"My lady, we are almost there."
Callane didn't ask how the rcenary could tell whether they were still in the middle of the tunnel or if they were reaching its other end.
She couldn't tell herself… but as soone at the very back of the whole hand-holding group, she had little to no other choice but to believe her hired help not to spout random lies.
Soon, however, she found out just what made the guide at the very front of their group so damn sure of nearing the exit.
It wasn't the sight or a stray ray of light illuminating the near-perfect darkness of the narrow tunnel. Callane and her group were still too far deep in it to notice anything of that kind.
No.
It was the noise.
A noise so overwhelmingly loud, it reached even into the tunnel's depth!
'What could that be?' Callane thought, squinting her eyes as she instinctively sped up a bit, only to almost crash into the man in front of her… or not.
Apparently, between herself and the rcenaries, it was Callane who soon had to speed up to keep up with the rest of the group.
Seconds flew by as their steady walk soon turned into a trot and then an outright run, kept at the fastest speed they could maintain while maintaining the perfect cohesiveness of the group.
And then, the tunnel ended.
Just like that and without fanfare, Callane's group finally reached its end, only to erge into the world of light.
The light of the sun basked the empty area spreading in a half-circle around the ancient wall in its warm rays.
What used to be an open, empty area, however, had now turned into a sea of tents and a massive crowd of hurried people that could be roughly divided into three groups.
Those that just sat down or lay down by the tents, waiting for their turn to enter, those who took care of the wounded, and those who brought more and more wounded in.
This sea of tents was as busy, if not busier, than the liveliest market Callane had seen in her life. And yet, contrary to the chaos she often witnessed at the market towns, this sea of tents maintained a perfect degree of organization and control over the flow of humans.
"Damn…" the rcenary leader muttered, standing still as he took in the sight with silent amazent. "Since when do field hospitals look like that?"
Positioned at the very back of the camp erected by Callane's army, stuck between the impenetrable ancient wall and the sum total of all of the camp's defenses, this was the very best, safest place for the wounded to seek help and for healers to offer it without risking their own hides at the frontline.
Yet, for just how much of a historic sight Callane had just witnessed with her very own eyes, the implications behind it couldn't be worse.
'Who the hell would dare?!' was her first thought as she realized the most obvious.
The sight of the field hospital itself wasn't surprising at all, not when Callane herself was the one to propose both its addition to the camp's plans and then the best way of positioning it within the camp.
It was the business of this place that revealed the ugly truth—even though Callane's army was bigger and better equipped than anything anyone in the kingdom could muster, with the sole exception of His Majesty himself, soone actually dared to attack them!
And as if that wasn't enough of a surprise, judging by the level of organization she could see at a glance, the camp's design had reached its ultimate form. aning, whoever attacked them… dared to do so despite Callane's army not only digging in but also erecting all sorts of field defenses designed as much to deter the enemy attack as they were to let the defenders handle it with greater ease.
"My lady!" a shout ca from nearby, pushing Callane to turn her head to see an officer she had never seen before running up to her group.
'Finally, soone to tell what the hell is going on,' she thought, turning towards the running man…
Only for the rcenaries to step forth and form a half-circle around her while pushing the guide to the back, just in case returning back to the tunnel would beco a necessity.
"My lady, please, step back," the rcenary leader requested in a low, muffled voice as he positioned himself at the head of the group, ready to intercept the man dressed in officer's clothing. "A random officer shouldn't be able to spot you from so far away."
Biting down on her bottom lip, Callane ultimately listened to the suggestion and retreated a few steps, only for the guild's guide to quickly join her, ready to drag her right back into the tunnel should the situation turn unpredictably dangerous.
In the end, however, seeing the stance of the n around Callane, the officer slowed down, only to grind to a halt around ten steps away from the group before falling down to one knee.
"It's a great relief to see you in great health, young miss!" the man reported while striking his chest with his fist in a quick, makeshift salute.
If any high-ranking officer of the kingdom's army were to see such a lazy salute, only the limits of their imagination would set the boundary of how far the poor officer's punishnt would go.
Callane, however, couldn't care less. Not when she could easily rember the day when Osman ca forward with the suggestion of relaxing the courtly standards for the military during tis of challenge.
It was only now, however, that Callane finally understood the aning of the suggestion—a suggestion she had added to her military reform purely out of trust in the man's expertise rather than a proper understanding of his words.
"Not a step further," the leader of the rcenaries stepped up ahead, openly keeping his hand down on the handle of his sword. And it wouldn't be before he saw the man properly remain down on one knee that he relaxed by a tiny little bit. "Speak up!"
"Third group's fourth division, Centurion Uriel, reporting," the officer shouted out his rank and na before moving on to the proper report.
This part, while for so just another elent of military discipline, was actually just a contextualization attempt for all those receiving the report to know the scope of what the man could know and witness.
Just as a field officer serving directly with the troops at the front line would have a different perspective from an officer in charge of healers at the very back of the army, anyone who received an important report had to be aware of who it was coming from.
Not to know who to bla if the news was bad nor who to reward if the news was good. It was all just so that they could get a better picture of how trustworthy and holistic the ssage would be.
"We are under attack from a coalition of the pri minister's private forces, the wallwatchers, and a mixed-elents army from the empire," the man reported in a single breath, only to finally let out the rest of the air from his lungs and then quickly refill them with a fresh breath. "For now, we are holding on, but our right flank ca dangerously close to a rout three tis already!"
Once again, the young officer paused to catch his breath.
"With that said, General Osman urgently requests your presence at the command tent!"
Hearing this, the rcenary leader twitched.
"General Osman?" he spoke out, now straight-out pulling his sword from its sheath before pointing it right at the officer's head. "And you are telling us to believe that not only was he notified of our arrival, but you still sohow managed to cross through half the camp to reach us… within a single minute of our return?"
There was no anger or suspicion in the rcenary's voice, just clear and silent determination.
"No, sir!" the officer replied without even a single hint of hesitation. "I'm under General Osman's direct orders to stay put at the wall and await your return!" he quickly explained himself before lowering his head again, as if to make himself all the more vulnerable to the sword raised straight at him. "And he…"
"Let's go," Callane said in a harsh tone, the look on her face revealing she had no plans to listen to any further advice or suggested caution.
'For him to station an officer just to liaison with as soon as possible?' she thought, silently clasping her hands into fists as she moved on ahead. 'Just how dire is the situation for him to do sothing like this, when just a simple ssenger with a written order would achieve just as much, albeit a few monts slower?'
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