Forever Soldiers: The Tyrus Chronicle - Book Four

by Joshua P. Simon

  Vered grimaced, “I doubt that will be necessary.” There was personal pride at stake now. He wouldn’t ask Yehoash for help unless it was a last resort. “I’ll see to the matter first thing in the morning.”

  “Tonight would be better. I don’t want the problem to get worse.” I looked to Boaz. “Can you walk Vered over now?”

  “Will do,” he said with a wave goodbye.

  Myra and Reuma moved to give me their plans for securing our city. Both women tried to keep a business-like expression as they sat across from me, but neither could hide their excitement.

  Reuma laid out a sheet of parchment, showing a rough diagram of the city. From there, she began to explain their plan in meticulous detail. Ira beamed with pride.

  The main defense would stem from four towers. Two larger ones north of the city where we expected there to be a greater threat, and two on the east side of town bordering the fields. They would be spaced in a way to create a nice killing ground any enemy would have to pass through when attacking.

  The south side of the city was least likely to face a direct assault. They proposed digging a large ditch in the south half a mile out that would cut through the road itself. A bridge would reconnect the road, rigged so that someone could destroy it if needed.

  “I like it,” I said. “Well thought out. I wonder if it makes sense to add a bridge like on the north side too. Putting it between the towers would slow down any attackers all the more.”

  “Probably so,” said Reuma.

  “We could use the dirt taken from that ditch to build up the base of the towers as well,” added Myra.

  I frowned at the map, seeing a faint line I hadn’t noticed before. I traced its path as it started at the river on the north side and eventually encircled all of Kasala until stopping once more at the river in the south.

  “What’s this?”

  Reuma cleared her throat. “The location for our wall.”

  I gave her a look.

  She looked embarrassed. “I know you said the task would be difficult and take a tremendous amount of time and effort, but after everything else is in place, doesn’t it make sense to pursue one?”

  “Maybe. We can revisit that later. For now, do you have what you need to get everything else done?”

  As if rehearsed, Reuma gestured to Myra.

  My daughter cleared her throat. “We’ll need one of the engineers to help us finalize designs and placement for the towers. We’d like to have Lemuel, but I know you have him stretched pretty thin already on the wells so we were thinking Shimeon. He already took a quick look at our plans to confirm our proposal was possible. With his help, we can get designs finalized in a few days. We won’t know exactly how many men or how much building materials we’ll need until the plans are done.”

  “Shimeon is yours. But I can’t wait more than a couple days. Can you at least give me a rough estimate on what resources you think you’ll need to begin?”

  Reuma nodded as if expecting that response. She began rattling off numbers. The supplies requested weren’t unreasonable, but committing to the labor would be difficult.

  “I can only promise half the bodies you’re wanting to start with. I don’t want to commit more yet with the fields as they are. Plus, since Chadar and Galya haven’t returned, I don’t know if Sinsca will need our resources to fix the river. What else?”

  “The issue of a city guard,” Reuma answered.

  “What issue?”

  “We don’t have one. Everyone’s in good spirits now, but I think it’s best to prepare for the day that isn’t always the case. We should have a certain number of people permanently assigned to that role. For now, they could be considered more of a reserve, but eventually that should be their primary job, especially if we start to really prosper and attract more people to the town. I figure these would also be the ones we assign to shifts at the towers and scout the land around us.”

  I thought of the graves robbed months ago outside of the city.

  “Great point. And I like that you’re thinking ahead.” I felt more comfortable about leaning on Reuma with each passing breath. “Do you have a number in mind?”

  “Just a dozen to start with until we settle into a routine,” said Reuma.

  “Done. Pick your people tonight. Let them know that they’ll report directly to you going forward.”

  Reuma blinked. “Me?”

  “Who better?”

  “But—”

  I cut her off. “As the newly elected mayor of Kasala, I appoint you Commander of the City Guard.” I saw trepidation mixed in with the surprise she wore. It made me add. “I trust you completely with this.”

  Her expression brightened, “Thank you. I’d also like the entire town to start drilling in squads for one hour a couple days a week so that we’re never caught unprepared in the event Kasala fell under attack. The city guard would drill every day though. I was hoping to start that tomorrow.”

  “Makes sense to me.”

  “One last thing,” she said. “I’d like Myra to help me and act as my second.”

  That took me a bit by surprise. Myra had not been formally trained as a soldier, and was much younger than most of the people I figured Reuma would select her first twelve from. However, Reuma wore a look that told me she believed in my daughter.

  I immediately wanted to say no to the request. The city guard was a far cry from joining the army, but it was still a position that could place Myra in great danger. Considering all that Ava had spoken of in my time apart from them, Myra had handled herself well and was fast approaching womanhood in age as much as experience. Though every part of me wanted to do all I could to protect her, a part of me understood that she needed to make some decisions herself.

  “Sounds like a decision Myra should make herself.”

  Reuma turned to Myra. “I could really use you.”

  Myra appeared as though she had assumed I’d strike the request down. She tried to compose herself, but couldn’t quite hide her eagerness. “Absolutely.”

  After our discussion on Kasala’s defenses ended, I began going over the plan I had for the fields, leaving spaces for Udo to contribute as well. Unused to those conversations, Udo stuttered a bit at first, but eventually steadied his nerves.

  We’d start working the next day on the most fertile land, clearing old grass, weeds, plants, and rocks, mostly by hand. I imagined it would take us several days, if not the better part of a week to accomplish what I had in mind.

  We had a long road ahead of us.

  CHAPTER 16

  It wasn’t long before Ava determined that the monotony of a soldier’s life on the march was no different in the Southern Kingdoms than it was in Turine or likely anywhere else. Eating, marching, and sleeping with little else other than tending to nature’s needs in between.

  She hated it.

  As blisters formed on her already calloused feet, she realized that though Tyrus had kept their group moving south at a solid pace the last several months, he had not pushed them like she had once been pushed in the army.

  Well of course not. Tyrus had families to consider, not just soldiers.

  Marching was bad enough on its own, but marching in isolation was miserable. Ava had hoped that time and distance from Batna would ease the tension between the Turine volunteers and the Southern Kingdom soldiers. But the Southern Kingdom soldiers had made no effort to bridge the gulf, and rebuffed any Turine attempts to create common ground.

  We look too much like the enemy. I wouldn’t be surprised if they think we’ll betray them at the first opportunity. I dare not ask for it, but a good battle would do us wonders. Hard to hate a man fighting beside you.

  After several days, the continued shunning had many of her men questioning their decision to volunteer.

  Ava did her best to keep up morale, hoping that thi
ngs would improve. She doubted it would as Captain Kamau kept the groups separate on the march and in camp.

  She fought against her natural inclination to confront him. She knew enough about people to see that bringing up her concerns would only increase the tension between the two groups.

  Pick your battles, Ava. Hopefully Danso is a man easier to approach.

  * * *

  A week out from Batna, on a particularly clear night, Ava sat alone outside of camp on an old, hollow log. She had left behind the soldiers who rolled dice, played cards, and conversed about past conquests of women they had known.

  No doubt more than half of those women they had only “known” in their dreams, she thought as the faint sound of laughter reached her.

  Ava had never been much of a gambler and she knew from personal experience that none wanted to hear her speak about rolling around with men in wet grass.

  A whimsical smile formed on her mouth as she recalled one such memory. A gods-be-damned shame too I can’t talk about it with anyone either.

  Therefore, she took the opportunity to lose herself in sorcery. Besides sharpening her use of a transfer portal, she focused on generating more realistic illusions. Every mage worth their salt could create tricks of the eye or ear. The best could make the illusions seem so real they could be touched. However, she had never known anyone who could create an illusion that smelled real.

  On the surface, some might find that detail unimportant, but Hamath and Ira had both conveyed to her more than once that their noses had saved their lives several times when encountering Geneshan illusions. They had either caught a whiff of the lingering sulphuric odor from sorcery or the illusion itself created by the enemy had carried no odor at all.

  The bud of a partially opened red rose rested in the palm of Ava’s extended right hand. She inhaled deeply in the hopes of smelling something sweet and fresh, but found nothing but the cool night air.

  She swore to Ao under her breath before settling herself further into the spell. Rather than thinking of the rose itself, she tried a different approach. She thought of the sun, the wind, and of buzzing bees eager to pollenate the flower. She thought of the damp ground after an early morning rain. A freshly cut stem from someone’s garden. Her mind drifted to the silky texture of a recently plucked rose petal. She even imagined the oil a plucked petal left behind on her skin.

  Only after all of those things had crossed her mind, did Ava then concentrate on the smell of the rose again. When she inhaled the next time, the faintest aroma of a fresh spring rose took shape in her nose.

  Excited, she doubled her focus, attempting to strengthen that aroma.

  “What are you doing?” came a voice.

  Startled, Ava’s concentration broke. She wheeled about, face twisting. “Ao’s teats, Eder! What are you doing sneaking around like that?”

  The young man who had scouted for her after Tyrus rejoined Balak’s army jumped back at her outburst. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

  “You didn’t frighten me,” she snapped, then shook her head, forcing away the bite in her voice. “You distracted me. I came out here to have time to myself.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said again, coming up beside her.

  Try to let it go, Ava. He’s out here for a reason.

  She sighed. “It’s fine.”

  It wasn’t really fine, but if she was being honest, he shouldn’t have been able to break her concentration.

  Eder said nothing more. He just stood there dumbly, looking hurt by her reaction. That only aggravated Ava more. At one point she wouldn’t have cared about his feelings. In fact, she might have even reveled in them.

  Now I almost feel guilty for having a normal reaction. Molak-be-damned, like I need more guilt.

  Ava tried to make her voice neutral. “Was there something you needed?”

  Eder took her question as an invitation and sat. It was the last thing Ava had wanted.

  “Not really. Just wanted to talk.”

  She looked over her shoulder. “Seems like there was a lot of talking going on back there when I left.”

  He shrugged, not fully grasping her less than subtle hint at privacy. “Not really the sort of talk I prefer. Without any women or children around, it’s getting pretty crude.”

  She snorted. “Welcome to the army.”

  “Yeah. I tried to talk with some of the men about acting more respectfully, but—”

  Ava cut in. “You didn’t.”

  “Of course, I did.”

  She clicked her tongue, but managed to keep her thoughts about Eder’s stupidity to herself.

  No way Ira would have shown that restraint, she thought proudly.

  “And how did that go?”

  “A few dismissed me outright, but most just laughed and said things much worse on purpose.”

  She shook her head, amazed at how surprised he seemed at that reaction. “Of course they did. Gods, I thought you were smarter than that.”

  “Hey! I spoke up as much for you as for me.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  “I told them their conversations were probably the reason you started coming out here by yourself the last few nights. You didn’t want to be around them talking like that.”

  Ava punched him in the arm. Eder yelped in shock, wincing and grabbing the spot she had struck. “What would make you say something stupid like that?”

  “What do you mean? I thought you might be afraid to speak up so I figured—”

  “Afraid to speak up?” Ava offered her hand for him to shake. “I don’t think we’ve met. My name is Ava. I’ve been a soldier for most of my adult life and killed hundreds by myself. I’m a mage who could probably take out all eighty Turine volunteers with sorcery, and I could also take anyone on with a sword. I’m also the person who barely a week ago embarrassed and threatened some of the very leaders in Batna we’re supposed to be fighting for. Based on that and the simple fact you took orders from me for months before we joined back up with Tyrus, why in Molak’s name would you ever think I’d be afraid to speak my mind?”

  “I . . . I don’t know. I guess I hadn’t thought about it like that. I was only trying to do something nice.”

  “Well, stop it. I don’t need you to do something nice for me. I need you to fight hard and stay alive. I mainly come out here because it’s easier to practice sorcery. Understand?”

  “Yeah, I understand just fine,” he said, standing abruptly and walking off while rolling the arm she had struck.

  Ava watched him go, wondering if the others actually believed what Eder had said about her.

  She muttered to herself. “How in the world can a scout be so blind to what’s in front of their eyes?”

  She took a breath and opened her hand back up. Another rose, similar to the first took shape. Desperately, she tried to recapture the moment when everything had begun to fall into place, but she just couldn’t reach that level of concentration again.

  Angry, she gave up and cast a different spell. A rolling ball of bright orange flame formed in her hand. She spotted an old tree stump twenty yards away and heaved the ball forward. It struck the wood, exploding it into countless burning pieces.

  She grinned as she repeated the spell. Something about destruction always seemed to melt the stress away.

  * * *

  Shouts of alarm startled Ava from her dreamless sleep. She rolled over, pushed herself up with one hand while rubbing the crud from her eyes with the other. Instinctively, she strengthened her defensive spells. By the time she straightened and had blinked away enough sleep to focus her thoughts, she took in the chaos on the northern side of camp.

  “What’s happening?” a Turine soldier asked stumbling toward her as he too rubbed his eyes.

  “Ambush!” Sergeant Margo shouted, pointing off into the black night. One
of the more seasoned veterans among her group, Ava noted that he always seemed to have a handle on any given situation.

  Dozens of questions came at once from her men. She had trouble understanding why. Couldn’t they see she had just woken as well and had no idea what was happening?

  The remainder of sleep fell away as the orders of Southern Kingdom officers rose above the din. Soldiers hustled to obey as farther out she heard shouts of alarm twisting into dying men’s shrills.

  She scanned the area, assessing the situation.

  To the north, an organized group of invaders had begun to scythe their way through camp. Even by the light of the stars overhead, it was still too dark for Ava to make out all the details. However, she understood enough to act.

  She exchanged a look with the Turine volunteers, waiting. None of the Southern Kingdom officers had bothered to give them orders, focusing instead on their own.

  Nothing is being shouted in Turine anyway, she thought, realizing many of the volunteers still struggled with the foreign language.

  “Basic formation one!” she shouted. “Move on their left flank!”

  Instantly, the Turine soldiers surged forward while coalescing into tight lines. Pride took hold of her at how calmly they had reacted.

  Ao’s teats, did I just officially assume command? Again?

  She found a strange moment of peace in that. She had never liked giving orders before. In fact, she hated it.

  But the next few months will likely be filled with doing things I hate. Better get used to it.

  She fell in at the rear of the Turine lines. Closing in on the enemy, she better gauged the size of their attackers, nearly one and a half times their camp’s number. Despite the odds, not a single Turine soldier slowed their charge.

  “Veer left!” she yelled. “Attack at an angle so they can’t sweep around with their rear ranks.”

  Instantly, her men reacted. The rush of having so many respond strengthened her focus.

  These are definitely my men now.

  Though Ava’s strength and skill in sorcery had improved, she had never been able to duplicate the surge of power she had felt that day on the mountain near Hol. There, with certain death mere breaths away, she had single-handedly wiped out more than one hundred and fifty Geneshans. Though they charged headlong into a larger enemy now, she had no doubt that with that same level of power, she could easily do the same.