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Ander became quite popular over the next few days as he took each extra pack from the tired hatchlings. Oddly enough, since that first day, he had been handling the constant jogging better. Of course there wasn’t time to investigate. He wanted to check out this Universal UI, but he was still far too tired at the end of each day to care enough. Of course that changed when, on day 11, a scout came back and spoke directly with Sir Mattheos. Sir Mattheos laughed in delight, and made an announcement to the group.
“It is truly our lucky day!” a band of pirates have been spotted searching the wilderness. It is a wonderful opportunity to give all of our new recruits battle experience!” Sir Mattheos smiled widely. “Pass out the weapons!”
The soldiers pulled up a horse drawn wagon that Ander had not seen before, and started opening a few crates. From there they passed out a short double edged sword, something like a gladius but with a wider hand guard. They also passed out shields. Ander had a fleeting thought of trying to fight his way free of the soldiers, but upon closer inspection, he realized that would be a fool's errand. There were nearly a hundred well trained soldiers, and now only twenty hatchlings. Each one of them looked to be in a sorry state, barely able to hold their weapons. He might fare better, but he had no clue how to use a sword, and he was exhausted. This was not going to end well.
The entire group formed up, with the hatchlings in the front, leaving their packs behind. They marched quickly, quite a bit more quickly than they were before, toward a large hill. They climbed the hill, and as they crested, they saw a group of some fifteen raggedly dressed men. Each carried a sword and had heavy tans. Both groups stopped and stared for a moment before someone on Ander’s side called the charge. They flowed down the hill like a flood as the pirates ran, making a beeline towards the tree line.
Ander’s Heart thudded loudly in his chest as his army followed, Ander watched as three of his fellow hatchlings tripped and were trampled beneath the feet of the soldiers behind them. Ander made very sure to watch where his feet went until they hit the trees. From then on it was a difficult run, with no one in any sort of formation. However, they managed to keep the pirates in sight until shouts exploded from their left side. Ander spun to see a group of forty pirates crash into the side of Ander’s army, and promptly tripped, falling into a small gully.
Ander lay there for a moment breathing hard. He could hear the fighting loud and clear nearby. He could hear the screams of the other hatchlings, way higher than the others. He peered over the root that edged the gully and saw that all the soldiers had their attention focused on the enemy. And in a moment of decision Ander ducked back down and crawled away from the battle.
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Ander crawled for 10 minutes across the mossy carpet of the forest floor before he got far enough away to start to run. Not toward the city or deeper into the forest, but back towards where they had left their packs. The forest felt hostile, like a soldier waited behind every moss covered tree. Ander arrived at the edge of the woods, peering out from behind a tree. He saw Sir Mattheos and his wives at the top of the hill, being served wine, grapes, and other things that were probably delicious. Ander’s stomach growled so loud that he was worried they might hear it from where they lounged.
After a minute of watching, Ander felt it was safe to sneak around the hill to where the supplies had been left. He was surprised to see that no guards had been set, and that the group on the hill were entirely too occupied with their impromptu festivities.
Ander worked quickly to gather up food, filling his giant pack to the brim and grabbing two other packs. Then he went to the cart. The crates had been left open. He looked through the boxes of weapons, pulling out a longsword, bow, quiver of arrows, and a sheath for his shortsword. He had barely tied the weapons to himself when, out of the corner of his eye he saw soldiers start to filter out through the tree line. Ander cursed under his breath, and dropped down beside the cart. One of the horses whinnied in response to him jostling the cart, and for a moment he thought they would see him. Fortunately, they slipped behind the hill, obviously going to check in with Sir Mattheos. Ander grabbed a knife that was laying out in the open, let out a breath, picked up his packs, and started to run toward the tree line.
Ander kept low, hoping for the grasses and the weeds to give him some cover as he moved. It seemed to be working.
“Thief!” The call came from the hill where a well dressed man, like a butler or something, was pointing straight at Ander. “One of the hatchlings are deserting!”
Ander ran for all he was worth. Unfortunately, the soldiers were fast, hardly tired from the days of marching. His only saving grace was the near 100 yards head start he had. Ander blasted past the first few trees, shrugging off clutching branches. He nearly slipped on the slick moss several times, hearing the soldiers cross the tree line, and gain on him. Ander jumped over a large gnarled root to find a hole, randomly in the forest floor. Ander fell into the hole and on top of a pile of decaying leaves and branches. He rolled into an icy rivulet of water which flowed deeper into the cavern.
The cave was deeper than he expected.The walls were mostly dirt reinforced by the roots of trees. It was obvious that the flowing water had carved out the space. Unfortunately, despite hanging moss and roots, the tunnel was relatively clear for a long way. Ander hurried down the tunnel, hoping to find a boulder, turn in the path, anything that would give him a chance to hide.
“Here! He’s in the cave! The deserter is in the cave!” Ander doubled down, running even faster and feeling the weight of all his gear slowing him down. Finally there was a turn, and a slim hope of escape. He dove behind the bend, and fell far longer than he should have.