Chapter 4: Memoir of a nameless solider

Dune was finally out of the hospital, just a few days before our next campaign. Athena's words stuck with us so we planned multiple strategies around whether the enemy had come into contact with any gods or not. This would also be the first campaign that retreating back to the city would not be a viable option due to far we could travelling, the Ador plains where we would be setting up our base was open for easy sights to avoid ambush and close to a forest for hunting. Its the perfect place to hold but before we could get there we had to through the Ivad mountain range. The path is narrow with cliffs and covered in ice making travelling in large groups almost impossible. The trip to the plains should take four days in the best conditions, so we planned for a six day travel. The first day, we traveled smoothly with the advance group of 1500 men in five groups. The second day had a few delays due to a festival happening in a town and as men we had to help the locals with their alcohol problem. We partied throughout the night drinking, dancing and at the end throwing dye on a bonfire. Partying so long didn't delay our early morning departure even this all the tired and hungover men, we continued to march until we came to the base of the mountain range. The third day started with a slow and dangerous trek up the range through the fastest path. The path was too narrow for our normal four man formation, so we formed two man groups with Dune and general Nale, the two strongest men in front. The further we climbed the range the colder it became even with the winter coats we were given but we couldn't stop, stopping on such a narrow path would leave us open to attacks by animals looking for an easy meal. Just before the sun had set we found a plateau that hold most of the men. The plateau had a wall blocking most of the wind that was blowing around the snow wildly giving the men and easier time setting up the tents. The first casualty occurred in the early morning of the fourth day, two guards were attacked while patrolling the path. The men's bodies were found with massive scratches and bite marks, it was clear that they were attacked by a large beast like a snow bear. We packed an left as quickly as possible because the area was marked and more beasts will appear again for a midnight snack. The cold didn't let up and the snow came down heavier, leading some men walking off of cliffs or getting lost. By the time we found another place to make camp, 59 men had either died or gotten lost which was as good as death. At the new camp Dune, general Nale and general Roca stood guard and watched for beasts that could attack. A loud growl could be heard from the path we came from at it sounded like a snow bear, then even more growls appeared afterwards signalling a pack.