Around mid-afternoon, their group passed Kayde, who seemed to have slackened his slightly brisk pace in the past few minutes. Iris knew that he meant for them to go by him eventually. She found it almost humorous how everyone else seemed to go nearly seven feet off of the path to avoid him upon riding by him, as if that would have done anything.
She wished that she was in the back of the group so she could turn and say something to him. Unfortunately, Ra held that spot. Not to mention Shen who was also sitting right behind her. There wasn't any way he wouldn't catch her. After a few glances backward, she saw Shen smile a little bit, seemingly at her. She was puzzled by it.
"Don't worry, Ingred... he isn't coming for us."
After having heard that, she immediately realized that her glances definitely made her look wary, and possibly even frightened of Kayde. While she knew that that was not the case, Shen couldn't have known that she already knew Kayde. This made her cough in slight embarrassment, and turn around promptly. She heard a light-hearted chuckle come from behind her.
"I hardly meant to tease you. I was only hoping to reassure you." His voice was musical. This made Iris's cheeks flush pink and she was thankful that he could not see her face at the moment.
"I know," was all she could think of to say.
It was quiet for a long minute, leaving Iris alone to her thoughts. Gods, she wished she could say something to Kayde.
"So... where does everyone come from?"Shen casually asked the entire party, disrupting the silence.
Iris was, in a way, thankful that he was trying to make conversation. It would certainly make the hours feel a little shorter if she was getting to know the group. No one responded to the archer for a long moment, but eventually, General Zayn answered. "I was born in Dormhall, a small village just south of Amag-heist, and about two weeks north from here, give or take a day or two," he said, "but after I grew out of my adolescence and into my adulthood, I moved to Amag-heist for a few years before coming here to take over my father's spot as General, which I have occupied for two years."
"Why did your father leave you to be General so early in your life? Unless you're older than you seem to be?" Iris asked curiously.
"I'm going on twenty nine here in a few moons," said the general quickly, "and my father is dead."
"Oh," was all Iris could think of to say. She could have hit herself in the face. She had forgotten about that entirely. Oh, but now she remembered.
There was a tension afterwards that sent a shiver into her very bones.
"I'm from Chamberley," said Ra, either not noticing or caring about the heavy strain that saturated the very air around them.
"The only time I ever left was when I came here a couple o' years ago to fight. Even though it has been a long time since then, I still remember the gods-awfully long journey to the soldier's camp. By the time I finally got to the camp, my legs were no longer sore... but numb. It took me at least two hours to walk normally again. You shoulda seen the other men's faces when they saw me walking like some sorta fuckin' ape."
His words immediately made everyone forget Iris's earlier question, even General Zayn, as he seemed to chuckle at Ra's story.
"Isn't Chamberley at the far northwestern corner of the country?" asked Shen curiously, "If I'm not mistaken, I can imagine it took you longer than a month. How did you make it in one piece?"
Ra then let out a laugh of his own. "You would be right. And, three months and eleven days... to be exact."
Iris's eyes bugged after hearing that. Gods, that was a long time.
She wondered how Ra was still sane after an adventure like that.
"I am from Galvania," Shen chimed in, "It's a rather large city that I am sure some of you have heard of. While I may not have a very interesting story to share like all of you seem to so far... I've seen my fair share of hardships. I lived with my uncle for most of my childhood and all of my adolescent years because my father died doing the very thing I am doing now... fighting a war. As far as my mother goes, I know nothing of her. She died giving birth to me," he looked down, "I wish I could have known her. The years my father was here, he told me many great things about her..."
Iris understood his situation... as she no longer had a mother.
"But, that is all I wish to divulge for now. What of you, Jehrth?"
At that moment, she zoned out from the small-talk happening around her and began to think of erratic things that had no relation to anything going on around her, or in her life in general. As she thought of one thing after another, she could hear them speaking for a long while... though she wasn't sure exactly what they were saying, until one of them finally addressed her.
"Ingred, where are you from?"
She snapped out of her stupor and had to think for a moment before replying.
"I'm from the village of Eda, which is not far from here. In fact, I passed through this very clearing to get to the camp," she paused briefly. "It's... large."
"Well good," said Ra, "I fuckin' hate trees. Too many bugs."
"Eda?" the general looked backwards at Iris, "I've been there a time or two before. Actually had a good friend there. Unfortunately, he was an older man. He passed away a few years back. I was not close enough to attend his funeral service, but I wish I could've been. His name was Herins. Herins Regis. Perhaps you have heard of him?"
Iris picked at her brain after his name rang a bell, but couldn't find where she knew it from. "I've heard of him. I don't remember where."
"Ah, I would tell you more about him, but he didn't really speak of his life before he became a soldier. He had to be a good fifty years older than you, Ingred," the general then proceeded to ask a question, "How old are you? If I had to guess, I'd say twenty two."
She almost chuckled at him. "Close. I am three moons from twenty one."
"Ah... well, you are a tad young for war, then?"
"So were you," Iris said indignantly, not wanting her youth to cloud the other soldier's judgment of her. She bit her tongue after saying that, hoping that her statement wouldn't anger him. She watched as his shoulders shook with silent laughter. Of all responses, she had not expected this one.
"That I was," he said. "Age is a number, and naught else. Any avid man can become something great if he aspires it."
Iris put her foot in her mouth.
What of an avid woman? She couldn't help but think to herself.What would you say if you knew that I was one? Would you be so supporting of me if you knew that I am instead Iris Gwenneth, the standalone daughter of Elliot Gwenneth, not Ingred Gwenneth?
"Well thank you, General. Your comment gives me hope," she finally said. It was almost the truth.
"You must've already had some degree of hope," Zayn pointed out. "You worked hard at camp. I'm not sure if I ever caught anyone else exercising after midnight. If that's not dedication, I couldn't tell you what is. In that regard, even I could stand to be more like you."
This comment was one that made her feel warm inside of her belly. "Was that the reason you picked me? Because you saw me training after midnight?"
"It was one reason," he said. "You were determined, skilled, and a very quick learner, by what I saw in training. I noticed that. You took care to set yourself even further apart from the rest of the camp by getting that arrow down. I figured you were a good bet."
She nodded her head humbly, trying her hardest not to let his compliments go to her head. She wanted to remain true to her heart, no matter what was to come.
"I chose all of you because I believe you to be some of the best of what you do. So, in turn, I expect nothing than your best effort here," he made sure to add. "And please don't get yourselves killed."
Everyone nodded even though the general was not looking for their answers. After a few more minutes of listening to the horse's hooves stamp the hard earth underneath them, Iris's curiosity finally got the best of her."Will we pass through Eda?" She tried her best to hide her fear of visiting her hometown.
"No," said the general, "We'll be going through Morthrior a little to the west of here. We'll travel another mile or so and then cut that way," he gestured toward a copse of trees off a little ways in the distance. "We'll pass through the forest there. It's a pretty big one, so I imagine we'll be spending a night out in there. If the gods are good, we'll make it to Morthrior by noon tomorrow."
This made Shen, Ra, and even Jehrth groan.
"More bugs," Ra grumbled. "Gods damn it."
The general cut him a look. Iris glanced back, almost amused. When she looked back, she still saw Kayde's dark figure riding behind them and wondered if any of the soldiers had thought of him in a long while. She turned back around.
She knew that she sure had. In her head, she bid him to stay safe back there.
----
The group approached the forest by sunset, and as the general predicted, they ended up setting up camp there, rolling their bedrolls out in a somewhat clear area and tying their horses to nearby trees in order for them to rest. Iris was the only one to stay an extra moment and pet Gretchen. While she did this, she looked around for Kayde. Ever since they had reentered a wooded area, he had disappeared from the road again. This time, she had no lingering doubt in her mind that he was lurking about somewhere -watching them.
"Ingred, Ra, and Dregar... let's got some firewood," the general commanded and then shifted his gaze to the archers, "You two. Hunt for food."
No one questioned the general's orders, as they were all very hungry. The archers darted off quickly on the order. It took a few minutes, but Iris and the rest of her small group began picking amongst the trees, grabbing up armfuls of wood. It was long, brutal work, especially for Iris. Her arms were weaker than any of the others, so she had to make more trips to the campsite to chuck the firewood onto the pile. While she was more than conscious of this, none of the other men seemed to even notice, let alone care.
She still wished to be stronger no matter if they paid her any mind or not. So with each load of firewood, she would try and carry more and more. It got to the point where her arms were stinging from the weight of the branches. When it reached this point, she still carried on with what she was doing, albeit trying not to sweat too much.
Eventually, though, her efforts did pay off. They were able to efficiently gather all the wood they would need for the fire.
Shen and Jehrth were still not back by the time the wood was neatly stacked. They weren't even back by the time Ra managed to get the fire steadily going. In fact, it had grown dark before they finally arrived, both dragging a dead elk behind them. Iris was a little disgusted at the sight before her, as the elk was leaving a decent sized trail of blood in his wake, but she knew that it would be fine once it was cooked.
"Good work," the general commended them for their hard work before dragging it the rest of the way. Immediately, Dregar was using a small knife in his possession to clean it.
Iris wrinkled her nose when he first cut into it.The stench of a dead animal was putrid, to say the least. After a while though, when she got used to it, it wasn't so bad.
Dregar made the final cuts to the mean about a half hour after he began cleaning it. After doing so, the men and Iris all made small talk as it was roasting above the fire. Everything seemed to be going well for a long time, and the meat didn't seem to take very long to cook.
However, the slight merriment of the men vanished when they heard it...
The sound was unmistakable, even to an untrained ear, and it chilled everyone, even Zayn, to their very bones.
"Ah, hell," Ra said. "There's fuckin' wolves in these woods."