He had somewhat expected that the outcome wasn’t good for most units when the mundane army arrived, but the look in the witches’ eyes said it was much worse than just a rout.
The Sylvan Army units had horses, but they couldn’t outrun trucks, even if their mounts survived the artillery bombardment.
Wolfe was about to head back inside when [Detect Hidden] highlighted another group in tattered clothes trying to follow the tracks of the first group in the rapidly fading light.
He crouched low in the snow and shrubs, then moved close enough to hear what they were saying.
“They talked to that scout, I’m sure of it. We saw it fly away. They wouldn’t just go out here to get eaten. They must know something we don’t. There has to be a safe spot here somewhere. We just have to catch up, and we can go with them.” An older woman was telling the group.
“You’re crazy, and we’re all crazy for following you. But it’s the best hope we have. That group must have at least had some idea where they were going. They left voluntarily when the food got low.” Another woman complained.
“They have a radio. They have to. Maybe there’s a scout camp out here? They should have food.” A young voice added.
A vicious snarl from the west cut off their conversation, and Wolfe saw a monstrous rhino charging their way, attracted by the noise.
How that noisy bunch had survived this long was anyone’s guess, maybe they just got lucky, or the group ahead of them was no better, but Wolfe wasn’t cold-hearted enough to let them die out here to some random animal whose bed they’d walked past.
As the rhino charged, Wolfe put up an Air Element barrier near the group and watched as the Rhino slammed into it.
The beast looked around in confusion, wondering where that barrier had come from. Then it spotted Wolfe in the distance, snorted and retreated.
As far as it was concerned, Wolfe was the bigger predator here, and he had claimed that prey, so the rhino backed down. He wasn’t hungry anyhow, just annoyed at being awoken from a good night’s sleep.
“We’re saved. There’s a witch out there somewhere looking after us. Thank you, Miss Witch.” Someone in the group cheered.
“Demon, not Witch. And kindly shut up before you wake every single monster in the Wastes and not just one rhino.” Wolfe told them as he approached the group.
“D-demon? I’m sorry, Mister Demon, we didn’t mean to. We’re just trying to find our friends. We won’t bother you anymore.” The old woman apologized in a hushed tone.
“They’re with my unit. Sylvan Army scout unit Priya. Follow me, and I’ll bring you back to camp before you do anything else to get yourselves killed.” Wolfe sighed.
They might not be particularly bright, and only one of them had any sort of aura, but they all looked like witches with either bright eyes or hair. That meant they could probably be salvaged and integrated back into his unit.
The more witches he had at his disposal, the easier the job of making sure that they survived their tour of duty became. But Wolfe also found that the longer he was out here, the less going back to a Fortress City appealed to him.
“Do you perhaps have food?” The old woman whispered as they walked.
“We do. How many are in your group?” Wolfe replied.
“Thirty-Seven, if we haven’t lost anymore in the dark. I will explain once we are at your camp.” The old woman whispered back.
When they reached the cave mouth, Cassie and Ella were waiting for him and had easily spotted the witches in the group. These weren’t skilled travellers, and they were incredibly loud compared to what Wolfe’s witches were used to.
“Everyone, come inside. We will get you cleaned up and fed, then find somewhere for you to sleep. I hope you don’t mind cramped accommodations, the number of residents has more than tripled today, and the caverns aren’t huge.” Cassie greeted them while Ella ushered them inside and cast a Fire spell to light their way through the correct tunnels.
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“This feels great. It’s so warm in here. Are all the rooms heated?” A small witch from the second group asked as Wolfe joined them in the main room.
“It’s hot underground in the Wastes. The deeper you go, the hotter it gets. We actually use magic to cool the main room and keep it more comfortable using outside air.” Wolfe explained.
“So there’s food, and we won’t freeze tonight? That will be a nice change. Even in the woods, winter is harsh this year, and with the war destroying so many villages, there wasn’t much of anything to spare.” She explained.
With [Detect Hidden] active, Wolfe could tell that this group had been on half rations or less for a long time. There was no fat left on any of them, and their skin was beginning to pull tight, showing their ribs.
Priya was having the unit pass out ration packs from the mundane army instead of taking the time to cook for their fifty new guests. For those who were burning a lot of mana, they weren’t the best nutritional choice, but most of these new arrivals didn’t have enough aura to cast anything at the moment.
The big bag of food was enough to bring joy to their world, and they didn’t even mind that the water used to mix the drinks was room temperature, which meant over thirty degrees in the caverns.
All that mattered to them right now was that they were safe, they were fed, and they had hope that this scout unit would let them stay for more than a night.
Nobody had mentioned the situation yet, they didn’t want to risk getting bad news right away, but these caverns looked like they were stocked for long-term occupancy.