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Vapor rose from the field of the dead as the morning sun began to burn away the frost. Shattered war machines and the corpses of great beasts lay scattered on the ground. Dead soldiers, mercenaries and bestial tharn tribesmen were intermingled where they fell together in death. The ground was scarred by the sorcery and weapons unleashed upon it.

Several fires guttered as the survivoring mercenaries ate a quick morning meal before returning to their last remaining duty. Calloused hands gripped shovels and dug holes in the black earth and gently lowered their comrades into the earth. The tharn and the wild men of the woods were looted and loaded onto crude biers to be consumed in flames.

Hard men bit back tears as they buried their friends. Prayers to Morrow and Menoth were uttered over the fallen and last words whispered. Weapons from their enemies were tossed at their feet and then they were covered with cold earth.

At the end the survivors divided the spoils between them. "This is it for me," said Andrei. The tall, lean man was a fell hand with a blade. "I'm through." Several other men nodded. To be fair, not all of the survivors liked each other and the leaders and anchors of the Young Wolves were now beneath the ground.

"Da," said Nicolai. "You choose your own path. Mind does not lie with you," the big man rumbled. "The contract is done."

As the survivors departed, it left the few that remained with the question of whether or not to stay together and if they did, how should they proceed. Rebuild their numbers and pursue mercenary work? Pursue contracts and opportunities appropriate for a smaller group? Or something else entirely?

Soloman Guren stood, battered hat over his heart, at the foot of the Captain's grave. Though normally loud and somewhat strange, today Soloman had a reason to be reserved and quiet. Other men were departing, sometimes on their own, other times in small groups. Not Soloman Guren, not yet, anyway. The Captain was dead, and he had respects to pay. Later he'd see about getting the head off what was left of the Warjack, make that Alexei Ivanov's headstone. It would be the least he could do.

There would come time to consider where he'd go afterwards. Now was the time to be thankful.

Almost everyone else was leaving. Konrad, however, just sat next to the grave of his fallen commander. He was a good boss, tough but fair, and he had got good contracts. Konrad went over the battle in his head. Everything had gone basically according to plan, and the tribesmen were being driven back. Then, out of nowhere, a large force had appeared at the rear. The Tharn had somehow managed to silently kill the rear guard, and evade the scouts. The battle then got reallly ugly. Konrad wasn't sure how the hell he had lived through it.

Konrad started thinking about his next move. He had some money stashed away, but not nearly enough to do anyhting meaningfull yet. Looked like he would have to stay in the game a little longer. No way in hell was he going to work with a large company again. Contracts were just to low paying for this type of bullshit. He could go solo, but that would be fantastically dangerous. The best bet looked like it would be to hook up with a small crew, take a few well selected high paying contracts, and then retire when he still had the chance. Deep down, he knew that last part was probably bullshit. He probably would never get enough money to retire, and he loved the rush of the work too much.

Konrad then saw Soloman Guren trying to pry the head off the wrecked warjack. He didn't know him too well, but he did know he was solid in a fight, if a bit ecentric. He went over to see what he was up to, and feel him out and see if he wanted to join up in a crew.

Auric stood surveying the battlefield. It was hardly the first blood bath he had seen nor would it be the last. His chosen course in life pretty much guarenteed that. Still, it was bitter as he accounted many of the fallen as friends and comrades.

He looked at the shattered remains of the company's warjack, a black market Nomad, and saw two figures prying at the head. Picking his way across the churned and charred earth to the warjack, he kept his eyes open. It seemed most of the men had already left by now, not suprising as the burial detail had taken the greater part of the day.

"You up there! Come down. We need to talk." Auric yelled up to them. "If we don't get moving soon those savage will be back to pick us off. We may have won but it doesn't take much courage to pounce on a few men alone in the woods."

That was Auric's greatest concern right now. Being picked off by Tharn stragglers. It wouldn't be hard for them to waylay a small party alone in their woods.

Best to get moving.

The man known as Arkady Dimitrievic turned around from the makeshift graveyard and went away, giving an intrigued glance at the strange sight of the two men trying to pull the head off of the wrecked warjack. He stared heavenways, and muttered a few words under his breath.

A large raven glided down from the sky and landed on his shoulder. The bird mocked the body language of human contrition, even managing what would have passed for a sly corner smile.

"No, you won't," the man said in a level tone.

"But you've burned all the other ones!" the bird clacked in protest. "No tasty eyes!"

"This matter is settled," Arkady answered in the same tone. "Now, on to the next item of pressing concern: where to?"

"Why not in the forest?" the bird suggested. "I can find food, worms, berries, all good and tasty!"

"I think I'll pass on the worms for this time," he said with the slighest hint of amusement in his voice. "And I challenge you to find your treats under this climate, at this time of the year. No, best bet is to get back to civilization, see if I can find a place somewhere as a city wizard." He patted against a pocket in his greatcoat. "Ah, material realities, still tugging me back to the world of shoddy employment. I'll have to wait a little before I can settle within my own little cozy laboratory."

He heard the voice of the man named Auric Alexivich Durga, calling at the two others, urging them to depart.

This one seems to be firmly grounded in reality. Let's hear what he has to say.

Arkady had not been a member of the Young Wolves for long, and did not feel as tightly bonded to his comrades as they must have been to each other, but he felt it might be best to stick with them, at least until they had reached a safer haven.

Konrad stopped trying to pry the head off the 'jack. Damn, what was I thinking? Those bastards could show up at any time. The boss deserved better, but he woud have to do without a memorial. Konrad walked up to Auric, another old hand in the Company. They weren't close, but he certainly was speaking sense. Arkady was also nearby. All Konrad knew about him was that his spells provided serious firepower, and that he wasn't a Tharn. Certainly a good person to have around right now.
"Yeah, we should get moving. There are still a few hours of daylight left, and if we leave soon we can be back in town in two days. I don't think anyone wants to make the trip alone. Everyone good on ammo?"

"As much as I want to be out of here, and I do, we might want to see that we're not leaving any comrades behind. And we'll need provisions and survival gear."

He mentally ran through a checklist of things they would need.

"Check for any other of our comrades, especially any wounded. Every seems to be gone but we don't want to leave anyone behind. Then pack animals. Food and water. Tents. That should keep us going until we get back to civilization."

Auric was originally from Skirov, a sparsely settled region of Khador. People there still lived on the fringes of civilizations. He had a healthy respect for the quicksilver temper of nature. Two days could easily turn into a long miserable week at this time of the year.

"We ought to hurry. We definitely don't want to be caught out here at night."

Now it all rides on what we find. And how quickly we find it.

Arkady turned his gaze to face the horizon. Civilization was nowhere to be seen, but he knew that the beyond the hostile lands in the west lied Tverkustk, a large Khadoran city. If they took the path southwards it would likely take them longer, but the road would be safer. So we have a conflict: convenience or safety.

He packed his gear - rations, spellbook, components, his crossbow and his precious Fire Staff. If need be he could summon a horse, but he wondered if there would be horses left for everyone of his companions, and decided that he would wait a bit before using it.

He picked up a small tent, and grabbed as much food as he could carry. His Floating Disk spell could be of some use if they were heavily loaded. But given the scarcity of the remaining supplies, it would not be useful any time soon.

Konrad nodded.
"I already got all the supplies I need," which was true, as he had already assembled a patrol pack with about a weeks worth of rations, a blanket, some rope, a tarp, his overcoat, 2 waterskins, a few other essentials such as firestarters and as much ammo as he could scrounge off the battlefield.
"But I don't know about the pack animals. Most of them were killed or driven off when the Tharn's hit us in the rear. I don't really feel like searching the woods for them. I'll check again and make sure all the wounded got out all right."
Konrad then took out a rugged pocket wattch he had reccently acquired, checked it, and said
"30 minutes enough time to get everything together?"

Konrad quickly checked the rest of the camp for stragglers, and finding none, he linked back up with the few other mercenaries who hadn't left the battlefield yet.
Note: Edited to reflect realties of story.

Auric made a quick search of the camp. There would be precious little in the way of supplies for the trip back. But they should have something like enough.

He hastily grabbed up what food and water remained. Auric took a tent and lashed it to his pack. Then he went to join his erstwhile companions who were likewise preparing for the journey.

"Let's get going. There's nothing left worth staying for and every reason to get going"

Auric settled his pack on his back and made one last look at the battlefield.

This is going to be close.

Once Konrad was back with the rest of the men who hadn't departed, he went straight to the business at hand, as time was short and he sure as hell didn't want to be ambushed by some tribesman looking for glory.

"In order to get back to civilization, our best bet would be to stick together and avoid contact with any of those Tharn bastards. To that end we are going to have to be able to spot tham before they sppot us, and move as quickly as possible. Auric, Isn't it? That raven perched on your shoulder, is it one of those beasts that bond with mages? If it is, could you have it scout ahead of us and make sure the road isn't blocked? I'm not inexpierienced in providing security for forces on the move. I can either provide rear security, hanging behind the wagons some distance to make sure we aren't getting snuck up on, or I can take point to look for ambushes. Ideally we should have flankers of to the sides of our advance, though we are most likely going to have to do without. Thoughts?"

Note: Edited to reflect realities of the story.

"My name is Arkady," the wizard said. "I will attribute this little mistake to exhaustion and grief." The raven let loose a strange ululating caw. If Konrad had been privy to the secret language of the wizard and his familiar, he would have understood his answer : Will you quit it already? This one's not even lying still! I'd love to see you try gouging his eyes out... The raven took on a brooding stance, looking another way.

"He will do that, yes. I can feel his thoughts up to a mile away, so we will have some warning. Though I will not be able to tell exactly what is going on until he comes back to report to me. And if a bird of prey fancies him as meal, we might get a false alarm." The bird stared at him intently. "For the good cause," the wizard said, pointing at the wounded lying in the nearest wagon. The raven's stare turned to one of greed. "Bad idea. Well, if there are any more up the road, you can have their eyes. Just pick them after we've killed them, right?" Not that we intend to fight any more than we will have to, the wizard thought, but it was lost on the empathic link.

"By the way, Sycorax," he whispered to the raven, "try asking around the forest, find out if other birds have seen anything. But no idle chat."

Guren, who had at this point been shifting a groaing man with wrapppings about his head, stopped. He lucky hat was perched jauntily on the back of his head. "If you lads like, I'll take tha' point. You'll know when trouble starts tha' way." he paused for a moment to lay the last man in the back of the wagon, then slapped it shut "And trouble is what I'm best at handling."

He tapped the butt of his magelock, and gave them a knowing look.

"That sounds fine. But don't get too far from the group. We'll need to stick together if there's trouble."

Auric checked his greatsword in it's scabbard and the pistol at his side. With both in readiness there was nothing more to do. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing left to do but get moving."

"My apologies Arkady, this day has been brutal. I can handle the rear guard position. That should settle our order of march."
As the small group made final preperations Konrad took up his position and scanned the woods for danger, his attention firmly fixed on his sorroundings.

Note: edited for consistency with plot.

There was a crunching beneath Soloman's heavy, armoured boots. It was the crunching of dirt, of small stones, of discarded tree-rubbish. The day wasn't quite pretty, and probably wouldn't be. There was a bitter cold in the air, and the shafts of sun spiking down through the trees held no warmth or comfort in their light. To say it was quiet wasn't entirely correct, but it was still. Guren kept his fingers on the hem of his coat, and occassionally that hand would wrap around the reversed butt of The Person in the Forest. Then there was comfort and a greater sense of awareness, with cold magelock steel under his fingers.

He pushed his hat down a little more firmly upon his crown.

"We really ought to head west. Tverkutsk is that way and we'll want to reach civilization as quickly as possible. From there we can decide where we want to go."

Auric was feeling rather wary. They were the last to depart and it was imperative to get out of this accursed hinterland.

"Unless some one objects let's get moving, shall we?"

Damn, I forgot to think about where we're going!
Konrad had concentrated so much on getting moving, he had forgotten to ask where they were heading to. It probably had something to do with fighting a battle and going two days without sleep. He'd be better once he got some rest, but until then he'd have to man up. Konrad had been through much worse in his 20 years as a mercenary, slapping himself mentally, he prepared himself for the journey ahead.
Can't slack off. If I do, I'll probably die. No way in hell am I dying on the trip back after surviving that battle.

After taking a swig from a waterskin, Konrad turned t Auric and said
"Sounds like a plan to me. I hate this place."

"I wish to get back to civilization as quickly as possible. I'd make us fly overland to the nearest city if I could, but that's not in my répertoire. I so damn hope my next job earns me enough money to let me fill in a few gaps in my spellbook. Like sprouting a good shelter out of nowhere."

He contemplated both directions for a few instants. "Well, I suppose we might as well rush westward and force-march until we reach Tvertustk. If need be I'll take some time to summon horses for every one of us, but that'll curtail my magic supply."

He sent a wave of encouragement towards Sycorax. Keep on watching, lad.

Soloman turned on his heel and scratched his forehead. He waved his arms to catch their attention, didn't manage, so shouted. Their heads turned and he beckoned them towards him. Which was, by chance, west.

The survivors bundled up their belongins and headed west across the plain, towards the distant forest. As the day drew to a close they neared a small community consisting of a half dozen large log houses.

As the group of mercenaries neared the small outpost ahead, Konrad came up to the front, staying low in the high grass, to avoid being spotted. He carefully examined the structures from a distance. He was looking for signs of danger. Everyone in an outpost such as this would likely be armed, as was usual for this rugged nation. What Konrad was more concerned about was the posibility that the Tharn's had killed the normal occupants and were using the outpost as a way to ambush passers by. With that in mind he looked for signs of recent violence, and cautioned his companions to stay back and observe the compound for a little bit saying
"I advise caution here. Let's see what's what before we decide if we want to head down there."
As Konrad was giving his council, he was also noting whether the compound had any sort of defences, such as a palisade, if any inhabitants were visible, and also taking note of any domestic animals in the area, as well as any sighns of a fight he could see from this distance.
Konrad was in no mood to take any chances after the last disasterous battle.

"I agree with the caution. But we can't wait forever if we want a place for the night. They're country folk and don't look kindly on late night company."

Auric was feeling impatient. The Tharn weren't likely to be subtle, not so much that they had to freeze all night waiting. So he settled in waiting, at least for a short while.

Arkady cleared his throat.
"Well, I suppose a bird should not be too alarming to them. I can send Sycorax there if he hasn't looked in the houses yet," he said while pointing to the dark shape of his familiar, closing in from another direction.

The bird landed on his shoulder, visibly tired.

"If you have nothing of value to report, would you please peer into yonder houses? We'd hate to be welcomed by arrows and blades, so make sure they are hospitable. And don't act too blatantly, okay?"