Morning mist rose over the Graypeak Mountains.
The thick fog flowing through the valleys looked like a river of milk, except for the Ratfolk pouring out of it.
Illymoyas left the White Dragons with them, then stirred the mist as she vanished into the sky.
Femi turned his gaze back to the Ratfolk emerging from the fog on every side.
After a night spent breaking through, their greatest enemy was no longer the Ratfolk. It was exhaustion...
They had slept less than eight hours in the past three days combined. Until now, blessing magic had kept them going, but the march was draining them faster. More and more were falling behind from fatigue.
"Hold on! Once we break out of the Fel Energy blockade, the worst will be behind us!"
They forced themselves another dozen or so miles onward. Dimon Kingdom should have been about 150 miles away, but bad news kept coming.
As the morning mist cleared, a mixed Rat Tide appeared on the road behind them and drew steadily closer.
At Hell Mountain, they would not have cared. But this was open wilderness, with no natural defenses. These Elite Rats could easily bog them down until the endless Rat Swarm swallowed them.
Femi looked at Blom. "I need someone to stay behind and stop them."
"The Elite Squad doesn't have enough people." Blom shook his head. "Give me two hundred."
"All right. Do you want the oil barrels?"
They had eight barrels of Fire Oil left, but there was no way they could carry something that heavy for another hundred-plus miles.
"They'll be more useful with you."
Femi called for volunteers from the Auxiliary Legion. More than two hundred Professionals stepped forward to serve as the rear guard, bringing Blom's force to three hundred.
"I'll have the White