Joshua Simon - Forgotten Soldiers

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.

I responded in kind. “We leave our packs and shields here. Ava will know to pick them up on the way in.” We didn’t need the worry of having them snag on anything. “You go right. I go left. I’ll drown out our movements.”

He leaned in, inches from my face. “Please tell me you ain’t going to use one of your dumb bird calls.”

“Why not?”

“Because they’re awful.”

“They’ve always worked.”

“It only takes one time for them not to.”

“I’m hurt.” And truthfully, I kind of was. I had used my calls countless times over the years and they had always paid off. “Trust me.”

He sighed, shaking his head.

We continued on a bit before splitting up.

Growing up on a farm and hunting for food with my father, I learned a lot about animal calls. My Pa had mastered them all-mountain lion, owl, coyote, whatever. If you could name it, he could do it. He nearly got himself killed a couple of times when someone loosed an arrow into the bushes where he hid, thinking he had been the real thing.

I never figured out half of what the old man knew, but I felt like I was better than most others when it came to mimicking animals.

I hadn’t seen or heard anything too exotic in the swamp as far as birds went so I decided on a simple crow while slipping into the underbrush, trying my best to silence the tiny branches rustling against my legs.

The communication post was essentially a tent, a small fire, and eight men in different stages of alertness hunkered down behind several old logs someone had hauled into a semicircle. It wasn’t what I would have called a well-fortified position. There weren’t any engineers among this bunch. Thankfully, several of the enemy were busy catching a few minutes of sleep while most of those awake ate. I couldn’t yet see the two crossbowmen, though I did see the ditch.

I wasn’t in the most ideal position for me to give the call, crawling around, ducking and weaving between bushes and rock. Still, I thought it sounded believable.

A sword hissed through its scabbard. “What in the name of the gods is that?”

I froze, rising up just enough to spare a quick glance toward the post. One of the men already awake looked in my direction, though it quickly became obvious he had no idea of my location. I did the call again, this time throwing my voice a bit as my Pa had taught me.

“There it is again,” said the man, swiveling his head while trying to locate its origin. “What is that?” He appeared nervous.

I did the call again, this time moving as fast as I dared.

“Sit down, Corporal, and keep quiet,” came a voice from one of the men who had been asleep. “We didn’t make a bunch of racket during your watch.”

“But I ain’t ever heard anything like that before.”

I kept the call going intermittently during their conversation, changing the pitch and throwing my voice to mix up the location.

“Probably just a couple of squirrels having a romp in the bushes. Now stay quiet.”

A few of the men chuckled. I couldn’t believe they thought my crow sounded like a squirrel.

By the time the Geneshans settled down, I was in position. So was Hamath. I looked his way through a gap in the brush. I could tell by his posture that he heard the squirrel comment. I knew I wouldn’t hear the end of that.