Le Clerc chuckled. “Well there was a chicken leg on that barrel. Still, you got it right. Congratulations.”
They walked out of the storage building and towards a small two story building. Next to the door was a plaque. It had a picture of an Imperial eagle holding a black circle. Below it were the words “We Own the Night.”
They entered the building and came to a small reception desk. A young lady also wearing black looked up when she heard them enter. “Sergeant Birini, this is Sergeant Kunich. He just joined us. Please help him to get set up. Uniforms should have been delivered already. I assigned him to Bilue’s old room.”
“Yes sir. Sergeant, if you would follow me?”
Sergeant? He did not deserve that rank. He almost bumped into the woman as she stopped at a door. “This is your room, Sergeant ….?
“Marko. Please call me Marko.”
She smiled. “You can call me Miranda. Good to see you.” She turned to go.
“Wait. I am sorry Miranda, but I just reported for service. I don’t know anything about our group. What is our mission?”
She smiled and batted her eyes, “Why Mr. Marko, the Night Eagles are the Emperor’s assassins.” As Marko’s jaw dropped, she walked away.
Chapter XXVI: The Night Eagles
“Assassins? Sir, I don’t know anything about assassinating people. I can fight with a sword and know hand to hand combat, but that is it.”
Marko had found Lt. Le Clerc in his office shortly after he had unpacked and put on his uniform. He tried to plan what he was going to say but gave up. He was just too upset about what happened. He had gone from House Lazard’s newest Clerk to an assassin?!
“Relax Marko. I know you are no assassin. Training to become a Night Eagle is a year long. And, you can only apply after serving two years in the Army with an exemplary record. Assassination is only part of our charter. We also go on infiltration and espionage missions.”
“You mean we are the opposite of the squad that attacked the caravan?”
“Yes and no. We do go behind enemy lines, but we don’t attack caravans. Instead we disrupt communication, plant and retrieve spies and well, we do kill high ranking officers now and then. You will be assigned to my team. We lost Sergeant Flax last month to a priest. You will be our seventh member. Your role will be assigned once we do some training tomorrow.”
“Listen, Marko. The Colonel would not have assigned you if he thought it was your death sentence. He must have seen something in you to assign you to us. Granted, your vision is superb. You have better vision than me, and I am aided by my magic. But he must have seen something else in you. I am here to bring that out and exploit it in the service to the Emperor. Never forget that we live to serve.”
“I apologize, sir. It is just that I went from a student in an orphanage to a clerk in a merchant house and then to a Night Eagle in a month. This is a bit overwhelming. I will try my hardest to make your command successful.”
“That is understandable. Remember, Marko, greatness does not come from doing the same thing over and over. Every senior officer in the Army has been required to perform many roles. The Empire will give you more challenges until you succeed or fail. My command is made up of men and women who have succeeded. They will help you to come out on top as you will help them. Now get some rest, we will begin your assessment right after breakfast.”
That night Marko worked with Stranac again to tap into his reserve. He was starting to use his essence by using other emotions. It was still much easier to use anger. He practiced turning his anger on and off as a means of rationing his reserve.
Marko woke up in his small room. Before it got dark last night, he had noticed that he had a view of the latrines. At least I am no longer looking at the stables. I am moving up in the world. He put on his black leathers and walked to the commissary. He noticed that he received several nods from troopers and other sergeants on his walk. Marko was continually amazed at the response he received from wearing uniforms. In one month he had worn three different ones. He was the same person but people looked at him three different ways. At least it was an improvement each time!
When he reached the commissary, he immediately looked for other Night Eagles. Marko did not know the protocol in this commissary but he figured sitting with people dressed like him was safe. He recognized Miranda sitting with some other soldiers and walked up to her.
“Good morning Miranda. Mind if I join you?”
“Hey, Marko. Sit down. Everyone, this is Marko Kunich, our new addition to the Eagles. Marko, that’s Laurence in front of you, Terry is to his left and Mital is on your right.”
“So what does Le Clerc have in store for your first day?”
“I am not exactly sure. He said something about an assessment this morning.”
“Oh. I guess that makes sense. You see, to become an Eagle you have to pass an assessment examination. He will probably take you through the same exam to understand your strengths and weaknesses.”
“What can I expect?”
“We don’t want to ruin it for you. But don’t worry, you have already been granted a spot on the team, albeit a temporary one. I am more interested in what role he has picked out for you. If I were to guess, you will be our scout.”
“A scout? Isn’t that the most dangerous role?”
“For you? Hardly. The Army wants you for your eyes. Our teams have been getting decimated by those priests. All he’ll want you to do is to see them coming. We’ll do all the dirty work.”
“Fine by me. Well, I better not leave the lieutenant waiting.”
Marko’s didn’t finish his breakfast, but that was ok with him. His stomach was in knots anyway. He made his way to Le Clerc’s office. The lieutenant was behind his desk writing what looked to be a report.
“Right. Good morning sergeant. Let’s head back to the training field.”
Marko followed Le Clerc back to the grounds where he met him yesterday. Only this time Marko felt the comfortable weight of his sword he had retrieved from the guard house. This morning the field was more crowded with several infantry units going through drills.
“Ok. I am going to start with assessing your steel work and move on to your unarmed skills. Grab a practice blade from the lockers and some padded armor.”
Le Clerc’s assessment of his sword work went similar to that of the army’s assessment at the orphanage. Only this time Le Clerc began with more advanced forms. Within half a mark, Marko was regularly being backed up against a wall or into another soldier. Marko was amazed at Le Clerc’s speed and stamina. Through a sequence of moves, Marko expected a sparring partner to eventually slow down. That is when he would go on the offensive. Le Clerc did not give him that chance. Marko’s only solution was to continue his defense and hope Le Clerc eventually tired of pushing Marko back into people.
“No break. Put up your equipment and we’ll begin the unarmed assessment.” When Marko walked back to Le Clerc after putting away the practice blade and padded armor, he noticed the lieutenant had taken off his boots. Marko knew that only meant one thing; he intends to use his feet and legs as weapons. Marko followed Le Clerc’s example. As tired as he was, he was not looking forward to what was about to come.
The unarmed assessment went much like the previous one. Le Clerc took the offensive and never relented. By the end of the match, Le Clerc had thrown him onto the ground. The only saving grace for Marko was that he was able to grab onto the lieutenant and pull him down with him. A wrestling match immediately began as each man tried to get the upper hand while rolling on the ground. Eventually Marko disengaged and rolled back onto his feet. He noticed that they had cleared a wide circle on the practice field. Other soldiers, no doubt, did not want to get tripped up by these two. He noticed several of the soldiers had stopped their practice and were watching the two.
“Well, looks like we got our exercise for the day.” Le Clerc looked at Marko with a slight smile. “Go get cleaned up and grab some chow. Report back to
me at 13 marks.”
Marko walked back to his room with a slight limp. He had never sparred with anyone that had Le Clerc’s skill. He was even better than his father. During the unarmed match, just as the other, Le Clerc never tired. He also showed Marko kicks and punch sequences he had never seen before. He knew he would remember several of them. The bruises they had caused would be with Marko for some time.
After washing up and putting on a new uniform, Marko made it over to the commissary. He quickly found Miranda and other Night Eagles sitting at the same table. He guessed that the Night Eagles had that table reserved for them. He also noticed a few new faces.
“Our new arrival has survived the morning!” Miranda said with a grin.
One of the new faces turned to Marko. “I had heard Le Clerc was assessing a new Eagle. I am Toulon. Please to meet you.”
“Sergeant Marko Kunich, sir.” Marko had noticed that Toulon had a small silver fist hanging from a chain around his neck. His father had told him long ago that all officers had to wear their rank, even to bed or during a bath. They had taken to the practice of wearing their officer symbol on a chain. The silver fist designated Toulon as a lieutenant like Le Clerc.
“For a clerk you are astute. But I guess that is a trait of a clerk. Anyway that will serve you in the Night Eagles, too. Attention to detail can be the difference between life and death. Good luck, Marko.” The officer nodded to several other Eagles before leaving the commissary.
Miranda chuckled. “Don’t let Lt. “Gloom” get you too riled up, Marko. He’s a great officer, but he’s not exactly the guy you want to have around when you are on R&R.”
One of the men Marko met yesterday chimed in. “How did it go this morning? I know Le Clerc does not like to pull any punches.”
“I know. I think I will feel some of those punches for a few days. I could not find any opportunities to attack him with my sword. It was all I could do to keep up my defense for the assessment. He is definitely the best swordsman I have ever seen.”
Miranda looked at him shrewdly. “You kept up your defense? Just how many times did you have to yield?”
“Well, we had to reset once when an infantry ranker backed into me. The rest of the time I barely managed to not trip over someone.”
“You mean he did not disarm you?”
“Well, no. I am sure he could have at any time. His attacks were lightning fast. Like I said, it was all I could do to block them. I was not so lucky in the unarmed assessment. He was able to throw me down once.”
Miranda stared at Marko for a few moments and looked at the other Eagles at the table. No one said anything.
Marko felt uncomfortable with the silence. Had he failed the assessment and embarrassed the table? Were they worried that his incompetence would put them in jeopardy?
Marko suddenly felt like he had to leave. “Well, Le Clerc is waiting for me. I better get going.” Marko left quickly, not wanting any of the other Night Eagles to remain uncomfortable in his presence.
Chapter XXVII: Tracker
When he arrived at Le Clerc’s office, he saw that the lieutenant had two horses tied out front to a small wooden railing.
“Good afternoon, sir.”
“Hello Marko. Ready for the next assessment?”
“Well sir. I will try to do better. Are we going somewhere?”
“One of the skills found in the Night Eagles is the ability to travel undetected and to detect others. We pride ourselves on being able to do this day or night. For this assessment, we will be leaving the post and travelling to the forest south of us. I will tell you more there. In the meantime, feel free to ask questions. I know you must feel overwhelmed right now. I will help to clear things up for you.”
As they travelled out of the post and towards the forest, Marko and Le Clerc discussed many things about the Night Eagles and the Emperor’s forces in general at Sibenik. It appeared that the war had been going well up until about six months ago. The Emperor’s forces had secured most of the paths through the mountains and had established a small, forward post in the Umag ruins. The plan was to assault Valpovo, the King’s most western outpost in the spring. Once Valpovo was secured, the Emperor would have a defensible toehold in the Kingdom.
That assault was put on hold. The King had made an agreement with Cardinal of the Royal Priests. He had loaned an unknown number of priest to the Royal Army. That moved had turned the tide of battle. The priests began assassinating the army’s leadership. One day the forward battalion out of Umag woke up to find that every officer had been assassinated during the night. The priests also turned out to be able leaders and fighters. Their faith magic not only allowed them to move virtually undetected, but allowed them to instill confidence with their troops and move at enhanced speed.
“But I am sure they are no match for you, Lieutenant. I have never seen anyone move as quickly as you this morning.”
“I have fought several priests. Although they are not as fast and as well trained as an Imperial Mage, they are far superior to an average trooper. But that is not what makes them so effective. They have the ability to use their magic to remove fear from their troops. One of the advantages of the Night Night Eagles is that we can infiltrate any army. We too have assassinated army officers. There is nothing that makes an officer so hesitant to battle than knowing that they may die in their sleep. As long as a priest is in a camp, they can dispel this fear. It takes a lot out of them, but we have seen it done several times. They have been so successful that I would be worried if I was an officer in the King’s Army. They are already supplanting the lower ranks of leadership. It’s only a matter of time before we start seeing general officer priests.”
After two marks, they arrived at the edge of a large forest. These were not the trees Marko was used to near the coast. This forest had tall pines and hardwoods. The canopy was so thick that little sunlight made it to the forest floor. This made it easier to travel since there was little undergrowth. The challenge was that is also allowed very little light to see where you were going.
“This assessment is less painful, but no less important. Three Night Eagles have preceded us. They entered the forest by this path. I want you try and pick up their trail. I will be following along with you. We’ll tie our horses up around the corner there.”
Marko dismounted and led his horse around a tall copse of scrubs. He saw three other horses tied up to a large log on the ground. They spent a few minutes rubbing down their horses and feeding them a few handfuls of oats.
“Ok, let’s get started. You have until one hour before nightfall.”
Marko’s father had taught him some basics of trail craft. He and Sako had spent many days in the woods hunting deer and rabbits. Although he could often track an animal, his ability to hit one with an arrow was usually disastrous. Eventually, he allowed Sako to take all the shots.
When they entered the forest, Marko saw three clear sets of tracks along side each other. It was obvious that these three wanted to give him an easy start to the track. After a few hundred yards, they approached a shallow stream. It was the kind that usually only flowed after storms. His father had called them branches.
On the other side of the steam, Marko stopped. He only saw two sets of footprints. Trying to throw me off already. This was the oldest trick in the book. Deer would sometimes walk a short distance along a stream to drink in deeper pools. Marko had to pick a direction and walk along the other side of the bank to spot where the deer came out. In his experience, they usually walked downstream. He had no reason to think people would be any different.
After about twenty yards, Marko spotted tracks leaving the stream. He knew they were the same person because there was a lighter indentation on the inside of each heel. This person tended to walk on the outside of his boots. Marko smiled slightly.
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s the man we are tracking sir. My guess is he is bowlegged from riding. I don’t think he fancies walking in these woods ri
ght now. Must not be comfortable.”
They twisted and turned several times before they came to a small clearing. There was a short rock with a smooth surface. On it sat a man that must have been at least forty years old. His beard and hair were graying. He slowly got up and straightened his back.
“Glad you found me. My back was killing me sitting on that darn stone.”
“Marko, let me introduce you to Sergeant Bastin. Henri, this is Marko Kunich.”
“Pleased to meet you Marko. Now let me get back to the post; I am sure you got plenty to do. I know there is at least one more out there.” He gave Marko a knowing wink and walked briskly past them. Marko noticed with satisfaction that Henri hobbled slightly on his feet.
“Spent twenty years in the cavalry before joining the Night Eagles. Said he got bored shoveling horse, um, you know all day. Now he claims he just needs to stay away from officers and his boots will be forever clean.”
The Reluctant Mage: Book One in the Zandar Series Page 15