The group was just getting ready to break camp when they heard a horse trumpeting. It was enough of a warning for the most experienced fighters to grab up their weapons. The Prince's trainees were slower to get organized and some got separated from the main group.

San Jin's guards had him under a tight dome of shields while a volley of arrows buffeted them. Scout Jia signaled for Chenhui and Hae-sung to grab their bows and follow him. The number of enemy arrows soon dropped off. The small team then circled around to provide cover for those struggling to re-join their main group.

Junseo found himself facing a man with a spear. All he had was his short sword. He was able to defend himself but knew he was losing ground. That was until Rufus joined the battle and ran down his opponent. Junseo picked up another weapon and plunged ahead to free up Song-hee. Together the moved on to join Il-don and Xuiyang in the circle around San Jin. It seemed like most of the fighting was moving away from them but they still held their positions.

Rufus circled out on a patrol of his own and seemed to be calling orders to the other horses. Just when it seemed like the attack was over another volley of arrows hit. Junseo was able to knock the ones coming his way off course. Xuiyang was not as lucky. He was clutching his leg but then seemed to go ridged. His lips started to turn blue.

"Il-don, Bloodstone. San Jin, anchors and as much of a barrier as you can mount from there." Junseo called. He did not wait to see if they followed his orders. He just grabbed his short sword and cut along Xuiyang's leg above the arrow. He gestured for Song-hee to support Xuiyang while he looked for a container of some kind. In the end he improvised by doubling the silver chain he used to keep his ring out of sight into a circle on top of his short sword. He did not know if would be enough to hold the poison but he could only hope it was enough of an anchor.

Junseo glanced around and saw San Dou directing his troop into a protective ring around them so nodded his thanks. San Jan raised his arm and flooded the area around him with a pale green light. Ignoring the pleas from his guards San Jin walked steadily closer to Xuiyang but then paused.

"Who is bringing the jade pillars? Get them out of the packs and bring the supply cart closer. We can tip it on its side for shelter." San Jin's voice rang out above the intermittent sound of the duels still going on along the edge of their improvised defenses. Manager Doak rushed to follow the boy's order. He and Scout Jia shared a grin when they met at the side of the cart.

"Sounds a lot like his uncle, doesn't he?" Manager Doak observed.

"True, but what is he trying to do?" Scout Jia asked distractedly as he looked around with his bow at the ready.

"Probably set up a cleansing barrier. Xuiyang does not look good." Manager Doak said this quietly then pointed to where one of the enemy soldiers was trying to sneak up behind a pair fighting at edge of their defensive ring. Scout Jia did not hesitate. His shot was off before the swordsmen even noticed the danger.

As soon as the jade pillars were in place, San Jin changed his mantra. Il-don picked up a counter point and together they increased the energy while Junseo tried to lift out as much as the impurities as he could. They could see that they needed be quick. Xuiyang started to pant and his pulse was very uneven. Even though there was not much poison it seemed to work faster. The boys did what they could but knew it was not a complete cleanse.

When they finished with Xuiyang, a cadet was carried over to them. Manager Doak had found a small silver plate for them to use and Chenhui passed them some water to drink. Junseo looked from San Jin to Il-don and asked, "Will you be, ok?" He was worried how much energy they had just used but they could both see the cadet was in bad shape.

"I don't know how long I can hold." San Jin said honestly. His guards moved in to try to pull him away but he shrugged them off.

Il-don swallowed hard. "I should be able to manage but you two need to do the heavy lifting."

Junseo took him at his word and started the mantra. They were almost through lifting the poisons when he felt Il-don's energy falter. He shot some energy through to him and then broke off their connection. He was pretty sure he could so the rest on his own if San Jin could just hold the field a bit longer. Junseo thought they had succeeded before everything started to fade. The next thing he knew Rufus had bit his arm and was snorting into his face. He reached up to pat the horse but felt strangely disconnected from his limbs.

"Its okay," he slurred but the horse was still sniffing and snorting. San Jin was trying to reason with the horse to let the others come near but Rufus was having none of it. Junseo retreated into himself and tried to touch his crystals. Only the ruby in his ring felt like it had any resonance so he called on it. His hand burned and then he started to cough. He spat out some bluish-black liquid and immediately felt better.

He looked over and saw Il-don and Xuiyang resting normally. The cadet they had been working on was still far too pale and his lips were tinged with blue. He tugged on Manager Doak's sleeve and said, "more air." A fan was waved in front of his face. "Not me. Blue lips," he did not have energy for much more but Rufus nuzzled him and then trotted back to where the rest of the horses had been gathered.

"I guess that is as good a sign as any," San Jin said and then bent down to check on Junseo again and saw that he was breathing normally. Junseo started to snore the others who had gathered around chuckled.

One of the guards came over to look at what had been extracted from the injured. He took out small piece of cloth and dipped one end into the liquid. The cloth immediately changed color and started to smoke. He shook his head sadly. "I don't know of anyone surviving this kind of poison. It comes from a rare fish only ever harvested east of Misao," he gave the other commanders a meaningful look.

"Then we better move out quickly," one of the cadets said and with a nod from the leaders everyone got themselves organized. Hae-sung volunteered to have Il-don double with him, Chenhui offered the same service for Xuiyang.

"If Rufus lets me, I will try to let Junseo sleep on." Song-hee sounded doubtful but when he approached the horse seemed to understand completely. Not only standing quietly to be tacked up but kneeling to help Junseo get loaded.

San Jin watched this procedure with smile. He leaned heavily against his own horse and started to feel like the stirrup was a long way off the ground. One of his guards came over to offer him a boost and then surprised him by climbing up behind him.

"I don't approve of you getting involved with the crystal working. Especially seeing how it wiped out your friends so let's just play it safe from here on." San Jin tried to argue but realized he didn't have the energy. They were not far down the road before he nodded off.