"I really hate this place!"

Leila sulking voice reached Victor's ears. They were camping in the middle of a small cave, surrounded by nothing but stone and mud. While the special wood they got that didn't produce any smoke when burned, it didn't mean they could use it in the mine. Every recruit in the Perran camps was endlessly nagged about how toxic the air would become if this wood got burned for an extended amount of time in unventilated place. Legends were circulating about the military newcomers that if one were to anger their trainers enough, they would be kept in the dark basement with raw meat, flintstone and a small stack of smokeless wood for three days straight!

In his long-gone time of youth, Victor always disregarded those rumours as baseless and stupid. He only gets to know the truth after he was caught on the women's campus, trying to talk with his current fiance! To this day there weren't many things he abhorred more than the smell of raw meat mixed with the delicate fragrance of the smokeless wood!

"Don't act like a little child and stop whining! It's not like we will have any more breaks!"

Pushing away his tragic memories, Victor tried to ignore the most hated smell engulfing their camp as he resisted the urge to put those legends to the test. Who knows, maybe all of this was just a myth used by instructors to have some leverage over the recruits?

In the end, instead of grabbing the flint, he grabbed Leila's hand as he pulled her into his embrace.

"We still have a long way to go. Let me enjoy this time as much as I can."

Slightly surprised by the uncommon, emotional act of her husband-to-be, Leila settled in her man's arms. Resting her head on his torso, she could hear the stable rhythm of his heart.

"Do you really need to do this?"

Her fragile voice seeped through Victor's ears and directly entered his heart. While both of them were sturdy fighters that saw more death than anyone in the western part of the continent, they somehow managed to keep their delicate inner self from deteriorating into the abyss.

"You know I have little say in this matter. Would you still accept my feelings if I were someone not true to myself? And even if, leaving the wielder alone will just extend our lives for a bit while making me the traitor to all of our ancestors who opposed the evil throughout the ages."

The man shrugged a bit and tightened his hug on Leila. Breathing in her smell let him calm down, but only after her fragrance permeated his whole mind.

"I know this. Were you not the one to warn me about it even before we started going out? But that still feels unfair!"

Leila softly cried, wetting his shirt with her tears. At this moment Victor even pitied that she was still tightly burrowed in his chest since her normally cute face would reach the pinnacle of beauty with her current tearful expression!

"Let's not talk about this. While my death might be decided already, no one said it will happen soon. I need to see the wielder on my own eyes before I would even consider making the necessary sacrifice. Who knows, maybe it will happen when we will already let our great-grandchildren out to experience the world?"

Victor gently brushed the tear of Leila's cheek and delicately placed his kiss on her forehead.

"Death will eventually come for all of us. Whether or not we like it. I think having my end serve the case of multiple generations of our ancestors is a kind of reassuring, don't you think?"

"You better start making up for all this time that I will have to push through life alone then!"

Officer fiancee replied while lifting her head, placing her hands around Victor's neck and deeply kissing him. When pieces of their clothing start to fall all around them, general yet again regretted the lack of light in the cave.

*****

Initially, the mine tunnels were wide enough for them to comfortably walk through them, but the deeper they got, the smaller they became. Even if they took the main branch of the tunnels, just going around a hundred steps deep into it made them crawl on all fours. A while later, they had to lie on the stone floor and push their bodies through the narrow hole.

With every pull of their hands, they moved their bodies just a tiny little bit forward. With every breath, they fell as if the amount of the air lowered just a bit. But they had to keep crawling forward.

After about an hour, their arms started to hurt. What was worse, the time was just an estimate! There was no way to measure time in complete darkness of the tunnel. Their arms and upper bodies started to hurt. While they were on the upper end of the human class in terms of strength and endurance, they were training themselves in the wholesome output. Relying only on particular muscles for a prolonged time wasn't an easy task even for them!

With every movement they made, worn-out muscles were burning up. The environment they were in, forced them to use a special kind of breathing technique that minimalised the amount of air they need to intake to maintain their lives, but that quickly made them exhausted and lightheaded.

Breathe in. Move the arms forward and stabilise them on the uneven ground in front. Pull your body towards your arm while ignoring the pain that squeezes tears from the eyes. Breathe out. Breathe in…

With every inch they crawled, the pain only seemed to grow. Breathing became harder. Each move felt like an impossible task. Yet they had to push onward. With how limited the air was in the tunnel, they couldn't just let themselves get tempted to take a break. Even a short rest would make them suffocate as a result!

Breathe in. Move your arms forward while ignoring bugs slithering on the ground and venturing into crevices of your clothes. Ignore the unbearable heat of the narrow tunnel. Pull your body forward. Stop the shrugging inherently followed by the sensation on smashing something slimy between your chest and the stone floor. Breathe out.

No matter how painful it was, they had to continue. Time seemed to slow down to match the speed of their crawl. Too tired to even think about speaking, pair pushed onward while knowing that a single mistake or stroke of misfortune would mean their death. Maybe the opposite end was already sealed because of a small earthquake? That would mean suffocating halfway through the tunnel.

The only thing that they had in this horrifying journey was the knowledge that they weren't alone. Every time they got hit by doubts or resignation, small sounds of their partner keeping up were the only thing that pushed them forward before they regained some of their determination. Every time the ever-present darkness seemed to overwhelm them and push them into the abyss of insanity, small sounds the other party made woke them up from the despair and brought their resolve back.

Only after three hours of the desperate journey did they see first sparks of light shining in the tunnel's distance. Contrary to the expectations, now came the worst part.

After closing to the light for a few moments more, Victor finally stopped. Instantly when his movements ceased, he felt a hand on his leg. Shaking it delicately, he signalled to his fiancee he was still alive. There was no need or even an opportunity for words. Before exiting the tunnel, they had to rest. The presence of light indicated an exit nearby, so they didn't need to worry about the lack of air anymore.

Taking a few deep breaths, Victor squeezed to one side of the tunnel, letting Leila push forward a bit and squeeze right next to him. To prevent any additional harm, they synchronised their breathing, making sure that one was inhaling while the other was letting the air from his lungs go away. Pushing against each other, the officer felt two soft mounds resting on his chest while rhythmically pressing on it with a bit greater force.

Maybe it happened because of the terrifying experience they just went through, maybe because his loved one closeness, but Victor got aroused almost instantly. Wise men stated that high emotions influenced the body in a very similar way. Scholars tried using this as an explanation for why during the wars, even most cultured man or barbarian would often go on the raping spree on the enemy civilians. Close encounter with death simply stirred those people's emotions, forcing them to vent them out in one way or another!

Modern Commonwealth army worked this problem around by replacing the soldiers with the fresh units immediately after any kind of big battle or skirmish. Tired veterans were treated to the beer and tabor prostitutes, ensuring the safety of the Commonwealth citizens. As for what happened while they operated on enemy territory… Generals commonly believed that traditional ways were sufficient during the conquest.

As for what it had to do with Victor and Leila… One didn't need to put much thought in this problem. If not for the extremely limited space, they would probably already be engaging in extending Victor's lineage. Sadly for them, despite all the reasons standing upright for him, only small touches had to suffice. Sharing a kiss, feeling her upper tights rubbing on his crotch area, her dry tongue entering his mouth…

Only after another five minutes of a passionate embrace, did they calm themselves down and finally moved to the last phase of this part of the journey.

Maybe it was a blessing in the misfortune, but after all they went through to traverse the mountains, the exit was in the best possible form. While it extended straight into an open area, there was no one in sight who could spot them. Unable to take it any longer, Victor burst through the hole and immediately extended his hand to help Leila out.

"We made it!"

He said with a pleased smile, as he powerlessly felt on the soft ground. Just after he finally relaxed, he felt another weight falling on his lap.

"I'm soooooo done….."

As soon as they finally emerged from the mountain embrace, they just plainly laid down on the earth, whining softly from insane pain. Unable to hold on anymore, Victor pulled some flowers from his bag, plucked their petals, and rolled two small balls from it.

"While the effects will be incomparable even to those silly potions, it might still alleviate some of the pain."

Before he even though about swallowing hastily made pill, he turned Leila's body around, put the herbal bit into her mouth and poured a small mouthful of water on her lips. Only then did he take the medicine himself.

"I'm sorry. I know we need to hurry, but I need just five more minutes…"

Leila softly whined, while grimacing from the pain. Since they were infiltrating enemy territory, all kinds of elaborate stuff from equipment to real medicines were strictly forbidden. While the chances that someone could endanger or even interrogate them were minimal, they still existed. If some bad things happened, they couldn't give westerners any clues!

Human greed was unmeasurable. If westerners got their hands on silly stuff like Vizuta pills, used commonly in Commonwealth cities, they could amass the forces from the entire continent just to venture out in a search for those! Who cared about massacring serfs, commoners and conscripted soldiers, when one could attain immense wealth from the war spoils!

While their homeland wouldn't be endangered by even grandest crusade from the west, barbarians from the south, Imperials and republicans from the east, Norsters from the north… Already surrounded by hostile nations that didn't share Perran sentiments to the old ways, Commonwealth couldn't maintain yet another frontline!

After resting for about a quarter of an hour, Victor finally gathered the remaining strength he had in himself and stood up. After taking a while to stabilise his shaky legs and get used to the pain, he delicately pulled his fiancee's hand.

"I know it hurts, but we need to go. If we hurry a bit, we might be able to enter the city before night closing of the gates."

Knowing that this was an inevitable thing to happen sooner or later, the young girl gnashed her teeth and stood up with the Victor support.

"Let's run. We ought to use other muscles if we want to get rid of the tiredness!"