It barely illuminated the night. All was still except for the evening chirp of insects. Despite my best efforts I was depressed.
I leaned back against a deadfall tree and morosely considered the situation. I had hoped to come away from the north with twenty thousand hardened warriors at my back with which I could smash into the enemy’s rear and take them by surprise.
Now…… now I had several thousand girls that had done little more than hunt for deer.
There was no way that I could attack the enemy from the rear with such a small untrained force.
Creator what am I going to do?
There seemed to be only one thing that could be done. After giving the girls a week’s worth of training or so we would move south and slip into the besieged city and wait for whatever our fate might be with the rest of the Eastern Kingdom.
I had been turning the stolen apple over and over in my left hand, which was propped up by my left knee as I reclined back against the dead tree. I threw the apple out into the darkness beyond the little fire.
