road, heading for another camp that was supposed to be an hour away, even at their breakneck speed.
The road was getting worse, and it wasn’t uncommon to be thrown up or off your seat by the bumps, but still, the driver didn’t slow down until they reached their destination.
Again it was out and gone, leaving only Wolfe and his group in the back of the bus.
Twice in the next hour, they passed burned-out defence force busses and one recent battlefield, but they didn’t slow down at all.
“This is it. The final camp on the flank is coming up just past this hill. Grab your gear and get ready to move.” The driver informed them, clearly unsettled by the sights on the drive here.
Only, when they cleared the Ridgeline, there was no camp. There were signs that a camp used to be here, but there were no people, only rubble and a fresh blanket of snow, the first they had seen.
For Wolfe, the snow was the first he had ever seen in real life. The thick outer walls of the city didn’t have windows, at least not in the middle levels.
“Did we get sent to the wrong place? Shouldn’t we be dropped at a camp?” Reiko asked.
“This is the only camp marked in the area. You’ll have to track them to their new site. The bus attracts too much attention. We can’t just wander around.” The driver insisted.
“At least drop us in the trees, not the open,” Reiko begged.
“Sorry, kids. The trees are as good of a hiding spot for monsters as they are for humans. Out you go.” One of the security officers insisted.
“Slow down in the low spot, and we will exit the back of the bus. Don’t stop. Just close the door behind us and keep going.” Wolfe instructed.
In Wolfe’s opinion, if the bus drew too much attention to search for the others, it drew too much attention to be seen getting out of it. So, bailing when it was out of sight was the only safe option.
He could sense that the witches were all thinking the same thing, and even Flame had securely tucked himself into Reiko’s cleavage to prevent being thrown free while Stephanie was in the top pocket of Wolfe’s backpack, with her head sticking out.
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Everyone activated their [Gentle Steps] amulets and refreshed their armour, with Wolfe refilling Beth’s for next time, and then jumped out with their bags and Familiars when the bus slowed down.
It looked like the right call, as Wolfe spotted a hidden cave dug in the hollow but no signs of occupants.
“Follow me. I think this was their command bunker.” He whispered as the bus roared away down the road.
They piled inside as soon as the bunker was declared clear and shut the makeshift door behind them.
“That’s a disguise charm on the door. Someone activate it.” Wolfe whispered.
The image of a snowy hill appeared outside the door, blocking the wind and leaving them in the dark, but a bit of fire magic lit the room nicely and began to warm it back up.
The room was pretty much bare, but there were some bunks made of packed earth, a small magical stove, and a table with a map and some papers.
“Let’s see what they left. It’s a battlefield map, but it shows four camps between the main line and us. The Arrows should mean that they were advancing, though, so we might just be behind our own lines right now.” Wolfe noted.
“The papers are the camp log. This is the day they settled in.” Mary chirped, waving a piece of paper.
“Excellent. Get them in order and see what happened here so we know where to look for allies.”
Stephanie hopped out of Wolfe’s pack and sauntered over to the stove to add a bit of mana, which brought a bit of warmth to the room but no extra light. That was a blessing. Adjusting your temperature with the armour spell just didn’t warm you the same way. It was more like a warm coat in the cold than a heater.
The Familiar Cat and Pup lay down next to the stove for a bit, and then Stephanie turned to look in the corner before hissing to get Wolfe’s attention and pointing.
There in the corner was a bit of parchment, stained with blood and a scrap of cloth. His first thought was that it was from someone treated in this room, so he picked it up and unfolded it on the edge of the table.
[To whoever finds the bunker. The flank is lost, and all units are pulling back. Two buses have come for our extraction, and we are the last active camp in the area. Get back on board your transport and leave.]
“Damn it. Two burned-out busses and a battlefield. We passed the defenders of the flank on our way in.” Wolfe sighed.