The rest of the ride back to camp was a silent one, only disrupted by the heaving chests and incessant beating of our galloping horse's hooves upon the scorching yellow sand below. Yet the instant we returned, all that quiet contemplation was forgotten under a hail of thunderous shouts and commands, lashing the men to their feet.
Especially the few hundred veteran scouts, expert cartographers and camp followers, that were loaded with only the essentials, and ordered to set off eastwards ahead of the army under the leadership of my uncle, who instantly volunteered for the position, which I was slightly apprehensive about, considering his current mental state. But I eventually relented, for two simple reasons; the first is deciding to trust the man who stood by my side till death prematurely claimed him in my past life.
