Chapter 346 Down Below (1/2)

Arran had little difficulty adjusting to life in the o out and wander around the ca used to the darkness And while the crah the dense rock provided hie as the ones he'd left behind

Yet although the change of surroundings only briefly interrupted Arran's training and studies, the troops did not adjust nearly as well

The oppressive darkness and cra the mercenaries They still perfor themselves, their words carried worry — even fear

Of course, they'd been told that their predicament would only last a few ers had no intention of honoring the deal the captain had made

The only way they could escape the mines was if Captain Kaleesh found a way to set them free And while they trusted the captain with their lives, the situation was dire enough that soan to doubt whether he could find a way out

This was especially true for Arran's group of mercenaries, who'd joined the Wolfsblood Company only months earlier The captain had earned their trust by successfully defeating the Darian soldiers with minimal losses, but now, Arran could see that trust was slowly being eroded

Had the captain led theers and win back their freedom, none of them would have questioned the order — even if it would likely have meant their deaths

But instead, the enemy they were asked to face was despair And that was a far er could be

Arran did not fail to notice his troops' waning spirits, and in an attempt to ease their worries, he joined the at their side as they slowly carved their way through the dense rock

If nothing else, at least it would show that they were in the situation together — that their commander did not shi+rk the labor that they all had to perform

Yet after a few days of this, Ervin approached him just before the day's shi+ft started, a serious expression on his wrinkled face

”Stop trying to help,” the old ood, it's not what the ht now”

Arran frowned ”Shouldn't the men at least know I'm at their side?”

”No,” the man replied curtly ”They have plenty of comrades What they need is a leader They need to see that you're confident in leaving these da now — it iven up hope”

Arran rehtly ”I understand”

The truth was that his own faith in the captain avering, as well But for the men to bear the situation, they needed him to be confident And that required hihtest bit of doubt

He spent so his next move, and when the answer came to him, he was surprised at how obvious it was

For nearly a week, he worked every waking hour, slowly hewing out a large space at the end of one of the mines' abandoned tunnels The as tedious, not so much because the dense rock was hard to cut — which, to his Living Shadoeapon, it wasn't — but because he had to ensure the space was stable

Finally, he completed the work, and he smiled in approval when he saw the fruits of his labor

Before hih and nearly a hundred paces across, with nu It wasn't a thing of beauty, but for his purposes, it would do

When his troops' shi+ft ended that day, he had Ervin gather thee open space

As the borderlanders gathered in the torch-lit cavern, they looked around with puzzled faces, curious to see what their co

”Everyone! Listen up!” Arran called out ”Once we leave the ain in short order But you — all of you — have been neglecting your training Noor er!”

The unexpected announcement drew more than a few baffled stares The borderlanders already spentin theaway even the rare few hours they had to rest

Yet before any of them could object, Ervin called out, ”You heard the commander! Get to work!”

In the hours that followed, there were h the borderlanders complained to no end, the effect was alan to melt away in an instant