The sun was already high in the sky, its merciless heat beating down on the camp.
Everyone had long since finished eating and stocked up on what little supplies remained.
Crates stood half-empty, waterskins felt lighter than they should have, and no one bothered pretending otherwise.
What unsettled her the most, however, was how quiet the camp felt compared to the day before.
The number of knights and soldiers had dwindled considerably overnight.
Tents had been abandoned, bedrolls left behind, and familiar faces were nowhere to be seen.
Whether they had deserted, fled in the darkness, or simply never made it back, no one knew for certain.
It quickly became the hottest topic of the morning.
"How many left?" a veteran knight asked as he leaned against a crate, his armor scratched and dull.
Another man snorted. "More than half, I bet."
"Half?" a third soldier muttered. "You're being generous. There's only a few hundred of us left now."
