The Forest at the Edge of the World

by Mercer, Trish

“I didn’t do it,” the surgeon grumbled. “He did it to himself. Something’s snapped in Wiles’s mind, and he’s completely useless. I suspect he’s traumatized, but there hasn’t been a case of real trauma since the Great War. Maybe he’s unstable, I don’t know. He’s doing nothing right now. As fourth in command, you are now point commander here, and at the fort. Should Shin and Karna not return . . .”

  He cleared his throat and paused.

  “The High General will have our uniforms, then our heads,” he declared plainly. “Maybe Shin’s unstable too. Why else would he take such a risk? Sergeant, we both know this is disastrous. You and I need to maintain a semblance of calm and command while our two officers find new ways to die and the sergeant major stares at the walls.”

  The master sergeant swallowed down his surprise. “But . . . I retire from the army in just two more moons,” he said as if it mattered.

  “Well then,” the surgeon slapped him on the back, “you’re going out as a commander. Congratulations.”

  ---

  Wiles rocked himself on the chair like a terrified child, trying to think.

  The fort had only a handful of new recruits left in it, tasked to run food, medical supplies, and rope to the rest of the soldiers waiting along the trees for more Guarders. Even the surgeon walked slowly up and down the edge of the forest just waiting to be needed, or just wanting to see some action.

  Wiles hadn’t ordered any of that; the master sergeant now standing in charge at the northeast gates likely had. He’d even started lessons in hog tying, or calf roping, or whatever it was they did to immobilize the Guarders that they hoped to catch next.

  All Wiles could do was sit behind the big command desk in the office and slowly sway. He remembered words, commands, scenarios, but none of them could help him. None of this was right.

  That was what occupied Wiles’s mind—how completely contrary to any protocol, rule, or past action all of this was. There were supposed to be stages and order, but instead there was chaos, and complete loss of containment.

  “Containment,” Wiles whispered again, closing his eyes in dread. For two days he hadn’t eaten or slept, too obsessed with the word. “When he finds out we lost containment—”

  He could barely bring himself to admit his fear, but he had to. His training demanded it. The oaths demanded it.

  There was only one solution, for him and for the captured Guarders.

  That was the other problem. Guarders were never captured alive. Until now. And there was only one way for a captured Guarder to behave.

  Wiles added a quiet moan to his swaying as the sun slowly set in the west.

  ---

  The night had been unbearably long for Mahrree. As exhausted from worry and illness as she was, she couldn’t rest. Then the next day was as insufferable as the previous two. She couldn’t eat, she couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t think of anything else but Perrin.

  Mahrree had to face the truth. Being married to an officer was sickening.

  ---

  “And I used to think the miles they had us run each week for training was useless,” Karna whispered to Shin as they hiked over yet another wooded rise.

  The sun was high again in the blue sky, but it didn’t help with spotting anything in the dense trees.

  “Been running and walking so much the past few days, I think I’m going to be sick when all of this is over. I mean, really, when was I ever going to need to be in such good condition when, as an officer, I would spend all my time on a horse?”

  Shin chuckled. “And who told you that you would be spending all your time on horseback?”

  “Hmm, a fat, balding general named Cush. I believe you know him.”

  Perrin smiled at Karna’s contempt. The lack of sleep and food was making the lieutenant bolder. Maybe the entire army would find themselves braver if they took to the forests.

  “Known Cush since I was a child,” Perrin said as he scanned the bushy distance for their quarry. “Cush petitioned my father heavily for the position of his advisor. I think it was so that he could spend his time behind a desk. That’s where he’s the most comfortable.”

  Perrin nudged Karna and pointed into the distance. The forest dipped from their position on a hillside, allowing them a clear view of the tree-covered slope rising on the other side of the small canyon at the base of the mountains. They saw a slight movement several hundred paces in the distance.

  “And Cush sitting behind a desk makes all the horses at the garrison comfortable as well,” Karna said, pointing to where a tree shimmied ever so gently. It may have just been a bear scratching an itchy backside—they’d already seen two—but the officers decided to believe it was something more significant.

  Perrin nodded. “That Guarder can’t go too much further. The forest narrows just before Moorland there. See that rock outcropping? Very few trees—he’d expose himself too much. I’m guessing he’ll backtrack again, looking for anyone else. I wonder if he realizes he’s going in large circles.”

  “I’m glad he is. I almost used to this terrain now. I’m sure we’ve seen that tree before.”

  “That’s because it’s a forest, Brillen. There’s only about a million more trees just like it!”

  Karna smirked and was about to respond when they both heard a shout. They looked into the distance down towards the south where the woods ended.

  More shouts came from the tree line, and a slight movement of tree branches suggested someone else was running into the forest. Either that, or that the winds were picking up again.

  Shin and Karna looked in the direction of the man they had been following for two days, but saw nothing. Perrin groaned in frustration and signaled to Karna to follow him. They darted through the trees down the hillside towards the edge of the forest and the sound of shouting.

  In a small clearing just a few paces from the edge of the woods stood a Guarder. His arm was wrapped around a terrified private, and his other hand held his jagged dagger against the young man’s throat. Three soldiers were facing him, their swords drawn, when the captain and the lieutenant appeared behind them.

  “I said don’t move!” the Guarder shouted, twisting himself and his hostage to face the filthy captain and lieutenant. “Guarantee me safe passage, and the soldier goes free!”

  Captain Shin held up his hands calmly, but the Guarder shifted nervously, causing the private to whimper.

  Karna drew his sword but Perrin kept his hands up.

  A few more soldiers charged into the clearing and stopped abruptly when they saw the situation.

  “All right,” the captain said. “You may go free after you answer a few questions.”

  “No questions!” the Guarder in dark dirt brown clothing with a darkened face cried. Agitated, he shifted his grip, and the soldier tried to pull his arm away from his chest. But the Guarder held the knife closer to his throat. “Nothing! I’m leaving now, and I’m taking him with me! I refuse to be captured!”

  Shin took a cautious step towards the man and put his hands on his waist. “And how far do you intend to take him?” he said levelly. “How am I supposed to get him back?”

  “That’s not my problem!” the Guarder shouted at him.

  “Yes it is,” Shin said coolly. “Because I have eight soldiers with swords pointed at you. I think you have quite a big problem. But if you answer a few questions, I’m willing to let you go free.” Perrin raised his hand in warning to Karna who he could tell was ready to protest the offer.

  “Get out of my way!”

  “Why are you here?” Shin took another slow step forward. “What do you want from Edge?”

  “I said no questions!”

  “Because if there’s something you need—food, supplies, whatever—we might be able to help you.”

  “Get out of my way!”

  Shin stepped closer.

  The Guarder pressed the knife against the private’s throat.

  “Where do you live?” Shin said. “Why have you come he
re?”

  “Shut up! Just shut up!”

  Shin shook his head. “You don’t really want to do this, I can tell. Your heart’s not into it. That’s good.” He took another step. “You don’t have to, either. You can just drop the knife, and I’ll guarantee your safety. Just tell me how I can help—”

  “Don’t you understand shutting up?!”

  “Never been good at it,” Perrin admitted, taking one more step. “Just never know when to quit . . .” He saw the man’s finger twitch on the handle of the knife.

  Karna repositioned his grip on his sword.

  “Just drop the knife and—”

  The captain recognized the Guarder’s movement seemingly just a moment before it actually happened. Shin drew his sword in an instant and thrust it into the Guarder’s side just as he began to cut into the private’s throat.

  Karna’s sword struck the Guarder from behind a moment later, and the Guarder and the private both dropped to the ground.

  The Guarder was dead.

  The private only thought he was as he whimpered and held his bleeding throat.

  Shin rushed over to lift him up. “You’re all right, soldier! Just nicked your skin. Calm down,” he ordered as another soldier arrived with a cloth to tie around his neck.

  Perrin looked over at Karna who was checking the dark man for a pulse.

  He looked up at the captain and shook his head.

  Shin sighed and rubbed his face thoughtfully. “We have one more, Lieutenant. It isn’t over yet,” and he scanned the thick trees for any sign of their last Guarder.

  Karna nodded, stood up, and gestured to the other soldiers. “Sergeant, take the private to find the surgeon. The rest of you stay along the tree line. The captain and I may have one more for you.”

  A corporal pointed at the still body. “What do we do with that, sir?”

  Captain Shin looked down at the Guarder. “He’s of no use to us now. Leave him for the buzzards and bears. Karna, now, before we lose the last one.”

  Shin took off in an aimless jog into the trees with Karna right behind him. Perrin noticed that this time his lieutenant was much keener to follow him.

  Perhaps, just perhaps, all the soldiers would see the need to follow him into the forest.

  After a minute they stopped jogging and looked around. The forest was absolutely still. Shin glanced behind them as Karna tried to look into the distance. There was no evidence of anyone anywhere.

  “Do you think he heard what happened?” Karna whispered.

  “How could he not?” Shin whispered back.

  “It’s going to get dark soon,” Karna said.

  “We have a little time yet. We’re not leaving until we have to.”

  “Understood, sir.” Karna’s voice was a little shaky.

  Shin turned to him and saw his lieutenant’s light brown skin had gone pale. “You all right?”

  Karna shrugged. “Never did that before.”

  “What, run into the forest? We’ve been doing that for the past few days now.” Shin surveyed the area again.

  “That’s not what I meant,” he said quietly.

  “I know, Brillen,” Perrin whispered back. “I’ve threatened many men, but I’ve never been deadly.” He smiled grimly.

  “Which one of us did it, do you think?”

  Shin shook his head. “Maybe both of us. Does that help?”

  “We each claim half a death?”

  Perrin cringed and went back to examining the still trees around them. “Why are we here, Karna?”

  “I’ve been wondering that for awhile, sir.”

  Shin turned back to him. “Really? You don’t remember why you wanted to become an officer?”

  Karna sighed. “I wanted to serve, to protect the citizens. I never wanted to . . .” He shrugged lamely.

  Perrin sighed back. “I know, I know. None of us want to. But that’s part of the serving and protecting. Did we have any other option?”

  “I suppose not. You did try to negotiate with him.”

  “Always my greatest weakness,” Perrin admitted. “I’ve gone over a dozen scenarios in my head, but none of them end with him still talking. Maybe you should’ve conducted the negotiations.”

  “You had a dozen more options?” Karna scoffed. “I still can’t think of one!”

  “So that’s it, then,” Perrin said. “We did what we could, he forced our hands, and he lost the game. What more is there to say?”

  Karna shook his head. “Nothing, sir. I still don’t feel any better, but there’s nothing more to say then . . . let’s go find that other Guarder.”

  Perrin nodded and the two of them ventured deeper into the woods, keeping an eye on the sun that was close to setting.

  ---

  Two men in mottled green and brown clothing sitting high in the trees watched as the two officers quietly walked below them. Neither of the men breathed or made a sound. When the captain and lieutenant had carefully picked their way past, the two men in the trees looked at each other.

  One raised his eyebrows at the other.

  The other man nodded back and broke into a big smile.

  Then the two men saluted the captain.

  ---

  Mahrree’s evening and night dragged. When she went to bed that night it was with a heavy heart and a fluttering belly. Anatomically, that put them at direct odds with other, so she hardly slept at all.

  In the early morning she heard a noise from the kitchen. She instinctively picked up the iron rod and crept down the stairs. Her weary and anxious mind played tricks with her depth perception, so the steps seemed to shift up and down. Growing more terrified by the moment, she thought she would become sick before reaching the bottom. Then she heard a noise come through the kitchen door which halted her in her tracks.

  “Perrin!”

  He stopped, looked up at her on the stairs and tried to give her a smile, but his heart wasn’t in it. He looked terrible. His black hair was disheveled, his face was scratched and stubbly, his sleeveless undershirt was stained by dirt, sweat, and what Mahrree feared may have been dried blood, and his jacket, which already hung over a chair by the eating table, was caked in what looked like mud.

  Still, she sighed and closed her eyes, feeling an immense wave of relief.

  Then she felt another wave of something else that she chose to ignore.

  She opened her eyes and tried not to stare at the filth on his used-to-be-white undershirt, but she couldn’t stop herself.

  “Oh Perrin! I’ve been so worried! It’s so good to—”

  That’s when the other wave she was feeling refused to be ignored any longer. No matter how she fought it, she became sick all over the lower half of the stairs.

  Perrin stood rigid in surprise.

  Mortified, she winced at him as she wiped her chin.

  “I have to admit,” he said unemotionally, “I’ve received better welcomes than that. I’ll get something to clean it up. You just stay right there.” He turned to the washing room.

  “But Perrin—”

  “Just stay!” he called back. “There’s no way you can make it down without, well, slipping or something.” He sounded as if he might be sick as well.

  Mahrree slumped down on the still-clean steps, exhausted, embarrassed, and feeling much, much better.

  Perrin returned and tossed some washing rags up to her.

  “I think we can meet somewhere in the middle. How long have you been sick?” His face reflected some worry as handed up to her one of the two tin buckets he brought. Then he squatted to begin his unpleasant task at the bottom stair.

  Mahrree laughed weakly as she started to mop up. “Ever since you left. You know how people say they’re worried sick? Well, I think proved that statement to be true. Oh, but I’m so sorry. You look awful. You finally come home and then I do this to you—”

  “It’s all right—part of our vows: Together, make the best times out of the worst.” His voice sounded a bit sharp.

>   “Perrin?” Mahrree stepped down a stair.

  “Yes?” He didn’t look up from his work.

  “Perrin,” Mahrree said more forcefully.

  He glanced up. “What?” His eyes were as clouded as the morning sky.

  “What happened?” she whispered.

  He was quiet for a moment. “We’ll talk when everything is . . . cleaner. Both of us,” and he gave her a half smile which improved his mouth, but not his murky eyes.

  An hour later they sat at the table for breakfast. Perrin, now washed and shaved and in a new undershirt, gulped down his food as if he hadn’t eaten properly in days.

  Mahrree still felt dizzy, and watching him made her lose whatever appetite she had. She nibbled her toast just for show.

  “So,” she started when he’d finished half his breakfast, “what happened?”

  “Just what I told you would happen,” he said brusquely between bites. “Guarders.”

  Mahrree was taken aback by his abrupt manner. But maybe since he’d been an officer for the past four days and nights straight, his mind was still stuck there. “Really?”

  He nodded, focused on his plate. “It seems they’ve been watching the fort for some time. Knew our patrols. Ambushed some of the men during the first night.”

  “Oh no!” Mahrree breathed. “Are they . . .”

  “Recovering,” he said tonelessly. “Some nasty gashes.”

  “Is that why your clothes—”

  “No,” he cut her off. “Soldiers were already at the surgeon’s when I got there.” He tore off another bite of bacon and studied the table.

  Mahrree wondered how skirt around his formal tone, but felt she was talking to a stranger. “So whose . . .” She couldn’t say the word “blood” without feeling queasy. She hadn’t seen more than some superficial cuts on him so she knew it wasn’t his.

  “The Guarder’s.”

  She was growing irritated with his pithy responses. “And how many were there?”

  “At least ten, probably more. At least one escaped. Lost two in a crevice. Irretrievable.”

  Maybe more details weren’t better, she considered as she cringed at the thought of the ground swallowing up men.