Taking a deep breath, the olive-skinned woman, quickly followed after sir Chester. She too had shot some glares at the mage, but those were more of the questing ones. She had assumed the mage would try to keep quiet about his abilities for as long as possible and probably try to use them to his own advantage later on, but things seem to have turned out differently. She still didn't have complete trust at him and she guessed that he felt the exact same way too. Hmmm didn't matter right now, there were more pressing matters to attend to, like the horde of infected that was trying to get into this encampment. Ohh how she wanted these to be stone walls not wooden ones, but she knew too that no one will bother to make stone walls for a simple fortification point like this. They were lucky it had even a wooden wall. 

 “This is going to be troublesome to deal with! We don't have enough longer ranged weapons to protect the walls and the gate!” Karen stated, she had a sword and knives... they needed a lot spears and bows to deal with this many infected. Suddenly she realized something... this horde of monsters was moving by instincts... she had not seen any of them try to even defend or form tactics. All the problem was that it was a swarm of them.[color=f7941d]” Sir Chester, I have a plan... it may not work, but it might buy us some additional time.”[/color] Karen said, looking in the direction of the horde outside.[color=f7941d]” We use any long range weapon we can find and kill as many enemies in front of the gate we can. We will let their bodies serve as natural barricade. The more we kill in front of the door, the harder it will be for them to gain enough foothold to push! I'm sure a watch post like this must have some oil for signaling fires, we can pour that  outside on the gate, make it harder for them to get a grip on it. If we are lucky they will start slipping and those behind will stomp on those in the front!”[/color] Karen stated her proposal. It wasn't much and it may not really work perfectly, but it was something.

 This was a very dangerous situation, if things were this bad out here, how worse can they be further north? She couldn't even imagine, but a slight fear echoed through her mind. That made her smile for some reason, she felt excited despite the fear. This was something she learned after her admission into the army, the excitement to win a battle, to defeat your foe.[color=f7941d]” We can also prepare some oil on the ground behind the gate, if they break it, it will slow them down somewhat.”[/color] If they had an archery unit this was going to be so much easier, but they didn't. 

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  Chambala(Location: farmhouse 5 days south of Minorhold.)

 It has been a day since Chambala spent  the night at this place. At first she only planned to stay for the night and then continue to move, but since there appeared to be no one following her and she liked it here, the animal girl decided to stay a little bit more. It was already nearing sunset again. Quietly she made her way back inside the house, carrying some of the chopped wood she found stored in the barn. Last night she didn't light the fireplace because she was afraid someone might be following her and she didn't want to give away her hiding place, but now it was cold and she wanted to spend the night in a warm place. 

 Piling the chopped wood in the fireplace, she quickly took the flint and began trying to start a fire. It took a little while since she had never done it before, but only seen the servants in her master's mansion do it. Eventually she finally felt the warmth of the fire reach her face as the small sparks ignited the tinder and finally the proper fire started. She smiled with childish joy at her own accomplishment. Picking up the jug of water she pulled from the well and placing it to boil on the fireplace, Chambala quietly sat next to the source of warmth and pulled a piece of salted meat dried meat from the clay jar she put nearby. Slowly, using one of her hands to hold the jar and the other to hold the dried meat she was eating, Chambala sat near the fireplace, waiting for the water to boil. The chains around her legs, arms and neck were giving off reflections from the fire, but for once in her life, she felt secure and at peace. When the water finally finished boiling, she poured some away in a big wooden cup so she can drink it later when it cools down and the rest she put in a big wooden bathtub she found in the house. Mixing it with some cold water to get a just right temperature she quickly took her first bath since she can remember. When she was a slave they just splashed cold water on her and the others, same was when she was her master's pet. The servants would just bring her outside and throw water on her until they think she is clean enough.

 [color=fdc68a]“S...S...”[/color] When she finally entered the warm bathtub, she tried to say to herself how good it felt, but she could barely utter a single word now. Her master didn't allow her to speak... always said a beast shouldn't use man's language. She was beaten up every time he heard her say a word until she stopped talking. Sometimes some of the servants would talk to her when the master was away, but it was rare thing. Now she found it hard to speak.[color=fdc68a]” S-s-s-so g..good.”[/color] She forced herself to say, Chambala wanted to hope she was more than a mere animal even now.
 
 Suddenly her ears twitched as she heard a sound from the outside. It sounded as human steps. The girl quickly began panicking, realizing she was found after all.[b]” Hey... you really think she is here?”[/b] She heard someone talking outside. Her hearing was quite beyond that of a human after all.[b]” Don't know, maybe. It's just the owners of this place, then we will apologize and continue on our way. It's not like I want to find her either.”[/b] The second man admitted and a few knocks on the door echoed through the farmhouse. In her panic, the animal girl quickly jumped out of the tub and hid under the nearby table.[b]” See no one responds, then it must be her.”[/b] The second voice said and the door opened. The two men entered the house, spotting the full with water tub and the cloth scraps that Chambala was forced to wear by her master. She was trembling under the table, pushing herself as much as she can towards the wall. It didn't take a lot of time for the two men to spot her. She left a trail of water leading to her after all.

[b] “Come on, we won't hurt you. Come here and let's go back to your master.”[/b] One of the men said, judging by his way of speaking the leading one here.[color=fdc68a]”L-l-l-leave... me...”[/color] The girl said with trembling voice, still as if trying to push herself into the wall.[b]”Sorry girlie, but if we don't return with you, our heads will be rolling.”[/b] The man said, reaching to grab her arm to pull her from beneath the table.[color=fdc68a]” N-n-n-no!”[/color] She replied, struggling to push away his arm. Suddenly the second man, he was younger placed his hand on the other one's shoulder.[b]” Let's just leave her. We can tell we didn't find her, look at her. Do you really think, it's going to be fine to have her return?”[/b] The younger man asked and nodded towards Chambala, who was still trembling under the table. Her scarred body could clearly be seen. After some consideration the older man finally nodded.[b]” Alright then... we will leave. I'm sorry if we scared you girl...” [/b]The older man replied and quickly headed towards the exit, followed by the younger man. He threw a long last glance at her before he closed the door.[b]” When we return, I'm telling that you let her escape if we are asked.”[/b] The older man stated as they walked. Chambala quickly jumped away from her hiding place and towards the window. She really saw them getting away from here. Quickly she locked the door with the big metal lock. Why didn't she do it before that?! Now he didn't feel secure here anymore, but she had nowhere to go for the night. Slowly she moved back into the bathtub to finish washing up, always throwing scared glances around. When she finished washing up, she dried herself by the fire and went upstairs where she found some clothes earlier. They were too big for her, but it was better than the old rags she had. A big long sleeved shirt, a pair of big trousers, some old leather boots that had some holes in them, but she couldn't be picky right now, she also found some old cloak and a old rugged leather backpack. She had to cut parts of the clothes so the length is at least a little bit fitting for her, but at least she had clothes now. Everything was too big and loose for her so she just had tied it up with some rope so it doesn't fall. There was still the problem with the chains, but she couldn't remove them no matter how much she wanted to. Finally when she was tired enough to sleep, she crept into the bed of the farm, there was a knife in her hand. She left it next to the bed, afraid that people might come for her again.