The difference here being the source of the worry. Normally Akeya's worry is about what they did wrong, but it was focused on refining and improving. This time she was worried about what she did wrong, because she got the feeling that she could very well be leading herself and her team to their deaths. Akryn was trusting her to correctly sense their enemies. And normally that was fine. Akeya was, after all, the one with the best sensor abilities. It wasn't a boast, or a bluff. It was simply a statement of fact. People of a higher rank than her were better, but that was because they were just more experienced and powerful. Compared to people of the same power level and experience, and the half dragon would stand above the others in terms of sensing magic and magic sources. So to rely on her when it came to sensing mages was normally not a bad idea.
However this time their opponents weren't normal. They weren't predictable. She had already confirmed the presence of at two people who were strong enough to rival Blue Pegasus' best. In such a scenario one couldn't follow the normal assumptions and expect them to work. They didn't have much of a choice: Akeya still was the sensor. But she was pretty sure that she was no longer a trustworthy as she normally was. The enemy could trick them. The enemy certainly was powerful enough. They most likely were experienced enough. And as a pessimist Akeya also assumed they were clever enough. To believe otherwise would be foolish optimism. But she couldn't tell Akryn to just disregard what she said completely, because even information that most likely was incomplete was still better than no information at all. She could only hope that he shared her wariness.
And now it was shown that she indeed was not reliable in this situation. Five enemies, three of them once again as strong as to oppose the aces that Blue Pegasus was so proud of, and yet Akeya hadn't been able to sense their arrival. A shameful display for her. If they got out of here she'd have to train intensively to try and overcome that weakness. But that was a question for later. She had to focus on the here and now. These enemies weren't pushovers. Two of them were already strong enough to face her and Xierak and Akryn on equal grounds. The other three were much, much stronger. This wasn't a situation they would be able to get out of without some severe wounds to pay for their stupidity of walking right into the trap.
Akryn tried to command her and Xierak to retreat. A command that couldn't be obeyed. Even if Akeya wanted to, which she didn't, these ambushers wouldn't just let them go. And their chances of being able to escape when they were the centre of attention were too low. And if they left Akryn wouldn't survive. That much was certain. Of course, it was foolish to throw her life away for Akryn if she wasn't sure if either of them would survive if they did that. But in this case she had no other choice regardless, so she just shook her head. Escaping had become an impossible option the moment that they had stepped into the trap. Instead she tried to find a way to hide in the shadows, and from there on plan her next action.
Fortunately Xierak, their big companion, gave her that opportunity when suddenly he raised several platforms into the sky, a display of surprising strength that suited Akeya just fine. Their enemies needed some time to regain their footing. Not enough time for Akeya to strike, but enough for her to immediately jump off of the platform that she was standing on. Thankfully she had been able to see it coming, having become rather used to the tell-tale sign of Xierak preparing one of his bigger spells. And even in broad daylight she now had plenty of shadow to move in.
After jumping off of the platform she attached herself to the underside, her scales quickly merging in with the shadows until she was practically invisible to the naked eye. From here one she inspected the situation around themselves a bit more calmly, and also shot a glance at the rest of the expedition. Unfortunately she could sense that those were also under attack, and at least one of the assailants was strong enough to match Zack. The three newcomers would be completely useless in that fight. Akeya wasn't even sure whether she, Akryn and Xierak together could be of any use against three H-Ranked mages. Yet they had no other option but to try. Crawling across the underside of the platform Akeya aimed for the edge which would be closest to the person that Akryn was fighting. He was one of the strongest, and the most aggressive one apparently. Disabling him would immediately change the course of the fight heavily. Although to do that she had to surprise him, which included suppressing her magic signature so others wouldn't have an easy time spotting it.
Before Korikami could actually reach Zack and the others the second side of the ambush was also triggered, the shadow fox unharmed but still separated from the ones that he was supposed to contact. Korikami stayed inside the shadows, two unblinking white eyes appearing as he stared at the forest that suddenly surrounded him. He could smell the ridiculous amount of magic used for this trick, and also the one that had given the forest that much magic. It was a bad scent. It smelled of danger, of a creature too strong to oppose.
Korikami whined to himself for a moment. He was supposed to deliver the message, but quite obviously that was no longer a valid option. Even if he could reach Zack in the midst of this Akeya wouldn't want him to give them outdated information. On the other hand, she could be pretty strict when he tried to decide what to do about the big stuff instead of just doing what she told him to do...
For now Korikami hid in the shadows, watching the confrontation between Zack and this Map Changer. He couldn't think of anything better to do. His mistress most likely was now also occupied with other things...