Besides, I rationalized that my unit would likely be involved in important missions so the sooner Boaz got up to speed, the better for our success, and ultimately the army’s success.
I was an expert in justifying my actions.
Dekar approached.
I raised an eyebrow. “Thought you’d be getting some grub.”
“I intercepted a message for you from Balak. You’ve been summoned,” he added with a snort.
I sighed. “Of course. He left me alone the last few days so just when I hoped to get a bit of extra rest myself, he wants to talk.”
I had hoped for that extra rest, but I didn’t really think it would happen. Even without Balak’s summons, the second I was alone with my thoughts, my mind would drift to my family then to the hundreds of things I still needed to take care of.
The work of a commander never ended.
I wondered if that was a good thing for me. The constant work and responsibility made it so I had little time to be consumed by the anger I still held from being ripped from my family and friends. The anger was still there, but it was focused on my duties. I hoped that I might use the resources I had to finally put an end to the Geneshans. Once I returned to Ava and the kids, I never wanted to leave them again.
I headed toward Balak’s tent. Dekar fell in beside me.
“Mind if I walk with you a bit?”
“Sure. What’s on your mind?”
“Just wanted to say thanks for how you handled that thing with Ira and Reuma since I don’t know if he will. He’s a little preoccupied.”
“No problem. I’ve been in his boots before. I’m sure you have too.”
“Yeah. Never thought I’d miss even that part of my marriage.”
“No kidding. I’d rather have Lasha alive and be on her bad side than to not have her at all.” I paused, realizing I hadn’t checked in with his emotional state in some time. “How are you holding up lately?”
Dekar had taken it hard when he had returned home to discover the wife he remained faithful to during the Geneshan War had married someone else and no longer wanted anything to do with him.
“Surprisingly better than I thought I would. As much as I didn’t want to return to this life, it’s helped me not dwell so much on Adwa. When I do think about her, mostly at night, I find that I just don’t care as much as I once did.”
“That’s good.”
“That being said, I don’t want Ira to have to go through what I went through. So again, thanks for not making a rough situation worse.”
“No need. Reuma’s been good for him.”
“She has. Ira’s still Ira, but it seems like he’s maturing a bit more now that he has someone else to worry about in his life.”
“You don’t think he worries about you?”
“I’m sure he does. But that kind of worry is different.”
“True.”
“Have things been easier regarding Lasha?”
My gut twisted a bit. I really didn’t want to talk about her, especially on my way to Balak’s tent. However, if Ava was there, she’d likely say that I’d never find an ideal time to discuss Lasha. If I was going to discuss my wife with anyone, I’d be hard pressed to find someone better than Dekar, especially with me and Hamath at odds with each other.
“Yes and no,” I said finally. “I definitely don’t think about her as often throughout the day, but that’s probably because of what you said. I’m too busy and focused to think about much else other than getting the army ready. However, when we get any down time, she almost immediately pops into my head and the emotions there are just as intense as they were before.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s just part of life, and life likes to kick us in the crotch.”
He snorted, then gestured ahead to Balak’s tent. “All right. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Hey, one second. You see the personal guard of Balak on the right side of the tent?”
“You mean Etan?”
“Yeah. Do you know what his deal is? He won’t even return my greeting?”
He grunted. “Not sure. I can find out, if you’d like.”
I thought for a second and decided the effort wasn’t worth it. “Nah, don’t worry about it. Just get some rest.”
We parted and I continued the last fifty feet to Balak’s tent alone.
As usual, Etan gave me a cross look. However, he just pushed the tent flap aside, rather than stick his head in for additional approval. I guess Balak must have told him to do so.
For once, the inside had changed, though the change involved the attendants, not the layout.
Hamath stood next to Balak on the opposite side of the table facing the tent entrance. He was speaking to the general while his index finger traced lines across the map. Balak was busy scribbling notes when Hamath looked up.
He nodded. “Tyrus.”
I returned the greeting. “Long time no see.”
It had been over a week since our last conversation and I had begun to wonder if he would ever quit ducking me.
“Been busy,” he said. “I hear you’ve been too.”
“Not so busy,” I said to make a point I wanted to talk more.
He gave no reply. That spoke volumes about the sudden gulf between us. Strained silence with someone who had been my best friend for nearly a decade was hard to take.
Balak finished his notes, then gestured. “Come in, Tyrus. Hamath was just finishing his report.”
I walked over. “What do you have?”
Balak pointed to three locations marked with enemy armies. “The Geneshans are moving along faster than I thought possible. A couple of their smaller forces are already combining. Still, most of them are far enough away that we don’t have to worry about them for another week or so.”
He said that like it was good news.
I forced my mind to steady as I had begun to think about what areas of training I could accelerate to better prepare them for battle.
Balak laid his index finger on a spot not far from our location. “Except here,” he said.
“What’s there?” I asked. There weren’t any markings of an army.
“Nothing yet, but this is where Hamath expects this army,” he said, gesturing slightly to the southwest, “to be in two days. And he’s convinced me as well. We need to take care of them otherwise they’ll be hounding us and attacking our supply wagons by the time we engage other enemy forces. Those supplies are starting to get low and we can’t fight battles on multiple fronts.”
“How large is this group you’re talking about?”
“Three hundred. All on foot. We’ll split our forces to handle them. You’ll take half the army and meet them here while the rest continues on. Once you take care of them, double time it back to the main body and we’ll continue moving up toward Hol together.”
I frowned at the map. “I don’t like it.”
Balak’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“Afraid of four-to-one odds, Tyrus?” Hamath quipped with more bite than I would have preferred.
I held back a sneer, not wanting him to know his tone stung.
“Even at four-to-one odds, we’ll take casualties that we can’t afford.”
“I’m working on a way to bolster our ranks before Hol,” said Balak.
“What? From where?”
“That’s not important right now. And don’t sound too surprised. I do a lot more each day than just stare at maps.”
It would appear so. It made me wonder what else he was planning and why he was being so secretive about it.
“How many are you talking about adding to our ranks?”
“A few thousand.”
I blinked in surprise, wondering how much Hamath knew of our situation. I decided to put some information
out there to see how Balak responded. “That’s good news, but we’ll still be outnumbered once we reach the capital.”
I wasn’t sure if Hamath knew that or not, but based on Balak’s comment about reinforcements it seemed he was being freer with the information in front of Hamath than he would be with others.
Balak didn’t seem perturbed by what I said, just curious. “The men need to get some experience before Hol. You know that.”
I got my answer about Hamath.
“I do. But I want the experience to come on my terms. Not the Geneshans.”
“What are you getting at?”
“That I don’t trust the Geneshans.”
“He’s worried that the Geneshans are setting us up for some sort of trap I bet,” said Hamath. “But that’s ridiculous.”
“Why?” I asked. “They did it to us several times in the war, especially during the early years.”
“Yeah, but we caught on to their deceptions.”
I looked at Balak. “Did we?”
I was referencing his hunch about how the Geneshans had basically put the wool over our eyes with the artifact. His bushy eyebrows went up.
Hamath made a dismissive noise. “C’mon, Tyrus. I know you’re nervous and worried, but there’s no indication that this group is anything other than what I reported they are. I saw them. Three hundred infantry. And not their best. They’re cut off from all other forces in the area by several days. We can hit them now, then double time it back to the main body without any issues.”
“Well?” Balak asked me.
He wanted a reason for my worry. I wasn’t sure I could give him something other than calling it a hunch. I stared at the map as a nagging feeling ate at me. There was something there, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
“I can’t give you anything substantial other than to ask you to trust me.”
“I do trust you, but not taking care of this force now will come back to harm us later.”
“I never said we shouldn’t take care of them. Just that I didn’t want to send half our army out to do it.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Send out two squads.”
Hamath snorted. “Let me guess, you’d be leading one of these squads.”
“Yes.”
“And the other?”
“You. Balak said you wanted to lead your own. Why not do it now?”
He frowned, which surprised me.
Balak jumped in. “Two squads against three hundred? So instead of us having four-to-one odds, you want to give the enemy twelve-to-one or better.”
“Smaller units would give us more flexibility. You know that. How many men did the elite units take out during the Geneshan War when we were at our best? We embarked on crazier missions than this.”
Hamath looked concerned. “Yeah, but we had Ava and a bunch of seasoned men during those missions. You don’t have that now, especially not the sorcery.”
Hamath knew of our numbers, but I wondered if he knew about the High Mages too.
“Well, maybe we could . . . try to find some,” I said, letting the thought linger, knowing I was pushing my luck by putting that comment out there. I didn’t care. I thought it ridiculous not to take advantage of all our resources
“Hamath, step out for a minute,” said Balak.
I had my answer there.
“Wait, what—” Hamath sputtered.
“Now,” said Balak. “This is between me and Tyrus.”
Hamath scowled, then gave both of us the stink eye. Not that I could blame him. I didn’t like being shut out from information either.
After the ten flap closed, Balak wheeled on me. “Are you trying to test how expendable you are to me?”
“Sir?”
“Don’t give me that ‘sir’ crap. I told you I need you, but I will drop you dead if you do anything that will jeopardize my long-term plans.”
“I know, but—”
“Then remember that the next time you think about bringing up something that does not exist.”
I grit my teeth, ready to give a ‘yes, sir,’ then thought better of it. “Molak-be-damned, general, cut out the intimidation crap.”
“What?”
“You heard me. One second you’re acting like we’ve got some mutual respect and the next you talk down to me like some new recruit. I put up with that crap my first time around in the army and walked lightly like everyone else so you wouldn’t be upset. I’ve had enough of it. If you want to kill me, then call Etan out there to come in and kill me. If not, then talk to me with some respect.”
“You’ve got a lot of guts to say that to me.”
I said nothing more. Just waited.
He narrowed his eyes and I could tell he was weighing my words. “All right.”
I nodded in relief. Though I didn’t think Balak would call his guards in on me, I also couldn’t dismiss the possibility. “Now, back to what you’re upset about. I was very vague about what I said, because I wasn’t sure if you had told Hamath about the mages. He knows other stuff I thought he wasn’t privy too.”
“I did tell him more, but not about the High Mages. And I don’t plan on it.”
“My mistake. It won’t happen again. That being said, I was serious about having the High Mages work on something.”
“They’re already busy with other tasks. One of which is finding a way to better replenish our food supply. I’ve been having them bring in food stores they come across in abandoned towns when out scouting via transfer portals, but it isn’t enough.”
“I understand, but again, I think we should use squads against this Geneshan force. However, the only way that would work is if we had something sorcerous to use against them.”
“Like?”
I thought about my recent dreams, one in particular that kept repeating itself. “A destruction globe.”
“Those aren’t easy to make. In fact, I’m not sure if enough of their power has returned for them to even construct one.”
“I don’t know the ins and outs of sorcery, but it seems that if they can create a transfer portal, they could figure out a destruction globe too. If they could create one powerful enough, then we could probably knock out most of this Geneshan force at once.”
“The work might hinder my other plans.”
He made the statement in a way that it sounded as if he was trying to convince himself rather than me.
“Nothing comes without a price. Better to pay with tardiness than a large number of casualties. Think about it overnight. Recall your mages wherever they are and get their opinion. Then decide. If it won’t work, I’ll split the army like you wanted to go after that small Geneshan force. However, this would be a much better course. It wouldn’t interrupt the training of the main body and we’d have fewer men at risk. Plus, if we fail, no one will be surprised. But if we succeed, we can spin it as a huge confidence builder. Look what two squads did. Imagine what we’ll all be able to accomplish the next time we face the Geneshans.”
“Why only two?” he asked.
“Because the two I have in mind are the only ones I think capable enough to carry out a mission with those odds and not crap themselves. They’re my best.”
Balak rubbed is jaw in thought. That was a good thing. I had a chance of turning him around.
* * *
I left Balak in thought, exiting the tent as my stomach growled. I was reminded I should eat before settling in to sleep.
Hamath looked put out as he waited outside out of earshot from the command tent. Based on the glare he gave Etan, I assumed Balak’s guards had not let him any closer.
“What was that about sending me away like that?” he asked.
He acted like he wanted to pick a fight. I kept walking and forced him to follow. It was one thing for people to
catch snippets of a passing conversation and make assumptions. It was another thing entirely for them to hear the full of it, especially those guarding Balak’s tent. I wanted the rift between us kept as private as possible.
“There are things Balak wants to keep just between a couple of people.”
“And you’re one of them?”
“It would seem so.”
He swore. “Same old Tyrus. I bust my tail for Balak these last couple months, willingly mind you. Yet, he shares information with you and not me. Unbelievable.”
I shrugged, not understanding what he wanted of me. It was Balak he should be mad at, not me.
“That’s it?”
“What do you want me to say? You got an issue with Balak, take it up with him. I tried to get him to tell you what was going on. He said no.”
Hamath eyed me. “And what was that about, you throwing my name out there like that?”
“The squads aren’t completely trained so I need to have another leader in place with experience, intelligence, and the ability to hold men together. Someone I can trust to get the job done. Balak already said you had wanted your own unit, so it seemed like now was a good time to make that happen.”
“I don’t like you volunteering me for things, Tyrus.”
“Why? Didn’t you tell me that this life is the one you want? The one you’re good at.”
“Maybe. But I want to be the one to make those decisions.”
I stopped, bewildered. “Wait a minute. You want to be a soldier, but you want to make your own choices? How does that work? Every soldier follows orders.”
“Not everyone,” he snapped while giving me a cross look.
“What does that mean? I answer to Balak.”
“No, you don’t. The words might come out of Balak’s mouth, but the orders are from you. Because if you disagree with something, you always convince him to change his mind.”
“Gods, Hamath. I don’t understand you one bit. Where is all this animosity coming from? Isn’t that what I’ve always done with Balak? Why are you getting so upset now?”
“Did he say we’re using squads?”
Resurrected Soldiers: The Tyrus Chronicle - Book Three Page 12