Free Kathir's Redemption (Book 6) by Kristian Alva Page A

forest. The dwarves watched them go, and then went to recover their precious arrows from the bodies of the slain. No dwarves had been killed — not this time. There were five dead orcs on the ground, and several more that had been wounded and escaped.
    “ Good job, lads! ” Skemtun called out to his men. He tried to give the dwarves the confidence to keep fighting, but everyone could hear the weariness in his voice.
    Skemtun climbed on top of a boulder to give himself a better view of the trees. “ The orcs are gone. We ’ re safe for now. ”
    “ Your men did a good job, ” Kathir said, passing him a water skin.
    Skemtun uncorked the skin and poured a little water into his mouth. “ We were lucky, ” he said softly. “ We ’ ve got to be prepared for more attacks. ”
    “ You ’ re right, ” agreed Kathir. “ Scuffles like this will continue for a while. Fortunately, it ’ s late in the year, and we ’ re moving north. Orcs don ’ t like the snow; they ’ re cold-blooded, and freezing weather makes them sluggish. There ’ s already snow on the ground in the plains. Once we reach the forest ’ s edge, your people should be safe. ”
    Skemtun nodded. “ I hope ye ’ re right. In the meantime, we ’ ve got to keep moving. I can see that these raids are takin ’ a toll on everyone. All the men look exhausted. ”
    “ Things are hard right now, ” said Kathir, “ but it ’ s going to be all right. You ’ re doing a good job leading your people. I ’ m proud to be fighting by your side. ”
    Skemtun raised an eyebrow. “ Ye say that, but ye ’ re a mercenary. Aren ’ t ye gettin ’ paid to be here? Miklagard is still paying ye, aren ’ t they? ”
    Kathir shrugged. “ So? What of it? I ’ m not going to apologize for being a mercenary. It ’ s my job.  I can be proud of what I ’ m doing and get paid to do it at the same time. ”
    “ That ’ s an odd perspective, my friend, ” replied Skemtun.
    Kathir smiled, but he didn ’ t argue. Instead, he looked out upon the dwarves. The women and children had returned from their hiding spots and were walking on the trail again. They stretched out into a rough column along the path.
    It was obvious that the dwarves never expected Mount Velik to fall. They had failed to prepare for the worst. There had been no time to gather proper supplies for a long journey. That was their worst mistake, and now they were paying for it. They moved with the painful slowness of people who were losing hope.
    The days passed as the dwarves trudged ahead. Some started collapsing from fatigue, and so the hard decision was made to stop to rest for the night. They set up a makeshift camp, and Skemtun set up a perimeter of guards. Everyone took turns sleeping on the hard ground. Thankfully, the orcs didn ’ t attack them during the night.
    They broke camp and moved on the next morning. As they continued onward, they found themselves without any shelter. There were no caves as they moved further north, so they were left vulnerable to the wind, the cold, and the rain.
    They were also low on provisions. The women scavenged what they could, collecting mushrooms and wild berries, but it wasn ’ t enough for everyone to get a meal. They had found very little to eat in the forest, and now even their water was running low.
    Some of the wounded died along the way and had to be buried in shallow graves. There was no time to grieve properly.
    Times were hard, but there were some bright spots. As they got closer to the edge of the forest, hunting became easier, and they were able to catch small game on a regular basis. Everyone searched for food; even the youngest boys hunted with slingshots and caught smaller animals like birds, rats, and snakes. They ate everything — nothing was wasted.
    One day, Kathir got lucky and shot a bear with his crossbow. With the dwarves ’ help, he used ropes to hoist and hang the carcass up in a tree. Trembling with excitement, they dressed the