We walked along the path, through the forest with leaves falling to the ground all around us, and with each step we took, we came closer and closer to its edge. The sun stood far above us and shone down on our small group with warm beams. I still wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do or if we would even survive this but we really do need that money.

On our way we came across other groups, mercenaries on their way to the same battle we were, merchants selling food and drink, and those who preached the word of Argidr the one they call the holy lord and only praise every time they open their mouth. I couldn't take their preaching anymore when a small group of them decided to follow us, perhaps trying to convince us. But Hiba stopped me from taking action, he pulled my hand away from the sword on my hip.

"We can't afford to waste time on killing them, just ignore them alright."

I did as Hiba suggested but as we reached the edge of the forest they still hadn't left us alone. I turned around and started screaming.

"Fuck off you stupid idiots! I can't hear it anymore! Holy Lord this, Holy Lord that! Just fuck off and leave us alone! You can be happy I won't kill you here and now!"

One of them looked shocked, must be new I thought but the other two simply bowed, turned around, and walked back into the forest, most likely looking for the next group to annoy.

"Well at least you didn't kill them," Ivara said as she grabbed my arm and pulled me with her.

We were now walking through a large plain, the wind blowing through our hair. I looked up at the sun, it was beginning its way down to hide behind the mountains in the distance.

"We should start looking for an inn or else we'll have to set up camp again," I said.

The others agreed and we started walking faster. By the time we had found an inn, it was already dark. The sign that hung in front of it read, Igaris Inn.

"Ah we're already in Igaris that means we can easily reach the Ulva mountains before noon tomorrow," Mark stated.

"That's assuming we don't have anyone oversleep on us," Hiba said while looking at me and Ivara.

"Yeah, yeah," I responded.

We entered the inn and were immediately overwhelmed by the smell of warm food mixed together with the smell of booze. We found a table and ordered food and rooms. After we ate Ivara and I went up to our room, leaving the others behind to drink.

"And they tell us not to oversleep," Ivara said.

I nod and we enter our room. I look through the small window over the bed, it was dark outside. We undressed end stumbled over to our bed as we kissed. She pulled away and practically threw me on the bed, which was difficult due to my large body. With a loud crashing sound I landed. Ivara had quickly climbed on top of me and was already pushing me inside. The warmth of her body was a calming feeling I would never forget. After we finished our act we pulled each other closer. Eventually, I fell asleep, Ivara in my arms her warm body pressing against me.

It was a dreamless sleep, usually, I would have gone through the upcoming battle in my head, trying to figure out a strategy but this time it was different, the army decided to count on a wildcard like him so there is no use in trying to figure out a strategy considering the whims of Vindictus.

What finally woke me was a warm feeling on my lips.

"Ah, a good morning kiss how kind of you Iva," I said after she had pulled away.

"Of course, now let's get up before Hiba gets angry again."

The two of us got out of bed and put our clothes back on. The inn had no bath so we were still quite sweaty. As we left the room Larkan and Rey came our way.

"Ah, morning," Larkan said.

"Morning," Ivara and I responded.

Rey just nodded. No wonder it has only been a few weeks, I thought.

"So are Hiba and Mark not awake yet?" I asked looking towards their room.

"Nope, those two probably drank too much," Larken said as he walked towards their door.

"I swear every time they do this. This is gonna get them killed," Ivara said.

"Oh don't be like that, the battle will sober us right up," Hiba exclaimed as he stumbled out of his room and crashed into Larkan.

"Ah for fucks sake," Larken yelled at Hiba.

Mark came out of the room and looked down at the two on the floor.

"You can't hold your liquor at all, can you? So like you Hiba," he said.

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We now went downstairs and ordered some breakfast.

"Alright, in a few hours we're gonna be there. You all ready?" Mark asked.

We all nodded.

After we finished eating we threw a few silver coins to the innkeeper and left. We continued on the path back into a forest. This one was a lot darker than the last, the thick branches with their hundreds of leaves blocking out nearly all sunlight. As we came closer to the forest's edge the area became rockier, a lot of boulders were scattered between the trees. We must be close to the mountains by now, I thought. And I was right, as soon as we left the forest we started going upwards, up a huge mountain, its peak hidden behind the thick clouds. It might have been because I was tired but I noticed something moving through the sky, something large. It was almost snake-like. An Amphithere? I asked myself.

We went up the mountain path and it didn't take long until we reached a large war camp with many tents, each of them had a large number on the side. We went towards the large one in the middle and entered once the guard in front of it gave us the go-ahead.

The sun shining through the red tent walls made the inside appear warm and comforting. In the middle was a large table surrounded by chairs. A man was filling out some documents when we entered.

"You here for the battle?" he asked with a tired voice.

"Yes," Hiba responded before I could open my mouth.

So much for me being the leader, I thought. But I was fine with it, I preferred it when others made the hard decisions.

"All six of you?" he asked us.

"No, only four," Hiba responded again before I could even think of the answer.

Is he always so prepared? I asked myself.

"Alright, the payment will be forty gold coins once the battle is over," the man said, still not looking up from his documents.

As soon as he finished the current one he pulled another one from a drawer on the table.

"Names," he demanded.

"Hiba, Mark, Larkan, and Zane," Hiba said quickly.

The man wrote down our names and mumbled something but I could only catch pieces.

" . . . last name . . . loss . . . then."

From what I overheard I couldn't really figure out what he meant. The man called Hiba to him and had him sign something. Afterwards, he finally looked up.

"You six can have tent number fifteen," he said before looking back down.

We left the tent and looked around for tent number fifteen.

"Ah, there it is," Larkan said while pointing towards the back of the camp.

We walked over to a tent with the number fifteen on the side, it wasn't as large as some of the other tents but it should suffice for us, I thought. As I looked around I also spotted a few merchants that had set up shop in the camp.

"Trying to get some cash from the sacrifices eh," I said to myself.

We entered the tent. The ground was covered with hey and a few large pieces of cloth.

"Good thing we have sleeping bags," Ivara said as she touched the hey.

"At least the pay is good . . ." Hiba said.

"For a suicide mission I would have at least expected one hundred gold coins per head," I stated.

"Ah, they can't let anyone know that death is awaiting," Larkan responded.

"Yeah but really, ten gold coins per head that's almost as much as the Avalonian army usually pays. How can they afford this? Why are they ramping up their pay now? Cant be just because they know they won't have to pay it right?" I asked.

"Maybe they had some sort of discovery? Or they found a new gold mine, yeah that's probably it," Mark said.

"No, it's just that they don't have to pay it. Ion's army is suffering from the split in the government," Hiba said.

"Yeah, with five different clans running the country, all of them having their own armies and on top of that the interference of the church, it's surprising that Ion even has a working army without any infighting," Larkan said.

"That what the noble you used to work for said?" Mark asked.

Both Ivara and Larkan nodded.

"Anyways we should use the time we still have to rest, the battle isn't until tomorrow right? We still have this entire day to enjoy ourselves," I said.

I saw the way Ivara looked at me. "Oh yeah, we can enjoy ourselves," she said in a seductive manner, "Why don't you guys check out the market and come back in a few hours? I also saw a tent with a lot of women in front earlier, maybe you can buy yourselves some love there?"

She was clearly mocking the others, how inconsiderate for Rey, I thought. But before I could speak up Larkan and Hiban had already grabbed Mark and Rey and pulled them out of the tent.

"See ya later, we won't be back till sundown so have fun," Hiba said.

I could also hear Larkan mumble something in an angry tone.

"Do you always have to say stuff like that in front of your brother?" I asked Ivara but she was already undressing so I followed suit. She embraced me and pushed me to the ground on top of our sleeping bag and pushed me into her, just like last night.

We were at it for hours and by the time the sun was starting to set I had to nearly force her off me to get some real rest and that just in time, a few minutes later the others returned and entered the tent. The two of us lay in our sleeping bag, still naked.

"Ah you just finished I guess," Hiba said as he stepped over our clothes.

Rey, who entered last, picked them up and put them down beside us.

"Thanks," Ivara said.

Rey forced a smile.

"So what did you guys do?" she asked while turning in the sleeping bag to look at the others.

"Mark went over to that tent you mentioned," Hiba began, "but they didn't have any good girls he said . . ." He shrugged while grabbing a piece of jerky from his satchel.

"Don't pretend like you didn't go as well . . . and for the record, both of you were in there for at least an hour," Larkan said.

We all started laughing even if Rey seemed like she was forcing it.

"So you didn't go, brother? Are you sure you don't need it?" Ivara was teasing him again while pressing her behind into my side.

"Oh shut up, I don't need some whore to please me," he said in a quite serious tone.

"Anyways, we should eat something before we sleep," I said to change the topic, yet again.

"Ah right, I saw a stand where they hand out food, let's go there," Hiba said while swallowing his piece of jerky.

Ivara and I waited until the others had left the tent to get out of our sleeping bag and put our clothes back on. We went outside and joined the others. Together we walked to a stand where they were indeed handing out food, seemingly a stew. There was quite a line so it took a while until we finally got our food and sat down at one of the tables in front of the stand.

We were eating in silence, listening to the musicians that were in the camp. Was the army always so considerate? I asked myself, or is it just because we're supposed to die tomorrow? By looking at the line in front of the stand we lost our wish for seconds and we returned to our tent. Inside we all ate some more jerky before finally going to sleep.

"Tomorrow is the day," Hiba said as he was lying down.

"Don't forget, once we see Vindictus we run . . ." I say as I pull Ivara closer, knowing that this might very well be my last time with her.

Why did we agree to this? I asked myself over and over and over. In my sleep, I saw horrific images, images of being killed by the one they call the thirteenth god.