Chapter 40: 41- Invisible

Laren enters the room, Sherek puts down the book and quickly gets up with some fear. "Relax, boy, your mission here is over. Rest so you can continue with your missions tomorrow."

"I think it has been a long time, Mr. Laren, and I only have a few days left to complete them. Maybe it's best for me to leave now. I really appreciate everything I have learned here and the kindness I have been shown."

"Calm down, boy. I know what I'm telling you. Things outside are not going well, and not resting properly can be very detrimental. Relax, have some tea, and tomorrow you'll be ready for any mission. Don't worry about the time and days, you have less time here than you think."

Sherek accepts this decision, he fully trusts this sorcerer, and as he says goodbye, he takes a sip from the steaming tea on the side and immediately falls asleep. At dawn, he prepares himself, eats some food from a shelf, and heads back to one of the corridors to find a final door at the end that leads him out of this magical place. Once again, he finds himself in the rebel headquarters, which are now in complete chaos.

Soldiers run from one place to another, wounded soldiers arrive, some with missing legs, others with missing arms. There are many injured people everywhere, and the commanders are giving orders to their men with great harshness. Sherek feels the strong tension that is present and quickly looks for a flail and a bow in a nearby armory. Upon arrival, the armorer asks him,

"And who do you think you are to grab these weapons as if it's nothing?"

"I've just finished my training, I have a mission for Captain PesteHierba, and I'm in a hurry."

"Where is your letter?"

"Here it is..." Sherek remembers at the last moment the captain's order not to show the letter to anyone. "What letter?"

"What do you mean, what letter!? We all know that these missions have to go through a written order from any general."

"I don't have any damn letter! I personally spoke to the captain, and he gave me that order."

"Without the order letter, I can't give you anything, I'm sorry."

"Damn it!" Sherek exclaims in frustration.

Sherek leaves the armory and looks around for Captain PesteHierba, but in the midst of all the commotion, it is impossible. In fact, he doesn't even know if the captain is still here. Sherek runs out of options and decides to leave the headquarters without weapons. He doesn't plan on walking; he believes that if there is a conflict nearby, he will probably end up battered like last time in the forest, and he doesn't want to go through that situation again. Therefore, he starts to analyze and visualize the stable, noticing several horses and sees that the caretaker only opens the gates for soldiers who enter in a hurry and ride off. Sherek waits for the gates to open, runs, and the caretaker starts shouting and chasing him. A couple of rebel soldiers come out, so he can't be caught. Sherek quickly mounts a horse and as he reaches the gate, both the caretaker and a guard aim their lances at him. Sherek grabs a wooden plank that was next to the horse and charges forward at full speed. He knows they won't harm the horse since they have few of them, so he assumes they will only go after him. When he is a few meters away from the lances, he makes the horse rear up on its hind legs, causing the men at the gate to drop their lances and attempt to grab and knock down Sherek, but he repels them with his plank, causing one of them to drop his lance. At that moment, the horse returns to its normal position, and Sherek whips it, managing to escape.

He quickly leaves the headquarters and heads towards the Torbelean Mountains in the northeast to finally deliver the letter to the Disarmer Soeld. But on the way, he has the feeling that he is forgetting something, and at that moment, a woman with long black hair, wearing a somewhat tight military uniform, appears in his path and forcefully pulls him off the horse. Sherek falls and rolls several times on the ground.

"Where do you think you're going, traitor?" the imposing woman says.

"Aaggh...," Sherek groans in pain on the ground. "Who are you?"

"I'm CortaEspinas Dels. PesteHierba assigned me to be your mentor in the arts of stealth."

"Oh, right. I remember your name," Sherek comments as he gets up and recovers from the blow. "I was in a secret training, and it was quite exhausting, that's why I completely forgot."

"How much time do we have?" says CortaEspinas.

"I have to reach the Torbelean Mountains in four days to deliver something."

"I see, well, we need to find a quick way to train you. Let's go back to headquarters."

"Um, I just stole this horse," Sherek says, somewhat embarrassed. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"Even better! I can train you right there."

CortaEspinas mounts the horse and pulls Sherek by the arm to quickly get on behind her, just like she did before. Sherek struggles but manages to climb up and settle halfway. Unexpectedly, CortaEspinas spurs the horse forward.

On the way back, she says, "Well, traitor, I will give you your first lesson. I will enter with the horse without being detected, steal your weapons, and leave without a scratch."

"Is that possible?"

"When we arrive at the outpost entrance, you get off, and from there, you can see how I do it."

Sherek didn't trust at all that this woman could accomplish such a feat without resorting to violence, let alone without being detected.

When they arrive, Sherek gets off, and from a small hill, he can see the stable and the armory where CortaEspinas is going to pass.

Before entering the doors, the woman dismounts and sets the horse off at full speed. This distracts the guards, who see the recently stolen horse enter the gates on its own. This allows Dels to slip into a nearby bush, where she notices that the armory guard has also turned his attention away. She takes the opportunity to run and slide into the armory with great skill and silence.

Sherek watches all this and is amazed, but now he wonders how she is going to leave the armory with the guard already in position.

A couple of minutes pass, and he sees how slowly CortaEspinas throws a couple of lances aside from the armory through a window. This makes the guard turn and move, allowing her to exit without any problems. She is now outside, but Sherek notices that in addition to the flail and the bow, she has two axes with her. Her new objective is to get another horse and escape. CortaEspinas throws an axe and embeds it in the wall near one of the guards, causing them to panic and start searching for where the axe came from. Meanwhile, CortaEspinas enters the stable, quickly opens the gate, and sets two horses running out at full speed. Both the gate guards and those at the entrance and armory rush to control the horses and in the midst of that chaos, CortaEspinas rides out at full speed, easily leaving the rebel settlement and carrying Sherek on their newly stolen horse.

Sherek has no words for what he has just witnessed with his own eyes. In less than five minutes, this woman entered a settlement, stole weapons, a horse, and left completely unharmed and undetected, tricking five guards as if it were nothing.

"Well, this is your first lesson. Remember, distraction is the friend of invisibility. You must always analyze your surroundings and possibilities. Now take your flail, since we don't have safe areas to train properly, we will go to the forest."