"Information is not ammunition, but it's sometimes better than some. Best is to have both, though." - Old dwarven saying.

Ten minutes later, Reinhardt and Elfriede were in the temporary office used by Graf Angus Harscape, ruler of the northernmost region of Knallzog which bordered Theodinaz, and the overall commander of this first incursion.

Despite being situated underground - the dwarven engineers were quick at work to prepare some underground quarters for their officers - the office was bright, courtesy to an enchanted plate that emitted light affixed to the ceiling. Otherwise, the room was as spartan as it got, with only an armor rack and weapons stand besides the Graf's low desk and bedroll.

All three of them sat cross-legged on some woven mats that served as their seat, right on the ground. Reinhardt had just related his tale of what had happened to the first company he was in to the old dwarf, and now he browsed the map spread on the table between them in contemplation.

"Bad news indeed," he said with a sigh after he pondered the map for a while, placing a white token on the location on the map where the first company of the Free Lances was ambushed and decimated. "And please accept my sincere condolences for your loss, lad. Good work staying alive and getting your people back here."

"Thank you, your grace," said Reinhardt with a nod. He noticed that the old Graf looked visibly aged compared to the last time they met, and obviously tired, as if he had not slept much of late. "Perchance, may I inquire on the situation we're in now? And what exactly happened to the fort? I saw the damage on my way here."

"It's looking pretty grim, lad," replied the Graf with a sigh. He had been old friends with Reinhardt's late aunt Ingrid, with rumors that they were even intimately involved in their youth, so he was used to calling Reinhardt informally. "We've gotten messages from four of our own detachments as well as the Brewers, that they too faced ambushes like you did. Of the rest, we had no news whatsoever yet, but it's safe to assume that everyone faced an ambush along the way."

"The reports we got mentioned various sizes, the 7th regulars got hit by a force as large as what hit your first company, and only barely escaped. The rest reported smaller groups of ambushers," elaborated the old dwarf as he barely stopped his hand from scratching a bandaged wound on his forehead. "They are returning here, but reported more resistance on the way back, since their larger groups couldn't hide as easily as yours did. We might see some of them by the end of the week with luck."

"Oh, and drop the formality, lad. I owe your late aunt too much, and it's just the three of us in here anyway," added Angus with a tired smile. "Notwithstanding the debt I owe your wife for yesterday, that is. Without her help we might have lost the fort by now."

"About that, uncle Angus," asked Reinhardt as he glanced between the old dwarf and his wife. "What exactly happened yesterday? This is the first time I even saw Elfriede injured that badly, and Ery was hurt too!"

"They struck the fort with overwhelming force," stated the old dwarf simply as he looked Reinhardt in the eye. "There were at least ten thousand of them that hit us in a mad rush yesterday at dawn. You know as well as I do that we only had three thousand soldiers in the fort."

"And then?"

"They breached the gates before noon," replied Elfriede from beside him. "Many of them went and struck at us. The Vanguard Legion's dependents had major losses, as they were the ones who took the first hit. We saw what happened, and didn't take it quietly."

"She led the camp followers and other dependents of the mercenary groups left in the fort to fight back, and it was with their help that we managed to turn the tables and pushed the enemy back," added Angus to confirm what Elfriede said. "Right now, we have only five hundred or so soldiers who are well enough to fight, with maybe another thousand if we count the dependents willing to help. Our enemy lost most of their leaders and barely had two thousand left when they retreated."

"There's forty-four including me in my group who can fight, two badly injured. We also took out maybe fifty of them on our way here," said Reinhardt in reply. "I assume we bunker down and wait for other groups to trickle back then?"

"They do not have what it takes to try for another push, but we also don't know if they had reinforcement or more ambushes waiting for us. We have far too many wounded on top of that," answered the Graf with a frown. "Staying put and hoping that some of our detachments manages to return would be our best bet at this moment."

After a little bit of small talk about watch shifts and locations with the Graf, they were dismissed. Together the husband and wife walked out of the underground complex in silence, and they only talked once they were back out under the sun.

"Aunt Ingrid is gone, huh?" said Elfriede, her gaze vacant and looking at nowhere in particular as usual. It was a sight that some of his friends often called eerie, but Reinhardt was used to it, since after all, his wife had been blind since birth. "What would it mean for us? For the Free Lances?"

"I'm… not sure, dear," admitted Reinhardt with a shake of his head. He himself was not sure of the future, as much of it depended on whether the second company survived or not, and in what shape if they did. "We'll probably discuss it when and if the second company returns. It's a decision we'd need to make together."

"Sal and Grün should be fine, I think. Those two aren't the sort to die stupidly," replied Elfriede, in a bout of self-assurance. Salicia and Grünhildr were her best friends since before she met him, and both of them were with the second company's detachment.

"By the way, how is that injury of yours?" Reinhardt asked with some worry.

"Nothing too bad… I just tore some muscles because I supposedly 'overexerted an already injured limb', or that's what the old quack said," answered Elfriede with a frown. "Should heal up within the week, she said."

"Wait, why isn't Oliver the one taking care of your wound?" asked Reinhardt with some curiosity. The only healers in the fort were those attached to the army, as the mercenaries had brought theirs with their detachments. Oliver was the young life-affinity prodigy that served under the Graf, while the "old quack" Elfriede referred to was an old nature-affinity mage. "Even if you're not part of the army, you being the best fighter here ought to give you some priority for healing."

"Oliver took a bad hit to the noggin' yesterday," she replied. "Kid's still out cold, haven't woken up at all since yesterday, so the old quack's pretty much the best we got right now."

"Well… shit."

"Shit indeed."