[center][h3]Azai and Chozai, On the road towards the capital city of Barcea[/h3][/center]

Covered by their cloaks the brothers were walking, each on a side of the convoy that was carrying Seraph's treasures of art collections and jewelry, it was rather a small convoy and the brothers could defend it in case of an attack, which could easily happen. It made the brothers alerted by every suspeious move around them, and defenseless were Seraph's staff so they had to be more wary for them too... Because of the country's natural terrain they had to travel down near the borders of H'kela and then turn there to the center, and continue towards the capital. Pillars of smoke could be spotted from afar by the brothers, concerned Chozai for the caravans safety he ordered them to stop and rest so he could talk to his brother and Seraph [B]"Azai, what are your thoughts about that smoke? Could it be that war had finally broken?"[/B] Azai stared at Seraph [B]"I can surely assume that. But it seems like a sudden attack, it would be impossible for Barcea's border towns to stop them. They will spread into the land before their government realize it"[/B] Seraph was only concerned about his caravan and how would they reach the capital, so he stayed silent to see what the brothers would say [B]"Brother. It's impossible to protect the caravan against H'kela's army... But rest assured I have thought of a plan"[/B] Chozai smiled as he placed his hand on his chest [B]"Azai you will scout ahead of us as fast as you can clearing a path and leave marks to indicate it's safe to move through, we will march slowly and I will stay at the rear end incase we are attacked from behind, simple enough I think. But you will need to avoid open space and stick to the woods if you can"[/B] Azai smirked as he sprayed some of the left overs of the chemicals he made for the bandit attack on a nearby tree decaying part of it [B]"This is the mark watch for it. I will leave now"[/B] Chozai was full of hope by this plan, praying no surprise gets in their way...

Hours had passed and the caravan's advance was slow, Azai on the other hand was speeding through the woods. Clearing a path wasn't that difficult, luckily he had little resistance of solitary soldiers. Nevertheless it was tiring barley catching his breath between each point he searched and cleared. Seraph was relaxed trusted the brothers as he saw their effectiveness with strategy and strength to back it up... The caravan reached Azai and stopped as Seraph and Chozai walked towards Azai to be shocked by a terrible scene, the woods ended and open space was ahead of them and left overs of what used to be a town. Corpses men, women and even the children were lying around and it, Azai could notice the anger in Chozai's eyes while he didn't give much thought about the matter and instead tried to think of a way to get through without being spotted by H'kela's army [B]"Chozai, its not the time to be distracted, we will need to figure a way to get through this town without being noticed, I will scout ahead and return back here.."[/B] Chozai interrupted [B]"No, I will scout ahead incase I find some survivors, I can heal them and then head back here"[/B] Seraph had more experience in this region so explained to the brothers that if they cross this town they will find a nearby forest that stretches almost to the south, near the capital city...

Small fires still not extinguished, not a single sign of life, only corpses of innocent people who lived in peace, a vision Chozai despised because he couldn't imagine how someone could murder innocent people and especially the children. At the far end of the town when he thought no one survived he heard a woman's scream so he hurried towards her, she was a mother calling for help for her child who was injured [B]"Sir, please, I'm begging you help my daughter. She's all I got in this world...[/B] Chozai activated his power through his hands healing the girl and returning color to her paled skin, but what he didn't realize that the mother was mortally wounded by a deep cut from her back, it was too severe to be healed by him and it was too late to do anything leading to her death... Chozai felt helpless for the first time in his life, he couldn't think of something to tell the girl nor he knew how to explain to her this situation they're in, as the girl got up she called for her mother to realize she was dead. The girl was shocked unable to comprehend that her mother and her whole family was gone, and was sitting with a stranger she never knew how could any child comprehend it but the child surprised Chozai as she didn't cry only anger was what he could see, maybe it was will or something else compelling him to not feel helpless [B]"Child my name is Chozai, I healed your wound... I couldn't help your mother, I do not know what to tell you other than my sincere remorse. If you so will, I will take responsiblity for you and will do everything in my power to avenge you. So tell me child, what's your name?"[/B] the girl hesitated a bit before answering him [B]"My name is Lily..."[/B] Chozai smiled as he reached his hand to her, she grabbed his hand and went back with him to the caravan. He reported to his brother that he couldn't find a trace of H'kela's army in his search, and found the girl that he will be taking her with him, Azai didn't object and figured that army must've headed towards the next town which wasn't on their way. They continued towards the wood with ease and wasn't met with enemies making their journey faster... It was an extraordinary scene for the brothers they have never seen the capital city of Barcea before, it was captivating the walls were shiny white giving a majestic feeling too it. They arrived at the gate awaiting to know what's ahead of them...