HROT: Spawn of War

Chapter 8: Amicitia

In the depths of the immense woods, Scott, Tony, and the group set up camp. Everywhere they looked appeared the same, surrounded by trees, scurrying rodents, and rocks. David had learned of the castle where Pore had taken Kyle, so they were on their way. It was a four-day walk.

"Have you finished setting up your tent, Leon?" Scott asked.

"Just about. Would it be alright if Kieran and I had the tent to ourselves tonight?"

"Why?" Tony asked skeptically.

Leon looked embarrassed. "No particular reason, just because...Kieran can get claustrophobic."

"He'll have to deal with it," Scott asserted. "There's fourteen of us, and we're not cramming six into each of the other tents just to accommodate Kieran."

"He can sleep outside if he wants," Tony added.

Leon hung his head low and left sulkily to get firewood.

Before long, the group was gathered around a big fire in the center of the camp. The cats fought each other, and Jamie's brown horse, whom she and Shannon had ridden to David's house, ate from Jamie's hand.

The medieval mercenaries, Crunk, The Fosters, and Cheesecawk, began singing Harout's Hymn, which they commonly sang while on a mission:

"Oh great Harout,
Don't wake up now.
Keep us at peace.
Keep our heads above ground.

Though our journey is long,
And the deeds we do, wrong,
Wipe our hands clean
So we may sing this song.

Oh great Harout,
Don't wake up now.
Keep us at peace.
Oh great Harout."

Kiah clapped her hands in approval and smiled broadly at the performance. She nudged Tony to see if he had enjoyed it. Tony tried his best to ignore her, but he couldn't help being amused at her perseverance.

"That was a mighty chant, lads," Leon praised.

The Fosters, who preferred to be referred to as TF, bowed his head in appreciation. "We've come up with so many songs on our journeys, they're too numerous to count."

"How long have you all worked together?" Shannon asked curiously. She was sitting near Scott, but did her best not to acknowledge him, and he did the same.

"Long enough to accumulate far more scars than when we started," Crunk said somewhat hollowly.

"I'm really curious to hear your story," David said.

"Cheesecawk," Cheesecawk replied with a smirk.

"It's not a very pleasant story," Crunk began, "but if you insist. I was living a nice life in the hill country with the love of my life and a baby on the way. My sweetheart was taken from me and held hostage by a group of bandits. Far and wide I searched for them, wielding my giant club so that I might crush all the men who took my darling from me.

"Finally, I watched them go into a cave in the Black Basin. I followed them in from a distance. When I neared the heart of the cave, I saw my sweetheart being dragged by them and charged toward them. However, three giant, parasitic worms burst from the cave walls and attacked me. One of them latched onto my head and sealed this mysterious egg onto it. It grew extremely rapidly, and I struggled to see and breathe through the thick membrane. I writhed on the ground, helpless, crying for help as the bandits laughed and got further and further away.

"When all hope seemed lost and I gave in to the worms' torture, a heavy axe split one of the worms in two. It did the same to the other two. TF had found me struggling to stay alive and had been kind enough to save me."