Scourge Fourteen - Lions

“We’ll join,” I say as I walk up to Teo and his crew. The Big Hill Lions, as far as I can tell, have five more members other than Teo.

Only one of them has the sort of gear and equipment I’d expect from a leader-sort. A hat with a big feather sticking out of the top of it, and armour that’s a bit fancier than the more serviceable greaves and vambraces and mail skirts the others are wearing.

He steps up next to Teo and looks the four of us up and down. “This is what we’re getting for four silver?” he asks Teo.

“This is what’s available,” Teo says. “Come on, Esteban, you saw them fighting.”

“I saw one of them fighting, I was too busy to stop and watch the spectacle,” Esteban says. He reaches up and rubs at his big bushy mustache. “You girls really worth as much as Teo here says?”

“We’re worth a lot more,” I say. “But you can’t afford that. Fortunately, we’re heading the same way.”

Esteban chuckles. “Fine. We need manpower of one sort or another, and I don’t particularly care if that manpower comes from a man or not. I don’t imagine you know how to operate as a group?”

“Felix, Esme and I know small squad tactics,” I say. Mom insisted that we learn some. “Bianca here doesn’t, but I think she can hold her own from afar. Anger and Fear cultivation both have ranged options, right?”

“I can manage,” Bianca says.

Esteban squints at Bianca. “Can you do healing?” he asks.

She shakes her head. “No. I’m a fear and anger mage, not grief.”

“Good enough,” Esteban says. “Teo, you recruited them, you give them the rules. We’re leaving as soon as the next cart arrives.”

“Yes, sir,” Teo says before snapping off a quick salute. He turns to us a moment later. “The Lions have three squads, usually. A fore, middle, and rear guard. We’ll probably be mid guards. It’s the safest place for new members.”

“Alright,” I say.

Teo gestures to the side, then walks over to the carts. There are six of them, with drivers setting up on them and donkeys shifting about at the front. “We’re short. Usually we have something like five-four-five, but as it is, we only have ten members including you four. It’s not optimal.”

We walked over to one cart in particular. Unlike all the others, where everything was neatly packed and squared away, this one had heaps of packs on the back, and a few spears on racks hanging off of the sides. “Is this the Lion’s cart?” I ask.

“That it is,” Teo says. “Hey Ram, say hi to our newest recruits.”

A guy sitting at the front of the cart turns around and stares first at Teo, then at us. He’s a bit younger than Esteban, but older than Teo, with a leather eye patch. His armour is all rough. Leather pieces over a scratched up and patched gambeson, with a few metal plates here and there. “What’s this lot?” Ram asks.

“A few really talented girls,” Teo says. “Got some room for their bags?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ram says. “Toss them up, girls. Wherever you please. No one gives half a damn about staying organized here, and I can’t be bothered to do anything about it.”

“Uh,” I say. But Felix beats me to it and tosses her pack up onto the cart behind Ram.

“What?” she says when I look at her. “I’m not carrying that stuff all day if I can avoid it. It’ll make fighting harder, besides.”

“Fine,” I say as I toss up my own bags.

“Right,” Teo says. He raises a closed fist before him at shoulder height. “The rules.”

“What rules?” Esme asks.

Two grins. “The ones that’ll keep you alive. First, no noise that doesn’t need to be made. If you see a monster, I expect you to call it out, but no talking too loud, no screaming, and no whining.” His first finger rises, followed by another. “Second rule. No bleeding. There are some monsters that are a lot more attracted to the scent of blood than they are to any noise.”

I glance to my friends then back. He’s not entirely wrong, I guess, at least from what I know of the monsters that should be common around the area.

“Third rule. No straying from the carts. We pause every two hours or so. Esteban has an hourglass that marks when we stop. You can do your business then, otherwise hold it in.”

I notice Esme’s face reddening at the thought, and I try not to giggle.

“Four. When the monsters come. And they will. You follow my orders. No running ahead and placing yourself in the path of an arrow, no heroics. We usually try to focus on taking out as many of the weaker monsters as we can first, then whatever’s bigger. The carts might not even stop sometimes.”

“Alright,” I say.

“Fifth... uh,” Teo’s brows scrunch up.

“Keep your eyes open,” Ram says. “Or at least one of them. Hah!”

‘Right,” Teo agrees. “Keep your eyes peeled. On the road and on the sky.”

“Got it,” I say.

Teo takes a deep breath. “Yeah, I hope you all do.” He glances back, and I follow his gaze over to a cart rumbling our way, one that looks like it’s only half-way loaded with boxes and is covered in a thick tarp. “That’s the last one,” he says.

The rest of the Big Hill Lions rush around, and Teo leaves with some final instructions to stay behind Ram’s cart and keep up.

The drivers whip their donkeys, and soon the seven carts start to rattle off towards the gates. Esteban jogs ahead and speaks to a guard, and soon the gates start to clunk open under the careful watch of a whole squad of guards.

Just like that, we’re outside of Vizeda.

“Stinks,” Felix mutters.

I glance back at the city as we start down the road towards the forests. The walls are rough on this side, with heaps of monster bodies stacked up to head-height a dozen metres away from the biggest holes in the walls.

Normal looking folk are dragging the monster bodies back, then they work together to toss them onto the heaps while guards keep an eye out on the forest we’re heading into. I imagine they are watching out for a new swarm that might come out of nowhere.

A few of the piles are already lit up, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky.

No ceremony for the monsters, I guess.

Felix walks at the front of our little group, hands folded behind her head, and I’m a step behind her. Esme and Bianca walk a little ways behind us, but still close to the cart that has all of our stuff.

“You think we’re going to be attacked?” Felix asks.

“By monsters?” I ask. “I don’t think so. At least, not if we can get a little ways ahead. I have a couple of little friends that are quite good at preventing monster attacks and such.”

Felix nods along. “Well, when you see your little friends, tell them to hurry up. The more we get attacked, the slower this trip will be.”

I roll my eyes, both at Felix’s attempt to be all subtle, and at her need to speed things up. “We’ll get there when we get there,” I say.

The road feels like it could use a bit more maintenance.

“So,” Ram says, his voice more than loud enough to break rule one. “You kids runaways from some sect?”

“A sect?” I ask. “You mean like one of those smaller churches?”

“Yeah, that’s what I mean,” he says.

“No,” I say. “We’re not really affiliated with anything like that. Well, Esme might be. She’s a big Semper fan.”

“I’m not a Semper fan. I’m one of her loyal followers,” Esme says.

Felix and I both giggle, the laughter only growing louder when Esme sniffs angrily at us.

“So, not sect kids,” Ram says. “Where’re you from then? You’re not from Caselfella, that’s for sure.”

“Do we have accents or something?” I ask.

“That you do,” he says. “Nothing too strong, but I’ve got the ears to make up for my poor sight, you know. But it’s not just that. You lot are all cultivators. Girl cultivators. Never seen the like in the Republic. But I’ve travelled my share. I know that it’s not too uncommon elsewhere.”

“Oh? And what do you think?”

Ram rubs a hand under his chin. “I think a woman’s place is back home, tending to the house and kids. But I won’t begrudge a woman her right to defend herself. Knowing how to pick up a sword and skewer some pest in defense of house and child’s a noble thing in my book.”

“Uh-huh,” I say.

So he’s just casually a jerk then. I sigh. Hopefully, the people around here will change one day, but I have the feeling it won’t be an overnight thing.

***