Forgotten Soldiers (3 page)

None of that mattered when leading a unit behind enemy lines. Stealth was crucial. Light reflecting off the steel attached to each person could get a soldier killed.

By the time I got back to my unit, Hamath had most everyone covered in mud. If someone missed a spot, another person eagerly helped conceal it. No one wanted to die because of another’s laziness.

I jumped right in with the others and began picking up handfuls of sludge, slathering it on my legs. Before I even finished, hands from the other members of my unit were all over me. What I received from them came on extra thick.

I took it in stride. Let them have their fun.

The smell of the mud finally got to me, making me gag as I smoothed the last of it around my nose and lips. “Gods, Hamath. Did you haul this in from the latrines?”

He chuckled. “At least the mosquitoes have finally left us alone.”

Summers in Genesha were brutal. Besides the heat, mosquitoes the size of small birds hounded you.

“Well, I guess that’s one positive.”

Hamath grinned, white teeth rimmed in black muck. “I may not even wash this off when we’re done. Not if it means having a good night’s sleep without that constant buzzing at my ears.”

I inclined my head. “You’re actually thinking of sleep? What about your traditional romp with one of the whores when we get back?”

“I never said I wouldn’t pay them a visit first.”

“Covered in mud?”

“They’re not going to care what I’m covered in so long as my coin is good.”

“You gotta remember, Ty,” said Ira, jumping into the conversation. “Hamath gave up on women long ago. Been giving his coin to the animals last I heard.” He cackled. “He comes walking up covered in all that mud he won’t even need his coin. Pigs might give him a free one.”

Ira stood next to Dekar as usual. The two brothers were a year apart, but they looked like twins. Same blond hair, green eyes, and pale skin. They even had the same tone of voice. The mud only added to their resemblance.

Dekar flashed the rare smile at his brother’s jest. The two looked alike, but their personalities couldn’t have been more different. Ira loud and jesting. Dekar quiet and thinking.

The rest of the squad broke out into laughter as well, including Hamath, helping ward off the somber mood none of us wanted to face. Whether a first or hundredth mission, everyone got anxious before leaving.

We all had friends who had never returned.

“Tyrus. It’s time.”

The laughter faded at the sound of Ava’s voice. Her eyes opened. Her hand dropped away from her temple. Communication with the other mages had been severed.

Each of the twelve elite units that reported to Balak had their own mage in order to speed communications. It was a luxury none of us took for granted.

The ominous mood we had tried to avoid washed over us.

“All right,” I said. “Let’s move out.”

We took only a few steps when I heard a familiar jingling from the man next to me. I paused, grabbed Gal’s arm and pulled him aside as I signaled Hamath to keep the others moving.

Lots of soldiers had their superstitions or religious quirks. However, I’d never met anyone quite as passionate about his accessories as Gal.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He tried to give me a confused look, but with his mismatched eyes of gray and blue, he just seemed mentally unstable. “What do you mean, Sarge?”

“Don’t start. We’re not doing this again, Gal. You know you can’t bring all that junk with you. You’ll make enough noise to alert the Geneshans long before we get there.”

“Sarge, it ain’t junk. It all has meaning.”

He reached around his neck and started pulling free four pendants that hung there. Each were made of bronze or silver. He started explaining their meanings.

I cut him off. “I don’t care. You know the rule. We do this every blasted time.”

“But Sarge, this time’s different. I got a bad feeling that something is going to happen. The last thing I want to do is turn my back on Molak, Xank, Prax, or even Ao at a time like this.”

Molak and Ao have three children. Prax is the god of war and therefore favored by soldiers. Xank, the second child, is god of death, and therefore cursed by pretty much everyone. Lavi, the last of the three original children, is known as the goddess of love and peace. She is always at odds with her two brothers, even to the point of pitting them against each other, since her domain contradicts everything Xank and Prax stand for. However, their feuds never prevented them from sleeping together since most of the lesser gods—too many to name—descended from those three.

“Gal, you always have a bad feeling. And you’ve made it through each one just fine. Take off the pendants or I will.”

He started muttering prayers of forgiveness to the gods as he did so. I bit my tongue so not to make things worse.

“Don’t forget the ones on your wrists and the one at your belt too.”

“But—”

I narrowed my eyes in a way that said the discussion was over.

“Fine,” he muttered. “But if I die because I didn’t have my charms with me, it’s going to be on you.”

“Just get it done and hurry up.”

I walked away at a brisk pace to catch up with the rest of my unit. I shook my head thinking of Gal’s last words.

If any of my men died, regardless of the reason, it would be on me.

The joy of command.

CHAPTER 2

We made it out of camp quickly, moving east as we entered a small bog that smelled about as awful as the latrine I accused Hamath of taking mud from. The terrain was far from ideal, but it provided us the most cover while we worked ourselves behind enemy lines. If the mosquitoes in camp resembled small birds, they were the size of eagles in the swamp.

Hamath took point. He had the best eyes in the group, especially at night.

We turned north, then east, and finally northeast. Balak’s orders never specified how bad the ground truly was along our assigned path. The worse it got, the more the cynic in me wondered if that omission had been intentional to avoid any complaining from me while in his presence.

In several instances, we waded through thigh-deep, tepid water covered in duckweed, no small task while wearing light armor and the rest of our gear.

That armor saved my rear when I reached out for a protruding stump only to find a coiled snake the color of midnight resting atop it. It struck my gauntlet before I could pull back.

Dekar sliced the snake in half on the recoil quicker than I could bring my sword around. He gave me a look to ask if I was all right. I nodded, trying not to appear shaken. It’d be a cursed thing to survive all I had been through only to die from a snake bite.

Gal cleared his throat. “You know, Sarge, I had a charm that warded off snakes back at camp, but you made me remove it.”

“Well, why don’t you go back and get it now,” I said flippantly.

“Seriously? I can?”

I gave him a look. “No, I’m not serious. We don’t have time for that.”

He grumbled. “Then why say it?”

“Sarcasm, Gal,” said Ira, slapping him on the shoulder. “It’s high time you learn it.”

Gal scowled, then dropped his head in frustration.

When the water shallowed to ankle-deep, our boots made popping noises in the muck. Not much we could do to avoid the racket and still reach our destination on time. Still, we tried.

Eventually we hit some drier parts, and I forced an increase in pace to make up distance. We arrived when we should have, according to Ava’s communications with the other units’ mages. Balak wanted us all to coordinate our first attack as closely as possible. After the initial assault, it would be every unit for itself.

I called for a quick rest near several cypress trees with low hanging branches covered in moss. After only the few miles of ground we covered, my legs felt like jelly from struggling through the muck. While we waited for the last of the units to reach their position, everyone reapplied the mud that had washed off their legs in the water.

I looked over to Ava who had her eyes closed.

“Talk to me,” I said in a low voice.

“The last unit just checked in.”

“Bout time,” Ira muttered.

“What do you want me to tell everyone?” she asked.

Even though the other unit leaders and I shared the same rank, they all looked to me when it came to a coordination of efforts. I had seniority by several years. “Send ahead scouts to better assess their targets. Make it quick. Sitting out here like this is asking for trouble.”

She nodded and mentally communed the message.

I turned to give Hamath the order, but he had already ducked off toward our objective.

Ira, Dekar, and a few others sat against the cypress, closing their eyes. I wished again for the ability to relax as they did. I could have used a few minutes of it. Since I never had gotten the hang of grabbing sleep when I could get it, first watch naturally fell to me and the others in my unit too anxious to sleep.

My hands fidgeted while I scanned the swamp.

Water lilies sat in the low water behind us while cattails bordered the embankment. I lingered there a moment longer just to ensure nothing human or animal lay in wait. Satisfied, my gaze left the embankment and rested on my sister. Her eyes remained closed, as if in communication with the other units. I knew her too well to believe that. She couldn’t stand the other mages and kept contact to a minimum. Their feelings were mutual. No one outside of our unit ever spoke to her. Actually, few in our unit did either unless they had to. Only me, Hamath, and Dekar even liked her.

My sister was that kind of person.

I decided against calling her ruse since I knew she was still aggravated with me from our earlier conversation. Now wasn’t the time or place to revisit it.

Ava’s eyes popped open. “Hamath’s back.”

A twig snapped, and Hamath appeared from the darkness half a breath later.

Ira cursed in a hushed whisper. “Prax be blessed, I hope your lazy rear did a better job of staying quiet when you were out there.”

Hamath glared in Ira’s direction. “Don’t get all worked up. I heard Ava announce me. Ain’t no one around here anyway. I checked.”

He settled next to me.

“Well?” I asked.

“It matches the reports that Balak gave you. Communication post. Ten men stationed there. Three horses.” He picked up a couple of sticks, using them to represent the men and animals he saw. He pointed with his finger. “Two of them are hiding here in a covered ditch. Almost missed them at first. Both have crossbows aimed right at where we’d have to come at them. First couple men who hit that opening will be easy targets.”

“I’ll take care of them,” said Ava.

I shook my head. “No sorcery. Tell the other units the same.”

“It won’t take but a second. If this is because of what happened earlier—”

“You know me better than that,” I snapped, aggravated that she’d even suggest such a thing. “When would I ever purposefully risk the lives of others just to get back at you?”

Her tone softened. “You’re right. Sorry.”

I waved a hand. “I’m over it. I know it might only take you a second to take those two out, probably all eight of them actually. But a second is more than enough time to draw unwanted attention our way. We don’t have the resources or the time to deal with someone powerful who might be watching. This is only the first target. You’ll get your chance before all is said and done.” I cleared my throat. “Tell the other units to wait as long as they can before employing sorcery and under no circumstances are they to do it now.”

She closed her eyes.

“What’s the plan?” asked Dekar.

“You and Ira split the rest of the men into teams minus me, Hamath, and Ava. Ira has the right. You the left. Ava will stay behind and cover us.”

“And us?” asked Hamath.

“We go after the two with the crossbows. It will make it easier for Ira and Dekar.”

“I told you we’re going to be good as dead once we hit the clearing.”

I pointed behind a couple of the larger pebbles he used to mark the post. “We’re going to skirt back around this way.”

“Nothing but brush, Tyrus. We don’t have time to get through that without making all kinds of noise. That’s why I didn’t suggest it. We just as soon hit the opening and hope those two are bad shots.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it all worked out.”

* * *

Hamath and I got a head start on the others. I told Ira and Dekar not to move until after Ava received word that all other units had checked in. I figured that would buy us a few extra minutes to get into position.

We left the edge of the marsh, moving into grasses chest high with occasional patches of tumbled stone that looked completely out of place given the soft land. The high grasses met a thinly wooded area dressed with a variety of underbrush, mostly consisting of milkweed. We worked our way through it carefully.

“We should get there in another fifty yards. So, what’s the plan?” Hamath asked over his shoulder in a voice I could barely make out.