Awaken: Book 1 (Chronicles of Ghost Company)

by Shawn Muller

  “Well done, boys. I think that was a success,” I congratulated my men, who were grinning like little boys on Christmas.

  We spent the rest of the day processing our new “guests”, before heading off early the next morning for Bereken. We left the farm in the care of a senior farmer, seeing as the owner and his wife had been murdered by their own daughter. We made steady progress that day. The prisoners were bound together by a rope around each ones neck, looping from one prisoner to the next. Their hands were also tightly bound at their sides, not allowing much movement. My platoon was spread out on horseback on either side, with Tachojay, Deez and occasionally Fremod heading out as scouts.

  It took us roughly three days to reach the nearest highway, this being the one that ran between the town Plenty and Bereken. From here it took us another day and a bit to finally reach the outskirts of Bereken. Along the way we attracted a large following of traders who had at one time or other been attacked by these bandits. Some were baying for the bandits to be hanged there and then, while others simply wanted to see them taken before the local judges.

  Sometimes, even the threat of a very large, angry troll wasn’t enough. On one such occasion, a small group of merchants and a hand-full of guards tried to storm our lines to get to the prisoners. We managed to repel the attack, but in the process one prisoner was killed, two more were seriously injured and a half dozen gained minor scrapes and cuts. Among the attackers were a few major injuries, one life-threatening and a lot of bruises. My men beat them back with the flat of our blades, but at least four of my men were hurt as well, one of them, Jos, wouldn’t be able to hold a sword again. We captured those responsible for the attacks, and added them to the line of prisoners. The ones responsible for Jos, well, they were left decorating the trees along the road. News would get out very quickly not to fuck with my men.

  A detachment of city guards met us just outside of Bereken to escort us to the inner castle. Bereken was almost as large as Doorengaan, being a frontier city, designed to protect the area against troll attacks. Bereken had a similar double ring wall around most of the city, but the walls themselves were not as high as Doorengaan. Instead, it had twice the amount of towers armed with massive catapults and ballistae. Inside the city, the roads were just as confusing and twisted as Doorengaan, except for the main road leading straight for the inner fortress. This fortress however, was also double walled, with just as many towers and fixed defences as the main walls.

  The main difference between Prince Marcus’s inner fort and this inner fort were the massive towers that were standing looking down the main roads. These were the most heavily armed defensive structures I had seen on this world. Regular openings on the walls had ballistae pointing out of them, with no less than four huge mangonels sitting on the roofs, their throwing arms filled with various sized rocks and bits and pieces of metal. Each mangonel had a clear area of firing, ready to rain down death and destruction on any invading army stupid enough to advance down the main roads. A heavy platoon of footmen dressed in heavy chainmail armour and armed with fourteen-foot long halberds exited from the gate house and approached us, led by a commander dressed in fine leather armour. I called a halt on my platoon and waited while the commander issued an order for his men to surround us, particularly Fremod. Smiling, I maintained eye contact with the commander until he was satisfied we were all perfectly covered.

  “State your business here stranger,” he ordered me.

  “I am Captain Bob, of the Ghosts. I have been requested by Prince Marcus to find and capture these bandits here that have been plaguing you and to deliver them to your duke for punishment,” I explained patiently.

  “What proof do you have?”

  “Farpae!” I shouted behind me without my eyes leaving the commanders face.

  “Sir,” Farpae acknowledged when he was by my side, giving me a crisp salute.

  “Please give the commander here proof that the good prince has commissioned us to find and eradicate these bandits,” I asked him

  Farpae turned to the commander, eyed him up and down before rolling his eyes at what he saw. The commander looked back and forth at Farpae and me, uncertainty starting to show on his face. Farpae dismounted his horse and removed a sealed letter from a pouch and gave it to the now nervous commander. The rest of my men simply sat quietly in their saddles, observing the heavy platoon covering them, while Fremod made a show of cleaning his really large canines noisily - the prisoners were all cowering in a tight group while this played out. The commander reluctantly opened the letter, and blanched visibly at what he read. He refolded the paper and handed it back to Farpae before he saluted me, his hand over his chest with a slight bow. Farpae patted the commander’s cheek before turning to remount his horse.

  The now embarrassed commander quickly reorganised his men into a double column to escort us back towards the inner fortress. Word was send ahead, and soon more soldiers lined the gatehouse to welcome us in. The heavy platoon led us through the gatehouse into a sunlight courtyard, where a slightly balding man of average height stood at the foot of the stairs that lead inside of the keep. I reined in my horse and dismounted, handing the reins to a stable boy before parade marching over to the man. I came to attention perfectly before him and gave a crisp Earth military salute, holding it until he acknowledged it with a bow of the head.

  “Captain Bob of the Ghosts reporting mission accomplished sir!” I reported with a full parade ground voice that could be heard throughout the courtyard.

  “The bandit group has been captured, its ringleaders in custody and leader dead sir!”

  “Um, what, ah yes, yes, good work Captain, eh, Bob,” a flustered Duke Bereken replied. “Shall we adjourn to my study for a full report then?”

  “Sir, yes sir!” I replied.

  “Excellent. Well, come on in then. Send your men with the commander to the barracks to rest. Commander Reint, take care of the prisoners and show Captain Bob’s men where they can billet then join us in my study will you?”

  “As you wish, my lord,” Commander Reint answered.

  “Fremod, take the men and follow the good commander and get Jos seen to please? I think he may lose his arm if not treated soon. Lieutenants with me.”

  “Yes sir,” Fremod saluted before bellowing the orders to the rest of the men.

  I followed the duke into his keep, my lieutenants behind me and Reint, the garrison commander bringing up the rear. The duke’s study was fairly large, dominated by an oak table that was surrounded by padded wooden chairs. On the table was a detailed map of the duke’s lands. Elaborate tapestries hung on one wall, while a large fireplace sat by another. The duke’s maple wood desk sat in front of a large window which allowed the afternoon sun to shine through. A servant poured the duke a goblet of wine which he accepted gracefully before offering us some as well. I nodded my thanks while my men asked for water instead. We all stood at ease, legs shoulders width apart and hands locked behind our backs, standing ramrod straight while the duke settled himself into a chair around the table.

  “Please, please. Not so formal. Relax and sit down,” the duke offered. “We haven’t been formally introduced as yet, but I am Duke Berken.”

  “Thank you, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I replied, shaking his hand.

  “This is Max, my second in command, Titanius my lieutenant and Farpae, Prince Marcus official liaison with me, but also my lieutenant.” My commanders all shook hands with Duke Berken and Commander Reint as well.

  “I have read the reports from Marcus about you and your men. And at first I never believed a word of it, but now seeing the troll and dwarves among you, and was that an elf too?” Duke Berken asked wide eyed.

  “Yes sir he is. It’s my policy not to shun anybody who would be of use to my company. Well, for now it’s only a short platoon, maybe two large squads, but long term it will be a company or even battalion sized,” I explained.

  “Battalion? How many men is that?” Reint asked.
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br />   “Roughly three to five hundred odd men, I’m not sure how many I will need eventually,” I shrugged while Reint’s eyes bulged.

  “I am sure my good friend Prince Marcus has his reasons for this, and I may have somebody familiar to you, but we will get to that in good time. Now, inform me of what transpired since you landed in Plenty?” the duke asked.

  I gave him a full debriefing of what happened, from our landing under the cover of dark, to finding two more members for my platoon, to the discovery of the bandits’ hideout and the subsequent capture of the entire band. I also left no details out of the attacks by traders against my platoon and the bandits, and my punishment for those responsible for Jos’s injuries. I intended for the Ghost’s reputation to spread far and wide quickly.

  I pointed out roughly on the map on the table where the hide out was and Commander Reint immediately requested that a messenger send men to confirm the details of what has happened the past few months with the surviving farmers. Once my report was completed, Duke Berken thanked us for the excellent work before leading us out his study. He called Reint back in for a quick word, before Reint could take us to where we would be spending the night.

  “The duke asked me to take you to the dungeons. We picked up a strange looking man, who became rowdy in a tavern two nights ago and broke a few bones and noses in a fight. As we did not recognise him or his race, we threw him in the dungeon until we could decide what to do. He put up one hell of a fight until he was finally swamped by bodies. His strange, unarmed fighting technique had us all bewildered. His hands and feet were a blur as he fought against us,” Commander Reint explained as he led us down a dark stairwell sporadically lit by torches.

  The air became mustier and a faint rank smell slowly permeated the air. The odd squeak of a rat and distant moans echoed up the stairs. Stopping at the first landing, Reint produced a large brass key that he used to open up a thick, wooden door. This led to a single cell fronted by open bars similar to our modern jails. The room was fairly well lit by a small window set high in the walls on the outside of the cell, and by two large torches. Within the cell sat a small man in a lotus position, eyes closed in meditation. He had a round yellow face and short straight hair. His wiry upper body was bare and he only wore a dirty white loin cloth. Reint looked at me uncertain as to what now, while my lieutenants and I stared long and hard at this small man.

  “What, you never seen a Chinese man before?” the little yellow man said without opening his eyes.

  “Not a living one at least,” was all I said in response.

  The Chinaman’s eyes snapped open and he studied us long and hard before rising to his feet. He bowed deep, palms together in front of his chest before speaking again.

  “Master, I have waited patiently for your arrival. At last you are here,” he said to me.

  “Ain’t that just dandy,” Max said with a snort.

  I looked at the Chinaman closely, to see whether he was mocking me, but he held his low bow all the while.

  “Okay. What’s your name?” I asked.

  “I am Li, master, practitioner of the Chen style of Taijiquan kung fu. I was told by a great master of the art that I would be visiting a strange land where I would meet a gaijin, white devil, who would be my master and lead me to my path of enlightenment.”

  “Sounds like a load of shit,” Max replied.

  “Maybe, but we have all met this old man, or in Li’s case, a master, and we are all here now aren’t we?” I retorted.

  “Commander Reint, please will you open the cell, I will take full responsibility for him. And Li get a bath and cut your hair, it’s full of lice,” I said watching as the lice jumped off.

  Commander Reint opened the cell for me as Li watched dispassionately before picking up his meager belongings and following us back up the stairs. Once out of the dungeons, Commander Reint ordered a soldier to take Li to the baths so that he could clean himself off, while the rest of us went to our barracks.

  All the men were billeted by the time we had arrived after our meeting, and it didn’t take us long to get settled either. We were sitting in a common room, having well-deserved ale, when a soldier brought in Li, much cleaner and with a bald head. I quickly introduced him to the platoon, who all went over to him and shook his hand. At first he seemed confused, then overwhelmed by the team’s friendliness. I wanted us to become a brotherhood, where we would be willing to sacrifice everything for each other, and so far it seemed that we were heading that way. Li’s initial reaction when meeting the different races was rather amusing. First he felt comfortable with us humans, especially those of us from Earth. Disbelief followed with the dwarves, skepticism when Tachojay introduced himself and outright reverence when Fremod made his appearance. This was odd though. One would have thought that meeting a King Troll would make you piss your pants, but it turns out that trolls where Li was from was part of a myth, and Fremod was kind of a good luck charm in Li’s eyes. After a light supper of broth and fresh bread, we all settled down for the night. Tomorrow we would leave at day break to make our way back to Doorengaan to deliver my report there.

  The journey back was uneventful. We made some good time to get to Plenty and waited a day or so for a ship to collect us. Once back at Doorengaan, Max led the men back to our HQ while Farpae and I headed into the city to meet with Prince Marcus. Spring was in full swing by now. The trees in and around the city and island were blooming, sending an array of sweet smells into the air. The sky was a crisp blue and the air warm from the sun. The ride up to the prince’s keep was peaceful, many traders and city dwellers greeted both Farpae and myself, wishing us a warm welcome back. We both noticed an increase in dwarven and elven goods and traders, and even the odd troll walking among the crowded marketplaces head and shoulders above the humans who were slowly getting use to them as neighbours.

  Jeroch greeted us with open arms as we entered into the inner keep of Prince Marcus’s fortress. Handshakes and pats on the back were shared before he led us indoors to meet with Prince Marcus in his private study.

  “Ah! Bob, Farpae! Welcome back, my friends!” Prince Marcus exclaimed as Jeroch led us into the room.

  “Good to be back, sir,” I said giving him a crisp salute before shaking his hand.

  “Sit, please. Before you give me your debriefing, let me just say it is good to have you back. Things have been quiet without you here for the past few weeks. As you can see, trade is starting to flourish with the new alliance, but enough of the boring news. Fill me in on your first campaign,” Prince Marcus asked me.

  I promptly began to relate the mission, leaving out no details. Prince Marcus sat on the edge of his chair as I described the mission, with Farpae filling in any blanks I forgot about. Before we knew it, dusk was starting to fall and the prince ordered food to be brought up to us. Between eating a light meal of fresh venison and roasted vegetables, I continued with my debriefing, with the prince and Jeroch asking the occasional question, especially concerning the attacks by the traders on the prisoner.

  “I am glad that you dealt swiftly with that, and you have my full backing about suitable punishment,” Prince Marcus said.

  Thanking him, I continued, finally ending by asking him to ensure that Jos be brought back as soon as he was fully recovered. I had to leave him in Bereken due to the severity of his wound. Unfortunately he lost his right hand, it being too badly crushed.

  “Absolutely, I will ensure that he will receive a full soldier’s pension from me,” Prince Marcus said.

  “Actually, sir, I would still like to make use of him. He was a very good student, would have easily made an officer. I think he would make an excellent trainer for my men, and any new recruit,” I suggested.

  “Excellent idea! I will arrange that he be brought back here post haste,” Prince Marcus agreed.

  “In the meantime, Bob, your new headquarters’ should be just about done within the next few days. All that remains is for the paint to dry and for you to move in,” J
eroch informed me.

  “That’s pretty good news. I will arrange for that to start straight away. By your leave, sir,” I asked Prince Marcus.

  “Certainly, I will make a short trip to your headquarters on my way to a meeting with the orc Queen. As you may remember, the wargames begin within the next few months, and I will be discussing our overall strategy with her. So start preparing, as that will be your next assignment,” Prince Marcus said before shaking our hands again as we left his study.

  We left the Prince and Commander Jeroch and made our way back to the headquarters’. The debriefing had taken the rest of the day and by the time we had returned to HQ, it was dark and the men were already eating supper. I quickly washed up and joined them. Sitting at a table with Max, I looked around and noticed that Hioki wasn’t present.