"Red, Vizim. Get up!"
He jerked upright. Caught off guard by the sudden franticness in Derrin's tone. Night still loomed cool and dark around them. There wasn't even a hint of sunrise yet. Vizim moved slightly but didn't wake.
"What's happening?" Red rubbed his eyes.
"There's no time," Derrin came sprinting out of the darkness, "Vizim, get up!"
Vizim startled upright, "What!"
"We need to go," his voice was filled with urgency, "Now!"
It took him a moment to shake off his weariness, but he managed to stumble to his feet, "Seriously, Derrin. What the hell is going on?"
The look of panic on Derrin's face told him enough.
"The pirates must have found the bodies. They're combing the jungle looking for us. There isn't time, we need to go. A large group is coming. Follow me."
Derrin took off into the darkness. Vizim staggered to his feet, and Red gave him a light push to get him moving. He stared around blankly, trying to understand what was going on. Red didn't give him time to gather his bearings. Based on Derrin's words, they didn't have time for that.
He pushed Vizim onwards in Derrin's wake. His own tiredness had vanished under their current circumstances. All that remained was anxiety. He began circulating his mist throughout his body in an attempt to calm himself. It didn't work. He wasn't under a mental attack after all. At least not one like the Herald's. His body was simply panicking.
There were moments as they ran that Red caught glimpses of light in the jungle behind them. He didn't bother to tell Vizim. He was already panicking enough. Everything around them seemed to fade together. Darkness and more darkness. Trees and more trees. Red had no idea if they were even heading in the right direction anymore.
Derrin kept vanishing into the night, only to reappear to make sure they were still heading in the right direction. It seemed that with four men dead and one of them a higher-ranked pirate, they weren't going to sit around anymore. The ones he'd left alive would have alerted the others.
He briefly wondered if he would have been better off simply killing the pirates. However, he quickly pushed the thought away. Killing the pirates might have temporarily put them in a better situation. The pirates, though, would have likely turned their attention to the fort and blamed them.
Despite being on the island for a few days, they still knew little of the current situation. The pirates were being cautious about approaching the Valencian fort. They didn't know why, nor did they know whether the Valencians were making moves against the pirates.
Vizim stumbled, and Red was forced to haul him upright to keep them moving. By this point, the panic had mostly left, leaving him with a dull sense of unease. His mind moved sluggishly, which he knew was due to a lack of sleep. Vizim was even worse off, barely managing to stay upright.
Derrin suddenly dropped from the trees, making both of them yelp, "Shhhh. We've put a bit of distance between the pirates and us. We have only a little bit of time."
He pointed somewhere up, "We're going up there."
"In the trees?"
"Yes, and fast."
Red didn't argue, but he could sense Vizim's worry.
Together, the three of them managed to disappear into the tree canopy. The bark was slick, making it difficult to keep a solid footing. Not for the first time, Red wondered how Derrin managed to disappear into the foliage so easily. None of them moved or spoke. A few minutes later, he finally heard it. The sounds of footsteps and voices.
The three of them pressed themselves flatter against the trees, trying to remain unseen. Red carefully removed one of his shockblasters without making a sound. A low teal light illuminated the jungle around as they watched the pirates strut into view. There were a lot of them. Too many of them to fight, too many of them to even avoid. It seemed as if the entire jungle had come alive.
Red cursed inwardly. There would be no quick escapes like earlier. Many of the pirates held weapons and moved in a wide row through the night. It was as if every pirate on the island had been called for the hunt. They were in trouble. Red tucked his shockblaster back into his coat. It was useless in their current situation anyway.
He could hear Vizim's heavy breathing beside him. Red hoped he'd tone it down once the pirates drew close enough to hear. He carefully grasped a round core in his pocket. It was the core he had cut pieces from for his light bombs. The core was in a very unstable state. He hoped that it would simply explode if he threw it. If it came to that, they would probably already be doomed.
Red glanced over at Derrin, who crouched silently against a nearby tree. It was hard to make out his figure in the gloom. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and Red wondered what he was thinking about. Hopefully, the man wasn't thinking of making some mad dash through the jungle. He had no doubt Derrin would for his honor or some crap like that.
They just needed to hope the crowd of pirates didn't look up. Red waved his arm trying to get Derrin's attention. He hadn't told either of them what his plan was. Escaping the pirates in an extended hunt was clearly out of the question, but hiding in trees didn't seem to be a much better idea.
Derrin glanced at him. Red briefly drew the core before sticking it back in his pocket. The faint glow was enough for Derrin to get the gist of his idea. The man tensed slightly but shook his head. So what did he want them to do?
Red watched the pirates reach the base of the tree and continue onwards. None of them bothered to look up. He wasn't sure if they'd just been incredibly lucky or the pirates were incredibly stupid. Either way, Red let out a sigh of relief. They were safe.
"Quite the hiding spot you have there."