(IN) Chapter 10 - Rudon and Waxer Part 02

Rudon rushed out of Duke's tent and into Hunter's armory taking a couple of quivers filled with arrows as he rushed towards the forest's mouth. Filled with a will and determination to impress his liege (Duke)...

"Hey Rudon, what ya up to sneakin' about?" Two fumbling yet somehow looked skillfull and even dextrous goons confronted Rudon along with one of their friends.

"Claw, Foot! You scared me there, stop sneakin' and scarin' people like that!" Rudon shouted.

"Rudon, where are you going at this time of night?" Claw, one of the three Hunters questioned Rudon.

"I'm going out an' it's none you three's business..." Rudon shooed the two Hunters as he mounted up the horse next to him.

"Hey, we've been hearing how our liege (Duke) has been quite stressed lately, if this is about that then we're coming too..." Foot, one of the hunters said as his shoe-like face proudly grinned, revealing a loose silver tooth as he threw Rudon an extra arrow quiver.

Rudon grinned back as he caught the incoming quiver, happily responding: "Then mount up! Quickly now!" as if they were Knights off on a perilous journey.

One man scouting at night was incredibly dangerous, luckily for Rudon, the three hunters he was quite close with volunteered as backup for him.

As the three men mounted and were about to ride away, another shout gutturally came from the camp.

"Hey! Where do you four think yer' up to... Sneaking like that this late at night?..." Waxer along with four other younger lads came forward, halting Rudon and the two Hunters.

"Rudon?!" Waxer became visibly confused when he saw that it was Rudon sneakily going about and not some random soldier about to desert as he had expected.

"Waxer? What are YOU doing this late at night?" Rudon asked back, filled with suspicion and slight hostility... as always.

Noticing Rudon and the other three Hunter's geared up visage, Waxer replied: "Probably the same as what you were thinkin'.

If you're going out there scoutin' this late at night... We're coming with you" Waxer half pleaded half ordered as he stared back at Rudon's slight hostility.

"Ha, scouting? You? I thought you were against sending the boys this late at night... If I didn't know any better, I'd mistake you for some escapin' bandits!" Rudon retorted, cutting Waxer off.

The Armies of Brune, though mostly known for their chivalrous Knights, charging cataphracts, and shield-wall bearing infantry, weren't immune to recruiting anyone and everyone they could during times of war like other Empires did.

When an Army was on campaign, sometimes they would come across bandits or even enemy mercenaries/soldiers, who, when beaten would sometimes surrender to the victorious Army in hopes of being pardoned or at the least imprisoned instead of being killed on the spot. Sometimes when an Army was in dire straits they would even recruit soldiers from their captive prisoners. Suffice to say these newly recruited enemies weren't given equal rights to those recruited through official means. These captive soldiers were mostly used as meatshields and were often given the most dangerous jobs/position in a battle. Hence why these captive soldiers were the most prone to desert and or defect to the enemy's side.

After Waxer's bandits were defeated, the bandits who stayed with Duke after hearing his speech became somewhat similar to these captive soldiers where their salaries were lesser than those of the official soldiers due to the debt they have to pay off their crimes.

This is why Waxer was hardpressed to convince Rudon to let him and his men join the night reconnaissance.

"Look, I know this might be hard ta believe' but the last thing we'd want to do right now is desert..." Waxer pointed to the four young ex-bandit lads behind him.

"Us going would benefit everyone, right? Me and my lads could get the chance to prove our loyalties, and if anyone does die on this patrol, at least it wasn't any of the regulars but just some measly bandits instead, right? See, win-win..." Waxer tried to convince Rudon with his rough explanation.

"That's true sir Rudon, three meals a day and a nice tent to keep warm for the night. Getting captured was probably the best thing that's ever happened to me" One of the youths behind Waxer earnestly said.

"Hmmm..." Rudon's eyebrows contorted as he rubbed his chin in contemplation. The last thing Rudon wanted was to give these dirty bandits the chance at redemption. But the risk of one of his own Hunters dying was too big for Rudon to ignore.

Convince, Rudon grumpily replied: "Fine! But if we're going with this much men then we're going to need the proper supplies for a scouting expedition..." Rudon angrily ordered the boys to pack up more emergency supplies befitting their new numbers.

"Ay, we don't need any more supplies! I'd say we best keep light, the longest we'd be out there is just one night anyway" Waxer countered as getting more supplies would just weigh them down, negating the reason (lack of time) they went scouting at night in the first place.

"I'm the leader of this group, and what I say is final" Rudon snapped back at Waxer's suggestion...

Waxer, knowing Rudon was in charge, relented as the nine men rode off into the night, under the pitch-black forest filled with giant trees, and where no light shined.

*Dugudug Dugudug Dugudug*

Horse hooves trampled through the night, luckily for the Hunters, while although the forest shrubbery was quite thick, the large tall trees were distant enough from each other that horses could pass through them with no trouble.

As the nine men trudged through the night, a large unmistakable rough howl echoed throughout the forest followed by a series of familiar wolf howls.

Rudon dismounted from his horse immediately checked out the nearest puddle of mud shaped like a large hoof-print, then proceeded to check the large scratches on the trees as he looked at the other Hunters.

"Tarasque..." Waxer gutturally expressed with a deep voice that hid his grave worries...