In the end the humans left with whatever they could carry or pull on carts, leaving arms and armor behind. Well, I was mostly certain that they left arms and armor behind. I didn't look too close as they marched out the other gate, past me and some others, and down the road leading eastwards. It was a procession of the old and young and at times the sick and infirm, loaded up on one of the few carts together with their meager possessions. It was a sobering sight. Even before we had come to burn their home they hadn't possessed any grand riches as far as I could tell. I couldn't exactly show weakness now though, even if I already regretted my decision to burn the small town.

The human woman who had come to negotiate for her people was the last to leave. She had stood by my side, watching as the others marched past us. Now she turned to follow them with slumped shoulders. I put a hand on her shoulders, stopping her in her tracks. “You know that this war isn't like others that our people have fought in the past, right?” The look she gave me suggested that she didn't really understand what I was getting at. I continued anyway. “Your people, at least some of them, have fallen for the whispered lies of the Devourer. We can't stop until they are all dead for good. You won't be safe in Gothol'uin. Not as long as ghoul king rules it.”

Doubt still clouded her eyes as she answered. “And once it is all over we can rebuild? Bigger and better?” She sounded bitter. “Is that what you believe? Is that what you want to tell me?”

I sighed. “Maybe not bigger. But we certainly will try to aim for something better.” I nodded in the direction of the home she was about to leave behind. “Believe it or not, I'm from a village no bigger than yours. And yet you probably would not believe it if you were to behold it with your own eyes. Judging by our walls alone you might call it a big town or a city although it really is not. I have to admit, I am a bit shocked.” I nodded in the direction of the departing people. “I have seen plenty of hardworking people leave right now and yet all their hard work only amounts to this.” I nodded in the direction of the walled settlement again. “It just doesn't seem right.”

The human sucked in air for a sharp reply. Her face reddened all the way to the tips of her ears. I could only grimace. Of course, my words could easily be taken for an insult although they really weren't. I didn't stop her though. “Well, of course you would live a lavish life with all our gold!” She sounded even more bitter now.

I in turn could only blink in surprise. What was she on about? I reached for my pouch and her gaze darkened even further. I pulled a handful of coins from the pouch, placing them in her hands in turn. She had a tough time holding on to all of them but that right now was the least of her worries. Anger had made room for confusion on her face. “I have no idea what exactly you might be getting at but we do not use gold or silver for currency in my father's realm. Our coins are all iron.”

She stared up at me, wide eyed. “But … but …” She looked down at the iron crowns in her cupped hands again, shaking her head. She looked as if the world had just stopped making sense altogether.

I snorted. “Maybe your kings were spouting nonsense? Maybe they just needed a convenient excuse to start another war? Or maybe they are sitting on piles of your gold coins themselves? Maybe the Devourer clouded their minds and they think they are dragons now?” I shook my head as she made to return the coins. “Keep them. Or give them to someone else who needs them. Someone brave enough to try and start a new life on the other side of the mountains. It should be enough to get them started.” I paused briefly. “Whatever you do though, stay alive. Your old homes might burn tonight but as long as you still draw breath in the end, you will have a chance to build something new on their ashes.”

With those words I turned her around and gave her a little push to start her walking in the direction her people were already headed. She followed them as if in a daze. I stayed there to follow her with my gaze for a little while longer, until the refugee column was finally out of sight.

Slow clapping made me turn around. It was Arngard. “No matter how often I see it happen, it never gets old. It is as if they can't wrap their mind around the idea that someone mints their coins from an actually useful metal instead of gold and silver that are about as shiny as they are useless.” I raised an eyebrow and he just shrugged. “My great and then some grandparents were the same when they fled westward, way back then. Imagine their surprise when they found out that the tools they took along were worth more there than what little coin they had managed to hide away. Its a story still told quite regularly whenever the family gets together.”

Finally I relaxed a little. “Any idea what she could have been on about though? Since we most certainly don't live lavish lives with their gold. She wouldn't make up such a claim on the fly, right?”

He scratched his chin, thinking about my question for a moment before answering. “It could be an idea born of age old prejudice. Life on the other side of the border is better after all. If one doesn't know any better, one could come to the conclusion that all the gold must be in the coffers of the people living there.”

I didn't like that explanation, maybe because it was all too likely. Sadly that was exactly what small minded people would come up with. Arngrim shrugged. “It sounds like it is a more recent, more pressing issue though. Maybe someone is hoarding coin. Maybe the kings are paying off a dragon we haven't heard about yet, to keep it from razing their lands and don't want to admit it, since it would make them look weak. Could be all those things together or none of them. Maybe Tortho's scouts should invite some people for a little campfire talk if they get the chance.”

That sounded like a decent idea. First things first though. I motioned towards the gate of the now abandoned settlement. “Take some people and sweep the houses to make sure no one got left behind. Report to Yath'zur once you are all back out.”

He nodded and was off to carry out my orders. I in turn headed towards Yath'zur and Tora'pheer. The latter's women had gathered up all the weapons and armor the defenders had just dumped off the wall. They now lay in several piles near the camp that had been set up. “What do we have here?”

The two mercenary officers looked at each other and the young giant motioned for the demon woman to speak up. “Mostly cheap, brittle steel and plain iron. No dwarven quality goods. Its mostly the weapons. Very little of the armor was metal to begin with. Mostly leather and padded cloth instead. Still, it should bolster our coffers a little. Once we get it all back across the mountains.”

As if that had been a signal, someone raised an alarm somewhere well beyond the other side of the camp. We fell silent as we listened to the horn signal. This one was for friendlies, not for incoming enemies. We all relaxed visibly. “Tora, lets go and have a look at our visitors. Maybe they can take care of our transportation problems. Yath'zur, light the fires and heat the stones. Set the place alight once Arngard reports back to you.”