章 11: The march
Walking through the field of bodies I hung close to Itch. The recent matters still hung in my mind.
We approached the red baron who now stood over a mountain of gore. His red fur is slick with crimson blood. An almost crazed look seemed to reflect in his large black eyes. An intimidating sight to say the least.
Itch cautiously walked up to the beast.
"It seems war was closer than yous believed lordses"
He received an amused smirk from the red creature
"Those fucking green bastards. It was Thorn who ordered this attack. That scummy bastard."
A hypocritical statement seeing as we rats are known for our stealth ambushes but for some reason, I did not feel like pointing this out to the crazed, blood-soaked, 3-metre monster who now stood in front of me.
"Agreed mys lords"
"Gather together your project Itch and prepare to march, We head to the forward camp"
The name project sat uneasily in me but I was not prepared to protest. It had been a long enough day already.
We began gathering together the still-standing members of the squad. Those who were dead would be left to rot. The same ending all rat men got.
No tears were shed for the losses. Rather some rats looked happy. The death of Splinter had left a distinct power gap many were more than ready to jump into.
After a while the ranks had reformed and we were ready to move.
The moon hung still hung high in the sky and only the occasional torch lit up the surrounding area. My dark vision seemed useless for such a deep and haunting darkness.
Sounds rang through the great forest each more disturbing than the other. Itch had promised us few animals would mess with such a large host. The words few still haunted me.
The vibrant greens and warm sunlight that beckoned us during our first march were replaced with the dull orange light originating from the torches and a frigid wind that stung like small daggers slicing at my skin.
The misery was only enhanced by the slow trickle of water that fell from the sky. Rain it was called. Or at least that's what one of the older rats next to me had called it. I hated it. It was cold and hung to my body. My one insulating fur had become a soaked mess.
The one hard dirt beneath us had become soft mud sucking my feet down into it.
I felt defenceless. An ambush here would be the death of us.
That fucking stupid red bastard would be out of death.
I kept trudging forward now with renewed vigour. Safety would be found at the forward camp. That was the only way.
leaving the group would mean death. Beasts do not attack a horde of rats but a singular rat would be an easy meal in such pitch black.
The slow trudging continued for several more hours.
A slow growl erupted from one of the bushes behind me. Unable to see my ears had perked up listening to the distinct noises in the forest.
A muffled screech followed by a dragging sound came from the same direction. Then silence.
Only the younger rats seemed to take notice. The older rats gave nothing more than a grim look and continued walking. Itch began muttering.
"Stupid bastards probably wents for a piss"
He continued trudging.
It took us several more hours of marching to finally see the flickering lights of the forward camp ahead.
5 minutes later we were at its gates.
It put the first fortress to shame. Its huge wooden palisade had rats with huge stationary bows armed with gigantic arrows.
A ballista Itch had called it.
The gate swung open to reveal three of the other members present on the tribunal. The two rats on the black and red throne and the weird-looking creature who sat on the wooden throne.
They marched off alongside Itch and the red baron into a huge tent in the middle of camp as seen as we got into the camp.
The rest of us began walking around exploring the new location.
The camp was nowhere near big enough for the full might of our clan. Only around 50 tents could be seen scattered around the fortress.
Amidst my thinking, I spotted a small hand extend from the dirt and crawl its way out. A few rats followed the first one out and wandered towards the large campfire that stood in the middle of the camp.
It made sense. We rats were efficient diggers and a rain of fire arrows would be almost useless against a force who resided underground.
Moving over the now open hole I began burrowing down.
Reaching the bottom it opened into a huge excavated area. Several of the luminous gems present in the clan hole were dotted on the room.
Passageways and holes littered the cavern. Looking down one I saw two rats seemingly huddled up together asleep.
So this is how so many rats could fit in such a small fort. They used burrows to house the smaller rats.
The first camp must not have used it due to lack of time and had to small of a population for it to be needed. Only the larger and more important rats stayed above ground.
Finding a discreet corner I began digging. Clawing at the dirt before packing it back into the walls of my quickly developing hole.
In about ten minutes my hole was around 2 metres. I dug a little room at the bottom and began settling down.
While I had enjoyed the bed this felt much more natural compared to the tent I had slept in.
I picked out a corner with a particularly soft part of dirt and flopped down. It had been a long day. Although the sun had started rising just as we reached camp I thought it necessary to at least catch up on some sleep after the long march and fighting.
Closing my eyes I felt my consciousness leak away.
My dreams were darker today. A sea of blood, endless and calm. I flailed around desperately before sinking in. Transitioning into a field of bodies. Splinter lay dead on the floor. I approached the dead body and stood over it.
Suddenly the floor opened beneath me. I fell for what felt like days.
Finally, I awoke.
I began to stand however nothing.
I could not. Pushing myself further I desperately tried to move. No reaction.
I felt like a spectator in my own head.
Finally, my eyelids began to open.
White lights blinded my eyes as they fluttered open.
The room in front slowly cleared up. It was a strange place. Something completely unfamiliar. A white stained room with a wooden door seemingly several 100 metres tall. terror filled my body.
Where was I?
The door let out a slow creaking sound as it opened disrupting my train of thought.
Right as the door began to open the scene around me shattered.
I bolted up from the mud bed I had created when I fell asleep. My breathing was rapid and exasperated.
A dream. That was all it was. My heart calmed as I began to move my joints testing if I could move.
God damn dreams.
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