Avuri

I peeked out of the tent to take in what I could see of the situation, as what we could sense with our Qi while holding back was useful, but inexact. It looked like the Cultivators were holding the tide of antlions back, but they were still taking losses and injuries.

"If we actually just wait them out, this might end up in our favor." I sent to Emery. "The antlions are still pouring in, and the Cultivators' side isn't inexhaustible."

I could feel her disagreement before she actually responded. "I don't think it will matter. The two demonic ones could probably win the fight on their own." She moved to the tent flap beside me to also take a look while the two adults we had let out of the cages kept the children quiet.

"I think it might be time to stop holding back. The antlions are a great distraction for most of the enemy, and they won't be able to simply stop holding their line to fight us. Can you scan the area for another way out?" Emery asked.

"I can. But are we sure? If I actually focus on trying to find any other way out, it will make my Qi easy to notice." On some level, it made sense. While the prisoners hadn't noticed another exit, it was still likely there was one. And the Cultivators were fighting to defend their camp, not to escape, so even if they had an easy escape, it wasn't like they would use it.

The issue was, if I unfurled my Qi fully into the back half of the camp where there wasn't any fighting, if any of the enemy Cultivators were paying attention, they would notice me immediately - and then we could be in trouble.

"There must be another way out of here. It wouldn't make any sense to make a camp underground like this with only one way out. It's a deathtrap if things go poorly."

"I agree. I'm just not sure a Qi search is wise."

"It's not." Emery allowed. "Really, we should have searched the cave for an extra exit when we were here earlier. But we didn't. And now we're in a situation where we don't have a lot of options." I could feel the frustration and regret that laced her words, similar to how I felt. All we had managed to do previously was a visual inspection of the cave, which ruled out simply having another tunnel on the opposite side from the entrance.

The most obvious option was that there was a cave with a solid stone barrier blocking it off. Emery could almost definitely break through a stone wall to the other side unless it was needlessly thick, so the only issue was using enough Qi to find it. And I could do that - it would just be obvious and give us away.

The other issue was that I had no other plans. With five children in our care, plus two mortal adults, we couldn't just carry them out while leaping over the antlions the way we had entered the camp. And while we both carried storage items, neither of us had enough space to store people within - and that carried all sorts of risks, anyway, even if it was only for a short period of time.

There was a small chance we could legitimately fight our way out, but that would leave the mortals in danger and us with a monumental weak spot. The best option was certainly to sneak out of the camp, we just didn't have the means to do so without exposing ourselves to find a secondary exit not overrun with enemies.

I took a deep breath. "I don't like it, but we really don't have any other choice, do we?"

"Not any good ones." Emery shook her head. "Try to be quick but thorough. We just have to hope that the enemies are all distracted."

"Alright. You get the mortals ready to go as soon as I find the spot."

Emery nodded and slunk away from me to prepare everyone to run while I concentrated. Until now, we had kept our Qi mostly regulated to only the areas where combat was to avoid sticking out and hiding amongst the chaos. I gathered my concentration and narrowed it down to pinpoint focus. I wanted to quickly surge through the area and find any clues I could in an instant.

When I lashed out with my Qi, I immediately flew against the far wall of the cave. As my Qi slammed into the edges of the room, I pushed more power against it until the Qi permeated the wall, moving into it and through it, searching for any tunnels beyond.

It took only a few seconds of pushing before I felt a section surge outward, the pressure of pushing through the wall suddenly giving way to empty space. For just a moment, I narrowed my focus further to just that spot and pushed my Qi further down the empty space to confirm it was a tunnel - and it was. And then I pulled back just as quickly as I had pushed outward.

"I know where the path is. Em, the wall is a little less than two meters of rock."

Emery looked up from the group of prisoners and nodded seriously. "I can handle that. Let's move."

Still at the tent flap, I glanced over the battlefield quickly one more time to just be sure nothing had changed. No one was looking our way, and the battle was still raging on. I turned away, moving toward the tent wall that was closest to our exit point and paused to be sure everyone was ready to move.

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After a quick look at our small group of escapees, I ducked under the tent and moved forward toward the wall at a pace that I felt everyone could keep up with. Emery brought up the rear, making sure that the mortals were keeping pace. Even the children were doing remarkably well, running as quickly as their little legs could manage. Combined, the kids tripped four times, each stumble was caught and steadied by Emery dashing forward to keep them on the move.

The enemy Cultivators that had been doing odd jobs around the camp when we first arrived had been called to the front as reinforcements against the antlions, leaving our path mostly and miraculously clear. It only took us a couple minutes to make it across the room to the wall, and I pointed it out to Emery.

With a quick burst of Qi, Emery reinforced her body and leapt forward from the back of the line to slam into the wall with her shoulder. It cracked under the force, then buckled fully under her follow-up punch. Mundane rock simply could not handle the power of a Cultivator.

And then there was a scream from behind us. Far too close behind us.

Both of the mortal adults had shouted, but what they said was muddled by the sounds of combat in the cave, plus my own blood rushing in my ears.

The demon that had been fighting in the frontline was standing a bit away from us glowering while holding one of the kids by the shoulder. The child in question looked like the oldest of the bunch, maybe around seven. And was so unbelievably terrified that they stood stock still. I could even see blood welling up on the boy's shoulder where the demon had him grabbed, claws digging in in frustration, but the boy didn't seem to register the pain.

"I was wondering why the antlions suddenly attacked us en masse. I suppose that was your doing?" While I hadn't been positive before, I recognized the voice as Wenzu, the man who was supposedly on the cusp of moving into the Heavenly Realm. He didn't actually feel that powerful to me this close, but his Domain was pushing ours back with seemingly little effort - and that wasn't a sign in our favor.

"Let the child go." Emery said flatly, stepping away from the wall. The two adults with us were trying to corral the other children toward the hole in the wall.

"You act like you have some sort of authority here, yet I see none. If anything, don't you think you two should listen to me?" His Domain flared as he spoke, pushing ours back a bit further as if on a whim. "I do believe I have you both outmatched. Quite easily at that."

"Are you sure you're safe to handle us, with your sect getting overrun over there?" Emery said, her voice sounding fairly well controlled and confident, despite the lack of such feelings coming through our bond. I could feel that she was worried about our sudden opponent.

"They'll manage just fine without me. And even if they don't, it hardly matters. They've served me well so far but they are far from necessary." Wenzu said callously. "And the ones that do survive will be all the stronger for it. So, really, I should thank you."

I didn't agree with the words, but they were unfortunately common among many sects. Elders usually grew to appreciate the outer disciples, taking chances to raise up talents among them. But this man's approach was far more common among more talented Cultivators in the middle Realms. A little conceited, building themselves up at the expense of others. Viewing others as things to be used and discarded at their leisure. I had seen many Cultivators live by those words while among the sects.

It was really only my horrid childhood and disgust with my family that kept me solidly against that line of thought, as it was proved to work over and over again among the major sects.

Emery had woven through the prisoners to step up beside me, nearly shoulder to shoulder. She made no move to fight yet, still displaying more restraint than I honestly thought she had. "Let the child go. If you want to fight, you'll have your way. But there is no reason to hold a child hostage."

The anger burning in her voice was so obvious to me, but I imagined she was hiding it well. Wenzu laughed at her. His burning red eyes looked past us to the adults and the other children, scanning over them. Then past even them to the tunnel beyond.

He appeared to make a good natured sigh, as if letting things go. He kept his firm grip on the boy in front of him, though. "You can all scamper along." He said, addressing the mortals behind us. "Do take care in the tunnels. The antlions are clearly angered by something, and if you run into any, you'll certainly die."

With his free hand, he motioned them down the tunnel. "I'll come catch you all once I'm finished here. The tunnels are long and dark. I'd advise you not to run too far."

I glanced back at the mortal adults, who looked torn between the rotten offer and staying put. Before they made their choice, I felt Emery tense beside me and coil her Qi, prepared to make a move. In the same instant, the demon's free hand rocketed down toward the captured boy's neck, forming a vicious looking claw from Qi, his clawed fingers arrayed touching the boy's skin, prepared to tear.

"Ah, don't act too rashly here, dear." Wenzu said tauntingly. I felt Emery's Qi freeze where it was. She didn't dismiss it, but simply stopped, as if frozen. "Let the mortals make their choice. If they'd like to run, they may."

I stood frozen to the spot. I had suspicions on what might happen next. Threats, promises, words. I had no doubt that Wenzu's plan was to let them escape, kill us, then track them down and punish them afterward. Tracking them through the tunnels would be easy. And he was right - the tunnels were pitch black and probably labyrinthine. They'd never actually escape. And even if they did miraculously escape the tunnels, they were no doubt in the middle of the Highlands with no help in sight.

I reached for my own Qi, but did nothing to call it. If the fight began, I would be as ready as I could be, prepared to call my Qi up in an instant. An instant that could still cost dearly, admittedly, but I didn't want to be the one that Wenzu chose as an excuse to kill the kid he held.

"We're trusting you. Please don't let us down." The woman said seriously. It was the calmest thing she had said since we had let her out of the cages, and the words struck me deeply before she and the young man took the children and moved toward the tunnel.

"There they go." Wenzu said. The tone of his voice disturbed me. It sounded like he was disappointed and sighing, but there was also such excitement hidden in it.

"No!" Emery yelled before I noticed the demon's arm tense up.

Before the adults had managed to get the children with them to move, Wenzu had pulled his captive's throat open. It happened in an instant. Emery pulled on her Qi to complete her initial technique as Wenzu kicked the boy's body away. It flew over our heads streaming a tail of blood before it thumped to the ground right in front of our exit.

The mortals behind us screamed in horror, the scene finally breaking through the children's terror to leave them screaming and panicking as well.

It was all I could do to force their screams out of my head and focus on the fight. Emery had already leapt forward, a large sword in her hand while a ring of blades manifested in the air around her. By the time I had gotten my own Qi active, Emery and Wenzu had already locked in combat as Emery screamed and forced her sword against his Qi-clad hand.

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