As we entered the nest camp, I saw the mercenaries holding large mugs filled with foaming liquid.
Almost everyone had one arm around another's shoulder. They were laughing, shouting, and celebrating together.
For a moment, it felt less like a military camp and more like a huge festival.
When I looked to my side, Seban had already disappeared.
I looked around for him for a while, but with my current condition, I decided that my first priority was getting healed.
I asked one of the nearby mercenaries where the healers were.
He pointed toward the fallback area, where a small camp had been set up.
I still held the reins in my right hand and slowly moved Rusty in that direction.
The entire camp looked like a festival.
People had died.
People had been injured.
But for the first time in a long while, they had a reason to celebrate.
When I reached the healer's area, many of the healers were already busy treating the wounded.
Some patients had lost limbs. Others had bandages covering their eyes or heads. Some could barely move.
One of the workers noticed me and immediately came over.
"Kid, get down. I'll help you."
I gave him an awkward smile.
"I can't do it on my own."
My entire left side was numb and painful, while my right hand wouldn't stop shaking. I didn't have enough power or strength left to even get down from Rusty.
He understood immediately.
He carefully helped me dismount and then helped me onto a small cot on the ground.
As I lay down, I looked toward him and told.
"About my mount he is injured. I already gave him some first aid."
Could you ask someone to look at him he mentioned
"I'll talk with the mount master and see if there is any medicine left for him."
"Thank you."
I lay back down, finally allowing myself to relax.
After a while, I saw a man wearing white robes enter the tent.
When he saw me, I forced a smile onto my face, although the pain was still sharp and my right hand continued to shake.
"It seems you're pretty banged up, kid."
He looked me over carefully.
"I'll give you two choices."
"You are in a lot of pain. I understand that. But there are still some people here with life-threatening injuries and higher-priority cases."
"If you want, I can treat you after them. But you need to stay awake. It could be later tonight, early morning, or even later."
"Or..."
He paused.
"I can give you some medicine to put you into a deep sleep. I'll treat you properly in the morning."
I thought about it for a moment.
Then I chose the second option.
"I may still be in pain, but if somebody is dying because the healer is treating me first, I couldn't forgive myself."
The healer nodded.
"Good choice."
He slowly gave me a medium-level healing potion.
I drank it.
It was somewhere between bitter and sweet, but I could already feel my body responding to it.
Then he gave me a cup containing a dark liquid.
"A sleeping potion."
I drank it.
Within moments, my eyes became heavy.
I fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning
I could still hear the sounds of celebration from outside.
It seemed that I had moved the small single tent into a larger group tent.
The floor was covered with mats, and several people were lying on them. A board with names was placed nearby.
I think I needed to remember to check it later.
Then I heard a familiar voice from my left.
"Kid... you're alive?"
His voice sounded painful.
I slowly turned my head.
I saw Rany sitting nearby, eating what looked like nuts with his right hand.
He had a new scar across his face.
I smiled.
"Looks like you too survived."
He laughed.
"Yeah. Death wanted me, but I wasn't ready to go."
We chatted for some time.
I told him about how I had gotten lost, found my way back, and everything that had happened while I was separated from the others.
Then I asked him the question I had been waiting to ask.
"Did you participate in the final charge?"
Rany gave me a huge smile.
"What? Jealous that the old man got to participate?"
I smiled.
"Maybe."
He laughed.
"Then keep your ears open."
I stopped joking.
"Why?"
"I'm going to paint you a picture of what happened."
The Final Charge
"The day before yesterday, around evening, we were given a brief attack order on the nest."
Rany's expression became more serious.
"The mercenaries were anxious because we were badly outnumbered. We had the Northern Knights, but even a knight can die if a knife reaches his heart."
"Azpen told us to trust him one more time."
"That was all we needed."
"As next morning came, we marched toward the nest."
"Based on the scouts' reports, our marching order was different from the usual formation."
"The Northern Knights were at the forefront."
"Azpen and the cavalry followed behind them."
"Then came the infantry."
"Behind them were the archers and long-range attackers."
"The mages began bombarding the nest before we even reached it."
"Most of the mages were already exhausted, so their attacks not as much effective as they should be but they still continued."
"As we got closer, we saw their faces."
"The lizardmen were completely caught off guard."
Rany smiled.
"That was when I knew we had won the battle."