“Which direction did he go?” asked the colonel.
“Towards the river,” answered the guard.
“Towards the river?” the colonel echoed with alarm. “Are you sure?”
The guard merely nodded.
“I am going out to look for him,” stated the colonel, “and no, I do not want a detail, either. In fact, do not tell anyone else that either of us is outside the perimeter.”
The guard nodded silently and moved the barricade aside so that the colonel could pass through it. Colonel Rotti walked slowly, not wanting to miss any sign of the general’s path. Thankfully the moon was bright, and visibility was excellent. After just a few minutes of walking, he saw the general sitting on the riverbank. The colonel’s face clouded with confusion as the riverbank was absolutely the last place that Rotti would have looked for the general. He walked silently towards the river and quietly sat down next to General Somma. The general hardly noticed him.
“You had me worried, General,” Colonel Rotti said softly. “What are you doing down here?”
General Somma’s hands were shaking with fear. He tried to hide them by gripping his legs, but that action only made his legs quiver as well.
“I don’t know what I am doing here,” quaked the general. “To tell you the truth, I do not belong here, especially in this uniform. I am not a general, Rotti. Everyone knows that, even you, but you at least have not mocked me, at least not to my face.”
“Nor behind your back,” declared the colonel, “but that is not what I meant when I asked why you were here. I meant, what are you doing on the riverbank? I know that you fear the water. Why torture yourself like this?”
“I have suffered a great deal of humiliation because of my fear of water,” the general explained, “but no one has ever treated me as cruelly as Franz. That man takes great delight in seeing me quiver. Several times a day he orders me to the riverbank just to watch me cower. I want to kill him.”
Rotti’s eyes widened in surprise. General Somma had just uttered a treasonous speech, but what surprised the colonel was the raw hatred expressed. He had never heard Somma speak ill of anyone.
“That would not be a good career move,” the colonel quipped, hoping to bring a bit of levity into the conversation to lift the general’s spirits.
“Career?” scoffed the general. “Do you really think there is any higher position suited for me? I should not even be a general, and I wouldn’t be if Queen Samir had not demanded it.”
“Why did she demand it?” asked the colonel.
“Two reasons,” frowned Somma. “The position brought prestige to my family, and the queen was able to extract a healthy fee from my father for promoting me, but the true reason was to punish another officer. He was a talented officer, and he demanded to be promoted. He was also the queen’s lover. She felt he had exceeded his bounds and was taking too much for granted. She squashed his large ego by promoting the most unlikely candidate instead of him. Now you know the quality of the man you serve under. Are you disappointed?”
“No,” answered the colonel. “I have never thought of you as a great general, but I have recognized a good man within you. You are just ill-suited to this life. That does not make you worthless in my eyes. It merely means that you need to follow the path that appeals to your talents instead of one chosen by the queen.”
“You are a good man, Rotti,” replied the general. “I have known that from the start. That is why you are my favored colonel. It is you who should be wearing this uniform, not me.”
“You still haven’t answered my first question,” the colonel said. “Why are you sitting on this riverbank? Shouldn’t we go back to camp and talk inside the tent?”
“No.” The general shook his head vigorously. “I am here to conquer my fears. I cannot take any more of Franz’s bullying. If I cannot walk away from this river without fear then I deserve to die here.” The colonel did not know how to respond, and the general continued talking. “For the past two days, I survived by hoping that the Alceans might kill Franz for me, but look at this dam. Have you ever seen a more pitiful excuse for a dam? If this is the best the Alceans can do, there is not a chance in this world of Franz dying.”
Colonel Rotti glanced at the massive dam. There was truth to Somma’s words. The dam was crude in every sense of the word. It had not been so obvious when they were looking at it from the lake side of the dam, but on this side, the evidence was hard to miss. The dam was constructed of crudely cut trees, and they were stacked in what looked to be a haphazard manner. Still, the colonel reasoned, it did a fairly decent job of keeping the water contained behind it, and that is all it was supposed to do. The bright moonlight illuminated what appeared to be a chain coming from the bottom of the dam. The colonel stared at it and wondered what it was for, but a nearby splash tore him from his musings. He whirled around and saw General Somma standing in the water. He leaped into the water and took hold of the general.
“You do not need to do this, General,” the colonel said soothingly. “You need not prove anything to Franz or anyone else. Your fear is not of your own making. Do not torture yourself over it. You let me handle General Franz.”
Chapter 23
Day Eight
Twerp shot down through the trees, his tiny eyes glanced around the dim clearing. He saw Wylan sitting up with his back against a tree, and he shrieked with delight. He darted towards the Knight of Alcea and landed on Wylan’s raised knee.
“You are alive!” the fairy chirped rapidly as he jumped up and down on Wylan’s knee. “I thought I had lost you. I made it to the Rider’s Rest and sent the fairy there on to Tagaret for help, but they forgot about me. I was stranded in the inn until just now. Forgive me for not being here.”
“Slow down, little man,” Wylan replied, the barest of smiles upon his lips. “There is nothing to forgive you for. Your tireless efforts brought the best healers a man could wish for. I owe my life to your efforts.”
“Yet you do not seem very happy,” frowned Twerp as he gazed around the clearing in the predawn dimness.
Twerp saw Wesik lying on his side, the sleeping bodies of Zalaharic and Podil near the unicorn. Zalaharic was stirring, as if the fairy’s excitement had awoken him. Nearby, Sinora lay on the ground, two other unicorns standing above her. At the other side of the clearing, Sheri’s body lay in isolation. The fairy noticed Wylan gazing at his former mate.
“I guess I should be thrilled to be alive,” Wylan said softly, “but I feel nothing but sadness in my heart. I am happy that Sinora and Wesik have survived, but I cannot imagine life without Sheri. I would gladly trade places with her. She has always been the one with joy in her heart.”
Tears came unbidden to Twerp’s eyes, and he abruptly turned away from Wylan so that the Knight of Alcea would not see his weakness. He need not have bothered. Wylan’s own tears began streaming down his face as if merely talking about Sheri brought fresh pain to his heart.
“Tears are good for washing the eyes,” Zalaharic said softly as he gently shook Podil and then rose to his feet, “but they can also blur your vision.”
Wylan blinked at the words. The Knight of Alcea was not sure if the elven healer was stating another of his wise platitudes, or if he was issuing a warning to Wylan about his extremely sensitive eyes. Zalaharic had cured Wylan’s blindness after the Battle of Watling Flats, but the cure had left the Knight of Alcea with very sensitive eyes. Wylan usually wore eye patches with tiny holes cut in them to minimize the amount of light that reached his eyes.
“You are wanted in Tagaret,” Twerp said to Zalaharic. “There is a plague running rampant through the city. You are to return there immediately.”
Zalaharic frowned as Podil rose and moved to his side.