*Warning-strong language
The dawn was breaking once more in the Krenshai Caverns, but it did not instill hope in the soldiers like usual. Yesterday, the battle looked as if it had been won in the Eldian favor... but now, the soldiers weren't so sure that they would ever see the end of it. For as the sun rose, a massive battalion of Token soldiers marched on the caverns to meet the remaining men in battle.
The Eldian hope, once strong standing, was now shattered into nothing but fragments. These elite men were clad in exquisite armor and seemingly well trained. Anyone that watched their confident stride and disciplined march knew that these enemies were different than the ones that they had encountered before. It was as if the Tokenmaster had saved the best for last. What a fucking nightmare.
Even with the desperation, the Eldian soldiers formed the line once more, preparing for the coming onslaught. As they waited, they were able to see the desolation. There were so many good men... dead, laying within and in front of them. So much bloodshed. And now there would be more.
Seeing the new opponents, Sergeant Tusal rode in front of the men and raised his sword.
"Do not lose hope!" he shouted to them, "Hold the line!"
The men listened.
"These are the men that burned your villages! These are the men that slaughtered your families! They want to kill your fathers! They want to burn your houses, and fuck your daughters and sisters and mothers! They want to slit your throats and dance on your corpses!" the sergeant yelled, "I don't know about all of you, but no one fucks my mother while I'm breathing! Show them how we Eldians stand! Show them we will fight until our last gods damned breath. Show them that we will bleed them as long as they choose to do the same to us! Push them out of the Caverns!"
Some of the men shouted in agreement.
"That's what I like to hear!" he rode out in front of them. "So, for the gods' sake, form the line! If we die, we drink with the gods tonight!"
The men shouted now, feeling slightly invigorated, and began raising their weapons to the sky.
"Swords at ready!" he called. "Archers... nock! Volley!" On that command, hundreds of arrow tore across the field into the Tokens.
Sergeant Tusal now turned toward the oncoming force, heart pounding with a combination of rage... and of adrenaline. But not of fear. Never of fear. "Get ready!" he called.
"Ready yourselves to charge!" he yelled, "Ready yourselves to defend all that you ever held dear. All that you care about! Because tonight, we're all fucking heroes! Do you hear me? We're heroes! Songs will be sung about this day, so don't you come away with a clean sword!"
"Fight for your gods!" he shouted, and signaled the charge. "For your general!"
"Fight for your lands. Fight for your country."
As the Eldians stormed mightily towards the Tokens, the Eldian horn was blown. It was deep. It was fearless. It shook the ground along with the soldier's powerful stampede. The men knew that they could die today... that this might be the day that the Eldian army fell... but they were ready. Ready to fight for everything they had.
And, like the sergeant encouraged, they were ready to make their stand... even if it was their very last.
----
Iris got up the next morning and readied herself to leave for Wallfront as quickly as possible. As tired as she was, she knew that she had to hurry. Everyone in the group had gotten a message from General Zayn that they would be leaving in an hour. That message came half an hour ago. After she bathed, ate her fruit, and put on her armor, she went to the inn's lobby... hoping she didn't look terribly rough. However, she knew the hope was nothing but that... hope. Gods, she was tired.
She was the third there, including the general.
"Mornin', Ingred," Ra greeted.
"Good morning to you as well," she replied with a small smile. With a pat on the back, Ra kept speaking.
"Are you ready for all of this to be over?" he asked, making conversation, "Because we're getting closer."
"Yes, of course," Iris replied quickly, not sure whether or not it was the truth or not, "And we are getting closer, aren't we. Soon enough, we'll be leaving Wallfront and heading for the fortress. Isn't that what you told us, general?" she asked. In that moment, he snapped out of his current stupor.
"What?"
"After Wallfront, we're headed straight for the fortress. Right?"
"You are correct," he answered after a minute, "You will have to forgive me for my incoherence; I was lost in thought."
"It's fine," she said, and then turned back to Ra.
He didn't say anything else to her that morning. Instead, he just watched quietly as his scouting group assembled in front of him. Well, his scouting group and Kayde. All of them seemed ready to head out... but they still had a good ten minutes. The horses needed to be packed up, to be true... but hopefully that would only take a couple of the aforementioned minutes.
Wordlessly, Zayn led them out to their mounts. He gave his a small pet on the nose before swiftly placing his things in the saddlebags.
"Don't worry," he whispered to the animal, "You'll get a real break soon."
And then, he looked over at the rogue, who was still busy with her items. He noticed immediately that she looked tired. Her eyes were slightly red, and there were a few locks of hair that fell from her topknot. He wondered if she had gotten much sleep last night. From what he knew of her, he doubted it. After a moment, he went over to help her.
"Need something?" she asked, sparing a glance over his way.
"I was about to ask you the same thing. I'm done with my things," he told her. This made her smile a little bit.
"Am I being slow?"
"No. By any means, I just figured you might need help," he said, with an expressionless face.
"I'm hardly in need. But... if you want to help me, who am I to reject it?" she faced him, smiling slightly, "I thank you, general."
And with that, he helped her load the rest of her things. It didn't take long to finish up, especially with the help that he was giving her. Before she was able to get on her mare, the general spoke to her again.
"Tired, Ingred?" he asked lightly.
"Yes," the rogue answered, "Is it that obvious, sir?"
"Your eyes look like you haven't slept in well over a week. Maybe more. They're bloodshot. Maybe you should start learning to sleep at night," he told her, "Not to mention... the rest of you looks rather haggard."
"Always a fine compliment to receive," she said with a smirk.
Zayn rolled his eyes as she climbed up on Gretchen's saddle. Of course she would take it that way, he thought to himself. Gods, he wished right now that he had spent more time among women. He had not the slightest clue how to speak to them.
"I'm not meaning to be an ass, I--" he began, but was interrupted.
"I know," she nodded, "I was only jesting. Of course I look worn, I've been on the road for weeks now. You should see yourself." Her comment made him look down at himself. Besides his armor being slightly dull, he saw no problem. He then looked back up at her to find her looking very amused. He shook his head and got on his horse.
After a minute, they began riding on the road once more. Iris rode beside Kayde, and the both of them were placed behind Zayn. As soon as Kayde got the chance to look at her, he motioned to his face, and then watched for her reaction.
"What?" she mouthed.
"You have hair in your face, Ingred."
She nodded at his words, now finding the stray hairs that had fallen out of line, and figured that that had probably been one of the reasons the general had said what he had. Of course, with that, she was actually tired. Even though she had slept last night, she wished she could have stayed in bed longer this morning. It seemed as if all this constant riding and fighting was finally getting to her. With a sigh, she pulled her hair free of her topknot in order to fix it. In this, she was careful not to look behind her at the other soldiers. Yet, that didn't stop Ra from commenting.
"Man, that's some hair you got there, boy," the warrior chatted good-naturedly from behind her, "How long has it been since you've had a cut?"
This caused Zayn to look back at her. When he did, he noticed that it had definitely grown out since the last time he had seen it down. It fell past her shoulders now, a loose curl forming at the bottom. She did her best to look amused and pull it back up, but the general could tell that he was most likely making her nervous, as if she expected for him to call her out. General Zayn just turned back around, pretending not to notice that she looked very much like a woman.
"Believe it or not, it's hard to schedule such things when you're on the road constantly. Not to mention," she continued, tying the piece of twine securely around her hair, "Kayde has longer hair than me."
This made everyone laugh and look towards Kayde. She was right, after all, his sleek black hair stretched far down his back.
After her topknot was secure again, she turned her gaze on her mentor.
"It better?" she mouthed inaudibly. Kayde nodded slightly.
"You're right in that," Ra said, "Hey guardian, you almost have as much hair as me."
Iris knew that this was a joke without even looking back. After all, despite the thick beard, Ra was bald. Everyone seemed to chuckle at this, even Jehrth. Iris was happy to hear the archer laugh, if even only a little. After all, she was sure he was going through a lot with the death of his father. She knew for a fact that she would be torn apart had her father faced the same fate.
That's the whole reason I'm here after all, she reminded herself.
"How long should it take to get to Wallfront, sir?" Shen asked Zayn, changing the subject. Everyone seemed to quieten down at this.
"Not too terribly long," the general answered calmly, "But it might feel like it. Here soon, with all that is going on, the scenery may not be the nicest thing. The Tokens seemed to have plagued our southernmost borders the most. In fact, there are a good bit of smaller villages around Wallfront that are destroyed. We will pass through them on our way. In fact, we should be seeing one rather soon. Very soon. Be prepared for that. I guarantee you that it is not a pretty sight."
"Is the borders where everything started?" Dregar asked, "Why haven't they claimed Wallfront? It is far south."
"Naturally," the general spoke, "Considering Garhemia is to the south of Eldia. And as far as Wallfront... it would be too risky for them, at least right now. After all, Wallfront is a sizable city. But not only that... it's also a pretty stout military base. They wouldn't be able to claim it without a huge battalion, which they need for the battle in Krenshai."
"I see."
"How are things faring on our front lines?" Iris asked.
"I couldn't tell you," he replied, "The last I heard, we had the upper hand. But time has passed since then."
"When will you hear more?"
"Whenever my messenger comes back with information. If I had to guess, he'll most likely make another round to the Caverns soon."
"So... we will know soon?" she asked.
"Possibly. But I doubt it. Remember, I told him to not go into Garhemia. If he does not arrive before we cross the borders, which is plausible, then we will not know until our mission is over."
"Considering that we come back..." the other swordsman answered simply, as if he were talking about the weather instead of the possibility of death.
"Ah... you are right in that."
After that, no one said anything for some time. For the next hour, everyone rode in silence, even Iris and Kayde. If the rogue had to guess, she would say that the group was pondering over the last words of Dregar and the general. Yet, she wasn't thinking about death, or the chance of it. After all, she'd done enough of that for a lifetime... and she was only in her very early twenties.
In fact, she contemplated breaking the silence as they were riding up a steep hill. But... before she could say anything, they arrived at the top of it. Now, she was quietened by the view up here. There was a small village -if you could call it that anymore... it was burnt to the ground- that she could see a little ways into the distance. This must have been the place that Zayn was referring to earlier. He was absolutely right when he said it wasn't pretty. It wasn't even bearable.
Iris knew, even without being too close or seeing the dead bodies that surely were rotting within the tarnished and skeletal place, that this was nothing but wrath.
Wrath and sheer desolation.
"I've looked upon this place before," the general spoke, his voice soft, "It was months ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday."
Silence followed for a moment.
"This used to be the merchant village of Ramarath."