Karl took a fifteen-minute nap as they were preparing a proper hot meal for everyone’s breakfast, and woke up to the smell of roasting meat and pancakes.
“Good timing. We’re just getting ready to serve everyone. Thor passed out food for the Satyrs, who need roughage, or they get stomachaches. They can and will still eat with us, but not large quantities.” Lotus explained.
Karl nodded blearily before Doug passed him a strong cup of coffee to bring his brain back online. That was just the thing that he needed after an all-nighter. Most of the team had slept, though he had to wake some of them up to help with the rough patches.
“Get a bit of sleep. Thor can lead us in, and we will guard the caravan now that the sun is up. At least that way, you will have a few hours sleep while we finish the trip. The ground is getting more solid by the kilometre, and the army knows that we are coming.
They arranged to have Red Dragon Clerics airlifted to this location while you were napping, and they will be there to take over the refugees when we arrive.” Doug explained as Karl sipped at the glorious black nectar of life and cleared his thoughts.
The Satyrs happily made a spot for Karl in one of the wagons, and Karl leaned back against the side in the corner, so he would be able to see out if anything required him to wake up.
He ate breakfast there before passing out, and what seemed like seconds later, a light tap at his shoulder brought him awake.
“Sir, we are ten minutes from the army camp. The warrior man just met with a scout, and they’re escorting us in.” One of the boys whispered.
“Thank you. I will join the others at the front.” Karl replied quietly, then gently shifted so he wouldn’t rock the wagon too badly when he vaulted out.
Karl checked his spaces, and found that both Rae and Hawk were asleep already. There were no more threats that needed their attention, so they caught up on sleep while they could. Inside the army camp might have its own dangers, but those were human dangers, and the humans could deal with them on their own.
They didn’t have to go all the way to the camp, as fate would have it. A large group of red robed clerics ran out to greet them, drawn by the presence of Tessa on the back of Thor.
“Priestess, where did you find such a magnificent steed?” Asked a sharp-eyed High Priestess, who had dragon horns above her ears, and a ridge of spikes down the centre of her head, along with slotted golden dragon eyes.
That was a sure sign of either dragon blood, a lot of favour from her Goddess, or more likely both.
The appearance set the beastkin at ease. If they had sent someone who was obviously not human to meet them, then these people might not be too bad.
“He’s a bonded companion to Commander Karl, on my left.” She explained.
The High Priestess looked at Karl in shock, making him wonder if he had something on his face. He hadn’t shaved in a while, and he had been sleeping in the wagon as they drove through the ash, so he likely looked like one of the miners coming to the surface after a shift right now.
Fortunately, he had unequipped his white cloak when they entered the ash, as it was too warm for the environment, so he could at least put on a clean layer.
Then he realized that he didn’t have to. He could swap into the Commander Rank student’s suit when they reached camp if he had to go indoors somewhere.
The refugees were quickly sorted by age, and Rae erected a wall of spider silk to make a changing room for them, while the clerics hung bag showers so they could get clean before changing into the traditional visitors’ hassocks that the church passed out to everyone.
“Have they eaten?” One of the Priests asked quietly.
Tessa nodded. “We stopped a few hours ago for breakfast. I don’t think that they’ll be able to eat much again so soon afterwards, but by afternoon they will certainly be hungry and exhausted.”
Karl could hear the laughing as the refugees got washed and changed, not entirely in that order, as some of them didn’t quite get the idea of showering.
It wasn’t something that you could do in the Frost Giant lands. Just getting enough liquid water to drink was a chore, so there was none for washing, and they would usually just use handfuls of snow.
After a few minutes, they were back out in matching white hassocks, with clean faces and wet hair, or fur, in the Satyr’s cases.
The High Priestess raised her voice a little, catching the kids’ attention. “There we are. Everyone is looking much more refreshed. Now, we have set up tents for the day, and then the church will be sending buses for us all tomorrow to bring us home.
For those who didn’t meet me earlier, I am Matron Millie, head of the Acheson Orphanage, not far from here inside the Golden Dragon Nation, but near the Beastkin Nation border.
A messenger has been sent to see if the orphanages there have enough space for those who want to transfer, but you are all more than welcome to stay with us.
If you would like to say goodbye to the kind Elites who brought you back, you may do that now, before we begin your processing.”
There were many tearful goodbyes from children who had only known the Elites for less than one full day, and didn’t even know everyone’s name. But nobody would hurry them.
They had been through enough, and the Church wanted them to feel safe in their transition.
The affectionate goodbye meant that now they were all dirty again, but the Priestesses didn’t mind much. Even Thor didn’t miss out on the affection, and might have actually been the most popular, as he had pulled their convoy all the way here.
That was what the Lightning Cerro had been waiting for, and once the kids were led away, he vanished back into Karl’s space, leaving the convoy of empty wagons alongside the road.
“Elites, please come with us. The Generals would like to speak with you about what happened inside the Frost Giant Territory.” An officer with a Lieutenant’s Gold Bar insignia informed them.
Karl pointed to the shower bags. “Give us a few minutes to get refreshed, and we will be with you. Like the kids, we crossed the ash last night, and we’re not quite fit to be meeting with the high brass.”
The man looked like he was going to argue that he had orders to bring them immediately, but something about the look on their faces told him that discretion was the better part of valour, and he simply nodded.
Rae had made two rooms for the kids to shower in, which were now split into men’s and women’s showers. It was a short shower, as the bags weren’t large, but the amount of ash and filth that was washed off was incredible.
Once he was certain that there weren’t tracks of ash mud down his face anymore and the crud was gone from his hair and beard, Karl switched into his suit, and Doug switched to a formal set of High Priest robes, while the others simply equipped their armour again, leaving it fresh and clean, though still combat damaged.
“Change back to your armour. They don’t know how to deal with combat Elites. They will push harder if they see you as a suit sort of person.” Bob whispered as he put his own armour back on.
Karl chuckled as he changed back to the armour, and carefully rinsed off his pack so he didn’t get ash all over himself again.
“Alright. How annoying do you think this is going to be on a scale of one to ten?” Karl asked Doug, who had the most experience with authority figures.
“I will put it at a solid eight. They will want a lot of information, as we’ve been behind the lines so long. But they won’t push too hard because honestly, you two look a bit scary right now.” Doug laughed, then created a herbal cigarette which he put to his lips, then motioned for Karl to light.
Karl laughed and used [Flaming Body] to get it lit, before leading them out to wait for the ladies, who had longer hair to deal with. Karl had to wash his hair three times before the ash stopped running out, so he knew that it would not be a fast process for them to be clean again.
