Mythica, book 2, Chapter 6.

Chapter 6.

Sabine broke up the training early in the evening, letting the men eat and have some additional rest. She doubted that they slept well when inside the stockade, and if she wanted to do some additional training before the battle tomorrow, she had to cut things short tonight. Several of the men felt a bit more comfortable around her and asked about both Skrix and Orren.

She kept up the same story they had used with Councilor Emmet, that Orren had hired her and Skrix as a bodyguard. Skrix had proven deadly enough when the killed the mercenary that tried to grab Sabine’s weapons, so he was easy enough to explain as a hireling and someone they shouldn’t mess with. Hamilcar was told the same story and he didn’t press further.

While the guards and mercenaries were eating, Hamilcar left to go check on the gear for their new band. He and Sabine were both concerned that they wouldn’t have the gear in time for the men to get used to it. The perfect situation was for them to be able to train in their new weapons and gear before the end of the day. Tomorrow would be used to try and blend the two groups into a single fighting force, and having half the force unarmed wasn’t a good way to start.

“It’s bad news, isn’t it?” Sabine asked as Hamilcar approached her tent. From the scowl on his face, he was still angry over what he had heard.

“Yes, scribe Collins seems to have misplaced the mercenary’s old gear. He probably already sold it and pocketed the coin when he figured they were all going to meet the headman’s axe,” Hamilcar said.

“What about replacement gear? I’m sorry to say it, but with the losses your forces have taken, there should be some gear lying around,” Sabine asked.

“I checked the armory tent. Other than ammunition, everything there is garbage. I’ve got a couple of my boys rooting through it to find the best items they can, but it doesn’t look good,” Hamilcar told her. Sabine thought about it for a moment, this was bad news, but maybe they could use it to help bond the two groups together.

“Why don’t you round up Zeb and his squad to help your men. If they’ve got to work with junk, at least they can have some say in what you haul back. While you’re doing that, I’ll see what I can scare up. Keep an eye on the group, we don’t want them causing any trouble over at the armory,” Sabine ordered.

“I’ll get it done. My squad will also give up what they can, and I’ll check with some of the other guard sergeants that I’m friends with. I think by the end of the night we can get everyone armed, if not armored,” Hamilcar said as he left Sabine’s tent.

She couldn’t just start pulling gear out of her storage pouch without raising suspicion, so she gathered up Skrix and Orren to clue them in on the plan. Orren was going to have a chat with Collins and see if he could pry loose anything else, while Sabine and Skrix would make a show of going around the camp to look for additional gear.

Traveling about and asking the other mercenary bands didn’t turn up much. A few showed some sympathy for her predicament, and she ended up with a couple of old short swords that needed a good sharpening, two decent spears, and a pair of triangular wooden shields that were worn but still had some life in them. One of the bands, a group calling themselves Flames of Judgement, gave her a pair of surprisingly nice scimitars and lent her the use of a small hand cart to haul her finds around in.

There were the usual camp followers that trailed behind any army, selling various wares, and providing dubious services. Sabine was willing to bet that she would find her band’s old gear, as well as a lot of surplus guardsman gear there, but the prices would be exorbitant, and there would be no charity among the types of merchants that did business at the forefront of a battlefield.

While she made the rounds of the camp, she examined her storage inventory. Hamish had done a good job with the strange system that he had helped Gnessos design, and an organized list of the gear appeared in her vision when she held the storage pouch and concentrated on it. There was no way she could have carried all this without the use of a team of cargo wagons, so she was more than thankful for the little magical pouch that Gnessos had gifted her with.

Realm of the Dead storage list.

1. Copper coins, 16,785.

2. Silver coins, 3,248.

3. Gold coins, 391.

4. Assorted small gems, 61 with an average value of 9 silver.

5. Assorted jewelry, 9 pieces with an average value of 29 silver.

6. Humanoid remains, 6. Ogre remains, 1.

7. Simple foodstuffs, 141 pounds.

8. Fresh water, 150 gallons.

9. Daggers, 12.

10. Spears, 6.

11. Short swords, 4.

12. Iron bound wooden shields, 2.

13. Boiled leather breastplate, 6.

14. Studded leather breastplate and greaves, 1.

15. Chain shirt, 1.

16. Crude short bow, 1.

17. Crossbow, 1.

18. heavy chopping blade, 1.

19. Crossbow bolts, 347.

20. Arrows, 118.

21. Assorted camping gear, 100 pounds.

22. Bolts of linen cloth, 41, average value, 58 copper.

23. Bolts of silk cloth, 8, average value, 44 silver.

24. Tableware, 144 pieces. Average value, 35 copper.

25. Ornamental rugs, 11, average value 6 silver

26. Bottles of wine, 33, average value 1 silver, 40 copper.

There were a lot of trade goods that she had liberated from the orc camp, and if all else failed, maybe she could use those to barter some gear. It would be a last resort. Who knew what awaited her in Golgotia, and she was certain that they would need every bit of coin that she could wring out of those goods to fund her task. Golgotia wasn’t a pleasant place for outsiders, and more than a few bribes might be needed to prevent her team from spending time in Golgotia’s infamous dungeons.

Many of the weapons were the best of the lot that she had gathered from the orcs, which wasn’t saying much. A few of the spears, daggers, and the crossbow were items she had purchased and traded for with Hammerhead. Sabine no longer needed the crossbow, but at least a few of the mercenaries had told her they specialized in the weapon, so it and a bundle of twenty bolts went into the cart.

From her storage, she added all but one of the spears, half the daggers, the short swords, all the armor and shields, the short bow, the heavy chopping blade, and a bundle of twenty arrows, all joined the crossbow and castoff weapons in the cart. The thing was overfilled at that point, and she even loaded down Skrix with as much as he could carry. When she wheeled the cart into camp, Hamilcar and the others had returned. From the paltry pile of gear on the ground in front of them, they hadn’t had much success.

“All right everyone, get this gear organized and we’ll figure out how to distribute it,” Sabine ordered. A lot of downcast faces perked up when they saw her with the cart stuffed with gear and Skrix barely able to walk with the weapons he was carrying.

“Where did you get all this?” Hamilcar asked.

“The other mercenary bands were generous with their newest allies. What were you guys able to scrounge up?” Sabine asked.

“Five sets of leather armor, a pair of spears, a few daggers, three shields, and a mace,” Hamilcar said. The gear wasn’t great quality, and the armor had bloodstains around the spot where the previous owner had been stabbed, shot, or crushed. Still, it would provide some protection, as long as the enemy didn’t stab the exact same spot a second time.

“As your squad leaders, Raff and Zeb will get the best of the armor and first pick of weapons,” Sabine ordered, motioning the two forward where they made their selections.

Raff took the studded leather and greaves, along with one of the scimitars and a dagger. Zeb wanted the chain shirt and huge orcish chopping blade. She was kind of surprised anyone would choose it over the nicer scimitar that was left. The blade resembled a massive meat cleaver and would require a strong man using both hands to wield it. Zeb seemed strong enough to haul it around without too much effort and she wouldn’t want to be on the other end of that weapon when it hit. It was unwieldy but devastating to whoever it hit.

After the two squad leaders were organized, they alternated calling members of their squads forward to choose gear. A pair of the troop were specialists in ranged weapons, so they got the orcish short bow and Sabine’s crossbow. In the end, everyone had a decent weapon, a dagger as a backup, and some form of armor. The two archers were given daggers as a backup and were only ones without armor, the logic being that they would be in back of the formation firing, and the armor might even hamper their movement will reloading and shooting.

They weren’t identically equipped like some of the mercenary bands were, and they looked more like a mob than a finely trained force. It didn’t matter to Sabine; they were hers and she felt no small amount of satisfaction in getting them as well equipped as she could. As night fell, and the camp went to sleep, Sabine wanted to test if Councilor Emmet or Collins were having her followed.

She wanted to get in touch with Hamish, to let him know how they were progressing as well as get his advice. As much as she found him abrasive, her skeletal advisor often had good information. Sabine had Skrix trail far behind as she walked the outskirts of the camp. Sure enough, after she met back up with Skrix, he confirmed that a pair of men dressed in guardsman tunics were following her.

Skrix was at least able to say that he hadn’t smelled these two humans before. It was a relief that it wasn’t one of Hamilcar’s troops spying on her, and now that Skrix had their scent, he could keep tabs on these two if they tried to cause any problems or approached Sabine’s section of the camp. Unfortunately, it made heading out of the camp to contact Hamish too risky at this point.

She was also going to be hampered in using his aid during the battle. Skeletons or other undead suddenly appearing on the battlefield and fighting on the council’s side would easily lead to an investigation. Necromancy was forbidden and the council would burn resources to try and find the source of the undead and the necromancer that controlled them.

Councilor Emmet might not be a great military leader, but he was smart. It wouldn’t take long for him to realize that the only thing that had changed in his camp was the arrival of Sabine and that would paint her as the possible necromancer. Her Mask of False life was powerful, but she didn’t want to put it to the test under a full investigation into her specifically.

The night passed slowly for Sabine, as she didn’t need to sleep. She used her time to work out their training schedule tomorrow and review the written plan that Collins had given her. Any combat they were likely to encounter would either be in the sewers, or in the confines of the gatehouse. From the information sent over by the council. The gatehouse was built into the section of wall over the gate and had an entrance on either side.

To take the gate house, her force would first need to exit the sewers, which thankfully had a grate in a nearby alley that they would use for this purpose. Once out of the sewers, they would have to storm that section of the wall, fight their way inside, and open the gate. Once open, they would have to defend the gatehouse until friendly forces arrived to storm the city.

It could take some time for reinforcements to arrive. The assault was purposefully going to avoid that section of the wall in an effort to draw enemy forces away. When the gate opened, it would be the signal for a dedicated company of guardsmen, along with one of the mercenary bands, to break off their demonstration attack against the breach and move to support Sabine’s troops.

There was a lot that could go wrong with this plan, and they faced catastrophe if they were discovered early. Swimming the men into a cavern, even a short distance would be difficult. No doubt, many of hers and Hamilcar’s troops didn’t know how to swim and even with the guide rope to pull themselves with, there was a chance of panic. Anyone that panicked would likely be lost and drowned before someone could aid them.

After the difficult swim, they would have to traverse the cavern and sewers. Their only guide was a crudely drawn map and the former city worker Dretch and his son to lead them through the maze of passages. There was a listening post where the sewer exited the city, and while their insertion by boat would be masked by the darkness, they could run into a shift change while stumbling inside the sewer.

As soon as they did begin their assault on the gatehouse, the alarm would be raised, and it would be a race against time to open the gate and hold it for reinforcements to arrive. Despite the dangers, Sabine was ready to get back into the action. If things went sideways, she was reasonably certain that she could spot any threat with enough time for her to at least escape with Orren and Skrix.

The rest of the Reforged would perish, but Sabine was having a harder and harder time of caring for anyone other than her companions. Her callousness should have worried Sabine, as she refused to slide into her undead nature. Was there any chance for her, or was this slide into cruel acceptance and adoption of her undead nature inevitable?