Firebrand
Chapter 607: Reading the Signs

Reading the Signs

Still rubbing his eyes, Martel walked alongside Eleanor through the camp. The sun had just begun to rise, slowly dispelling the twilight that lay over their surroundings. Around them, everything breathed of calm, like any other morning. Yet Avery had called them out of their beds for an immediate council.

Entering her tent, Martel nodded to a yawning Valerius. “Finally!” Dominic exclaimed. “They are here! Now tell us why we must meet at this hour. From the absence of cannon fire, I assume we are not under assault.”

Martel could not tell if Avery was clenching her jaw; she usually had a tight look about her face. “Not long ago, a soldier returned from your centuria that I dispatched yesterday.”

“Alone? What about the rest?” the decurion swiftly asked.

“All alive, if that was your concern. They have seen no sign of Khivans. Unfortunately, they said the same about our promised supply train.”

“Well, they could not have reached all the way to the forest line and back,” Dominic argued. “They sent their message too swiftly. We will probably get another missive any moment now, telling us they found it.” He yawned. “You disturbed us for this?”

“Sir, I was attached to the Tenth years before your arrival,” Sir Avery said pointedly. “I have learned not to make assumptions or underestimate the Khivans. Their increased activity along the edges of this area, just beyond where we patrol, should not be dismissed.”

“Despite your years, the legate made me decurion,” he spoke curtly. “Even if we are short on supplies, it is temporary. When the legion arrives, they will bring everything needed and force the Khivans to pull back to their town.”

“Most likely, but that is days away. I should like to take action now,” Avery argued.

“I agree,” Eleanor said.

Valerius nodded. “So do I.”

“Me too,” Martel added as his sleep-deprived mind caught up.

“I am sure you already have a plan you wish to propose,” the decurion remarked with a bored tone of voice.

“We need to investigate every direction except east. We saw signs of Khivans north and south, and we have missing Asterians to the west. I suggest Sir Fontaine and Sir Martel go north, Sir Valerius take a patrol south, and I go west,” Avery explained. “I shall meet up with your centuria and search the area,” she said to Dominic before looking at the other prefects, “while you investigate the enemy’s presence elsewhere.”

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“Agreeable to me,” Eleanor replied.

“I say the same,” Valerius assented.

“Fine. Spend your day in this manner if you wish. Since you have already awakened me, I shall take my horse for a ride,” the decurion declared. “We can all reconvene tonight, and you may share your thrilling tales.”

“Capital idea,” Avery concurred.

The prefects left the tent, splitting up. Once out of earshot, Martel mumbled to Eleanor, “Did she understand he was being –”

“She did. Come on, we need to get rations for the day if we are to be away.”

***

Several hours later, two mages carefully approached the edge of the forest north of the camp. Eleanor walked first, ready to summon her shield at the slightest sound of danger. Martel walked a few steps behind, using his magical sense.

“Anything?” she asked.

“I think a squirrel.” Martel squinted his eyes. “Probably can’t wield a musket, but maybe it could fire a pistol.” Sᴇaʀᴄh the N0vᴇlFirᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“I think we are safe from woodland creatures. Khivan advancements have not come that far, at least not yet.”

“You say that now. Next year, I expect a horde of nut gatherers to descend upon us.” Martel took a deep breath. “All jests aside, that forest holds less than the decurion’s skull.”

“Be careful,” she admonished him. “In the absence of the legate or legion prefect, he holds superior rank to us.”

“If he can hear us all the way out here, he’ll have impressed me for the first time. Do we enter the forest?”

He could see her chew on this for a moment. “Yes,” Eleanor finally said. “We might as well be thorough, and we are here already.”

***

They moved through the woods for another two hours, encountering only its native inhabitants. Here and there, they saw signs of movement: broken branches, bushes hacked away, and disturbed earth. Neither of them being great woodsmen, they found it hard to read much from it other than clearly, Khivan boots had come this way.

“We should head back. It will start to get dark before long. Best we are out of the forest,” Eleanor decided. Martel saw no reason to disagree, and they began the journey back toward camp.

Once beyond the trees, they walked in the waning twilight southward. “Well, we know for certain the Khivans are patrolling the woods. Controlling them, even. Avery was right to keep our soldiers from going in,” Martel considered.

“I wonder if the others found something. Maybe the same as we did, or more. If the Khivans feel comfortable moving both north and south of us, it suggests they have more soldiers than we figured.”

“Do we know how many retreated across the river in winter? I’d assume it’s the same ones we’re facing now.”

“I heard an estimate of three to four thousand, but I have no knowledge of how certain that number is.”

Martel suddenly stopped. “Did you hear that?”

“What was it?”

He used his magical sense, but nobody was around them. “Nothing, I guess.” They continued walking, but a little while later, he stopped again. “I’m sure I hear something.”

“All the more reason we continue. It will be completely dark soon.” But before long, Eleanor was the one to stop. “Wait. You are right. I heard it this time.”

As she spoke, Martel realised why this felt familiar. When the two of them had been in the marshes, far from the Thirteenth legion, they had experienced something like this before. “It’s a cannon.”

“Yes. Just the one, judging by the length of time between the shots. This is not some great battle taking place. Come along.” Eleanor set into motion again with a rapid pace. Ahead of them, the lights of the camp beckoned.

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