Chapter 69
âNow? Have they arrived at the border already?â Daran snapped.
âNo, not the border.â.
The guard looked horrified.
âThey attacked Fox Town earlier this evening, which is only about 50 miles from here! The whole village was burnt down to the groundâ¦Alpha, you have got to come and take a look!â
Janet widened her eyes in shock.
â¦How was this even possible?
How did the rouges cross the border without anyone noticing and come this far into their territory?
Most importantly, the timing was super suspicious.
They were just about to send out their advance force to the border. Yet the rogues acted before they did and ambushed their village first.
Did the rogues know where they planned to deploy troops?
â¦Had anyone been feeding information to the rogues?
That thought sent a chill down Janetâs spine.
âJanet!â
Daran cried and snapped Janet back to reality.
âI need to go down to the Fox Town immediately,â he said.
âI am coming with you!â Janet hissed.
Daran frowned. He dashed out of the office with Janet following on his heels. When they reached the ground floor, Daran said to her hastily, âGather your best men and meet me at Fox Town. Be careful!â
âYou too.â
Janet hurried down the stairs and rushed into the night.
She called Balvina first, asking her to assemble their soldiers. Balvina sounded sleepy at first. But she jerked wide awake when Janet told her what happened.
âRogues at Fox Town?! Tonight?â she cried with the rustling sound of clothes in her background. She was getting dressed at the same time, âBut how is this possible-
âIt baffles me too.â
Janet ran across the empty training field and arrived at the warehouse, wrenching the door open. She put the phone between her face and her shoulder and started grabbing weapons.
âListen to me. Gather a team and meet me at the north gate in 5 minutes. We are coming with Alpha Daran to Fox Town. Be quick!â
âYou got it!â Balvina hung up the phone.
Janet gathered enough supplies for a team of 10 and rushed back out. When she made it to the outside of the training field, she bumped right into someone coming her way.
It was Glen.
âJanet!â he gasped astonishedly, âI just came back from the bar and saw the warehouseâs light was onâ¦What happened?!â
âThe rogues attacked us. In Fox Town.â Janet said hastily.
âWHAT? How did
âI donât have time to explain! Just tell Steven and Jeff about this. And come with us if you will!â Janet cried and rushed away.
Balvina and the team arrived at the North Gate at the same time as Janet. They each grabbed a weapon, shifted into wolves, and started heading toward Fox Town.
Janetâs heart was pounding wildly as she dashed across the dark forest with her soldiers. Her heart was filled with worries and anxiety.
A small part of her kept hoping that this wasnât real. That rogues didnât just sneak up to them and attack their village. And that everything was simply a mixedâupâ¦
-Till she smelt the burning smell in the air.
âGamma Janet! Look!â Kass gasped behind her back.
Janet didnât need him to remind her of what was happening in the distance it was quite hard to miss.
Flames could be seen rising through the top of the forest, painting the dark sky into scarlet red. They could already hear the sound of people screaming, wolves howling and houses crashing down in fire.
The temperature kept rising as they approached. When they finally arrived, the place had already turned into a hell of heat and blazing fire.
Hard to recognize that this place used to be a small and peaceful village.
âGamma, what do we do?â Balvina gasped.
âYou take 5 people to put down the fire and rescue the injured,â Janet said urgently. âThe rest come with me. Look for any signs of the rogues!â
âYes!â
They split up.
Janet rushed down the road with her eyes searching for suspicious figures. But anywhere she looked, she saw nothing but ruins and ashes.
It was like the rogues had vanished in thin air.
âGamma!â Kass called right behind her, âThere is someone in that house!â
The roof of the house had fallen down because of the fire. And weak groans were coming out of the ruins.
Janet came to help Kass. Together they lifted the roof and pulled a man out of it. âSir! Can you hear me?â Janet knelt down by his side and asked, âWhere are the rogues? Have you seen them?â
But the man seemed traumatized. He covered his face and kept screaming in fear, âDonâtâ¦NoâPlease donât kill meâI am begging you!â
âItâs OK. You are safe now. Just tell me where the rogues areâ¦â
âIâI donât know! Stop torturing me! Please I am begging you!â the men wailed hysterically.
Janet sighed and said to one of his soldiers, âTake him to Balvina. Treat his wounds and keep him safe.â
The soldier nodded and carried the man away.
Janet and Kass continued their searches. One by one, they rescued nearly 20 people from the fire, but none of them could tell where exactly the rogues were.
These people were either scared as hell or injured too severely to say anything.
As frustrated as Janet was, she couldnât blame them.
These people spent their whole lives living in a peaceful small town, which was not. far away from the packhouse.
Who would have thought the rogues would attack a place like this?
A while later, Glen and his men arrived.
âJanet!â he cried running towards her, âAny sign of the rogues?â
âNot yet. These bastards vanished in thin air!â Janet snarled.
âF**k. What do we do then? Shall we draw back? The wind tonight is helping with the fire. Maybe we should focus on treating the injured first!â
Janet hesitated, clenching her fists in frustration.
She knew that Glen was probably right.
But she didnât want to give up looking for rogues just yet.
There were too many questions piling up in her mind. Like how did the rouges cross the borderâs lookout post? How did they pick this perfect timing? And how did they know the way so well and evacuate just in time?
There was only one answer to all these questions- Somebody was helping the rogues from the inside.
If she let this go now, she would never find out who the mole was. And they would definitely face another bigger defeat in the near future.
Making up her mind, Janet turned to Glen and said, âI am going into the woods to chase after them.â
âWhat? No!â Glen snapped, âDonât let your anger control you. It is too dark out there and you donât have any backups! The night and the woods are both working to the rogueâs advantage-â
âBut here is the question! How did the rogues pick their target so well?â Janet said hastily, âThe rogues had never been here before. How did they know Fox Town is a small village surrounded by dense woods with very few armed soldiers?â
Glen froze.
A horrified look appeared on his face.
âJanet, you are not saying thatâ¦â
âIt is too early to make any conclusion. But I am going into the woods!â Janet snapped.
âBut to which direction? The forest extends up to 20 miles on all sides. You canât finish searching the place in time!â
Janet bit her lips anxiously.
Glen was right again.
She didnât have a clue about where she should go. The rogueâs scent was covered by the strong smell of fire. And their trials disguised by ashes.
Should she pick a random direction?
Let her gut lead her?
Just then, a distant howling interrupted her line of thoughts.
It was a very strange howling, different from the kind that Janet and her kind spoke, like a foreign tone.
âIt was the rogues!â Glen gasped in excitement, âBut what does it mean? Does anyone speak the rogueâs language?â
âTo the West!â said Kass abruptly.
Kass was standing behind Janetâs back the whole time. He looked up to the other now and said in an urgent tone:
âThis rogue was calling out to his fellows, asking them to meet him at the creek down the West. We should follow them now!â