At long last, Dieter had finally found his way back to his camp.
Absolutely exhausted and craving a good drink and a warm bed, it had been more than two weeks since he left to raid the cannibal’s camp.
Unlike that grotesque behemoth, even he had his limits.
He arrived alone, as his men had all died screaming, shred apart and devoured by lunatic beasts.
Apparently he had been spotted by one of his own numerous scouts, as Lukk was already waiting for him by the entrance with two high-quality bottles of alcohol in his hands.
Hands outstretched to his sides, Lukk wore an enormous smile on his face as he watched Dieter arrive.
‘Brother!’ He bellowed while laughing.
Despite being in a very foul mood, his good friend’s enthusiasm still managed to crack a slight smile on Dieter’s tired face.
‘I’m glad to see you’re still in one piece, my friend,’ Dieter said as Lukk handed him one of the beverages.
‘Let us speak of our victories inside,’ Lukk spoke as he swung one of his bear-like arms around Dieter’s much smaller frame.
The camp was nothing special, and had been quickly set up for the sole purpose of hosting the raid.
It was an old farm with a handful of houses surrounding it, not quite worthy to be called a village just yet.
Its twenty or so inhabitants had been treated with respect but kept mostly to themselves while his men had used their homes as shelter, and one of the big barns as the main centre of operations.
From the outside no one would be able to guess that this unremarkable locale hosted around fifty men consisting of soldiers, strategists, crow-keepers, medics and scouts.
Of course, that was after they had lost over two-thirds of their manpower since the very start of this operation.
A silver lining, Dieter thought.
They settled on a bench behind one of the houses.
Watching over the nearby river they sat in silence for a while, sipping on their expensive drinks while cherishing the exquisite taste.
‘I hate to sound ungrateful,’ Dieter started.
‘But do we have anything to eat as well?
My stomach has been lacking proper food for weeks now.’
Lukk didn’t answer but nodded, as a servant girl arrived right on queue to bring them both freshly baked deer flesh, together with some greens.
All presented on decorated plates with the silverware handed to them afterwards.
‘I thought a celebration was in order,’ Lukk started as he was meticulously picking some of the vegetables out after which he discarded them to the ground.
‘Command seems to be happy, at least,’ Dieter sighed while cutting his meat into more edible pieces.
‘You have been contacted by command while chased by the Great Devourer?’ Dieter could hear the surprise in his voice.
‘They have their ways, I suppose.
But I haven’t heard much aside from that.
Nothing about the ongoing siege of Rijen or Diederik’s performance, nothing about those recent uprisings in the Anderslanden, and certainly nothing about the diplomatic talks between us and those degenerate Balgens.
Truthfully, they have only spoken on two subjects.’
They ate some more before they continued their conversation.
Lukk had already finished his plate while Dieter was barely halfway through his.
Lukk handed his plate to the servant girl while he was looking increasingly impatient.
‘So,’ he burped loudly while he slumped down further with a hand over his filled stomach.
‘What did they say?’ Dieter looked amused at his friend.
‘They told me you’ve finally found love again in your old age.’
Lukk suppressed another burp with his hand.
‘Not quite.
And you know not to joke about it.
But no, I have sworn myself to be the warden of that poor girl we saved.
Her name’s Cornelia, by the way.’ Ever the father figure, Dieter thought to himself.
‘So has she told you anything of import about herself yet, now that you two have seemingly grown so close?
Actually, before that, how has her recovery been?’
‘Very good, actually.
She’s still as skinny as a corpse, but she no longer looks as unhealthy as one.
Fernand truly stands unrivaled in the healing arts, I’ll tell you that much.
In fact, she took great interest in his work and is now helping him as his new, albeit knowledge-lacking assistant.
He had been in need of one since his previous apprentice died during our raid.
According to Old Fer’ she is catching on quite quickly.
He has been very impressed so far.’
‘Well, that’s good then.
I was not looking forward to hearing Fernand’s complaints about me having forced the boy with us leading to understaffing.’ Lukk shook his head.
‘No, the old man is still very angry with you.
He will never say it to your face but you have crossed a line with him.
He truly cared for the boy.’
Annoyed at the mention of it, he looked Lukk straight in the eyes.
‘So I am to preserve one life over another?
This is a war, Lukk.
People die.
He speaks from a place of luxury, working safely on his craft far from the dangers of the battlefield, thinking himself somehow exempt from its terrors.
I regret that the kid died, sure, but I made the correct call by bringing him with us and I would do it again in a heartbeat.’ Lukk shrugged, clearly wanting to stay in the middle of things.
‘I understand that, but he doesn’t.’
‘They never do.
So quick are they to judge us men of violence and barbarity.
I simply do what is needed so that men and women like him can remain oblivious to the horrors that would befall on them weren’t it for men like us.’
Now properly annoyed, Dieter stood up and prepared to find a bed somewhere before his foul mood got the better of him.
‘Before you go.
What was the other news?
The real news?’ Lukk asked.
Dieter looked behind him, unamused.
‘That we should expect Abalon to not relent its chase, and that Nieuw Reikstaat will send reinforcements our way in the near future to remedy it.’
‘Oh.’ Lukk sighed and moved to lie on the bench sideways, one arm supporting his head.
‘I would have slept better if I hadn’t asked.
I suppose we’ll have to remain split up from the main army for the foreseeable future then.
Can’t risk bringing the cannibal to such an important battlefield after all.
Anyway, do you want to hear the status update on Diederik’s siege?’
Not falling for his friend’s provocation, Dieter maturely gave him the finger and left to go find a proper bed to sleep in.