Telos had his whole body covered in bandages, which were mostly tinted in a crimson color. The young man was in the medical truck, along with several Anchors damaged in the battle.
After Telos' strange win, the Anchors on the front were quickly led by the Lieutenants to come to the help of the rear. To their surprise, there were only two people defending the military trucks, both of them extremely damaged.
This was a beneficial thing for their plans, which was to take the Anchors awake, and leave the fastest possible.
The withdrawal was overwhelming and stressful, with constant attacks on the couple of trucks that the Anchors had taken.
Powerful blows from the creatures caused the trucks significant damage to the engine, wheels, bodywork, and even the truck lights.
Desperate, they could only pray that the trucks would endure enough to get away.
Telos glanced at the troop compartment, looking at the dozen Anchors that were recovering themselves with the help of healers. That is almost everything. The hundreds of Anchors had been reduced to a dozen, a little more taking into account the other truck.
The rest of them died on the battlefield or died without even knowing, embraced by the eternal darkness of the creature's soul-stealing dream.
But how do other Anchors escape the creature's dream?
That question gnawed at Telos's mind, but then, he concluded.
'The creature was weak.'
The Anchors are separated by five ranks, each representing one's mental strength.
The first rank is the Echo's. People who have just gotten their contact with the deep mind, allowing them to unlock their innate ability.
Haze is the second rank, which represents the capacity to confuse the darkness, making them more invulnerable to mind attacks.
In the middle is the Ribbon. In this rank, all the thoughts disordered by madness begin to slowly unite, thus allowing the ability's capacity to increase. It is the most important rank, due to the things it allows you to do compared to the previous one.
The fourth rank is Anchor. In this rank, the fall into madness is prevented, which helps them face the greatest dangers. Very few people are capable of reaching this rank.
Finally, Sovereign. Nobody had reached this rank, it is only known because of the engravings of ruins whose origin has not been identified. The capabilities are unknown, but people say that it is the domain of the ability and the mind.
'Right now, the Lieutenants are the highest ranked, each one Ribbons.'
Of course, not every Ribbon has the same strength, there are people stronger and weaker. However, this five were of the strong ones.
The creatures are also separated into five ranks: Whisper, Veil, Cleft, Possessed, and Abyssal.
Even though the creatures were only of the first two ranks, their quantity and the insufficient power of most Anchors made them run between their legs, abandoning the other trucks.
Telos sighed.
'This expedition is going to be longer than I thought…'
The constant shaking of the damaged truck stopped. The Anchors in the compartment tensed, afraid of having to fight again.
The light began to flicker.
The silence in the compartment was continuous. The ominous air filled with a palpable tension, making the Anchors sweat and stop breathing, as if their life depended on it. With every second that passed, more and more despair on the Anchors increased.
Finally, the truck door opened. The creaking sound of the door, moving slowly, made them think that the worst had happened.
Pat…
The sound of stepping on the cold and metallic floor made them gulp. The mud under the step marked the possibility of a battle.
Pat…
Again, the sound of the step echoed on the metal walls of the compartment. A silhouette was looking at them, slightly illuminated by the flashing light.
The silhouette was a tall and athletic figure, the hair danced with the breeze that entered the compartment, and the sword shone when the light hit it.
However, the Anchor's tension withered. That figure belonged to Elora, one of the best Echoes.
"We're in a seemingly safe area, so we've set up a small camp and are distributing food. You can leave the truck if you want."
Her words made the eyes of those present light up, they could relax.
On the other hand, Telos was still wondering:
'How the soul-stealing creature has not been able to defeat Echoes?'
He could not come up with an answer, and his stomach began to growl. After that battle, his body needed to recover and recharge his batteries, who knows when he would do it again.
Standing up, the young man was the first one to decide to get out of the truck. Taking confident steps, he walked past Elora and went out the door.
The cold breeze tapped slightly on his face, pushing back his black, long hair, which was untidy and poorly cared for. In his crimson eyes, the dancing flames reflected on them.
At the campfire, nearly a dozen people were sitting on a couple of logs. The majority were damaged with bandages on their body. On the legs, arms, chest, back, and even the head. All types of wounds could be seen on them.
Telos walked. Distributing the food, he saw Colonel Jack, whose arm was broken and wore a splint, on his head was also a bandage covering his left eye, lightly stained by the deep color of blood.
The young man sighed and walked towards him.
As he walked, the Colonel raised his head to see the person approaching. His right eye lost its usual shine on them, but the resolve to survive was still there. When he saw that Telos was the one approaching, he slightly opened his eye.
"Telos…"
His words rang with a contained joy, he added:
"I'm so glad you're alive… really."
Telos held his gaze for a couple of seconds and then studied him. After a few moments in silence, he talked, his voice seemed indifferent:
"You've had it tough… Why are you the one reparting food anyways? You're not in the best condition."
The smile on Jack's face slowly vanished, and he lowered his gaze, looking at the big pot.
"It is my duty, I'm the Colonel. I cannot show weakness to others."
Silence invaded the conversation. No one seemed to know what to say, but after a few moments, the colonel put stew on a plate and offered it to the young man.
"You must be tired. Eat this and rest, tomorrow we are going to have a difficult day."
Telos grabbed the plate and looked at it. Meat, soup, and some vegetables. For him this was a gourmet food.
"Don't you think we should be on guard? The creatures could attack us."
Suddenly, the silence not only appeared between them, but on all the campfire. Some Anchors lowered their heads, others lowered the spoonful that was going towards their mouth, and others seemed to lose their appetite.
Telos glanced at them, wondering why they had all suddenly silenced.
Colonel Jack answered his question, his voice solemn and sad:
"You know Telos. Sometimes forgetting reality is the best solution to avoid it. We all know we can die at any moment, but... what if we don't? What if this is a safe place and we rest well?"
He made a pause and continued.
"...That's why forgetting is the greatest blessing for humans, because we usually forget what we don't want to remember. No matter how difficult life is right now, we should forget about it and think about the small amount of good that remains."
Telos lowered his gaze. He never forgot the bad things, and never wanted to forget them. After a few seconds, the young man sighed and put the stew back into the soup.
Colonel Jack opened his eye widely. Confusion drew on his face. Telos felt angry glances trying to pierce his back.
The Colonel, on the other hand, had his lips turned up slightly. A sad smile appeared on his face.
However, before the colonel could speak, Telos did.
"Honestly, I don't know what you've said, but don't you think this is the wrong time for that?"
Jack frowned, but the appearance of the five Lieutenants made it clear. The creatures were already here.
The man looked at the Lieutenants, damaged and with wounds that emanated crimson blood, which shone in the light of the bonfire. After seeing that, Jack ordered:
"To your positions! The creatures are attacking us again!"
Leaving the ladle inside the pot, Colonel Jack picked up the broadsword leaning against the tree behind him, a couple of meters away.
The Anchors also rose from the logs and drew their weapons, preparing for battle.
Jack ran towards Lieutenant Jin, who was the least damaged. With a confused expression, he asked:
"What is attacking us?"
Jin's face turned grim, looking between the dry trees that surrounded them, the darkness hiding their depths.
"While we were standing guard, the Anchors we abandoned somehow appeared in front of us."
A grimace of annoyance appeared on his face.
"Suddenly, they attacked us with their abilities. We tried to hold them off, but they'd gotten stronger than usual. We couldn't do it alone, so we came for support, believing we'd be faster…"
Colonel Jack frowned deeply.
"What do you mean?"
Jin gulped before answering, and then, breaking the silence on the campfire, he said:
"We are surrounded by them…"