"Red Bear, you were right to curse me. If it were only myself, I swear that even if a mountain of blades and a sea of fire lay ahead, I would be willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with you and roll through it together, until we were riddled with holes and our flesh a bloody blur. Even if we were burned into two lumps of charcoal, I would never so much as furrow my brow!"
Mountain Dog gritted his teeth. "But we still have so many brothers under our command—so many brothers who have followed us for years, clawing and crawling out of the Sea of Corpses and Blood, carrying the earnest hopes of the elders back home and our fallen comrades!
"They are all iron-boned, unyielding good men. For every day they live longer, the cause of millions upon millions of ratfolk gains another measure of hope. It does not matter if the two of us die, but do you want the lives of so many good brothers to be squandered here for nothing?"
Red Bear snorted coldly and was about to retort.
But Mountain Dog forcefully swung the Crescent Battle Blade, tearing ripples through the air as he stressed each word. "Open your eyes and face reality, Red Bear. We have no road left to take!
"If there were even the slightest chance of survival, I would never make such a shameful choice.
"But you know just as well as I do how desperate our situation is!
"We were already at the brink of having too few medicines, too little treatment, no ammunition, and no food.
"Even the most elite core fighting units of the White Bone Battalion, commanded by you and me, have only enough rations left for three to five days.
"Many of the brother