Piligrimage

Amira and Susano find some rags that were left behind and use them to bandage Krastinaff, the fort members don't really waste anything of value, they clean Krastinaff's wounds by touching as little as they can on him.

Almost all of Krastinaff's skin is already grey, the only parts that haven't really changed color are his scales on hands and feet, which are still orange, since Krastinaff handed over his neonite stones he felt something is trying to devour him from the inside to outside.

"There you are heap of shit!" the dwarf enters the barracks kicking the door. "Since you're good for nothing, you're going to push the neonite's wheelbarrow!" the dwarf leaves as suddenly as he entered, behind him is a wheelbarrow with all the neonite, its glow remains visible even in the illuminated period, the neonite is firmly tied to the wheelbarrow with a net so that nothing can escape from there.

Through the open door you can see a line forming towards tower 3, leaving the barracks they see that the wall beside tower 9 where the rest of the body of the creature that tried to break the wall is is almost collapsing on its own, the bodies of those who succumbed in battle were left where they are, they count less than one eight in all.

Krastinaff feels his joints ache pushing the wheelbarrow, he sees the dwarf climbing the stairs in Tower 3, they glare at Krastinaff for a moment as they shift to descend ladder, Krastinaff feels himself increasingly isolated as he sees Ramon and Rikka climbing tower 3 right after the dwarf.

Amira and Susano help Krastinaff hoist the wheelbarrow with the ropes from Tower 3, they are just not the last ones as one of the armorers stayed behind to collect the rope, and as soon as they leave they see that the convoy of the fort's members is still out of In combat formation, they don't expect to be attacked in the next few hours, but they move quickly.

The march continues quickly, a person walking alone could be faster, but the group moves keeping cohesion, when the purple shadows begin to expand again, some food scraps brought by the cook helper reach them.

"I'll be right back" Susano warns, Amira nods and Krastinaff remains listless.

The fort's food never looked good, especially what was given to them, but Susano is tired and he decides to go talk to the dwarf after eating his portion, in addition to complaining about the cook he wants to ask if it's just his impression or if it's the shadows ahead are expanding more slowly than the back ones, Susano knows that this will cost him a lot, just to go ahead he needs to keep asking permissions several times and apologize even being insulted and sometimes assaulted.

After a few minutes he reaches the dwarf, Susano is surrounded by hostile looks, but feels that the dwarf's angry look is less aggressive than usual, perhaps because he has gotten used to seeing him longer during their last mission together. Susano, however, upon reaching the dwarf doesn't have the courage to speak first, he follows the dwarf for a few moments in silence, just staring at him closely.

"What was snake fart? Want more food? For you useless ones only tomorrow!" the dwarf speaks intimidatingly as usual, Susano stutters a little but manages to speak.

"Yes… it's… it's about the food" Seeing the mean laugh on the faces of those around him, Susano speaks again now with anger overcoming the fear in his voice. "the food sucks!" the volume of Susano's voice remains shy, but there is more conviction in her sincere words.

"Ahhh… hahaha" the dwarf's laugh reverberates in the mouths of those accompanying him. "Sorry your excellency, tomorrow this humble dwarf will serve you better, please go back to your 'chariot', the dwarf's special should be out by tomorrow and it will be very fresh and smelling like you can feel from afar" the dwarf's companions laugh as he speaks.

Susano comes back and walks away humiliated without saying anything else, and fearing that the dwarf will keep his word in sending the 'dwarf special' for his breakfast, Amira and Krastinaff, before Susano gets too far away, the dwarf remembers the slop that Susano had done during their mission together, it wasn't good, but the dwarf had never known anything really better, and surely Susano had much less at his disposal.

"Wait snake fart!" the dwarf points his clenched fist at Susano. "Who sayd you can go?" Susano stops walking away immediately. "Go talk to the cook! You'll cook the food tonight, if it doesn't look good, you'll spend the rest of the trip eating only the dwarf's special, or rather the troop special!" the dwarf's companions stumble laughing harder, they are not used to laughing so much in such a short time.

"But if you're just doing this to please me, you better start fighting" the action's emphasis on 'fighting' is passionate. "Now, go right before I try to test this armor boot on your ass!" Susano nods his head and goes out to look for the cook's cart, before long he finds him following the only smoke among the troops.

"Sir?" Susano speaks shyly to the cook, he observes that his two assistants take turns pulling the cart and getting firewood, the cook looks at Susano with disdain, Susano notices that 3 other carts follow further ahead with what must be the other supplies.

"What do you want snake fart?" Susano can feel the cook's deep voice and tense muscles that the cook wants him out of there.

"The dwarf sir…" Susano takes a long time to complete the sentence and is interrupted. "What about the fucking dwarf!" Susano and the cook start to lag a little behind as they talk, the cook's assistants laugh just listening to that conversation.

"He… he told me to cook" Susano is intimidated, that man is too strong for a mere cook. "Finally!" the cook pushes his wooden spoon into Susano's chest, who takes it by reflex, the cook goes to help the assistants.

"Sir, what shall I do?" Susano, still stunned, asks following the cart. "I don't know, you're the cook, problem is yours now snake fart" the ex-cook and the other helpers laugh.

Susano is terrified, if a small mistake, and sometimes without any real reason, the members of the fort already beat him, now with such a sensitive task he will have to dodge more traps than Amira when they entered this damn dungeon.

Susano checks the cauldron rattling on the cart, an ingenious scheme, the fire is inside a box carved into stone, and the cauldron is suspended like a hammock on a ship, not that Susano has ever seen a ship.

The cauldron has lots of vegetables and a few pieces of meat inside simmering in a thick sauce, the food has probably been made and remade without the cauldron ever being cleanned, so there was so much burnt food in the meals, and hence all the meals they looked the same.

Susano doubts that the cook didn't know at least the basics, it's probably just a job he did grudgingly and that's why he was so sloppy.

Susano goes to the supply wagons and checks the supplies available, there's not much, it should be enough for a few weeks at most. He thinks about how best to use what he has and comes up with a plan, he ignores the mockery of his helpers while tending to the cauldron.

Hours gone and Amira continues to help Kastinaff to keep up with the group, Krastinaff just doesn't have the purple hands of pushing that wheelbarrow thanks to his scales. Every time Amira helps Krastinaff through an accident on the way, she hears insults and threats from those ahead.

Krastinaff continues to look paler and paler, Rikka's symptoms continue to replicate in him, the infection has already covered his entire body, but his hands and feet continue to resist infection, his pains are greatest where his elf skin meets his dragon scales and cartilages.

Susano has finished preparing the food, you can hardly see it anymore, he's lost, the food is ready, but what to do now? He looks fearfully at his helpers, who haven't bothered him for some time anymore, and asks shyly.

"Sir what I do now?" Susano sees the assistant who reluctantly responds. "Make the food!" the ex-cook responds like he's giving an order, but he's not.

"It's ready," Susano replies proudly, but still shy. "Then deliver this shit, if you think it's that good, take the first course to the leader!" the ex-cook responds by laughing and again interrupting his conversation with his companions.

"Sir, where is the leader?" Hearing this last shy question from Susano, the ex-cook and his two companions stop pulling the cart and collect firewood, so they go to Susano, Susano recoils in fear, they are faster and the ex-cook takes the wooden spoon from Susano without resistance, they taste Susano's slop and are surprised.

The other two helpers laugh and point to the ex-cook, the ex-cook understands well the reason, the food may not be wonderful, but the ex-cook even in his best days of good mood did something so good, they go back to the their duties as helpers, and before they start pulling the cart again they hear a stern cry.

"Why da hell you stopped?" the leader's voice rips through tens of meters until it reaches Susano and his assistants, the leader's voice silences everyone in its path. "There's your answer!" the ex-cook's answer once again sounds like an order, which Susano thinks it's very prudent to obey.

The whole troop had stopped and Susano runs to serve a plate and takes it running towards the leader, he stumbles several times on the way and doesn't fall, Susano holds that plate as if the contents were his own life, on the way he sees the dwarf smiling sadistically beside Ramon as he passes.

Susano delivers the plate to the leader subserviently, the leader without pomp takes the plate and tastes it, the leader's expression softens slightly, feeling the taste of the food, Susano feels his expectations frustrated with the leader's fist clenched in his face, Susano walks two steps back to not fall.

"This isn't good enough to justify stopping the convoy!" the leader's voice silences Susano's pain in the face of fear, Susano slowly backs away. "And next time it will be two hundred lashes! If you don't bring my squire's plate with you!" The squire falsely coughs looking hard at her leader. "I say Second in charge, and get back to your post now!"

"Yes sir" Susano answers, barely audible and sobbing, and runs back faster than before to where he came, the rest of the convoy has already started moving again, some are already waiting for Susano beside the cauldron to pick up their ration, for a few Susano has to take them, the ex-cook orients Susano more actively now.

Amira is worried that Susano is taking too long, the purple shadows above the trees seem to slowly devour the ambient light, and long before it should be dark, it's hard to see without a torch, Amira now carries two torches, because they're not far away, they not understood what had happened to Susano a little while ago, nor that it was about Susano.

Amira notices that the convoy takes the formation the leader had ordered as they march on, the attack is imminent, the whispers in Krastinaff's ears intensify, he remains listless and indifferent to what happens around him, the light from the stones also intensifies with darkness once more.

Everyone hears the noises of the approaching creatures, first the quieter ones arrive who keep at a distance while the heavy creatures arrive, the ground vibrates with the weight of the running creatures, the troop hearts beats with the same intensity as the vibrations.

Amira runs leaving Krastinaff behind, she doesn't say anything but looks for Susano to help her protect Krastinaff, Krastinaff tries to feel something but he can't.