The Hero Should've Known Better

Chapter 12: Grand Elm

"Sollar. Sollar, wake up."

The Demonfolk girl groaned as she felt an arm shake her side. She blinked her exhausted eyes open. General Forge was standing beside where she slept on the hammock, and he had a lit lantern in his hands.

"Sollar, it's time to wake up. They want the rail tracks done today."

The Demonfolk girl groaned. She glanced over at the opening to the tent, to see that it was still dark out.

"Why so early?" she asked.

"We're a little behind schedule," General Forge said. "And everyone else is getting up. See?"

She could hear the sound of conversation outside, from the other Demonfolk laborers who were awake.

"...Fine," Sollar sighed. She wiped her eyes clean and hopped off the hammock.

The Demonfolk General lifted one of the cloth curtains of the tent to show the activity outside. Several Demonfolk were already up, illuminating their surroundings with candles and oil lanterns.

"Yeah, everyone's up. Hold this lamp for me, I'm going to grab breakfast."

General Forge handed the lit lantern to the Demonfolk girl. He paused for a moment, as though hesitating whether to give it to her, before finally handing it to her.

"Don't drop that, okay?"

The sleepy girl nodded as she took the handle of the lantern. "Okay. What is it? Why can't I drop it?"

"A lantern," General Forge said. "You see the fire in it? You'll spill burning oil everywhere if you drop it."

Sollar glanced at the oil lamp as though the Demonfolk General had handed to her a particularly unstable and fiery magical spell that could've burst any moment. The Demonfolk girl decided to hold the lamp out as far from her body as possible, as she stepped out of the tent.

There was a flurry of activity outside, even more than the amount of activity that'd usually be seen at this hour. Several campfires burned, with lit pots of bubbling porridge atop.

General Forge had stepped up to one and poured some of the hot porridge into two wooden bowls that he had procured from his belongings in the tent. He then walked back over to Sollar and held one of the steaming bowls at her.

"Porridge for breakfast," he said. "We need to get to work quickly, so we'll be eating here."

Sollar cautiously took the bowl of porridge in her free hand, then looked over to the lantern.

"Spoon?" she asked.

"Don't have a spoon," General Forge replied. He plucked the lantern out of her hand, allowing both to be free. "Just sip at the soup, though be careful. It's hot."

Sollar sipped the porridge.

"Why can't I taste it?" the Demonfolk girl asked.

"It's not flavored," General Forge admitted. "Just eat it to keep your energy up."

The Demonfolk girl grimaced but didn't complain. She tipped the bowl into her mouth and poured another bite of the tasteless gruel down.

Meanwhile, as the two walked forward to the worksite, one of General Forge's coworkers stepped up next to the Demonfolk General and stuck up a conversation.

"How's the situation, Forge?" the Demonfolk asked, walking up next to the General.

"Mmm... Not great, not terrible," General Forge admitted. "We're behind schedule, sure. But if we work within the morning hours we have before first light, we can get it done in time."