Soren Snowe

Soren watched as Andrius tended to Nora's wound. The remedy and potion mixture seemed to do the trick...and causing quite a bit of discomfort to Nora. He smiled sadistically, remembering how Zoe always fed him the same remedy whenever he got injured in a contract or caught a disease

Now she knows how I feel when I get sick.

But soon after, a young Imperial stood in front of him. "Soldier Thomas Li, reporting for duty Captain Snowe!"

Soren gave a welcoming and friendly smile. He surveyed the new member. From his looks, Thomas seemed as young as 15 but Soren remembered, looks are usually deceiving. But in any case, Thomas undoubtedly under 18.

New blood...he seems like a nice enough kid.

"That's me. Listen, here's the ground rules. Disobey an order, stray from our march, or betray our people and you will be killed. Other than that...most of the orders are open ended, you can choose most of the time what to do, and if you play smart, you'll be fine. And one last thing, respect is one thing...but after this battle, it seems like my squad would operate better if we went by friend relations rather than squad relations."

Nora

Her mind faded in and out of consciousness as the potion and healing magic did its work on her body. Flesh and nerves realigned with small jolts of pain.

In her hazed state she could pick up a few words of what was being said around her. “Soldiers… wounded…” she remembered the voice… someone on her side.

Had they lost the battle? There were no sounds of fighting now. She could feel the ground shake as soldiers walked past her in groups carrying their wounded friends. The smell of smoke and blood filled her nose. The smell of death. How many could have survived the battle?

“Find me… dead ones… resurrect…”

What was going on? Okay, this was definitely not the time to be lying around.

"Awaken, my bumbling barbarian brute" someone spoke close to her.

She focused her strength on trying to wake up completely. After a few seconds she managed to open her eyes. Andrius was leaning over her. He must have been the one that had spoken.

“If you used any of that corpsehumper’s magic on me I swear I am going to-” she cut off. She had tried to sit up too quickly and now she felt dizzy. It took a moment for her eyes to focus properly. “Nocturnal’s knickers…” she mumbled when she saw her blood-soaked shirt. “Bloody hell happened?”