by Garry Spoor
“But that’s what we have to do,” Tullner explained. “If every soldier only followed those orders he agreed with, there would be no discipline. It would be chaos. How would you coordinate any large scale operations if you couldn’t count on each platoon, squad, or even a soldier, to be where they’re supposed to be when they’re supposed to be there?”
“I understand what you’re saying, but you also have to agree, some orders just don’t make sense. There are better, safer and easier ways of doing things. Take this mission, for example.”
“What about it?”
“What is its purpose?” she asked.
“The objective of this mission is to gather information about the Uhyre forces in the Denal province as it pertains to the mining town of Coopervill.”
“What? Was that printed someplace?” she asked.
“Well, yeah, it’s in the briefings.”
Kile shook her head. “The point is,” she continued. “One Hunter could infiltrate and recon the town of Coopervill more efficiently and more effectively than a squad of soldiers, and put fewer lives at risk.”
“That might be true, but, headquarters is reluctant to place too much emphasis on the Hunters. They just don’t trust them.”
“Why?”
“I think it has something to do with the problems your Guild had earlier this year.” Tullner explained.
“What problems?” she asked.
“Well, you would know better than me. All I heard was, you guys lost a few of your members and some were actually killed, and then there was that one who went rogue or something. He was being hunted for murder.”
“Oh, that,” she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. “That was nothing, clearly a misunderstanding. That Hunter was cleared of all charges.”
“I don’t know. It still seems a little suspicious to me,” Tullner said.
Suddenly, Kile was reminded of the words Andrew Drain said to her. ‘I might not be able to bring down the Hunters, but I crippled them enough.’
Was this what he meant? That he had effectively created an air of suspicion around the Hunters, so their effectiveness within military operations was greatly limited. He must have known of the coming war. The last pieces of the puzzle were finally falling into place.
-Kile-
Vesper’s voice in her head drove out all thoughts of Andrew Drain and instead filled it with something more frightening.
“Valrik,” she cursed.
“What? Where?” Tullner asked.
“We’re being watched. There are valrik in the forest.”
“Are you sure? How do you know?”
“I just know,” she said, urging Grim forward. “We have to warn Sergeant Wargner.”
In spite of Tullner’s protests, Kile rode the line to the head, where Sergeant Wargner rode with Corporal Duffy and his banner bearer. Duffy was the first to see Kile approach and leaned over to whisper something to the Sergeant.
“Oh lord what is it now?” The Sergeants replied, turning to face her.
She waited until she was closer, it wouldn’t do for her to yell her suspicions up the line, especially if they were being watched.
“Sergeant Wargner, sir,” she said, riding alongside him. “We are being followed.”
“Followed… are you sure?” he asked, and motioned for the column to stop.
“Yes, sir,” she replied.
Wargner turned to the Tullner who just arrived behind the Hunter.
“Corporals, is this true?”
“Well, sir…”
“Are we or are we not being followed?” Wargner asked.
“Personally, I didn’t see anything, sir, but, I think we should err on the side of caution. We cannot just assume we have entered the Denal province undetected.”
Wargner fell silent, lost in his own personal conflict. He was obviously trying to work something out. Kile felt it had to do with how much he could believe her. By accepting her fears, Wargner would be giving her credibility within the squad. Of course, if it was Tullner, or any of the other soldiers who brought this information to him, he wouldn’t hesitate.
“Corporal Duffy. Have a couple of three-man teams fan out east and west of our position, but no more than a hundred yards, I don’t want them getting lost. Have them report anything they see to me directly.”
“Yes, sir,” Duffy said. He turned back down the column and started barking out names.
“Corporal Tullner, hold the rest of the men in ready.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let me go.” Kile said, walking Grim forward. “I have a better chance of…”
“This is no time for amateurs,” Wargner said, dismounting. “The last thing I need is for you to get yourself into a mess. I can’t spare the manpower to save your tail.”
“Fine, have it your way,” she replied.
- So are we going home now?-
Grim asked when they moved to one side of the clearing.
Kile watched the six men, now on foot, move deeper into the forest. She could only shake her head. They moved with all the grace and stealth of a three-legged bull moose. If anything was following them, there was no way these men would find it.
It didn’t take long before the first team returned. A tall, dark haired, rather posh young man was the first to approach the Sergeant.
“Private Jesot Totely reporting, sir,” he said with an air of importance.
“What do you have private?” Wargner asked.
“We searched the eastern flank and found nothing, sir. No sign or trace of anything following us.”
Wargner simply nodded his head. “Thank you, Private,” he said, dismissing the soldier.
Totely shot Kile a look when he returned to the squad. She had a feeling this guy could have walked into the enemy’s camp and he still wouldn’t have found anything.
A few more minutes passed before the second group returned. This time it was a large, man with a dark complexion who stepped forward to address the Sergeant.
“Private Nirum Renop reporting, sir,” he said in a rather high pitched voice that didn’t match his size.
“What do you have to report, Private?” Wargner asked, although it appeared he already knew what the soldier was going to say before he said it.
“We searched the western flank, but didn’t find anything, sir,” Renop replied.
“I see. Thank you, Private. Corporal Tullner, have the men stand down.”
“Yes, sir,” Tullner replied. He looked at Kile and shrugged. It pretty much said it all.
“Should we set up camp, sir?” Duffy asked.
“Might as well. We burned too much daylight on wild goose chases as it is.”
Kile led Grim away from the campsite, and when she was sure she was out of sight of the men, she lifted her nose in the wind and sniffed. The scent was no longer there. Was she mistaken? She was sure she caught the scent of a valrik, but why wasn’t she able to identify it earlier? There was something definitely different about it, something not quite right.
“I tried to warn you,” Tullner said, coming up behind her.
“If you knew they were out there, would you have remained silent?” she asked him.
“But they’re not out there. Nothing’s out there. Both teams reported no sign of the enemy.”
“Just because you don’t see them, doesn’t mean they’re not there,” she told him.
“Well… maybe. It doesn’t matter right now, does it? Anyway, there’s going to be another staff meeting, you should be there.”
“Like the last one I was at went so well,” she replied. “Have it without me. Whether I’m there or not I’ll have the same amount of input.”
“Come on, I think he wants you there.”
“Oh, this should be good for a laugh,” she replied, following Tullner back to camp.
The staff meeting was already underway, but at least there were more members this time around. Besides Corporal Duffy, there were now four other men. She knew
Renop and Totely from their less than stellar searches of the surrounding area. As for the other two, one was a lean red haired man with a narrow scrunched up face. The other was a thin sandy blonde and appeared to be a bit nervous. He kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Sergeant Wargner was sitting among them, his map laid out before him. She couldn’t see the purpose of all these, so called, staff meeting if all the decisions were already made.
“Well, now that we are all here, we can get started,” Wargner said, reaching into the pack which lay open beside him. He looked at Kile. “You want to help?” He asked.
“Of course I do,” she replied.
“Good,” he said and threw her a carafe. “Then you can make the coffee while we get to work.”
She stared down at the ceramic decanter and suppressed the urge to hurl it back at him. Instead, she just turned and stormed away. She heard the laughter from the group behind her and wondered once again, why she ever agreed to return to the Guild.
“Where are you going?” Tullner asked, catching up to her.
“I’m thinking, home,” she replied.
“What? You’re going to leave. You can’t.”
“And why is that?” she asked, turning on him. “I’m not some simple soldier who has to follow every order, and I’m definitely not some bar maid who has to make his coffee,” she added, shoving the carafe into Tullner’s chest.
“I can help you with that, if you want.” Tullner replied.
“What?”
“I can help you make the coffee, if it’s a problem.”
“You can’t be serious,” she said.
“Well… it was an order.”
“To hell with his orders, I’m not making any damn coffee. If it’s so important to you, you make the coffee.”
“Well… if that’s what you want, of course,” Tullner replied and he started toward the campfire.
“What do you mean if that’s what I want?” she asked, coming up behind him. “You’re not seriously going to make coffee at a time like this?”
“Well… yeah, don’t you want me to? You did just give me a direct order.”
“I did no such thing,” she said, stepping back. “I can’t give you an order.”
“Well of course you can, you outrank me.”
“Since when?”
“Since you were assigned to this squad. Any Hunter assigned to a squad receives an equivalent rank of lieutenant.”
“Are you saying I out rank Wargner?”
“Well, yes and no. Although he is a Sergeant, he’s also the squad commander and since you’re a member of this squad, then he’s your commanding officer.”
“Wonderful,” Kile said, throwing up her arms and turning away from the fire. “Can you guys make this any more confusing than it already is?”
“Well, as a matter of interest. Since you do possess the rank of lieutenant…”
“Wait… hold that thought.” She said, lifting her nose to the wind.
They were back, hovering on the very edge of her senses. The same smell, but it wasn’t a valrik. That was where she made her mistake. That’s why they couldn’t find them in the forest.
“Gulrik,” she whispered and ran across the clearing to where Grim was standing. She reached under her pack and drew out her Lann, quickly strapping them on.
“Grim, you and Vesper, wait here. If I see anything I’ll send you a message. If I run into any problems, you are to alert the camp.”
-And how am I supposed to do that?-
Grim asked.
“I don’t know. Go stomp on Wargner’s foot. You’re pretty good at doing that.”
“Kile, what’s going on?” Tullner asked when she passed him on her way out of camp.
“The reason your men couldn’t find anything was because they were looking for valrik. That, and they made so much noise trumping through the forest. It’s not valrik who have been following us, it’s a gulrik,” She said, running out into the woods.
“Wait, you can’t go out there alone,” he called out to her, but she already disappeared into the darkness.
He knew he should report to Sergeant Wargner and tell him what just happened. Tell him the Hunter went off into the woods alone. Unfortunately, the Sergeant made it quite clear she was the Corporal’s responsibility. Tullner had no other choice but to go after her.
He followed Kile into the darkness of the forest, leaving the noises of the other soldiers, and the light of the campfire, behind him. The shadows didn’t actually creep in on him. It was more like they crashed down upon him. It was almost like being struck blind as he stumbled his way forward until his eyes adjusted to the night. The deeper he went, the more quite the world became and the only sounds were those of his own amplified foot falls. Where did the girl get off to so quickly, and how did she do it so quietly, was beyond him.
There was no use running since he didn’t know where he was going and the trees were already closing in on him, swallowing any path he was likely to follow. He wasn’t even sure if he would be able to find his way back to camp. A sound off to his right caught his attention and his hand instinctively went to his sword. He never got a chance to draw it. Something struck him from behind, forcing him face first, into the tall grass.
“Stay down and be quiet,” she whispered in his ear when she removed her hand from his mouth.
She didn’t wait for him to respond, or to even see if he was all right. She quietly moved through the grass ahead of him, stopping by the base of a large tree. Crouching, she raised her nose to the wind. If he didn’t know better, he would have sworn she was sniffing the air, like one of his hunting dogs. She quickly turned in his direction, and although she wasn’t looking at him, he could see her eyes. They were the color of gold and her pupils were but narrow black slits, like those of a wild cat.
At that moment, Tullner wanted nothing more than to run back to camp and beyond. The fields of home were looking more and more inviting. He had seen his share of strange things and wanted nothing more to do with them.
Kile sprang away from the tree, moving farther away from where Tullner believed the camp was located. Against his better judgment, he followed her. She was his responsibility and his orders were to keep her from harm, but he was starting to wonder who was supposed to keep her from harming him.
She stopped suddenly and motioned for him to do the same. He was grateful to see her eyes were back to normal, although, he was starting to doubt there was anything normal about this girl.
“There,” she whispered.
Tullner crept up beside her and looked in the direction she was pointing. It took him a moment to see what it was she wanted him to see. His first thought was that of a thin child, standing in the forest. It was about three, possibly four, feet tall, with long, thin arms that hung down at its side. Its skin was the color of river mud, and its head was narrow with yellow eyes that reflected what little light there was in the forest. It moved without a sound as if wasn’t actually there and was only a vision his mind was using to drive him mad.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Gulrik,” she replied. “Kin to the valrik, but smaller… and more psychotic.”
“Is that what’s been following us?”
“One of them, at least. There should be more.”
“I don’t see any more, I think he’s alone,” Tullner replied, scanning the forest.
“Don’t bet on it.”
“I think we can take him,” he said and started to get to his feet.
“Are you mad?” she hissed, pulling him back down. “We should get back to camp and inform your Sergeant Wargner.”
“He won’t believe you without proof.” Tullner explained.
“Then we have to make him believe. The only advantage we have now, is they don’t know, we know, they’re there.”
Tullner never heard what she said. He was already half way to the lone gulrik.
The drawing of his sword sliced thought the silence, like metal on
bone. One hit was all he would need to take this thing down, but when he swung, there was nothing there. The creature's speed surprised him and before he knew it, it got behind him. Turning quickly, he blocked the gulrik’s blade. Although it was fast, it wasn’t powerful. He was sure he could keep the creature at bay, and might have been able beat it.
“Tullner, behind you.”
He turned just in time to avoid an attack from a second gulrik who came out of nowhere. These creatures didn’t make a sound as they moved through the tall grass. Fighting in unison, they drove him back and systematically broke down his defenses. One of their blades slid under Tullner’s sword, nicking the side of his leg. The wound wasn’t deep, but it burned and it felt as if his entire leg was on fire. The second gulrik came in high, working off his companion’s distraction. Tullner didn’t have time to get his blade up and knew he made his first, and last, mistake. He tried to dodge the attack when something large slammed into him, knocking him out of the way. When he hit the ground he lost his glasses and wasn’t able to see what saved him. All he knew was a large gray blur was now standing over him, defending him against the two gulrik, who were keeping their distance. They started to circle, splitting up and coming in on both sides. When the gray blur went for one of the gulrik, the second one tried to attack it from behind, but something stopped it.
Frantically searching the ground for his glasses, Tullner found them and quickly put them on, just in time to see Kile parry one of the gulrik’s attacks. She deflected its weapon with the blade in her left hand and drove the blade in her right hand through its chest as the small creature dropped to the ground. The remaining gulrik took to the woods with two wolves in pursuit. She watched them run and it seemed to Tullner, she wanted desperately to join in the hunt, but instead, she turned to where he was laying.
“You idiot,” She shouted, opening the pouch on her belt. She knelt down beside him and opened a small vile containing a blue powder which she applied to the wound on his leg. Tullner wasn’t looking at her, or the powder, but at the large gray wolf who sat behind her.
“Fortunately, it's not deep,” she said, and she started to bandage the wound. “Gulrik’s tend to poison their blades”
“Poison?”