"Though we deal in lives bought or sold,

As we fight in both hot and cold,

We still go to the afterlife in glee,

For while bloodied, our lances remained free." - Motto of the Free Lances Mercenary Company.

"We're through! Go go go!!! Now!!!" yelled Grünhildr from the very front of their group.

Behind her, what remained of the second Company of the Free Lances rallied for another push, as they forced their way through the enemy soldiers that barred their way, Grünhildr at the lead, the tip of the wedge they forced through the enemy formation.

There were maybe two hundred of them left, out of the five hundred they had sallied out with. Nearly a third of their number were injured badly enough they couldn't fight. Those were relegated to carrying those too injured to even walk in the middle of their formation, while everyone who could fight, fought and protected them with their lives.

They too faced an ambush while on their reconnaissance mission, nearly a week ago now. Fortunately they had detected the ambush early, and managed to fight their way out, even if nearly two hundred of their members laid down their lives to make that possible.

More of their people had died or sacrificed themselves in several more skirmishes they fought along the way back, the persistent enemies constantly nipping at their heels. More names to remember and avenge.

The Second Company's commander had been amongst those who had perished, just a couple days ago, when an arrow took him by the throat. Their best healer long gone, they had no way to save the man's life and could only reduce his misery by granting him a quick death.

Most of the officers were also dead by now, as their enemies focused on them with dogged persistence. Only a couple of the more junior ones survived, but even then they were so heavily injured one of them remained unconscious for the past three days, and the other was blinded.

Grünhildr was no officer, but she was a well-respected combatant for her skills, and well known for leading the charge. She did all she could to lead the rest by example, which merely meant that they were to follow her and kill whoever was in the way.

Grünhildr Sigvaldi

They had run into an enemy patrol of roughly a hundred men barely an hour away from Fort Ascher, which quickly doubled in size as more enemies arrived from nearby encampments.

Rather than allow their group to be bogged down so close to their destination, Grünhildr gathered their best fighters and forcefully charged through the enemy formation.

The bulky, muscular, mixed breed woman herself was at their very front, as she swung her pair of axes with reckless abandon. Keen observers might have noted the unnerving blankness that enveloped the edges of her axe's blades, as if nothing existed along those thin lines.

Those unfortunate ones who got a close up view of her blades, found that it cleaved through their weapons, armor, and themselves effortlessly, like a hot knife through butter.

Before too long, the second company had forced their way through the enemy formation, ten or so of their number paying the ultimate price in the process. They had little time to waste, as already more enemies were approaching from further away.

Once they were through, Grünhildr hung back for a bit, allowing the others to run ahead of her, until she was at the rear of their lines, shoulder to shoulder with her best friend and partner Salicia. The two women exchanged glances and a nod, before Grünhildr took off running, with Salicia covering their backs.

The taller, one-eyed woman saw that the enemies they left behind tried to give chase, and more importantly, that some of them had pulled out bows and were nocking arrows onto their strings.

"Oh no, you don't," stated Salicia coldly as she pulled out a massive bow taller than her already considerable height from her storage. An arrow the size of a small javelin appeared in her left hand, and she nocked it to the bowstring lightly.

Then the woman halted her run. In one smooth, fluid motion she stopped running and stood stably as she turned around. Her arms simultaneously pushed and pulled her massive bow to its full extension, well-honed muscles executing the motions fluidly despite the weight of the draw they faced against.

Salicia nocked her arrow, drew, aimed, and loosed, all in less than a second, before she took off running again.

Salicia Adenauer

Less than a second later, the arrow struck its target, an older man in the Theodinaz kingdom military uniform who was aiming his bow at the fleeing mercenaries. The man never got a chance to shoot, as the arrow accurately pierced through his right eye, entered his brain, and only got stuck when it struck his helmet on its way out from the back of his head.

He died without knowing what hit him.

Salicia repeated her actions after she ran a short distance, then again, and again, as she kept up with the rear of the escaping mercenaries with her long strides. Every arrow she shot claimed a life, every life claimed, an officer or leader amongst the enemy.

After her tenth shot, the enemies stopped trying to chase or shoot arrows at the mercenaries, and instead held up shields in wariness.

Salicia had a satisfied smile on her face at the sight of the cowering enemies. She was an archer first and foremost, and had not been able to pull her weight as much as she would have liked in the earlier melee. It was only now that she finally got a chance to do what she did best.

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"Deities be praised… It's the second company!" said Ylisera from where she stood to watch the running battle. "I see Grünhildr… ah! Salicia's earning her pay well too~"

"About two hundred?" asked Reinhardt as he estimated the number of survivors now running unimpeded towards the fort. Their appearance was both a relief, and a painful blow to him.

A relief because they still lived, and clearly had weathered the difficulties better than First Company did. Yet also a painful blow, to see so many people missing from their numbers.

"About that, yeah," nodded Ylisera after she counted for a short while. Then she saw that Reinhardt had stood up and was making his way down from the walkway. "Where are you going, little boss?"

"Getting the gates open, what else?" he said as he rushed down the stairs. "Yell and let us know if something changes about the situation!"