Servitude

Chapter Seven

It took two weeks of being stuck in this camp with my fellow team discussing plans without me before I was finally let in on some information. It was very little information, but it was something, so I'll take whatever I am given.

I was sitting in my tent doodling on a piece of paper with a very blunt pencil. I had found them around the camp during one of my walks. When I say walks, I mean I just went in circles around the clearing, as nobody was allowed out unless permission had been given, and I wasn't going to get that anytime soon.

Lucas's head popped into my tent and asked me to come out to join them by the fire that had been created in the centre of the camp. So I packed away my doodles and made my way to the fire. I lowered myself down on one of the logs and made myself comfortable, ready to listen to the minimal amount of information I knew I was about to be given. I saw that it wasn't just my group that were discussing plans, but it was the whole camp that had gathered themselves around the roaring fire.

Once everyone in the camp was settled and quiet, I now saw how bleach blonde everyone's hair was. It seemed to be due to the fire light shining so bright on their golden locks. I don't know why, but the longer these people were outside, the whiter their hair got. I guess the sun was more damaging than I first thought.

I was still making my observations when one of the many heads stood up and cleared his voice to silence the stragglers.

"I know many of you have been here awhile and have completed your missions, but we need as many spare hands as possible on the next one. You have probably gone through your new plans, and I'm happy to tell you that we have finally been given the green light to start our journey for this mission. We will be going in intervals, and you will all be told your orders by your team leader. We can't have any group out of order, so if you start catching up with the group in front, please pace yourself. You are in this order for a reason. This will be our last night, so I would like you all to clean up before you leave. Anybody got any questions because, after this, I want everyone to get prepared."

A man not much older than me opened his mouth and directed himself to the man who had just spoken. "Do we get any of those trained guards with us this time? There seems to be a lot, and my team would definitely feel happier with one."

I guessed by guards he meant the many holders milling around the camp. I know for a fact at least a high percentage of them came with us, if not all of them.

The original man answered him with a wildly exaggerated smile that was for sure being used to make the man more comfortable. Still, it looked very odd on his stern face. It just didn't look natural. "Unfortunately, all the guards already have their stations, and if they aren't assigned to your team, it means you are not seen to need them."

The man who had asked the question huffed but said nothing else. Many of the other questions were very generic, such as what would happen to the stuff they needed to leave behind, if they would come back to this camp, or if they could return if anything were to happen to their group. It seemed that once everyone had left the camp, each team was very much on their own with no base camp or any plan on how to get home safely, but I assumed they would decide that once we had all completed our objectives.

Once everyone had asked their questions, people slowly drifted back to their relevant groups in rapid conversation. The atmosphere now felt very different. It felt tense, but there was also a sense of relief. I guess people had been waiting a long time to finally start their mission.

I sat down by the fire a lot longer than the others; after all, I wasn't really in a rush, and since I didn't know what the mission was or what the journey would entail, I decided to enjoy the warm fire.