"I don't like the looks of that," I said grimly as I lowered my looking glass.

We'd had several more uninteresting days on the trail. The Canyon just screamed ambush though.

We'd just crested the hill that led into the ravine below us. They call it the Rengai Canyon, a jagged tear through the rocks of the Rengai Mountains. But it was through the canyon, or over the mountains, and the latter simply wan't an option. Thinking about the air up there, so thin and cold that it would barely be breathable, caused my own breath to catch briefly.

Belio was on the other side of those mountains, and it was too late to go around them. When we stopped at Sāi Tsen, we could've detoured around the mountains along the coast, but that came with its own dangers, not the least of which was adding several days to the trip.

I had asked Tasha about it earlier, and she said, "Well, the longer we're out, and in view of the coast, the more likely we'll be seen by... bandits." Her smile had said that she knew quite well that the correct phrase was "constables", but I had let it go.

"Why did we even come this way?" Nilo said as he rode up next to me, still eyeing the canyon. "I thought there were ways around these mountains."

"There are," I replied, trying and failing to hold back a smile. "But it adds many days to the trip. And we might be seen by... bandits."

My smile, matching Tasha's watt-for-watt, told Nilo everything he needed to know about my understanding.

"I like you," he quipped.

The ravine cut through steep, rocky walls on either side. Rock protrusions and spires dotted the top of the Canyon, providing natural hiding places. Light vegetation provided cover along the sides. An absolutely perfect place for an ambush.

The scouts didn't find anything interesting to report, but I could taste a battle on the air anyhow.

I sighed. "Well, let's get this over with."

The attack came as we were mid-Canyon. I'd almost dared to hope we'd escape an ambush, but it was not meant to be.

Yells of defiance and horse hooves echoed out around us, clouds of dirt hanging in the air. We puzzled out in retrospect that the raiders had seen us coming and circled around on both the entrance and exit of the gorge. Then their comrades had swooped down along the steep sides to herd us into the trap.

Purified Tear Stone was a tasty prize, especially that much of it.

Our group was badly outnumbered, perhaps two to one. I took the scene in a flash, shaking my head at the bad odds. The dust kicked up by the fighting made visibility difficult. I saw Nilo fighting a group near the front of the train and admired his precise sword work. But I didn't have long to stare, because a large group of the raiders focused in on me with a yell and began their attack. I had no time for anything at that point except exercising my Ka Te to the ninth level, dual blades flashing, and a grimace on my face.

I was getting very tired, going through the forms and defeating one enemy after another. As soon as one fell to my blades, another raider took their place. Due to my position in the rear guard, the raiders had managed to separate me a little way away from the rest of the group, who were oblivious to my peril farther up the Canyon.

Still the raiders kept coming. The situation was becoming dire, and feeling slightly desperate, I switched to another fighting style particular to the Agents, one taught only to us by HQ.

Confused by the strange techniques, my part of the battle finally turned against the raiders.

When the last one dropped to the dirt with a pained groan, I looked around, panting and holding my bleeding arm, and realized that, by then, I had a small audience. Including, I noticed with consternation, Tasha and the silver-eyed girl.

Who had seen me fighting with the strange Agent style?

I cursed my sloppiness and chalked it up to losing my detachment for the past couple of days. Bad habits breed bad habits! I vowed to get back on the straight and narrow with my real job after that mess.

"Are you okay?" Nilo asked me, concerned. I nodded.

Tasha looked very tired, the kind of tired one can only achieve by a constant channelling of Mana. Astra just looked thoughtfully at me in a most disconcerting way.