Two hours had passed since the squads crawled out of the valley with squad Salka and Sagiri. Salka’s squad was equipped with antidotes and healing pills. They gave everyone one healing pill, even Sagiri. He had exhausted most of his strength to carry the damned bastards. He had grown stronger, yet he still got exhausted even more quickly.

He felt like he was doing something wrong, and that is why he needed Koru now more than ever for many things. With his current amount of strength, he should have been able to go days on end, but somehow, he was almost depleted of all strength.

After taking the pill, everyone at least looked less dead and started tending their wounds. Even the unconscious instructor stirred. His leg was still very much broken, and Salka had said he would snap it back after he ate. Apparently, he and his team had come into the valley a day earlier than Sagiri.

Lotaga lit a fire while the rest of Salka’s squad went to hunt. Everyone pulled close to the fire. It was in the early hours of the morning, but it was still cold near the Boni valley.

"What brought your team so far south?" Sagiri asked Lotaga when he moved across the clearing to create another fire.

"I can’t possibly tell you a secret mission," Lotaga said sheepishly.

"A secret mission this close to the south. Did you leave Senraki by himself?" Sagiri said, fearing for the life of the cadets at Galka in the absence of Salka.

"Don’t worry, Fuwuka is still there," Lotaga said,

"Now will you tell me what an elite squad is doing so far south, especially the captain?" Sagiri asked.

"Salka will put me on pet tending if I tell you he was tasked by the Supreme mandra to oversee order and security in the southern border," Lotaga said before he gasped.

"Why? The southern border is not causing any threat to Tagayia." Sagiri said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, I don’t know, but our captain doesn’t get summoned unless it’s a delicate situation. He answers only to the mandra." Lotaga said. Salka was indeed a man of many secrets and even deadlier than the shadow corp.

"What are you two whispering about?" Salka’s voice reached Sagiri’s side. He was carrying a dead wild deer with a snapped neck. He must have snapped it with his bare hands.

"I did not tell him anything!!" Lotaga said, jumping to his feet and acting sheepishly, giving away the fact that he had indeed said something. Sagiri shook his head in disbelief before turning to Salka.

"What is wrong with the southern border?" Sagiri asked. Salka just tossed the wild deer to the ground before he retrieved a knife and went to work.

"You will be on pet tending duty for a decade." He said after a while. Lotaga shivered and jumped behind Sagiri.

"Sagiri, tell him you are the one who forced it out of me," Lotaga began shamelessly. "You know how cruel our little Sagiri can be. He threatened to take my life." Lotaga continued, and Salka paused.

"Shut up before I gut you like this deer." Lotaga jumped even further behind Sagiri.

"The border is fine. After the fear you struck in the hearts of many. Even a ruler can be weary." Salka said, looking at Sagiri. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"They still have my parents and are weary of me?" Sagiri breathed with irritation.

"You being in the north does not help either. If word gets around, someone can use it as an excuse." Matasi said, tossing another deer on the ground beside the one Salka was gutting. Just how many deer did they hunt?

"We made a deal with the Tsaka. I haven’t balanced scales with a certain someone." Sagiri said.

"You made the same deal to let your parents go, yet they still hold your parents," N’varu said from behind Sagiri.

"If Tsaka harms my parents, Tagayia will not know any peace. I did the dirt work for Taziraka and went south with Tatani. If they both go back on their word, then I won’t take it lightly." Sagiri said in a cold tone.

"You are still cranky. Right now, it’s not the mandra who is weary of the border. If I could guess, someone is pushing his own agenda." Kolu said.

"Someone wishes for Tagayia to go to war with the South. How daring? Does Tagayia think the south is easy for the taking?" Sagiri snickered.

Salka and Matasi continued gutting the game, while Yavaga asked the men to join them around the new fire and the girls to sit around the other with the two instructors.

There was silence as everyone joined in to roast their own meat over the fire after Salka and Matasi were done cutting it into smaller pieces. There was more silence as the smell of burning meat filled the air. After an hour of everyone burning their portion and tearing into it, Sagiri finally stood. He had not eaten much, but the pill had worked magic, and he was rejuvenated. He sprang to his feet, suddenly catching everyone’s attention.

"I guess now the debt is paid. I take back my words that I will come if you need my help. If you pull another stunt like this, don’t send me any message." Sagiri said in an icy voice. He wished he did not mean the words, but they needed to learn restraint and grow some brains.

There was a pause of silence as the head lowered.

"You are leaving already?" N’varu asked.

"Before you sent a message, I was on my way to Thazir, the western capital of the south. I am breaking into the city to get out of my mother’s sandshade." Sagiri did not miss a beat.

"Absolutely not!! You can’t break into Thazir. You will die." N’varu said, springing to his feet, eyes wide.

"I am and I will. I have been sending scouts to both Thazir and Azareen’s capital, and it has taken me a year to make a map." Sagiri said, unfazed by the outburst.

"If they have him there, you know they have prisons far worse than the fourth and seventh wings of Tagayia. They will be waiting for you." N’varu said.

"Well then, I am getting him out either way. If the South wished to stop me, then I would not spare them." Sagiri said.

"You wish to declare war on your own people?" Yavaga said, chewing on another piece of meat.

"Well, I am a chief, and I am allowed in the capital. They can’t deny me my seat and existence forever and still keep someone I want. The way I see it, they have declared war on me first.

"I am coming with you then," N’varu said.

"You lecture your former squad on being stupid, yet you are acting even more stupid now," Matasi said.

"This is necessary. Why not bargain with something they want first?" Kolu asked. He was slightly shrewd after his travels.

"I don’t have anything to exchange. They asked me to send away Tatani and go alone to the capital. They already declared war on me." Sagiri refuted.

"You are wrong." Kiuga joined in. "You have a lot to exchange. Sounds like they allow Tatani to stay because they are scared of you."

"What are you suggesting?" Sagiri asked, turning to Kiuga. Seems his pretty brain was still working, and he was generating an answer at the moment.

"Tell me everything and anything. Even the map. Let me see." Kiuga said.

"That is not a good idea," N’varu said. "What if we stand on opposite sides in the future.

"It’s bold that you think I can kill Sagiri. I will not use this information against you. I swear on mine and my clan’s life." Kiuga said.

"Just how many lives does your clan have? You swear on their heads every time." Kaka snickered."

"Don’t worry, anyone who dares come south, I will bury them in the desert," Sagiri said, retrieving the map.