Failure, Eternally Retold, Part Three: Morality

Fluttershy was the last out of the bubble with a hug from Seafoam. She felt bad about leaving her blind and all alone, but Kai was right. They had to be on their way. "I hope you recover from this," she lamented, pulling away. "You don't deserve to be alone down here."

"It's alright," Seafoam reassured. "You need to go, though. The best thing you can do for me is make sure that this doesn't happen to anypony else."

"We'll come back and see you when we can, okay?"

Kai came back up and placed his hoof onto Fluttershy's shoulder. "Come on, Fluttershy. The sooner we finish up, the sooner we can come back on happier terms."

With a nod, she followed him out under the lake. It was still dark this far down, and they were still relying on magic to provide light, but it wasn't quite so frightening anymore. Sure, some big fish would swim nearby looking at the source of light, but now they had a friend down here. A calmness washed over them as they made their way back to the surface. Their wagon was right where they left it, hidden away from view.

Kai helped Fluttershy into the harness. She was going to help him pull today, as they wanted to discuss a few things on their own regarding personal boundaries. Nik hopped up inside of the cart and settled in for another day of cramped hiding, and Twilight hopped in behind him. But as she turned around to close the door, she saw something that drained all colour from her face. Next to the wheel was a tripwire, and that was attached to a nearby sapling. She jumped out and called for Kai and Fluttershy to stop, but it was too late. They'd sprung the trap, and a large tree was falling on top of the wagon, rolling back a few decimetres and almost crushing Twilight's leg.

The wagon, and most of its contents, were utterly destroyed. Nik and a few things behind him were unharmed, but they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. To make matters worse, the noise of the falling tree had alerted the watchers in the forest, and now a team of ponies cloaked in black were rushing toward them.

Kai immediately jumped into action, whipping out a knife and cutting Fluttershy from her harness in two strokes. "Go!" he shouted, cutting his own bonds. With a terrified squeak, Fluttershy rushed back to Nik, grabbed his wrist, and began to run.

Twilight joined up with them on the other side of the tree. "Left!" she shouted, casting ice spells on the lake, creating a partial bridge. "Watch your step, and stay low!"

Kai had just freed himself from the harness and dropped his knife in favour of the bardiche. The counterweight on the butt had been broken off, making it harder to control, but it was still a long-handled weapon that he could use while running.

There was no point in splitting up. If Kai ran off in the other direction to distract them, they'd just ignore him. Even now, the cloaked figures weren't coming for him. He was chasing them.

He swung his blade, stabbing and chopping, doing his utmost to cut them down as fast as he could. They were chasing Nik across the ice bridge Twilight had made, and as the assassins had pegasi among them, the trio were unlikely to escape. As Kai leaped into the air and flapped his wings, a bolt of lightning shot out of his horn and struck down a pegasus that had made it a little too close.

He managed to take down two more assailants before they turned on him. A thrown dagger struck his chest, glancing off a rib and embedding itself in his muscle fibre. The sharp pain made him falter, and being only a metre or so above the surface of the water, he crashed into the lake.

The assassins were bearing down on the remaining trio. One that had just come close enough to fire at them nocked an arrow as he slid across the ice, drawing back the bowstring. Fluttershy pushed Nik behind her to keep him safe, glaring as angrily as she could at them, hoping it would slow their advance. It did nothing.

The twang of a bowstring being released was heard, but no sound of it embedding in the flesh of its target. Instead, there came the crashing of a wave, destroying Twilight's bridge. The trio had to hold onto each other, and to the frozen surface of the ice raft they now found themselves on.

At first, they were confused as to what was going on. The lake had been perfectly calm when they'd surfaced, and now they were being pushed aside by a massive wave. Nik looked back over his shoulder, just as a massive blast of hot steam blasted across his face. In a matter of seconds, the whole lake was covered in mist. They couldn't see more than a metre or two in any direction, including straight up.

Soon, the clashing and splashing began to decrease in volume. They were glad to be moving away, but they still were quiet. They didn't want to alert anypony to their presence, not even to talk to each other.

A half hour passed before they could hear only the sounds of the lake lapping against their floe. It was only then that Fluttershy spoke up. "Do you think Kai's alright?" she whispered.

"I hope so," answered Twilight. "He's the one that knew where we were going."

"At least I managed to keep ahold of these." Nik pulled out of his shirt the pouch of orbs they'd collected. He'd been given the last one this morning by Seafoam. "If we can find the last two locations, his death won't be in vain."

The other two nodded and shivered. They'd been sitting on a chunk of ice for longer than was recommended, and their butts were freezing. They also had no idea where they were, aside from floating on a chunk of ice in the middle of a lake. The only supplies they had were what they'd been carrying on their backs at the time. At the very least, they'd eaten a big breakfast, so they weren't about to starve.