The forest floor was thickly carpeted with pine needles. The paleo was silent as a shadow. I like to think I made no more noise than the chipmunks and squirrels that rustled through the underbrush. The rest of my team - let’s just say we weren’t likely to pass undetected.
The forest thinned and thickened, following no pattern I could discern. Where the sight lines were shorter, I was confident I could sense any pickets before they saw us, even if they heard us coming. Where the trees opened up, it was very likely a concealed enemy would see us long before we saw him. I just had to hope no one would try a sixty-yard shot.
Captain Almet thought the road the First Battalion was traveling was between five and ten miles away. Hopefully we would reach it before nightfall.
We had hopped over a small gully and were climbing the slope on the other side when I sensed the enemy almost directly in front of us. There were two of them, and they were alert.
I held up my hand, and the platoon halted behind me. I winced at the sounds of leaves and twigs crunching as the men went to ground.
Pulling the Darkness in, I sent concentrated tendrils forward. I didn’t have Yoshana’s fine control, especially at this distance, but time was on my side. When a sufficiently thick mass had oozed into each ambusher’s throat, I set it into a ravening fury, tearing at blood vessels.
One of them somehow choked out a cry for help.
“Dammit! Get them!” I bellowed.
We charged up the slope. Both men were in plain view, flailing at the air and clutching their necks.
Railes already had his sword out and bulled ahead of me. Without breaking stride, he thrust the blade hilt-deep up under one man’s ribcage.
Three paces behind, it took me a handful of seconds longer to unsheathe the katana and dispatch the other.
Odem, the only one of the new recruits I’d brought into the tiny platoon, was noisily sick.
“Puke later,” Railes snarled. He seized a dead man’s bow and fitted an arrow. “Incoming.”
Two more of the Monolith soldiers were coming in from our left. The sergeant sent a shaft looping toward them. It missed, but they slowed and ducked into a stand of bushes. Railes cursed and fumbled for another arrow.
The rest of the platoon had reached our position. The Monolith troops, reassessing the odds, popped up to run. Cat appeared behind one and plunged her shining knife into his kidneys over and over again. As the other turned, Railes sighted more carefully and shot him through the shoulder. He gasped in pain, and the paleo leapt on him and slashed his throat.
“Two more hightailing it that way,” Luco said, pointing to the right.
“Looks like there’s a pair of them every hundred yards or so. Those two’ll keep going until they’ve got enough friends to deal with us. We need to be gone by then. Take anything you can use from the corpses and let’s go.”
Odem came up to me, eyes downcast. “Sorry, Lieutenant.”
I clapped him on the shoulder. “A wise woman once told me every life, even our enemies’, belongs to God. I don’t know that I agree with her, but there’s nothing wrong with the sentiment. It’s hard the first time you see a man killed.”
“Was that Prophetess, sir?” he asked, his eyes lighting up.
“Yes it was.”
I had killed three men today and contributed to the deaths of more. They had all been trying to kill me… but I was a bit surprised to find I felt no remorse at all.
Yoshana would be proud.
The pickets didn’t organize fast enough to catch us. And there wasn’t a second line of them. We reached First Battalion shortly before sundown without further incident - other than almost being shot by our own sentries. For once, though, my race worked in my favor. When I emerged from the woods loudly announcing, “Couriers from Second Battalion,” I was actually recognized.
“It’s that Select from Captain Almet’s company,” a grizzled sergeant declared. “Let him through.”
“Thank you, Sergeant. We have an urgent message for Colonel Hake. Could you have someone escort us?”
The man peered at the bronze lieutenant’s rank tabs pinned to my shoulders. “Pretty sure you were a line trooper three days ago. That’s gotta be the fastest promotion in history. Uh, sir.”
“Needs must when the devil drives, or however that phrase goes, Sergeant. We sort of stepped in it over there.”
He goggled. “You lost so many officers they’re promoting new recruits?”
I had to laugh. “No, nothing like that. But we needed a recon platoon, and Captain Almet wanted me running it. Now if we could see the colonel.”
“Oh. Yessir. Sorry, sir.”
The Darkness thrived on rage, lust, and fear. But I discovered that it didn’t mind the taste of self-satisfaction.
Heads turned and whispers started up as we made our way north - we had met up with one of the last units in the column. I supposed that a Select, a paleo, and a man with a skull tattooed over half his face were worthy of comment.
Colonel Hake was surrounded by a headquarters company of clerks, adjutants, and assorted hangers-on. Sergeant Herin, who was guiding us himself, cut through them like a knife through butter. It was amazing the way, “begging your pardon, sir” could sound so much like “get the hell out of the way.”
This roadway was considerably wider than the one our battalion had been using. Still, the colonel’s command tent took up most of it.
“Courier from Second Battalion for Colonel Hake,” our guide announced to the sentry.
“He’s eating,” the soldier drawled, utterly unconcerned.
“You’re going to be eating my fist if you don’t let us in, you twit. Second Battalion’s had heavy contact with the enemy. You really think the colonel’s gonna want to wait to hear that?”
The sentry paled and vanished through the tent flap. Herin winked at me.
The soldier reappeared moments later. “He’ll see you.”
I went in alone. Cat and Railes were my most trusted subordinates. Both were savage in appearance, spattered with blood, and didn’t seem fit for polite company. Of course, I probably didn’t look much better.
Hake was an older man, slightly below average height but well above average weight, reclining in a camp chair with a folding table in front of him. I had to guess he rode rather than marching. I felt sorry for the horse.
I braced to attention and saluted.
Hake returned it with a lazy wave. He peered at my rank tabs. “Huh. I knew Colonel Royce had a Select recruit in his battalion. I didn’t know he had a Select lieutenant.”
“Same one, sir. Battlefield promotion.”
Hake made a harrumphing sound. “That’s one hell of a fast promotion, boy. What the devil’s going on over there? Bline said you’d engaged the enemy.”
“It might be more accurate to say they engaged us, sir. Our lead platoon was ambushed around noon today.”
“Lieutenant Pious’ platoon, that would be? How’d they come through?”
It struck me that Hake might be fat, but he was no fool. To know who was commanding the other column’s point platoon showed a fine knowledge of tactical detail.
“We did all right, sir. Four dead, four wounded, including Lieutenant Pious. Er. Sergeant Pious, now.”
“Got his dumb ass demoted for blundering into it?”
“Something like that, sir.”
The colonel leaned back farther in his chair and looked me in the eyes. “Pious is a bloodthirsty jackass. He can kill like a demon from hell, though. Royce and Almet wanted to reward him. Thought the troops would appreciate seeing one of their own made an officer. Stupid idea.”
His eyes didn’t leave mine. “You said ‘we did all right.’ You were there, were you?”
I nodded.
“And now you have Pious’ platoon?”
“Not exactly, sir. Captain Almet wanted a recon platoon after what happened. I took some of Pious’ men.”
“A word of advice, boy. Lots of people aren’t
going to be too pleased about a Select getting jumped up from new recruit to lieutenant. I know your people have a military tradition, but still… don’t get ahead of yourself. Don’t be the next Pious.”
I suppose he meant well. Still, the comparison raised my hackles. Whether it was wise or not, a demonstration was in order. “Sir, with all due respect, I’m considerably more than the next Pious.”
Before he could retort, the Darkness was forming over my hand, first as a sphere, then as a gently winding helix. Hake nearly fell over backwards in his chair. I suppressed a grin.
“Sir, I was personally trained by Yoshana in the command of the Darkness.”
The colonel had righted himself and was watching my display with a raised eyebrow. “And I suppose Almet thought that was too good an opportunity to waste.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yeah. He would. Let’s hope he’s right. I think we’d better have the rest of your report, Lieutenant.”
“Sir, after the ambush, I - that is, Captain Almet concluded that the enemy may be seeking to delay Second Battalion so that First Battalion walks into a larger enemy force unsupported, preventing the pincer from closing and defeating us in detail.”
“Captain Almet concluded that, did he?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Seems plausible.” Hake took a deep breath and exhaled noisily. “And he sent his new recon platoon to report this conclusion?”
“Sir, we - that is, Captain Almet believed there might be enemy pickets posted between our forces to intercept couriers, so he felt it would be prudent to send a stronger group rather than a single man.”
“I see. And were there pickets?”
“Yes, sir. Posted in pairs, about a hundred yards between each pair. We killed four. Another pair approached but disengaged.”
“I imagine they did.” He steepled his fingers and stared at me. “Your hypothesis - that is, your captain’s hypothesis - seems reasonable enough. If it’s true, we’ll need regular courier contact between the battalions to maintain coordination.”
“Yes, sir. My unit can continue to provide that.”
“Yes. Was that Sergeant Herin who brought you here?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thought I recognized his voice. He can get your unit set up with carbines. Tell him it’s on my orders. He’ll make it happen. You can cross back over tomorrow.”
I hesitated, then said, “Sir, I appreciate the offer, but the noise from the carbines will pinpoint us for the enemy. We scavenged four bows, and could use a few others.”
He chuckled. “Your men are all trained archers, then?”
“Well, er, not that I know, sir.”
“A bow’s an excellent weapon for a scout who knows how to use it. But the skill’s not trivial to learn. With the gun, you point it and shoot.”
“Understood, sir. But we didn’t have any trouble coming through this way. I doubt it will be any harder going back.”
Hake levered himself out of his chair and took a step closer to me. “Maybe. Maybe not. Your enemy may well be too stupid to adapt to past failure. They may get dispirited and run off. Or they might try something new. Your opponent may well be an idiot, Lieutenant, but it’s best not to count on it.”
“Yes, sir.”
He came a step closer still. Short and fat as he was, there was something about him that reminded me of a bulldog. “I said don’t be the next Pious, son. You’re smarter than he is, and I suppose you’re even more dangerous. But that doesn’t mean you can’t step in it good by not thinking or not listening.”
“Understood, sir.” And I did understand. It was a fair point from a senior officer to a very junior one.
“Dismissed, then. Get those carbines, and have Herin fix you up with some food and bedrolls.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” I snapped to attention, then turned to go. But because I was me, I added over my shoulder, “Sir? You said Pious fought like a demon. I’ve met a demon. Pious wouldn’t last a second.”
Hake grunted. “Overlords, demons, and Darkness. You are going to be a monumental pain in my ass, Lieutenant. Get going before you tell me something else that’ll damn me to hell just for listening.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.” My back was to him, so I didn’t bother keeping the grin off my face. He muttered something under his breath that I’m pretty sure was, “No, you’re not.”
Herin proved as ruthlessly effective at organizing gear for us as he’d been at securing an audience with the colonel. He slid around officers with vague allusions to orders from Colonel Hake. Enlisted men he simply bullied. We made our way to the front of the column, collecting weapons, bedrolls, and food as we went.
“I imagine you’ll need to be up here first thing, sir? I figured it was easier to get you in place before you settle in.” He had cleared a spot for us near the point platoon, then chivied troops to make us a fire.
“Yes, Sergeant. Perfect.” In fact, he was a step ahead of me. Herin was a weathered stump of a man, but like Hake, he was not someone to underestimate.
The next morning, better fed and better equipped, we were heading back through the woods to Second Battalion.
“Lift feet up, you,” Cat was chiding Luco in a hissing whisper. “Not scrape, scrape, scrape. Look where feet go down. Not on sticks. Not on dry leaves.” Luco clumsily tried to copy her, and it did seem to cut down on the noise a bit.
“Alert! Sector thirteen! Alert! Sector thirteen!”
The shouting was ahead of us and to the right. The stationary pickets had seen us moving before we’d seen them. And this time they were calling for help before they engaged. Hake had been right - it didn’t pay to assume the enemy was stupid.
“Alert! Sector thirteen!” sounded to the left, and then further to the right.
“Damn. Charge!” I bellowed. No chance for finesse here. We crashed through the trees toward the source of the first calls.
An arrow whistled past my ear, maybe a yard away.
“Groff, Ascon, Taba, Storr, suppressing fire!” I yelled. “Everyone else with me!”
Carbines opened up behind me. I doubted they came close to hitting anyone, but they kept the enemies’ heads down. No more arrows came at us.
The Darkness was in its sixty-yard semicircle, and it pinpointed three bowmen crouched behind a boulder. I waved Cat and Railes around the flanks and went straight over the top. The Darkness preceded me and clawed at the men’s eyes. It was over in seconds.
“Form up here,” I called, cleaning and sheathing my katana and unslinging my carbine. “They’ll flank from the left and right.”
But they didn’t. My troops formed a defensive circle around the huge rock, but no one came at us.
“They run off?” Luco asked. “Guns maybe scared ’em away?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I’m betting they’ve got some kind of mobile reserve headed for us. They learned from last time - they’re not going to throw two or three-man squads at us again.”
“So what do we do?” demanded Railes.
That was the question. If the enemy had a sense of the size of our unit - and the two men who’d gotten away last time had probably gotten a good look - they’d have made the reserve force big enough to stop us. That might also mean it was far enough away for us to escape it… if we didn’t mind having it behind us the whole way back to Second Battalion.
These Monolith troops were better in the woods than most of my platoon. I didn’t like the idea of their kill team breathing down our necks while we blundered through the forest.
“We take it to them,” I decided. “I don’t hear them, so they’re coming slow. They’ll be positioned ahead of us, to block. Off to the right or left - no way to know which. Cat, you go left. I’ll go right. Everyone else stay here. Cat, don’t engage. If you find them, report back.”
The paleo nodded, grinned her hunter’s grin, and disappeared into the trees.
“Here goes,” I muttered, and went the other way
with the Darkness extended before me.
“I don’t like this,” I heard Odem whisper as I moved away.
“Don’t nobody like it, kid,” Railes murmured back. “Just trust the lieutenant, is all.”
Easy for him to say. I had no doubt I could keep myself alive. I wasn’t nearly so sure I could keep them alive.
Just as our platoon moving through the woods was easier to see than stationary pickets, so the enemy force was louder than one man. They were good, though. They advanced in a kind of leapfrog movement, one soldier moving forward, then going to ground and another moving past. They were spread over a small front, three advancing at once. They were a team of about thirty. I caught up with them not much more than a hundred yards from our position.
My first instinct was to buy us a breathing space. There was no time for subtlety. I sent a thick strand of the Darkness along the forest floor to one of the three soldiers on point. It poured into his mouth and nose and he fell, choking. One of his companions, coming up past him, bent down.
“What the hell?”
I had no coherent plan. My only hope was to panic them. I pushed all the Darkness into a thick cloud that rose above the gagging man’s body, then flung it at the soldier who had gone to his aid. He cried out and fell back, slashing at the air with a short sword.
“Demons!” They were a superstitious bunch. They seemed to yell that anytime they encountered something unexpected.
“Set a perimeter!” a voice ordered. Damn. Someone with sense was taking control.
I was on the ground behind a fallen tree. The wraith I was controlling would be nearly invulnerable unless they used fire against it. I had to drive them off before that occurred to them, or a skirmisher found me.
Only vaguely mastered by my own surging thoughts, the Darkness lashed wildly at the man it was enveloping, tearing countless tiny wounds into his skin. He fell to the ground sobbing, curling into a fetal ball. I took deep breaths, steadying my mind, and the cloud exploded from its victim and launched itself at the next soldier.
Only when the noise was almost on top of me did I realize there was shouting not just in front of me, but behind.
Passing Through Darkness- The Complete Cycle Page 45