Chapter 055: A Discovery

May 14, 2022 - 2 minutes read - 295 words

Rudolph van Ceu and his companions chose to move through the forest, avoiding the highways.

As you would expect, their horses weren’t making good time in the forest. Horses can walk in a forest, but they can’t trot and definitely not gallop. Rudolph chose a path that would slow him down, but drastically reduce his chances of detection. Also, it made it more likely that he will stumble on food.

“That’s something! Rabbit!” Rudolph van Ceu

After he praised the soldier that had caught the rabbit, the group dismounted and prepared for the meal.

They located a creek with water, and prepared to boil some water and cook the rabbit. Two prepared the meal while the rest kept a lookout on their surroundings. Rudolph was sleeping next to the makeshift camp without doing anything.

It seems he hadn’t ridden a horse for this length of time before and was exhausted by the need to camp on hard ground.

The running dragon is fast in the forest. After the main gate opened, Patrick re-joined Corporal Mirko and the other two and hunted the remnants of the rebel army.

Former soldiers often become bandits, this is commonly seen in army desertions. Most deserters who are planning on banditry will seek to enter the forest at the first opportunity. Patrick eliminated several soldiers that were going for that.

“Hey, look at that” Pat whispers

I call to the other and point in a certain direction.

“Imperial soldiers… no, that’s officers?” Corporal Mirko

“Oh, that’s a lot of white clothes and fancy equipment, isn’t it? Potentially an aristocrat, who can be ransomed back to the Empire. By the way, Kingdom soldiers get 20% of the ransom for any enemies they capture.” Sergeant Josh

“Let’s make some money.” Pat grins