Chapter 5.

Enora made her choice immediately, as she was eager to explore. She did not want to go alone though, because it was a stupid choice to voluntarily lose the strength of the group. She went to the place where Arsenio was waiting, and another woman was already there, right next to him. She looked like the kind of woman that was easy to find insufferable, with her chin high and haughty eyes. Seeing Enora, the woman said :

- You don't need to take arms miss, Arsenio and his future men will take care of everything.

It did not take a second for the answer to come.

- Go fuck yourself.

The tone was flat and the voice generally calm, surprising even Enora. She did not feel annoyed as it just sounded like the best thing to say at the time. The woman wore a horrified look on her face, while Arsenio just laughed heartily, welcoming the new girl with open arms. "I really don't want to take off this armour anyway, it was annoying enough to put it on.", thought Enora to justify herself a bit. She was wearing a dark green brigandine with pauldrons and everything, over some pale shirt and chausses, with big boots. She felt quite at ease in her garments, a big shield strapped over her shoulder and a long spear in her hand. She also had a short sword at her waist and a small bag with the bare essential for everyday life. Not much food though, as she guessed someone would be designated for that task.

More people came, to the point where only the oldest stayed near Kassander. Almost all the people under fifty seemed to want to DO instead of wait, which pleased Arsenio to no end. If he tried to make his smile bigger it would probably tear his ears off … He pointed to a few people with a chubby finger, saying they were going to carry most of the needed supplies for everyone. Those people didn't seem very happy with it, but Enora realised that they were the weakest and looked the most scared of the bunch, explaining why they still complied. She found a new kind of respect for Arsenio, who quickly discovered who he could use, and how.

While all of this happened, Arsenio giving orders for the journey and people going from table to table, filling the biggest backpacks, Kassander wore a defeated expression. He knew he failed at every turn to give reasons for others to listen, and he knew he couldn't do anything about it, as always, but he still said :

- Don't take so much food, we will also need to eat.

To which Arsenio only nodded with an understanding look. "Ruthless, but not monstrous.", thought Enora while observing the commotion around her. She wasn't going to take part in it, as it wasn't in her interest to carry so many things on her back and, even though she empathised with the ones assigned to do it, she felt like it would be very inefficient to ask everybody to carry a part of the resources. It took surprisingly little time to gather supplies for three dozen people, as they were about to leave just under the half-hour given by Arsenio.

One last look from the leader and his followers towards the loser of this whole event, and they all left. And as they did, Enora noticed the absence of the skinny guy she saw taking one the weird books earlier. He was not with her, and one look sufficed to check Kassander's disappointed pack. "Where the hell is he ? I wanted to talk to him …", she thought with wide eyes, taking in the idea that maybe he left alone while nobody watched. That was a bold move if anything. "Well, it's not that important anyway. Let's get going.".

The new tunnel, way bigger than the previous one, saw all those armed and determined men and women steadily advancing in its depth. Regularly, an opening on the ceiling would appear, with bright blue light illuminating the travellers. Looking directly at the source of this light felt like staring at the sun : painful and stupid. The fifteen meters wide meandering rocky corridor slowly but steadily narrowed to ten meters, then seven, forcing everyone to squeeze themselves and form a long line of five people side by side. It, however, did not slow their pace, and not two hours had passed before a junction appeared. Four different directions : far left, as in almost going back, front left, straight ahead and right.

To Enora, this was not just a choice : it was a huge problem. "This looks like the beginning of a headache if no one is careful.". A headache to which Arsenio responded with a shrug towards the closest people around. He was about to go randomly until Enora interjected.

- Someone took a compass ? I saw some on one of the tables earlier.

After a few moments of silence, one of the carriers slowly raised a hand, to which Enora answered with a stretched hand without even looking at him.

- And something to write and write on ?

Again, the same guy raised his hand. A single gaze was enough to make him give everything to her. Then she turned to Arsenio and said :

- We need to make sure we're not going in circles and mark the tunnels we choose for each branch. Drawing a map is the best way.

- Can you do it ?, gravely answered the leader.

- I can., she said, firm in voice and stare.

It was clear that Arsenio took her way more seriously, as he had not thought of the eventuality of getting lost. He was not a stupid man, but not everyone would automatically think about everything right out the gate, especially some partly amnesic person. He respectfully nodded towards Enora and waited for the time she needed to draw a quick sketch of the area, then mark the passage he had chosen.

- Let's get back to it people, don't be pussies so early 'cause the break is not here yet !, declared the fat man while advancing.

Most of those whispering a grunt of complaint were the carriers. However, none actually said anything, choosing to follow instead. "Yeah … pussies.", thought Enora. She did not blame or mock them as they were clearly not strong-willed enough to argue back. They, however, had what could be called a duty towards the group, and if they could not even complain, honouring it was their best course of action. It was also helpful for everyone. It was not really the law of the strong, just division of labour.