The caravan reached Verona without problems in five hours. Marzio was used to not sleeping at night, but the rocking of the cart in which he was sitting made him a little drowsy. When morning came, he fell asleep, leaving the post to the replacement. Because of this, he did not see the city at all, although he heard that an ancient amphitheatre was preserved here, and some kind of "love tragedy" was unfolding in Verona. Then the caravan set off along the gorge of the mountains towards the town of Trento. They walked along the bed of the Adige River, which flowed out of the Alps and went far south to the sea. There was really a picturesque mountain landscape around, but Marzio did not have a chance to enjoy it enough, since he slept in the cart almost all the daylight hours, and only by the evening he replaced his partner. However, he was still struck by the magnificent view of the mighty mountains with centuries-old trees. He also felt a certain change in his well-being, which was explained by the proximity of the mountains. He read about it as a child. In the caravan with him, no one really said a word, which Marzio was not so much annoyed as worried. He felt like a stranger among the soldiers since he lived in a separate room, not in a barracks and was not subjected to daily drill and training. However, ordinary people treated him with the same respect as others.
It was only in Trento that he was able to properly inspect the surroundings and a piece of the centre when they were approaching the city. Since Marzio had no right to leave his post, he could only see the Cathedral Square and admire the ancient Trento Cathedral. In addition, he noticed that the city is strikingly different from other cities in Italy. In this Alpine city, ancient buildings are perfectly preserved, as if intact. It gave him an excruciating shiver. It was as if he felt all this antiquity, and this atmosphere chilled to the bone. He even had the idea to live in a similar ancient town one day. However, they went on. Marzio never understood the importance of this caravan and the haste with which they moved through this beautiful gorge. But service is service, even if it is imposed.
After about four hours of the night journey, Marzio sensed something was wrong. He was sitting on the edge of one of the last wagons, and only a small area in front of the road was illuminated by torches. It seemed to him that someone was watching him from the forest. Just in case, he pulled the crossbow closer to him– he still trusted it more than his sword. Although there were enough guards, the unknown danger could frighten even the largest army. Marzio could no longer tolerate this oppressive situation and asked the coachman.
'Excuse me...,' the coachman did not react immediately. The middle-aged man was apparently in deep thought.
'Tell me, don't you think that someone is watching us?'
'Uh-hmm...,' the coachman mumbled.
'I'm not comfortable driving here, you know. This is a bad forest: wolves often roam here and demons can hide in the mountains.'
At that moment, the carts began to stop. The coachman barely managed to rein in the horse, at the moment when the front carriage abruptly stopped in place. People began to shout, the guards began to fuss. Marzio jumped down from the cart and got prepared his crossbow. People were bustling around, not understanding what was going on. The young man did not have time to move away from his cart when suddenly a piercing howl was heard from the thicket of the forest. The movement began in the dark, soldiers took defensive positions, commands and shouts of civilians were heard. Marzio prepared to shoot, expecting an attack at any moment. Then a growing hum began to come from the darkness: the noise of breaking branches, rustling bushes and terrible screams.
'Demons!' someone screamed.
Immediately, out of the darkness, a lot of creatures flew out of the foliage into the light. Humanoid creatures, without any fur, with pale skin and ugly muzzles. They were goblins-semi-intelligent creatures similar to humans. Together with them, the rat-wolves, already familiar to Marzio, ran out of the forest. One goblin climbed onto a tree branch and began to scream furiously in a thin and nasty voice. For this, he immediately received a bolt in his thin neck from Marzio. The battle began. Soldiers were slaughtering demons, not letting them near the wagons, someone tried to shoot arrows at the approaching demons, and they, in turn, tore people apart. Goblins are such weak monsters, but when there are a lot of them, they pose a significant threat. In addition, some of them were armed with primitive weapons: clubs, daggers, homemade hatchets, small spears and even bows.
Marzio quickly reloaded his crossbow, hiding behind the cart, and then instantly spent the bolt on the ratwolf jumping up to him. The creature got a bolt in its skull and fell with a crash at the feet of the young man. When Marzio loaded the third bolt, he realized that in such a fight he would still have to switch to a shield and a sword. He managed to shoot two more times, killing one goblin and a rat-wolf, but soon realized that the things were bad. There were too many demons, and the guards could not cope: somewhere the monsters had already broken through to the wagons, which, because of the fallen torches, began to burn like matches. Marzio managed to shoot one more time at a goblin who was shooting at the soldiers from the bushes. Then he would be forced to draw his blade – one of the ratwolves was approaching him. With one oblique blow, he cut the throat of a demon who jumped on him and then cut off the head of a goblin standing next to him. Not all of these little creatures were armed with something: many joined the battle with no clothes at all or whatever they had there. However, their tenacious clawed paws and sharp fangs could greatly harm an unprotected person. This is not to mention blood poisoning. Marzio managed to kill another goblin: the demon gutted the corpse of the coachman on the cart. Marzio, with one strong blow, was able to cut the unconscious demon into two parts. Already all of Marzio's clothes were stained with blood. Adrenaline hit him in the head, and he realized with horror that he was even somewhat calmed and pleased when he chopped demons. But he didn't think about it for long – a wounded rat-wolf crawled up to him, whom Marzio pressed down to the ground with a sword. At that moment, globin jumped on his left arm, which had a shield in it, trying to tear the clothes on his forearm. Marzio threw him off with all his strength and, without letting him get up from the ground, stabbed him. At that moment, he realized that everyone who was at the rear of the column was already dead or dying now. The wagons had been looted, and the goblins, forgetting about the fight, were swarming in them. The rat-wolves greedily ate the corpses, both their own and others. Marzio noticed four rat-wolves approaching him and three goblins behind them. Not waiting for their attack, he quickly began to retreat deep into the column, where the battle was still going on.
Two of the rat-wolves rushed after him, but Marzio noticed it in time and after a few steps turned sharply and struck from left to right the demon flying at him. The second one leaned on the young man, but the shield prevented his mouth from reaching the neck, so Marzio plunged his sword into the open belly of the creature with a sharp blow. The demon fell convulsively to the ground and began to shake. A goblin with a spear began to attack Marzio, but the young man skillfully dodged and hit him on the hunchbacked back. The second goblin attacked with a knife, but Marzio managed to hit him in the stomach with his right elbow. The dwarf flew away from the blow to a nearby carriage and was just about to get up when Marzio plunged a sword into his torso, thereby pinning him to the carriage. The goblin screamed pitifully and then hung his head. Almost immediately, another rat-wolf ran up to the young man. Marzio skilfully missed him, not allowing himself to be hooked, and then hit him on the hairy back. He had a second to catch his breath. It turned out that the other demons did not pay attention to Marzio – they greedily were eating corpses and robbing carts. Only then the young man noticed that the horses in the carriages had been shot by goblin arrows. So these creatures planned the attack.
He ran further into the centre of the column, where the battle was raging. A tall goblin jumped out of one of the wagons right in front of Marzio, holding something in his hands. Marzio, without thinking, jumped up to him from behind and cut off his head at once. He did not have time to understand anything, and his carcass made 180, flooding everything with black blood, and fell to the ground, releasing the bundle. Marzio realized with horror that there was a dead baby in the demon's hands. On the way, Marzio slaughtered another rat-wolf from the back, which was crawling in the belly of a dead horse. Then there was a row of devastated wagons: there were a lot of dead demons and people lying around. Ahead, Marzio saw soldiers crowding around the overturned wagon, fighting off demons. Flames were clearly visible ahead, and a column of smoke was rising into the cloudy black-and-blue starry sky. Marzio ran to their aid as fast as he could. One of the goblins was sitting comfortably in the wagon, shooting at the soldiers. Marzio cut off the dwarf's legs with a yell, and he only managed to turn around to him. In a second, the young man noticed how human horror was displayed on the demon's face. The archer fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Immediately, another demon, armed with a dagger, jumped out from behind the cart. He pounced on Marzio, latching onto him and striking him a couple of blows. However, the breastplate withstood the dagger, and Marzio managed to throw off the screaming demon and stab him on the ground. Without giving him time to recover, a rat-wolf jumped up to him, who managed to knock down Marzio, grabbing his left arm with his mouth. Marzio did not feel fear, rather he felt an irresistible hatred and annoyance that this creature was preventing him from breaking through to his comrades. He did not feel pain, and the rat-wolf himself could not inflict any serious wounds on him - Marzio's shield interfered. Not panicking, but only grinning viciously, Marzio plunged a sword into the demon's belly and began to finish off the rat-wolf with sadism. When he came to his senses, he realized that there were even fewer soldiers left at the cart.
Brushing himself off, Marzio ran towards them. A horse came rushing towards him with a frightened neigh. Marzio thought that if it got to Trento, then troops would be sent to help them. In addition, smoke and fire should be seen from afar. Marzio did not yet know what a difficult situation they were in. There were only four people left next to the cart: three guards and one civilian armed with a club. The soldiers fought off the demons with short swords and axes. There were a lot of dead peasants and demons lying around. Marzio realized with horror that he was running among the corpses of women and children. The soldiers were surrounded by a dozen goblins, who did not notice Marzio running up to them from behind. Immediately, two of them attacked the soldiers, and meanwhile, the others wanted to outflank them, but then Marzio burst into the area. He pinned the goblin to the ground with his foot and pierced him with his sword, he grabbed the blade with his hands and tried to get out with wild fright, but in vain. The second goblin, armed with a homemade stone axe, was initially confused by the unexpected attack, but when he came to his senses, Marzio had already raised the sword over his head. The goblin was cut in half. Marzio noticed that they were very small, most likely young and inexperienced goblins. Meanwhile, the soldiers were almost dealt with. One guard was almost immediately stabbed in the neck with a dagger so that he collapsed to the ground without suffering. The peasant managed to kill two goblins, but two demons clung to his unprotected body at once and now they were finishing him off on the ground in a crowd. The other two were still trying to fend off the dwarfs piled on them, but they could not cope without help.
Marzio ran closer to them. One of the goblins noticed him and began to swing his dagger, trying to reach the young man's legs. But Marzio parried his attacks, and then with a graceful movement slashed his sword across his naked body. The goblin flew away with a wheeze. The remaining five demons clung to the two guards. One of them was pierced through the leg, and the man, on his knees, tried to shake off the demons. With a precise movement, Marzio cut one goblin in half, and the one next to him kicked the other away from the guard. Having lost two opponents, the wounded guard managed to throw off the last demon and pinned him to the ground, plunged his dagger into his small head. Meanwhile, the second guard managed to cope with the last goblins. Marzio managed to catch his breath a little and inspect the battlefield: there were many dead carcasses of demons lying around, mixed with human bodies. The ancient road, strewn with sand, was soaked with blood. Behind Marzio, the glow of the fire flickered, and there were heart-rending screams. The second soldier helped his wounded comrade, but they did not have time to say a word when suddenly five more goblins came out of the darkness to the light. Each of the demons was armed with something, but among them stood out the largest goblin, dressed in a kind of armour and armed with a wooden shield and a short sword. The soldiers immediately prepared for battle. Two demons with axes and spears attacked the wounded guard, a seasoned one with a short sword and another with a club rushed at the second guard, and Marzio got a nimble demon armed with a mace. The frisky goblin tried to hit the young man many times, but Marzio was able to dodge each attack and eventually pierced the dodgy goblin. Meanwhile, the wounded guard was struck down almost immediately. The second one fought off the veteran for a long time and that with a club, but when four goblins fell on him at once, he could not oppose them. If not for Marzio, he would have been finished quickly, but with the help of a young man who was able to kill a goblin with an axe, the guard managed to kill a spearman and wound a goblin with a club, but he still managed to knock him down with a club, and the veteran finished him off. Marzio took advantage of the moment and killed the dwarf with a club. Now the young man was left alone with a seasoned goblin. The demon looked appraisingly at the young man and, as it seemed, saw in Marzio a worthy opponent. The duel began. Marzio had to remember Gasparo's lessons in this fight. The goblin parried Marzio's attacks and defended himself with a shield. Marzio also had to use the shield on several occasions, but for a minute the opponents only touched each other's swords. But at one lucky moment, the goblin made a swing too long, and Marzio, taking advantage of this, managed to chop off the goblin's arm to the elbow. Still holding the short sword, she flew to the side. The goblin looked in surprise at the remains of his right arm and missed Marzio's blow to his neck. The demon let out a final wheeze and fell facedown at the young man's feet.
Marzio found himself alone on this stretch of road. There were only corpses and blood around him. He himself was covered in someone else's blood. Looking around, he realized that where he came from - there was almost no movement, but the sounds of a struggle could still be heard from behind, even if they subsided a little. Marzio hurried forward. Only now he realized that he was a little tired, and no wonder. However, he had no fear and panic. He clearly realized that the situation was critical.
He was running past burning wagons and corpses scattered everywhere. In the middle of the way, he noticed how a rat-wolf was rummaging in one of the not yet burning wagons. It was possible to guess that it smelled someone. Marzio wanted to sharply strike it from behind, but the rat-wolf reacted faster and painfully hit Marzio's legs with its long tail. The young man did not expect such a quick reaction and stopped for a moment in pain as if he had been hit with a whip. The rat-wolf pounced on Marzio, its vile suit gaping wide, but the young man managed to put his sword forward so that the demon flew with its open mouth right on the blade. After swallowing the sword, the rat-wolf immediately fell with his body on Marzio. The young man managed to stand on his feet and pushed the carcass away from him. His sword and arm were covered with blood up to the elbow. Marzio wondered what exactly the demon had smelled in the cart. He really hoped that he would be able to find survivors.
Pushing aside the edge of the cloth covering the cart, he saw a pile of boxes. At first, he did not notice a single living soul, but then he felt the gaze of two crystal eyes looking at him from an open drawer. He looked closer and saw a little girl who was hiding in a box. Apparently, she realized that a person was in front of her and stuck out her tear-stained face. She was terribly scared, and her lips were trembling nervously. Marzio noticed his reflection in her eyes: in front of the girl stood a soldier drenched from head to toe with blood, with a mad look, with glassy eyes filled with hardness. The girl was probably scared of Marzio, but then her eyes widened when she took them aside.
'Behind you!' she shouted in her thin voice.
Another rat-wolf ran up to Marzio. With a cold, precise movement, the young man slashed the demon across his eyes. He instantly changed his trajectory and fell to the ground in convulsions. Marzio turned back to the girl.
'Are you hurt?' she shook her head.
'Where are your parents?'
'I don't know...,' she sobbed.
'Come with me.'
Marzio understood that it was impossible to leave the girl here, and he himself had to make his way to the rest of the soldiers. The girl, without resisting, got out of the box. While helping her, Marzio felt a strong smell of pepper – the child was hiding in a box with spices. Therefore, the demons did not immediately smell her. She wore long platinum hair with a rim and had beautiful brass eyes. Marzio hoisted the girl onto his back. Only now he realized that he had lost his crossbow. Apparently, the belt broke. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He suddenly thought that she would get all dirty on him, but it didn't matter. Marzio ran further into the caravan, hoping to find at least someone alive. There was only fire and corpses around. On the way, he slaughtered another goblin who was trying to drag a bag of loot into the forest. The fire was incredibly hot and stank of burning flesh. Marzio ran almost to the very beginning of the caravan, where he noticed several more surviving soldiers.
They built some kind of fortifications from the remains of wagons. Marzio also noticed that there was a tree lying on the road ahead. That's why the caravan stopped, so the goblins were really planning an attack. There were few survivors, only six of the guards.
'They're still coming!' One of them shouted, pointing at Marzio. The young man ran towards them as fast as he could.
'Boy, is anyone else there?' another soldier asked. Marzio shook his head.
'Damn it... So we are the last' the soldier said through his teeth.
'Damn it!' the other swore.
'There's a child here!' exclaimed one.
Marzio was helped to lower to the ground a little girl who was covered in blood and trembling with fear. One of the soldiers asked if she was injured, but the girl shook her head and burst into tears.
'She needs to be hidden in a safe place,' said one of the soldiers.
'Here are the last ones left...,' the guard with the axe turned to Marzio.
'We have to hold out a little longer. They should come for backup, I hope...,' meanwhile, the soldiers calmed the girl and hid her in one of the barrels.
'We killed a lot of these creatures, but the attack was unexpected. They were clearly planning the attack: first, they cut down a tree, then they fired at the horses, but something was wrong. You know, they attacked all at once, in a rush and so quickly robbed the caravan and ate the corpses, as if someone was chasing them.'
'Yes, we didn't even join the battle, and they immediately attacked the peasants!' another soldier put in here.
'Okay, fighters!' the soldier with the axe began again, addressing everyone.
'Everyone who survived is here. We need to hold out until reinforcements arrive. Goblins can still attack. Everyone, be on the alert!'
By this time, Marzio had finally caught his breath. He felt his whole body ache. His clothes were torn in many places, and his bitten left arm hurt a little. The young man immediately had a desire to wipe the wounded body with alcohol, as his mother did, but there was no alcohol at hand. He decided that he could endure until the morning, and then they would help him. Before he could finish this thought in his head, Marzio heard the terrible cries coming from the forest again.
'Goblins!'" one shouted.
'Get ready, soldiers!' shouted a fighter with an axe.
'Damn, damn, damn!' the other one wailed.
'Hold your nerve, guys!' a soldier uncertainly tried to cheer up everyone.
The demons again attacked unexpectedly. Along with the goblins were a few more rat-wolves. A fierce fight ensued, in which at first no one emerged victoriously. For several minutes, the soldiers fought off the monsters without loss, while they had already lost several. However, the creatures were much more numerous and they began to crowd the soldiers. Marzio kept close to the barrels, in one of which a little girl was hiding. There were no more living peasants, so the young man considered it his duty to protect the child. During the battle, he deliberately retreated closer to her and so it turned out that he was cut off from the rest of the warriors. With his luck, the demons were pressing them with pressure, so that Marzio could quite fight back alone. Soon the young man was left alone.
All six guards were eventually killed by the demons. But they themselves did not seem to decrease in number at all. Marzio was trapped: behind him, there were burning wagons and barrels in which the girl was hiding. Goblins and rat-wolves surrounded him from the front. It appeared that Marzio could only be attacked from the front and the demons were in no hurry to attack. One of the rat-wolves, who had previously brutally dealt with one of the soldiers, without waiting for the others, with a wild howl headed for Marzio. If the young man could not skillfully dodge the jump, he would have been instantly killed. But he managed to bounce away from the demon and hit him with a stab in the neck in jumps. The creature flew further and crashed right into the barrels. One of them fell and a girl appeared from it. Marzio immediately came closer to her and blocked her with himself.
The goblins appreciated how Marzio dealt with the rat-wolf, and decided not to attack. Instead, they surrounded him and began to grin maliciously and mockingly. Some even let out a semblance of laughter. The rat-wolves growled at Marzio, but stood still, apparently they were tame. After the demons had mocked the corpses of people enough, they began to approach Marzio. The goblins understood that it was a trapped bird and decided to play with it enough for the last time. However, they also knew that a trapped animal was doubly dangerous, so no one dared to attack Marzio first. Now the young man was really scared. He understood that he obviously would not win, but most of all he was worried about the fate of the child, whom the creatures had now noticed. The poor girl was crying in a barrel, and the demons were laughing maliciously.
One of the nimble little goblins decided to quickly get to the girl, but Marzio instantly intercepted him and cut him down at once. Immediately, another goblin, who was dressed in real armour, took advantage of this. He wanted to hit Marzio with an axe, but he did not expect that he would be able to slash him with a sword even faster. All this happened in a matter of seconds, so even the young man himself did not understand how he did it.
The goblins were wary. The snide grin was replaced by an evil one. They no longer wanted to play with this toy. Closer to Marzio came two very distinguished goblins: one of them was dressed in strange, obviously homemade armour and armed with a war hammer. The second was dressed in a hoodie, and in his hands, he held a long staff, on which some ornaments dangled. Apparently, it was the leader of the goblins and their shaman. The leader looked into Marzio's eyes while actively making different faces. At some point, he turned away from him and started muttering something to one of the goblins. Then a tall goblin with a big bloody hammer came out at Marzio. He looked disgusting: on his rags hung small bones and human skulls, and on his head was a disgusting helmet with horns. The goblin began to attack Marzio furiously, and it took a lot of effort for the young man to fend off his attacks. This was a really skilled demon, and if Marzio had been miraculously unlucky enough to strike him, then who knows if the young man would have emerged victorious. The young man managed to deliver a glancing blow and cut off the goblin's left arm at once. He dropped his hammer and tried to stop the blood, but it didn't last long. After he bled the entire space around, his carcass dropped dead.
The goblins spoke unkindly. Marzio realized that now they would attack at once, and prepared for the last fight. Surprisingly, he did not remember anything and was not afraid. Only the fate of the little girl concerned his replenished mind. He completely forgot about everything else. And now the demons were about to rush into the attack when suddenly the leader's head suddenly exploded loudly from the inside. His insides splattered the surrounding demons, who froze in disbelief. Needless to say, even Marzio was amazed by this. The sound was so strong that it deafened the young man, so he barely heard everything else.
Less than a second passed when suddenly the shaman was thrown aside by an unknown force, and fountains of blood began to burst out from behind his back. Then something inexplicable happened to Marzio: incomprehensible loud sounds began to be heard, similar to cannon shots, only very often. The demons began to fly away, bleeding from an unknown force, as if someone invisible was inflicting terrible, pinpoint blows on them. Panic began in the ranks of the goblins. They completely forgot about Marzio, looking only at the forest that was to the left of the road. It was from there that strange sounds were heard, so loud that Marzio stopped practically hearing anything.
The demons died one by one. Some of them tried to escape, some ran towards the enemy, but each of them was overtaken by the invisible hand of death. Marzio, on the other hand, stood in the same place in a daze, not understanding what was happening. Meanwhile, the demons were running chaotically away into the forest, and then Marzio saw that there were flashes of flame in the forest to the left, but what he saw next struck him to the depths of his soul. Out of the darkness came several knights of the Order of the Hospitallers, who were armed with strange pistols, spewing fire with incredible speed. At the same time, their pistols differed in size and sound of firing, although he could barely distinguish them.
The knights came out into the light and methodically shot the demons without even reloading their weapons. To his surprise, Marzio noticed that there were only five of them, although there were much more creatures, they still killed them, not allowing them to approach. No matter how the rat-wolves and goblins tried to attack the knights, they still sent them to kingdom come, no matter how clever and fast they were. There were more demons than Marzio had thought. At that moment, he realized that his situation was much more deplorable than he could have thought. However, his shock was much stronger, so he continued to stand in the same place, contemplating the whole unthinkable picture.
At some point, from the roar of the handgonnes, he stopped even hearing his thoughts at all. Taking off his helmet, he touched his ears – they were intact, but it seemed that he was completely deaf. He could only stand on his knees and contemplate how the knights mercilessly and professionally exterminate a horde of demons. One of the knights waved his hand to the soldiers in the direction of the opposite forest, and three of them rushed into the darkness. Apparently, in pursuit of the retreating demons. After that, the knight turned his attention to Marzio and slowly approached him. He probably asked Marzio something, but the young man only looked at his saviour uncomprehendingly. It seems that he understood this and good-naturedly patted the young man on the shoulder.
Another knight came out of the forest to them, who had the largest and longest pistol that Marzio had ever seen. They were talking about something with another knight until something caught their attention behind Marzio's back. They all turned around – it was a little girl, also confused, who got out of the barrel. The knight who came out of the forest immediately approached the child, and Marzio noticed to his surprise that it was not him, but her. A woman's face was hidden under the helmet. At that moment, Marzio began to panic that he couldn't hear anything and decided to say it out loud: "I don't hear anything." But he was still deaf, and then he repeated the phrase again, but then the knight's hand fell on his shoulder again, who made a gesture with his hand: "everything is fine."
Chapter 8
Marzio's hearing did not return for several hours. During this time, he was somehow brought to his senses after a crazy night. As it turned out, except for him and that girl, no one survived. The knights killed all the remaining demons in the area and went with Marzio and the child somewhere in the mountains. They wrote to the young man on the sand so he could not worry because of his deafness - this is temporary, and also warned that they were going to their camp. Marzio obediently followed them. He could walk, but because of the eternal ringing in his ears, it was unusual for him to move in the dark. The young man did not understand how the knights could walk down the mountainside in pitch darkness with only one torch, and even then it was given to Marzio himself so that he would not get lost. Only the stars illuminated the foothills of the Alps and somewhere in the distance the light of the destroyed caravan still flickered. Marzio did not understand where they were going, but their journey was long enough. On the way, a little girl, whom they took with them, fell asleep in the arms of one of the knights.
The hearing began to return when the group reached a lonely house in the mountains. It turned out to be a hunter's hut with all the amenities. In the house, the knights melted the stove, set the table and began to rest. Now Marzio could hear, though the ringing in his ears remained. They warmed him up, took off his torn and soiled clothes, treated his wounds and allowed him to clean up a little. As it turned out, Marzio's left arm was slightly bitten in the shoulder area, not to mention a lot of abrasions, bruises all over his body, however, in general – he got off easy.
'You did a good job, kid,' said the knight, whom everyone called "commander".
Although Marzio had a normal physique, it was still awkward for him to undress and treat wounds in public, especially since there was an adult woman in one room who was the only one in their squad, but at the same time, she was armed with the longest pistol of all. Beatrice, that's what her companions called her, was caring for a little girl, who was saved by Marzio. Or rather, which they saved together with Marzio.
After the young man cleaned himself up, he met a squad of knights.
Their commander is Bernardo Visconti. It was him who approached Marzio first, he was a middle-aged man with brown eyes, brown hair and a thin beard. There was still a lively youthful enthusiasm in his gaze, which did not fade with age. His appearance was more suitable for a seasoned adventurer than for the leader of the Knights Hospitaller squad, but with all this, there was charisma and authority in his appearance that was quite believable. The girl, Beatrice Flora, was a little younger than her commander, with purple-pink eyes, semi-long blue-purple hair. By profession, as Bernardo said, was a "sniper". He said it respectfully and grandiloquently so that Marzio immediately realized that this girl was one of the main cogs of the team, although the word "sniper" meant nothing to him. The healthiest man in the squad was a black Uberto Guerra: a bald-shaven, overweight man with a stylized beard and brown eyes. His speciality was "tank", which also meant nothing to Marzio. Fabio Doria, an engineer in their squad, had a pleasant appearance: moderately let down blond hair, a neat beard and moustache, and blue eyes. The medic, Sergio Marino, had black hair, not very short, his face was clean-shaven, his eyes were green. The last one was Teodoro Piccolomini, an old man with very short grey hair, not a thick beard, with a wrinkled face and brown eyes.