Chapter 23

They explained the plans with the old Foreman. Slowly the old man came to life hearing what they intended. The Captain was sure to emphasize the parts about attacking the orcs from the base they were to build. After an hour of talking the old man stood up from his chair and swayed slowly.

"What are we waiting for then. Let's get to work!" He said confidently, but he was too drunk and grabbed the table for support.

The Captain gripped the old mans arm. "That's just what we needed to hear. First, we need to get you cleaned up. Your not exactly in building condition."

The old man tried to wave him off, but slowly slumped back into his seat. A slight snore sounded in the room as the old man passed out.

"Are we sure that this guy can actually be a Foreman?" The Major asked with a sneer.

"We can only hope so. It's not like we have any options right now." The Lady replied with a sigh.

"I think it will work out." The Captain said putting an arm around the mans waist. He called over another soldier to help him carry the Foreman out of the tavern. "I saw a flame light up in his eyes. Passion still burns in him and I know the feeling."

The two ladies glanced at each other with "What's he talking about?" look. However, they didn't say anything and followed them out of the tavern. Once they loaded him up into the cart they headed back to the Vendor to make note that the Foreman had agreed to the job.

By the time everything was said and done it was well into the afternoon. They returned to the military base just in time for the standard dinner time in the mess hall. After making sure that the Foreman was taken care of the Captain informed everyone that they would be leaving to go back by midday or the following day if need be. The soldiers seemed disappointed, they had been taking easy at the base.

The rest of the evening everyone treated it as a rest day. The Mustang Company troops went off to meet up with old friends or to relax in the barracks. Everyone that is except for the Captain.

Rather than joining anyone to relax he went straight to the back of the military base and went to the sparring grounds. Taking off his sword he exchanged it for a wooden sword that weighed roughly the same. Going over he a test dummy that was staked into the ground, he tightened up his armor in preparation. Once feeling that everything was secured did he then start his practice.

"Can't let myself get out of practice." The Captain though to himself.

He hacked, slashed and stabbed at the dummy for several hours. No other soldiers came to practice and he ended up having the training grounds all to himself. As such, he ended up trying out several difficult moves that he had been thinking about.

Helgrath's attacks were faster than him last time. He couldn't loose to him again, not when his daughters relationship was at stake. So he had to change his approach and rather than attacking head on in a straight forward manner. Instead he would focus on his speed and counter strikes.

Eventually the night wore on and the Captain had to put the training to rest. He did remember to wash himself off after the training. He wouldn't want to appear before anyone like he had earlier.

He went back to his room to sleep. Only he found that the night was going to be another long one. He couldn't stop thinking about what his ex-wife had said to him. The mistakes he had made and hurt her. The grief and remorse kept him up all night.

The morning soon came and he sleepily got ready for the day. Rounding up the Mustang Company he got everything ready to leave.

"Captain." The Lady Mayor said as they were preparing to leave the military base. "We should go over to the Labor Vendor to see if anyone has signed up to work. If there are people ready to go we could probably take them with us."

"That will be fine." The Captain said wiping at his sleepy eyes.

"Let's get this over with already." The Foreman called out from the back of the cart. "My old bones hate to travel. Road workers don't seem to know how to make road smooth. I on the other hand can make wall as smooth as glass." He finished going on to grumble about something else. He was still getting over his hangover and the others decided to let him be.

"Don't worry Foreman. The trip is not long. If all goes well we can be there in under a full day of travel." The Captain replied mounting his horse.

"It better not take longer." The Forman grunted unhappily.

After leaving the base they headed straight for the vendor. Again they left early in the morning and the market crowd was still quite thin. When the Vendor saw them coming back he appeared a bit surprised.

"I was not expecting you all back so soon." The Vendor called out to them in his nasally voice. "I don't know how you got the Foreman to work for you, but that's not what surprises me. You actually have a dozen men that have signed on to work." The Vendor said pointing across the street. There were several roughly dressed men with travel backpacks on. Some of them looked like they had seen better days.

The Vendor continued. "They all said that they were let off early from another job and need employment right away. So I recommend your job and these are the ones willing to work."

"Wonderful!" The Captain said looking over the men. "At least now we can get started on the basics of the base and get it prepared for future workers."

"Captain, I don't think they all can fit in my cart. We are going to need to buy another." The Lady Mayor whispered to him.

"That's not a problem we can buy another." The Captain replied cheerily.

After speaking with the new hires and figuring out their situation were they soon able to leave. It turned out that though these workers were not overly skilled they all claimed to know how to do a little of everything when it came to construction. The Foreman tested their knowledge and confirmed that they did indeed know what to do.

"It seems the old man indeed still has some worth to him." The Captain though to himself. "Seems like things are going to work out after all."

They ended up buying two additional carts and one of them the filled with tools and other building materials to get them started. When they finally left the town it's was just before noon. So the sun was bright and the sky was clear. A warm breeze gently blew through the fields of barley that lined their path. It appeared as if an invisible hand was petting the landscape with every hush of wind.

The green smudge of the forest to the north loomed ever closer. At the pace they were traveling at it looked as if they would have to hurry if they were to make it to their destination before dark.The cart carrying the Lady Mayor and the Foreman was traveling along side the Captain and Major at the front of the line.

"Captain, I have been reviewing the finances for this project based on what the Generals orders allocated." The Lady said after a while. She then held up a paper that had various numbers written on it. "If you look here I think we can spend less money of food than anticipated. If we leave more soldiers at my town they can eat there and us not have to pay a huge sum for food transportation to the new fort."

"That might be doable." The Captain said trying to read the paper from horseback. "If we can save some money from that than we better move it to stone mining. I don't want to use to much wood for the walls. It's to easy for the orcs to burn down."

"Alright I'll make note of that." The Lady said. She took a pen out to carefully scrawl out the note on the paper as the cart bounced along. The went on to discuss other financial options for quite awhile. The Foreman even pointed out several things that needed to have been added every now and then.

The Major silently watched the three talk. The feeling of her uselessness creeped in again. She wasn't much use when it came to thing like money. She needed to find some way to show her importance once again.

They finally arrived at the forest by the afternoon. The suns light was mostly blocked out by the thick green trees that grew here. It was apparent that they would probably finish their journey back in the dark.

The Captain has ridden up further to the front and he could hear the flow of water gurgling in the street up ahead. However, that was all he heard. Where were the birds?

"Something is off." The Captain muttered. Taking his hand off the reins he placed it onto the hilt of his sword and tugged it outward slightly.

The Major and a few other soldiers following close behind noticed his actions. Suddenly everyone became tense. The air in the forest thickened and every shadow seemed to hide danger.

A blurry object soundlessly dropped from the trees above the Captain! In a flash the Captain slashed upwards with his sword. A screech rang out breaking the silence. An orc was skewered onto the Captains sword right through his middle.

Out from the surrounding bushes orcs appeared out of no where.

The Captain flung the orcs body to the ground. "It's an ambush!"