[Solon POV]
After killing the spirit, the soldiers got on their horses and we once again started moving south as fast as possible hoping to avoid any attacks.
The general still unconscious was carried with the medic who took care of him, while the oldest soldier took command and started guiding us to safety.
It was as if nothing attacked us, if you ignored the new leader and some glances filled with anger thrown my way.
However, I understood their feelings, they just saw me slaugther easily one of the creatures that landed them in this situation. It must have been a shock to them.
Nonetheless, the journey was calm.
Until we reached the border that is.
"What the hell happened here?" asked a soldier as he looked at the ruined building around him.
Incomplete corpses on the ground with blood surounding them as a small amount of crows flew in the sky.
"There must have been an attack while we were away. Search around, we are looking for anything that can provide us with information as well as any survivors." the medic answered while looking around.
What no one noticed was that he gripped the ostrich horse's staps tighter.
'He must be worried about someone.' I thought while looking around as well.
"OVER HERE! I FOUND A SURVIVOR." The voice of a soldier snapped me out of my thoughts.
Looking towards him I saw him on the ground pressing what I assumed to be some bandages on a man's chest.
The whole team rushed to the man as the medic started looking at the falled soldier's wounds.
After a moment he stopped and shook his head lightly.
*Cough*
*Cough*
*Cough*
The man's cough surprised most soldiers as they assumed that he would be too tired to be awake.
The man opened his bloodshot eyes slowly as he tried and failed to look around him.
He must have seen some kind of figure in what was left of his sight as he tried to place his hand right next to his head to salute the human in front of him.
"Officer -*Cough*- reporting to duty." He said in a low voice trying to keep himself awake.
"We- hold the *Cough* border for- possible. Spirits broke through. Please tell me. Did we win?" He asked as his body failed him.
"Yes, officer we won. You can rest now." The medic said with a sad smile as he looked at the man who gave his life in this accursed world.
A small, barely noticable happy smile appeared at the man's face as he finally allowed himself to rest, leaving his last breath on the spot.
The medic slowly closed the man's eyes and laid him down on the ground.
"Salute the dead." The old soldier said as he saluted in his place.
All of the soldiers followed his lead as they saluted as well.
A minute of silence came to an end as the old soldier started giving orders once again.
"Take this man's tag and bury him on the ground. He lived with the earth and he shall rest with the earth." He said as he turned around looking away from the place where he saw an ally leave this world.
"We will move southeast, it's safe to assume that the spirits have pushed the resistance back. If they managed that there must have been some powerful enemy to break through the earth walls." The man said after contemplating for a bit.
"But sir, that we will have to pass throught the sea. It could be dangerous for us and the general. He is in no condition for such a journey." The medic complained after looking at a map he was carrying.
"Moving south means certain death, moving north would be entering deeper in the enemy's territory it's also certain death. If we go west we risk entering the water nation, we will have no allies and reinforcements there. Southeast may be dangerous, but it's our only choice." The leader said as he got on his horse.
The medic struggled a bit while looking the the general and then to the man that just died.
*Sigh*
In the end, only a weak sigh could leave his mouth as he once again got on his horse.
"Move out, this is an order." The old soldier said as we once again started moving.
~~~~~~~~~~
[Third POV]
"How are our supplies?" The leader asked the man next to him.
"It's been three days since we left the previous border. I salvaged whatever I could but we have barely enough to keep us barely fed for 1-2 days. When we left I didn't expect such a journey." The man that was in charge of the supplies replied to him with helplessness.
"It's ok, we will reach the sea in 3 days, then we can fish for food and we can drink dea water if needed. As for the one day that remains, we will have to hunt some kind of animal."
"There is nothing to hunt. The spirits have been killing anything that moves, it would be safer to eat dirt from the ground." A third soldier that overheard the conversation butted in.
"That's enough! We must keep hoping, once we lose our hope we will really be at the mercy of the sea. We have gone all this way, do you really want to die when we are almost in the safety of the border?" The older man shared his wisdom as he reprimanded the soldier.
"Yes sir!" x18
His words seemed to have empowered the soldiers as their eyes light up once again.
The man glanced at Solon with the corner of his eye as he thought.
'Just his presence alone has increased our chances of survival by a lot. I just hope we are nor bringing some kind of evil being into our camp.' He though as he remembered the calm way Solon walked in a completely ruined town, with no injuries or dirt on him.
~~~~{chapter end}~~~~