The rushed exit bringing an end to their well-deserved break caused a bit of grumbling as the soldiers and adventurers broke camp in the rain, but it was less than Edwin had expected. Morale was still high after finally scoring a victory against the Marradi, and being the one chasing after their foes was a welcome reversal of roles. While the soldiers and adventurers were packing up, the logistics section had switched into high gear from a standstill.

There was a good reason why a division had a massive train of wagons with them, and why it generally couldn’t operate without those. In addition to their weapons and armor, the men and women of the advance force had to carry enough food and water to sustain themselves for several days of hard physical labor. Even then, spent ammunition couldn’t be replenished aside from what the marksmen carried, and any equipment that broke couldn’t be repaired or replaced. While a large portion of the division’s food supply was fresh, carried in stasis enchantments, there were still plenty of rations like jerky and hardtack, which could be given out to the troops if stopping to make camp wasn’t an option, or to provision scouts and light infantry on reconnaissance missions.

While Edwin had known that a division ate their way through an ungodly amount of food every day, it was nevertheless impressive to see several carts carrying travel rations rolling into the battalion camps from the logistics area, with tall stacks of wooden crates rising in front of the receiving cohort commanders until the carts were completely empty. Water was more of a problem, as they simply didn’t have enough waterskins to fill to last them more than two days, so Lord Theodor gave them some of the oxen held in reserve for his carts, strapping water barrels to their backs.

For several hours the camp was a host of activity, with people and wagons going this way and that, officers shouting commands, and stressed logistics personnel taking care of last-minute changes. Edwin didn’t think that they had a chance in hell to actually get on the road anytime soon. Then, all of a sudden, the shouting stopped, the carts retreated to where they came from, and the soldiers arrayed themselves next to the road in a neat marching formation. Finally, General Asher gathered the leaders of the advance force under a large tree, the thick canopy keeping the rain away.

It was strange to see the general in armor, even stranger as it was clearly a version of light infantry armor, not the much more impressive heavy armor Edwin would’ve expected a general to wear. He was accompanied by a half-dozen personal guards, the stern-faced men much less amused than the general, who almost seemed to Edwin like he was enjoying himself.

“Marching formation will be ninth first, as this seems right up your alley, then second, then third. Harrick, how many scouts do we have?”

“Just one banner,” third’s commander said with a frown. “It’s not ideal, but with one banner shadowing the enemy and the train lightly defended, I’m unwilling to spare any more. Here on the peninsula it’s not a problem, but I suggest we shore up the numbers once we’re past it. Gerrack, you mentioned that some of your adventurers have a similar skillset?”

“Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem,” Gerrack said, sharing a look with Bordan. “I’m thinking if we attach a single scout to an adventurer party that should stretch your manpower to where we need it.”

“Marvelous,” Asher said smiling. “Is there anything else that needs to be taken care of before we leave?” He looked around the silent officers, then nodded. “Then off we go. Gerrack, your men can depart whenever they are ready.”

And with that, the meeting was over. Less than five minutes after Edwin walked out from under the tree’s boughs, he stepped onto the bridge across the Aste at the head of over two thousand soldiers and adventurers. The burning forest had covered the stone structure with a layer of grey ash, which had been turned into a greasy film by the rain. Edwin placed his feet carefully, still getting used to the additional weight of the massive pack he was carrying.

As his personal equipment barely registered as weight, he had asked his friends to load him up with additional supplies. Leodin was the first to take him up on the offer, cheerfully tying bundles of crossbow bolts to the outside of his bag. The other adventurers had looked on with doubt, but soon it had turned into something of a game. By the time Edwin asked for a second backpack to carry in front as a counterbalance, they’d drawn a small crowd. He hadn’t intended for it to turn into an event, but the half-mocking half-impressed cheers he received when he picked up the load helped fend off the somber mood that the wet, grey surrounding tried to impress on them. And it only got worse once they were across the river.

Like most people, Edwin had never been in the woods right after they had burned down. Where nothing seemed more natural than being in a healthy forest, the dead, soot-covered landscape that they marched into seemed like a different world.

The last time he’d been here, the underbrush had been thick and healthy. Now they could see hundreds of meters in any direction, the landscape only broken up by the blackened trees that rose from the hills like spikes. The crowns were broken off on many of them, and some were still spewing grey smoke from fires burning inside them where the rain couldn’t reach. The ground they walked on was covered in thick, wet ash, but Edwin’s steps frequently found smoldering embers, the grey blanket protecting them from the rain. Soon, they came across the remains of their own handiwork: The Marradi division’s burnt-out supply wagons.

Most were still exactly where they’d left them, standing in the middle of the road. Others had been too challenging to circumnavigate and had been thrown on their side, either by fearless soldiers braving the heat or by magic. As they walked past, Edwin peered into the vehicles’ blackened husks. Some were empty, their contents reduced to so much ash and smoke, but others still held treasures.

“There’s a small fortune here,” Leodin said, stabbing a stick into a pile of steel spearheads that had survived the fiery death of both their cart and the boxes holding them.

“Maybe the train can pick them up when they pass by,” Edwin said absently as he ran his foot over a strange circular block under the next cart in the line. Under the grey top layer was an uneven, silvery metal disk. The vehicle’s stasis ritual had been crafted from a fairly soft type of magesilver. In his mind’s eye he could see the runes slowly melt under the heat, then run down the wooden sides in thick rivulets and drip out of a crack in the flooring, hardenening once they were free of the furnace that the wagon had become.

While the strange and still ambiance invited a somber mood, the worst was when they started to come across the bones. While some oxen had been able to free themselves, and many others had been unhooked by the soldiers before the outside of the carts became too hot to approach, some of the wagons in the space the adventurers had held the longest had been too far gone when the Marradi reached them. In those cases, the draught animals had burned along with their carts, their skeletal remains still fastened to their yokes. Ever since Walter’s childhood, he’d always had a soft spot for the strong, peaceful animals, so at this point he was more than ready for a diversion.

“That’s the one option you have, especially useful for cases like this one,” Edwin told Salissa as a fallen tree suddenly accelerated sideways and slid off the road. “One good push, then let go immediately. The other option is a weaker but more continuous motion. When would you choose that?”

“For more complex movement, like tipping a cart over or lifting it entirely,” Salissa answered, her eyes following the furrow cut by the tree with a satisfied smile.

“Exactly,” Edwin said, nodding. “You’ve gotten much better with this. I think you might be ready to learn telekinesis while moving.”

“Finally!” Salissa cheered, jogging to catch up with him. “I was worried you’d forgotten!”

Edwin snorted. “Alright, calm down. Here’s what you need to do…”