We
had our navy floating within a week. Or whatever an accumulation of oversized
rowboats is called. Then as reward I had them practice maneuvering in the
harbor, which was as close to the city as I ever let the men return. They were
mine now, and this was also as close to rest as they were ever going to get. But
they grew nervous when it became clear I was simulating navigation around many
obstacles and currents. I finally pressed the issue.
“Why
are you afraid of the swamp?” I asked Ash, the first young man I’d met at the
Temple. I’d made him into something of a lieutenant. He was by far the most
recovered. “I landed alone in the middle of it and walked through unharmed.”
He
swallowed, eyes big. “You are very fortunate, Guardian Vala.” Fortunately, the
general term for military personnel on Earth had become a high honorific here.
Thaeron’s Guardians had been a circle of military peers of that rank such that
no higher standing was possible.
He
went on. “There are creatures in the swamp that are not natural to this world.
Leviathans. Apes the color of the forest. Swarms of vampiric fish. Then there
are the usual obstacles of a swamp: disorientation, disease, drowning or
entrapment. Redmarak is not safe. Beyond that, it is difficult to say.”
I
averred that he should try.
He
swallowed again, a gesture I was coming to know well. “Guardian, when the
floating cities of Redmarak fell, it was the greatest battle the Augers had
ever known. Three million died. Three million in three days. It was the place
where the nightwind first fell from the sky. Never before had this happened. We
never returned. We did not go back. We are not Augers anymore. But the place is
still a scream within our souls.”
Well.
Curiouser and curiouser. You never imagined the enemy had psychologies of any
kind. Not when their whole modus was to infiltrate yours. What must it have felt for the fifteen million
they lost taking the world Centauris? Or, not even on Earth, where casualties
had been too large and swift to calculate, but what about just Cibola? Where we
killed thousands every single day for two years? And then drove them back?
I
nodded once, slowly, a gesture of Jerem Cozak’s. “You are not Augers anymore.
And we need Redmarak. But I promise you I will not rest until this entire world
is a primal scream for the ones who did this to you.”
He
nodded, eyes wide again. I plowed ahead.
“Have
the men stop maneuvers. Navigation practice is complete. We break camp tonight.”
He
looked at me, incredulous. “Our Guardian?”
“I
am no friend to fear. Had I known this we would have left two days ago.”
He
nodded twice quickly. “Of course, Guardian.” He turned to go.
“Ash,”
I said. He stopped. “I am not prone to explanation. Don’t expect it again. But
I welcome input. If you know anything like this about the men or about this
world that I might not, do not hesitate. Tell me. I am a stranger here. I won’t
let that get us all killed.”
A
second thought struck. “I understand that there were refugees released from
Redmarak before the floating cities fell. If there are any among those who are
also captains, send them to my tent this evening.” I had them divided ten to a
boat, sleeping and working and rowing together. “Tell them to bring their
dinner.”
“Yes,
our Guardian.” He crossed his arms then extended his hands, the Thaeronian
military salute. I’d have to think about reforming it. These men were not like
any other soldiers the world had ever known. Not the least of which because
they had no military training. They were mine, and mine alone, to do with as I
chose. I went into my tent and wished I knew what that was.
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