Shaking with fear, the squad leader stepped into the trees. He moved slowly, swiveling his head constantly in an effort to detect any movement in the forest. He detected nothing, but he soon came across the body of one of his men. The soldier was dead, his throat slashed from ear to ear. The soldier’s sword was missing. The squad leader stowed his bow and arrow and drew his own sword. Turning parallel to the glade, he moved cautiously through the trees. A little while later, he came upon another body. He, too, had been taken by surprise and his sword was missing. Fear overcame the squad leader, and he bolted away from the body.
Running as fast as his legs could carry him, the squad leader raced towards the Federation encampment. As he came over the crest of a low hill, the sun reflected off something. The squad leader instinctively threw himself to the ground. For a moment, he lie panting, waiting for an arrow to slam into his body, but the killing blow never arrived. When he regained his breath and a small bit of composure, he sheathed his sword and raised his head to peer down into the valley. In a small clearing at the bottom of the hill, dozens of dancing lights beamed towards him. The squad leader frowned in confusion. He realized that the sun was reflecting off of something metallic, but he could not see past the dazzle to identify the object.
Fearing enemy soldiers, the squad leader eased back over the hill and then set a course perpendicular to the one he had been traveling. When he had traveled far enough to alter his angle to the sun, he crept back up to the ridge and peered down into the clearing. His jaw dropped as he stared into the clearing. The metallic objects were swords stabbed into the ground, but that was not what caused the squad leader’s heart to throb like a galloping horse. The swords were arranged to form an arrow pointing directly at the Federation encampment. The squad leader counted the swords, and the message became clear. His entire squad was dead, and their swords were used to show the squad leader the way back to his camp. The enemy wanted him to survive. They were taunting him. The knowledge that his life had been spared did not ease the man’s fear. The squad leader rose and ran towards the camp, hysterically screaming of an attack.
* * * *
General Kolling and General Gertz sat in the large command tent, a squad leader standing before them.
“The portals are gone,” reported the squad leader. “Both of them were cut out of the walls and taken away. The men left to guard them are dead. There were also soldiers watching both places. I think they were meant to trap anyone coming back to the portals, but we detected them and avoided them.”
“There is an enemy army behind us?” General Gertz asked in alarm.
“No.” The squad leader shook his head. “They appeared more like a city guard than an army, and there were not many of them. I think my squad could have defeated them, but my mission called for information not bloodshed.”
“You have done well,” stated General Kolling. “I have no further orders for you at this time.”
The squad leader saluted and turned to leave the tent. When he opened the flap, the distant shouting was clearly heard by all.
“Find Colonel Ednor,” ordered General Kolling before the squad leader could leave the tent. “Have him discover the reason for the shouting and report to me immediately.”
The squad leader acknowledged the order and left the tent.
“So we are stranded here in Alcea?” asked General Gertz.
“I think you are drawing too wide an inference from isolated incidences,” replied General Kolling, “but there is a possibility that you are correct. We know that the portals in Barouk have been seized, but I also noticed that they were not simply destroyed. I have to wonder what use the Alceans would have for such portals.”
“To send their armies into Zara?” General Gertz asked in alarm.
“I do not care for Tauman personally,” frowned General Kolling, “but I would not want to lead an uninvited army through those portals into his domain. The 1st Corps would decimate the Alceans as they tried to get through the portals, plus they would be abandoning their homeland for the armies of the Federation to pillage and plunder unopposed. That strategy makes no sense to me. They have something else in mind.”
“What could they possibly have in mind?” scoffed General Gertz. “If they know that we are here, they must also know about the other armies all over Alcea. No one could be so foolish as to mistake their inevitable defeat for anything else. Their easiest path is to surrender. They cannot even put a scratch on the armies that are amassing around them.”
The tent flap was pulled away and Colonel Ednor entered the tent. General Kolling waved the colonel forward.
“The camp is in a bit of an uproar,” reported the colonel. “One of our squads decided to forage a bit deeper in the forest than we have been doing. Only the squad leader returned alive.”
General Kolling sat unmoving, his face emotionless, but General Gertz scowled in disbelief.
“They dared to attack us in daylight? How many of the enemy died before the lone coward returned?”
“The enemy remains unseen,” reported Colonel Ednor. “The entire squad was destroyed without a sound. The only reason the squad leader returned is that the enemy allowed him to.”
“Preposterous,” scoffed General Gertz. “The squad leader should be hung as a coward for all to see. We must make an example out of him.”
“How does he know that they allowed him to flee?” General Kolling asked calmly.
“They took the swords off their victims,” answered the colonel. “They stabbed the stolen swords into the ground to form an arrow pointing the way back for the squad leader. They seek to drive fear through our entire camp, and I think they are succeeding. The other foraging teams are finding excuses not to venture out of camp.”
General Kolling sighed and nodded. While the other two men watched wordlessly, the general unfolded a map of Lanoir and spread it out on the table. After a few minutes of silence, General Gertz could no longer hold his tongue.
“What are you looking at the map for? There is only one road between Barouk and Ongchi.”
“Indeed,” General Kolling responded, “and the enemy knows we plan to march along it. That has given them knowledge of the terrain before us that we do not possess. I will not do what the enemy expects me to. Colonel, I want you to identify the fishermen among our ranks. If we abandon the road for the next few days, we can travel along the coast. That will protect one flank of our armies, and it will also give us an opportunity to harvest the sea instead of foraging in the enemy’s forests.”
Colonel Ednor smiled and nodded. “I will see to it, General.”
“And find a way to calm the camp,” General Kolling continued. “If we need to make an example of the errant squad leader, you have authorization to proceed, but I am hesitant to combat fear with more fear. That should be a last resort.”
General Gertz stared at the map and shook his head. “We cannot follow the shoreline all the way to Ongchi. It would add many days to our journey.”
“True,” conceded General Kolling, “but we can follow it for a few days before we have to return to the road. I expect to build up a larder that will eliminate the need for excessive foraging. I will not let a handful of the enemy disrupt our schedule.”
* * * *
On the Coastal Highway south of Caldar, General Omirro and General Barbone stood watching the tents being disassembled. Colonel Verle rode up to the generals and dismounted.
“We are breaking camp?” asked the colonel.
“We are already half a day behind schedule,” replied General Omirro. “We must leave now if we are to eat tonight without foraging.”