Operation Witless part 2

I walked out of the tent and sat at the small fire not far away, joining the half dozen or so somewhat important figures that comprised this small expedition. Tyran was amid a conversation with his second and third in command as he polished his blade. My own second and third were busying themselves with talking with the quartermaster. Food, an ever-present concern as we were for all porpuses having to live off the land.

I settled on the log opposite Tyran and watched one of the skewers roasting over the fire. Hooray, more roast sparrow, most likely with a side of hardtack. The joy.

"We have at best two days of rations at the moment." The quartermaster replied to an inquiry of my third, Lucis.

Lucis was a lean figure, not prone to sudden action and a rather calculating individual. rather the opposite of my second, Drac. Drac was a somewhat simpleminded. Sure, an axe may not be the best tool for splitting rock, but if you swing it hard enough.

That line of thinking defined Drac and almost everything he did, perhaps the only thing I'd so far seen him give more than a few second of thought to was what boots he was wearing. It seemed odd, but that was just how he was.

"Get more," Drac grunted to the quartermaster. His blunt reply seemed to throw the quartermaster off for a moment while Lucis sighed.

"What could we do to relive the issue of what we'll be eating over the next few days?" Lucis rephased Drac's reply into a question, and that seemed to put the quartermaster at ease.

"If we were to stop marching too and fro we could send out a few hunting parties that may return with some decent game or forage, otherwise by tomorrow afternoon we will be forced to return to Hadran." The quartermaster stated.

"We're nearly out of food?" Tyran asked, suddenly butting into the conversation.

"No, Yes," Drac muttered darkly, this was followed by another of Lucis's sighs.

"Not yet knight Tyran." Lucis said.

Tyran began to say something but before he uttered a word a gray slate appeared and floated in front of him, not an instant later another appeared before me.

"Shit." Tyran cursed.

Ding! You have been given a quest! The Bandit lord's wrath, (+1 other recipient). The local bandit lord has decided to kill those that have been killing all of his men. Survive the attacks.

I paled, who could this bandit lord be? The idea that the meager groups we had slowly been eradicating were working together was a terrifying prospect.

"Elizabeth?" Tyran spoke slowly, his eyes scanning the grey slate. "Are you the one mentioned as the other recipient?"

"You were also been granted this quest by the goddess?" I asked. There were already too many variables.

Tyran sighed, for a moment he looked as if he was about to sink into despair. But after a few moments passed his face brightened considerably. "Well, at least we don't have to go far for them to find us!" He declared with extraordinary zeal.

"What do you mean by that?" I looked at the quest again. Wait, there it was, survive the attacks.

"We'll turn this into our own little hill 731." Tyran said with a maniacal grin. "Alpha one, get the entrenchment tools broken out. We'll be here for a while."

In the darkness Tyran and I walked the perimeter of the hill, observing its weaknesses. We would need to shore up our defenses. Why Einhov's men had brought shovels had been a confusion at first, but at the moment it was a hidden god-send.

They set to work, digging trenches and creating crude breastworks. The northern slope gave way to a deep ravine, protecting this flank would at best be a waste of our limited resources. At the foot of the western slope was a swiftly running stream, it was at it's deepest waist deep, but depending upon how long this battle may or may not last, it was vital to have access to fresh water.

Naturally food was also a large concern and even though the sun was setting those that could were foraging near the hillock for anything remotely edible, berries, roots, and nuts. anything to help build up a supply.

Of course the eastern and southern slopes were the easiest to scale, so that was certainly where an attack would come from. So that was where Einhov's men dug. Shallow trenches appeared all across the hill, little more than hindrances, but something to slow the foe.

The night was long, I made my way back to my tent and slept, there was no need to force myself to stay awake a whole night, it was simply not possible. If anything happened I'm sure the ruckus would stir me.