Chương 337: 333. Aftermath - II

Syryne came running from somewhere at that moment, her hands red-stained from mixing the medicine.

"The losuvil paste is ready," she said, breath short.

"It's thinner now, but it should still help until we can get more." Huda n looked toward Tesyb, who was standing near the injured men.

"Go with her. See to the wounded." Tesyb nodded and followed Syryne toward where the injured guards were being laid out on the ground by Nurobo and some other guards and servants who had stayed back to help. Kivamus watched as the burned man was lifted carefully, his skin cracking where the cloth touched it. Syryne went to work, applying the thin, reddish paste to the worst of the burns as the smell of herbs and singed flesh filled the air. Kivamus murmured quietly, half to himself, "I wish we had more of it..."

Hudan turned to some of the less-injured guards.

"You all—head to the watchtowers after you take your bowls of soup. Relieve the women who've been on duty since the last morning. They've done their part." Kerel, the older guard with iron gray hair, gave a nod.

"I'll go as well. I can't go to sleep right now anyway." With that, the men saluted and left, their boots thudding softly on the dirt on their way towards the servants' hall. When the last of the orders had been given, Kivamus gestured toward the manor house while looking at the two leaders of the guards.

"Come on. I need a more detailed report." The manor hall was still warm as they entered. Hudan, Feroy, and Duvas followed him in and took their seats, as the returning fighters took long swigs of water from the wooden jugs. The chairs creaked softly, the sound oddly loud in the quiet that had settled over them. It should have been a victory—a clean, joyous one. Instead, the air was heavy with smoke and grief. No one spoke for a long time. Feroy finally broke the silence, rubbing at a cut on his forearm.

"It went well, all things considered," he said.

"But it could've gone far worse. Those bandits weren't rabble. The ones at the southwest were well-trained and fought like they were a part of the Duke's army! I'd wager Torhan was with them. He must've stayed behind with a few of his men, using them as a personal guard while the rest charged in." Kivamus leaned back slowly in his chair, the fatigue finally settling over him. Hudan cleared his throat, the sound cutting the low hum in the room.

"We also finally killed Nokozal," he said, "but only because he had the rot in his arm." Kivamus frowned.

"The rot?" Duvas answered, "It's what happens when a wound gets infected badly, or when blood stops flowing to a limb. Flesh decays. People call it many things." He looked at Kivamus, and the baron's face remembered a word that fit.

"Gangrene..." Kivamus said quietly. Hudan exhaled.

"That giant was something else... Even after the rot took most of his left arm, it still took the three of us to bring him down — Tesyb, me and another guard. If he were fine, I don't know how he would've been stopped. He might as well have been immortal with the way he kept surviving!" He gave a short, bitter laugh.

"He even survived the rot for so long. That bastard should have died a long time ago with the way his arm was looking..."

"I'm just glad he's gone," Kivamus said.

"Hyola and the others who were slaves under that giant will be glad to hear it. You all did well." Hudan nodded.

"The crossbows were the real gift tonight. They let us take out the first camp near the northeast without a scratch on our men. The second group were more alert, so the bolts weren't as decisive there, but it still proved their outsized effects. If we could get enough of them, they would be a wonderful addition even to all our male guards - especially when we manage to take an enemy group by surprise."

"I know..." Kivamus agreed.

"I plan to get more crossbows made until every guard has one, however long it takes." If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Hudan shifted, before continuing his report.

"Everyone was tired after the battle and we had serious injuries, so we didn't wait to clear the bodies in the dark but I'd confirmed that the bandits were dead or in Feroy's hands before we left them."

"All dead now," Feroy added.

"Their injuries were too severe to save any of them even if we wanted. Our guards were brutal."

"That they were," Hudan snorted." Tomorrow morning we'll clear the field properly. We'll bury the bandits in a ditch on the eastern hills after taking their swords, whatever coin they had, and their armor." Duvas made a grim face.

"They won't have much coin, but their swords will be useful. Cedoron can melt them down or rework them. Iron's always valuable, even if we'd just gotten that big shipment."

"What did you find out from the bandits?" Kivamus asked the ex-mercenary. Feroy sighed.

"Nothing much of use. Nearly all of them belonged to that same clay mine where the former slave Joric used to work, but there were some men amongst them whom the bandits I interrogated hadn't seen before. I can't say the reason behind that, but they might have been new recruits. I'll take Joric to check their faces in the daytime to find more. Even if we didn't get Torhan tonight, but we should move on his compound before he can gather what's left and strike again." Hudan shook his head.

"Unlikely he can do that any time soon. We killed a huge portion of his forces tonight. He'll be short on men even to guard his compound near Kirnos right now." Kivamus tapped a finger on the table, thinking out loud.

"You said that you counted eleven men in each of the eastern camps and fourteen in the southwest that you fought. Two escaped, and that doesn't include Torhan and his personal guards. That adds up to over forty men in total, not counting those left at his compound. Even if some of them might have been slaves who had been given swords, it means his clay mining operation is even bigger than we thought, or he's got another camp somewhere which Joric had no idea about. That might not even be a clay mine.

Maybe Torhan also does something else on the side, but it's hard to say right now." Feroy's jaw tightened.

"Still, he is weak now. This is the time to strike, to end his life and free his slaves. If we bring them here, you will have more workers to help us build everything faster."

"I'd like that more than anything," Kivamus replied with a sigh, "but we simply don't have enough food to support more mouths right now. If we bring them here, we'll just starve our villagers sooner. We need to secure food first." Hudan agreed, "We also aren't in any position to mount such a long mission right now. Most of our guards are already wounded, and it'll take time until everyone is ready to fight again."

"I know," Kivamus nodded.

"This is a time to consolidate. We must use what we've gained. Right now our first priority is to get more meat by sending out more hunting groups immediately and getting more grain somehow. If no merchant comes in a day or two, we'll have to send a caravan to Cinran ourselves, and that will also need guards. We can't spare men for a raid on Torhan's compound at the moment, as much as I want that bastard dead. But don't worry, his time will come." Duvas's face was tired.

"We're walking a really tight line regarding feeding the villagers. Unless we touch the seed stores marked for sowing, we won't have food to feed everyone after tomorrow, so we'll have to use them anyway. That means even after we buy more grain, some of that will still have to be reserved for use as seeds. So we'll need to buy more grain once again after that."

"We'll manage it, somehow..." Kivamus muttered. He leaned back, feeling the stress of dealing with one problem after another.

"The last few days haven't been easy, but we survived — even though we lost one of our own. All the guards still did very well. Just a few months ago, nobody could have imagined that we would come out with such little losses when dealing with a raid from more than 35 men. So we need to be proud of that, but tomorrow there will be more to do, and I'll need you all at your best. For now, you both go and have something to eat and then get some rest." The majordomo looked at him with hesitation.

"This bandit threat has been dealt with, but there's also something else you need to know about..." Kivamus frowned. Was there another bandit group as big as Torhan...?

"What is it...?" Duvas looked like he was going to speak before he shook his head.

"Nevermind. This is not the right time for that kind of discussion."

"Later then," Kivamus said, before Hudan and Feroy rose and left the hall. Duvas stood as well, rubbing his eyes.

"I need to get some sleep too," he muttered while walking to the inner door which led to his room. Kivamus nodded and rose too. He moved towards the stairwell, feeling exhausted with all the recent happenings and relieved that it had gone well, even though his mind continued thinking about the raid. They had removed a major threat to the village, but the danger wasn't finished with Torhan still out there.

Even if that bastard didn't come back to take revenge once again, he knew it wouldn't be long before someone else came to threaten his people and his village. But they would deal with any enemies when the time came. They always had.