Elwin opened his eyes. He didn't mind sleeping during the day most of the time, but not typically when he had the last shift of guard duty the previous night. Somehow that shift always kept him from sleeping well. Even though everyone had to take a turn on it, regardless of their rank in the band, he still wished he could find a way out of it.
As he got out of his bedroll, he immediately started putting on his armor. Even if they weren't expected to have any combat incidents in the near future, there was never a time to be caught without wearing your armor after you started getting up. What was planned wasn't always what happened. He learned that early on.
"Good to see you've finally decided to stop being lazy," Elwin's brother Leon said as he entered the tent.
"Like you look any better after you wake up when you have that watch," Elwin retorted.
"Doesn't mean I can't mess with my little brother," Leon shot back with a smile.
"Maybe, but I'm not the one who keeps losing when we duel," Elwin returned.
Leon laughed. "How can you tell I don't throw any of our matches?" he asked, good naturedly. "After all, I have to keep your morale up as well as my own."
A man in green armor rushed in. "Leon, sir!" the man said, saluting Leon.
"What is it Laird?" Leon asked, sounding amused.
"Sir! The men are ready for your inspection," Laird said.
"You can relax, Laird," Leon remarked. "We're not by the captain of the band and even he wouldn't care for you to be so formal.
"I can not do that, sir!" Laid replied.
Leon merely shook his head.
"Go on," Elwin advised. "I'll see you when we get the order to move out."
Leon nodded at his brother before leaving the tent, followed swiftly by Laird.
Elwin sighed as he finished putting his armor on. He often wondered what it would be like if he hadn't joined this mercenary band with his brother. The only thought that came to mind right away was that they wouldn't be on their way to fight a dragon in orc infested mountains. That much was certain.
The band wasn't exactly a small one, but there were several that were larger. However, none had their reputation for doing whatever task they agreed to. The captain of the mercenary band didn't always accept a request, but when he did, he made sure to deliver on his word.
Many regarded him as an 'emperor on the battlefield. His skill with the sword rivaled Elwin's own, and his respect for even the newest recruit made the loyalty of everyone in the band almost absolute. Almost because how much could you really trust another person who had the potential to betray you.
Especially since they had assassins appear every so often, sent by other mercenary bands. The typical target was their captain, but then sometimes the target was of the men, or woman, who were the captains 'generals' that held respect from the men through their own accomplishments.
Each had earned the right for the respect they received, Elwin himself was no exception. The only annoyance Elwin had was the 'hero worship' that came with the territory. Like how Laird was around Leon. Every so often, they'd get that sort of treatment. The only unusual circumstance with Laird was that Laird had earned his place through ability and persistence to be Leon's second-in-command of the main cavalry force of their band.
Their captain didn't mind how they were treated by those of the band, in fact he thoroughly encouraged it. Even if one of them eventually replaced him, their captain wouldn't mind it one bit. Everyone knew that one day they would eventually die, more likely from combat in their line of work, but the captain made no effort to hide his acceptance that he himself would one day meet his end somehow.
However, when the subject came up, a party would typically occur soon afterward. Usually after a hard won victory, where the subject would come up when the captain would honor those who had fallen in the battle. When he would call out their names from memory and wish that wherever they had gone from this world, that they would know their sacrifices would be remembered by those in the mercenary band for as long as all of them lived.
Elwin shielded his eyes as he left his tent, making his way to the mess tent. The place that always was the first to get fully put up whenever they made camp anywhere. The place a person would always be able to get something to eat, no matter what time of day or night it was.
Elwin picked up a bowl and walked over to the pot that was boiling and being watched by a woman that looked out of place around all the battle hardened men and women of the band.
Her hair was blond and looked like she spent hours every day on its care, but Elwin knew she rarely washed her hair and only ran a brush through it everyday. Her eyes were the blue of a winter sky while her touch was as gentle as the dew on a flower petal. The only thing that some would consider a blight to her beauty, which some of the members of the band had stated, was the fact that she was pregnant and was sure to give birth any day now. Though, Elwin thought it only enhanced her beauty.
If Elwin didn't have a girl he was interested in and this woman wasn't already married, he'd seriously consider asking her out, but then, so was pretty much everyone else in the camp.
"Good to see you awake, Elin," the woman, Elena, said, smiling at Elwin as she ladled some of the soup into his bowl.
"Any decisions on the name?" Elwin asked.
Elena laughed. "Not yet," she replied happily. "Vargas still thinks it's going to be a boy and I tell him I'm sure it'll be a girl. Again."
Elwin laughed. "Why not select a boy's name and a girl's name, just in case?"
"I asked him that just yesterday, and the brute said that he wasn't going to hear about it. Emilia was going to have a little brother and that was that," Elena replied as she stirred the soup.
"Vargas can be harder than a block of metal when he puts his mind to something," Elwin remarked.
"That's true," Elena agreed. "That's actually one of the reasons why I ended up marrying the brute."
Elwin chuckled as he ate the soup and Elena served some of the others who came into get something to eat. Elena and Vargas were good friends to have and while they would snipe at each other from time to time, it was always clear that they truly cared about each other and never took the comments to heart.
Elwin wondered if the girl he liked would be like that if she agreed to marry him some day. Not that he was likely to find out any time soon, given the current assignment they were on was expected to take a few more months to get to the dragon. At least if the amount of ambushes and attacks from the local orcs happened.
Then after they defeated the dragon, then they'd have to return and endure just as many attacks by the orcs. Sometimes Elwin had to question the judgment that their captain had with the assignments he agreed to. Unless there were circumstances he wasn't aware of, he couldn't think why they would accept such a job that would take them out of actioni for so long.
However, their captain hadn't shared any of the details with anyone, as far as Elwin knew, so he couldn't help but wonder what other details there were. Which only could be speculated at the moment.
Though, as he finished his soup, he couldn't think of what else to do, so he made his way over to the training grounds. While he had some free time, he figured he should practice a little. If nothing else, it might help him get his mind off of things. Not that he expected much, since most in the band didn't have his skill with weapons.
As he arrived and picked his weapons, he saw a ten year-old girl going through drills with a spear. The girl had flowing blond hair that she had tied back while she ran through her drills. She was so focused on what she was doing that she clearly didn't notice Elwin.
When she stopped at the end of a set, Elwin walked over to her. "Care to try and get past my guard, Emilia?" he asked.
The girl jumped as she looked at him. It was clear she hadn't realized she had company. Then giving him a wry smile, she shook her head. "I'm good, but thanks, tyrant."
Elwin chuckled as he shook his head in response. Emilia had always called him that and even her parents had no idea why. She even didn't say anything about why when asked directly.
"Would you like company doing more drills them?" Elwin asked. "You're certainly getting better with your stance and hold on your spear."
"Thanks, but I was just finishing up for the day. Dad says not to overdo it and that was my tenth set today," Emilia replied, untying her hair and letting it flow down. Her hair was almost identical to her mother's hair. Though, she didn't like it when people teased her about her father's baldness. She at least seemed appreciative that Elwin didn't do that.
"Okay, well enjoy whatever you want to-" Elwin started to say, but stopped as horns sounded the alarm.
Elwin looked around him to see where the danger was. "Get to you mother," Elin ordered Emilia, who nodded and ran towards the center of the camp.
They had been staying in this location primarily because of the wounded they had from the last ambush, but having another one this soon after would definitely prove to be a rather large headache. Yet, he didn't see anything in his area, so he cautiously moved towards where his unit would be. If this proved to be a false alarm, he wasn't sure what would be done this time.
The captain was always rather creative with discipline, especially when it came to false alarms for those on watch.
Elwin slowed to a stop when he saw Leon ride up to him on his horse. "Is it over already?" Elwiin asked him.
"There never was a fight," Leon replied. "From what we can tell, an orc came and sounded a horn to see what kind of reaction we'd had."
"Did the orc learn anything?" Elwin asked, not sure how to really react.
"Yes, the orc learned never to do that again," Leon replied, a smile tugging at his lips.
Elwin couldn't help but laugh. "So, what happened?" Elwin asked.
Leon dismounted as he replied, "As soon as the orc was seen, the archers made a new pincushion."
Elwin pictured how that would look when suddenly he was opening his eyes without any clothing on. In the room where they had first arrived in this place.