Book 3: Loyalty

Rafe

I walk along with the Longclaw army, my troops, and my friends, seeing the destruction all around. My heart is sick over the burnt bodies I see in our path as we go from village to village, trying to find enough provisions to make it back to Shadowmanor Castle alive.

There are bits of bread and scraps of fruit and vegetables here and there, though the fields and orchards are scorched. This area is going to need a lot from the Crown, as soon as we win this war.

A few green soldiers in the Longclaw army stop periodically to throw up. I don’t blame them. Just when we think we’ve seen the worst of depravity, something worse appears.

One new recruit now carries a charred stuffed bear with him everywhere. When I ask him why, he simply tells me he wants to remember what he’s fighting for.

It takes longer than I’d like, since it means the Rallegrad army has gotten further south than I like, but two days from the castle, we come upon enemy