It rained all night, so we were soaked to the bone. I sat up. Pain shot through my stomach. If I hadn't gotten into anything, I wouldn't have had any of these injuries. I climbed out carefully and sat on a nearby stump. Jurian returned from the forest and nodded in greeting. Dawn was approaching any minute. Everything was soaked, fortunately we were already approaching the city. We'll get to the city, I'll stay a while, and then I'll probably get back on the road, I thought. Jurian asked me last night, but there's no point. The second tent rustled and Lasin climbed out of it.
"Good morning." She stretched slightly. "What's wrong, are you all awake already? It's still dark," she pointed out.
"Did we agree to leave at dawn?" I said rather rudely. At that, Jurian frowned slightly at me.
"Wait, wait, I'm not ready yet. Where's the nearest pool?" she asked.
"You have time until the sun comes up." I said. "The pool is by that valley." I pointed between two slopes. She hurried away. Of course, we waited another ten minutes after sunrise.
"That was longer than we agreed," I chided her when she returned. It wasn't anything serious, but it was completely unnecessary.
"I can't go to town smelly, like some scum like you, can I?" We frowned in concern. She burst out laughing.
"What's so funny about us?" I asked, the corners of my mouth turning up slightly.
"You look like angry puppies." She laughed.
"But we don't bite me," Jurian pointed out with a terrifying smile. I burst out laughing, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I tried to hold it in, but when I looked at Jurian, we all burst out laughing again.
The city was already in sight. It was in the middle of the plain. Several layers of walls stood out, emphasizing a few important buildings that towered over them. It was a huge city. More and more people were pouring down the roads, but they were still often mercenaries. Fortunately, no one dared to attack us on such a busy road. Erdonia was a very rich country, perhaps one of the powers on the continent, but Erdonia's location has big problems with the fact that they don't have much access to the sea. Magic was felt throughout the area. Great power is gathering. In front of the city gates, there were hundreds of tents, at first they seemed like some kind of market, but there were too many of them for that.
"They have a whole army here?" Jurian asked blankly.
"It looks like it. We can probably get to the city," Lasin confirmed. I looked at Jurian, then at Lasin.
"It doesn't look like much to me. Don't you want to turn it around?" I suggested. If we stayed in the city too long, we could be caught in a siege.
"I need you there, so at least for a day," she paused. "Please stay with me..." she asked, somewhat desperately.
"Okay, I'll stay." Jurian said. Then he looked at me.
"I'll see," I replied. Doubts suddenly began to grow in my head. I quickly pushed those thoughts away. We walked past military tents, which were teeming with soldiers. The soldiers were of all races, both Cerpeir and Ming, even Jrengr. A large number of them were seriously wounded and bandaged. They were constantly carrying fresh corpses. It was a hell of a fight. Medical magic could be felt literally everywhere and there were medics everywhere, trying to save lives.
"You three..." one of the officers began, "civilians have no business here." He paused. "Hand over your authorization or we'll throw you out." Jurian looked at him in horror. He was at least a head taller than them and judging by the size of his muscles, he would have been able to tear them both apart with his bare hands on the spot.
"We want to enlist for hire," Lasin said, trying to calm the situation. A dozen men's gazes turned to her. They wanted to play with her. I took a step in front of Lasin and placed my hand on the hilt of his sword. One of them stood up and walked past me.
"If you think you can protect her from us, you're a fool," he whispered. I felt a faint whiff of magic.
"Go to the largest tent, the treaty officers will talk to you there." The soldiers who had stopped us parted ways and let us go. We passed the tent and headed for the gate. Jurian's expression was sad, considering that he had been a soldier in the past, he was probably experiencing cruel memories. A large number of the soldiers were looking at Lasin lustfully, they had obviously been fighting for a long time and had no time for women. Lasin did not show the slightest hesitation and we continued on. We found ourselves in front of the huge gate to the city. The gate slowly began to open.
"So we are finally here," Lasin said. She turned to Jurian. "Thank you for your help, unfortunately I cannot repay you right away, but here is the address where you can find me," she paused. "So Jurian, you will go and take care of your things now and then we will meet there?" She glanced into my eyes as if asking me for the last time.
"Somehow, it won't take me long anyway." I shook my head slightly. She held out her hand with the address to me. She was asking me at least if I ever changed my mind. I accepted the piece of paper and put it in my bag.
"Good luck." I nodded towards them. I turned away from them and threw myself into the crowds of people. I didn't want to be I'll turn around. If I looked back one last time, I'd question every decision I made.