Chapter 58: Winged Hussars, Charge!
Chapter 58: Winged Hussars, Charge!
Castellan Leonard, driving the wagon, uneasily scanned his surroundings. The temperature was dropping rapidly. After the desert had released all its accumulated heat, the air here had chilled to the point where one longed to wrap oneself in a thick sheepskin blanket.
And the Winged Hussars had indeed done just that. Their equipment included a leopard skin, wolf skin, or bear skin cloak to be worn over their armor, which they now had draped over themselves for warmth.
Ulm, holding his bearskin cloak, wanted to offer it to Lothar, but was refused. Lothar did not fear such a minor chill; having mastered blood magic, he was no longer a mere ordinary person.
The night wind blew, sweeping away a layer of sand, revealing a skeleton lying supine on the ground beneath, only white bones remaining. A black scorpion had taken up residence in one of its eye sockets, burrowing deeper within.
Leonard, while driving the wagon, freed a hand to clutch the silver cross he wore around his neck.
"Heavenly Father above, please protect us! May we not encounter that band of infidel robbers! Only six of us are combat-capable—no, it should be five. I’m already getting too old to even lift a sword properly. And Ulm and these other two, these brightly armored cavalrymen, were just a bunch of infantrymen before this. They haven’t even been on a battlefield! They can’t possibly be a match for those damned infidels!"
Thinking this, Leonard’s expression grew even more desperate. He began to regret why he had tried to be brave and taken on the duty of escorting the wagon himself, instead of his five sergeants.
"Leonard, have you been to Kerak Castle?" The voice of his lord, somewhat lofty, came from nearby.
"Y-yes, Milord."