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Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Brennan grabbed Lucas arm and squeezed, hard. It occurred to Lucas that his fellow soldier was just as scared as he was. They waited, listening hard. Lucas thought he heard the sound of ragged, uneven breathing. Maybe it was coming from within the camp. Maybe it was him. He held his breath. Definitely not him. Definitely coming from out there.

“Athyr?” Brennan sang softly into the darkness. “That you, soldier?”

“What are you doing?”

“Maybe he escaped,” Brennan said.

“Keep it down, will you?” Rohan’s muffled voice came from behind them. “A man’s trying to sleep over here.”

“You might wanna wake up,” Brennan said in a low voice.

“Should we get someone? Travis maybe?”

“The hell’s going on?”

“There’s someone – something – out there.”

“A jungle cat, d’you think?”

“Or Athyr,” Brennan reiterated.

“Oh Gods, he’d probably kill us all in our sleep for leaving him there,” Rohan muttered, horrified.

“Hush,” Lucas growled. They all listened intently. That sound – like someone sucking in air through clogged, wet airways - was unmistakeable.

“You hear that?” Rohan asked, his voice shaking.

“Brennan, get Travis,” Lucas said.

But Travis was already awake, surveying another watchman’s post. The three boys heard a shout and turned, squinting in the darkness, recognizing his voice. Brennan struck a match and jogged off, using the light as a guide to leap over prone bodies on the ground. He returned moments later with Travis.

“You’ve been hearing something too?”

“Twigs cracking. And – breathing,” Lucas said, suddenly realizing how ridiculous it sounded. “Maybe it’s nothing, but –”

“No, Gavin heard similar noises. Across camp. There’s something out there,” Travis whispered, contemplating the dark woods.

“You think it’s them?”

“If it is, they have us surrounded,” Rohan whined.

“Stay where you are. It’s time to wake the commander,” Travis said, and moved off.

18-Sep-2013 05:36:41

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Jonah was wide awake when Travis came to get him. Travis’s face was a pale, ghostly apparition in the darkness. His second-in-command fumbled blindly in the dark, prodding Jonah’s body. He could feel the man’s hot breath misting on his face. It smelled foul.

“I’m awake, Travis,” he snapped.

“Of course, sir. We’ve got two different reports of footsteps. Opposite sides of the camp. I think they’ve got us surrounded. Or…flanked. Shall I wake the men and prepare for attack? Might be able to at least be ready for them this time, not that it’ll do much good in the dark—”

“We’re not surrounded.”

“I’m sorry, sir?*

*It’s not the natives. Go back to sleep, Travis.”

“How can you know that?” It was too bad that in the dark, Travis couldn’t see his reprimanding stare. But Travis must have felt it, because he added shakily, “Are you absolutely sure, sir?”

“One hundred percent.”

“What is it then, sir?”

“Hard to explain.”

“Are we in danger, sir?”

“Not physically, Travis. It’s apt to be a long night – tell the men to stand their ground and get some sleep while you can.”

Travis hesitated, suppressed his remaining questions, disappeared back into the night with an unhappy whimper. Jonah contemplated the stars. First the footsteps. Those always came first. A breeze rustled his shirt, and he smiled. Part of him wondered if he should have camped lower in the mountains, sacrificing part of the day, and tried to push through this region in the daylight. But it was too big * they’d never cross it in a day’s walk. They’d be out by tomorrow night, hopefully. Two nights here could be hard if a man wasn’t used to it.

18-Sep-2013 05:37:50

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
There was a small part of him that thought this might do the men some good. Certainly Keyne, Jain, and Nathan would feel differently about their actions in the village come the morning. And Jonah had to admit that there was a part of him that wanted this to happen, wanted to experience it one last time. He longed to walk out into the jungle and let the wind surround him and lift him up. He couldn’t help but wonder if he might hear them, or if they might be drowned out by the countless others since.

Jonah’s laced fingers dug into the back of his head, holding himself down. He couldn’t give in to his own urges. He had to stay awake, conscious, alert. He had to be able to lead when all hell broke loose.


Travis returned and told them Jonah said it was nothing, and they should continue to stand watch. Brennan and Rohan had a hard time accepting this. “There’s footsteps out there!” Rohan insisted in an urgent whisper.

“They could attack at any second!”

“Commander says whatever you’re hearing, it ain’t natives. Orders are to remain calm and stay alert. If anything changes, come wake me again.”

“This is crazy,” Brennan muttered after Travis had gone.

“Should I go back to sleep? I don’t want to be asleep when they attack,” Rohan fretted.

“How can he know it’s not them? What else would it be?” Brennan said.

Lucas took Jonah at his word, knowing things the other men did*’t. But why did*’t Jonah tell them what it was? Anything out there was still a threat.

“I don’t know what to do,” Rohan moaned. “I’m scared.”

Crack.

All three jerked and grabbed at their weapons. “Do we attack it?” Brennan suggested. “I mean…we can’t just go on letting whatever it is hang out there and watch us all night.”

18-Sep-2013 05:38:25

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“Orders are to stay,” Lucas said, omitting the “calm” part of those orders. His heart was galloping in his chest. There was no calm. Not with the knowledge that something was out there, so close he could hear it breathing. “If we can*t see it, it probably can*t see us, right?”

“Unless it’s an animal with crazy animal vision.”

“Rohan, if you think you can sleep, sleep. If not, you’re welcome to keep us company. I can’t imagine I’ll sleep well tonight either. So we can all stand watch together for the duration.” Lucas was wide awake now, and was startled to find how smooth his voice was.

He felt Rohan hunker down next to him and heard his voice from somewhere by his knee, “All right, then. I don’t think I can sleep now.*

*Me neither,” Brennan said sullenly.

Lucas’ calm seemed to have rubbed off on the other two, which was a relief. He felt a sudden coldness on his brow and realized the wind had picked up again, cooling the sweat on his skin. He took a deep breath of the cold air and felt calmer. Maybe whatever it was had moved on. When he looked up, he could see thousands if not millions of stars, and it was breathtaking. He traced constellations to keep himself busy, as his companions had fallen silent. He wondered if Rohan would fall back to sleep after all. But then came that voice again from near his knee.

“What do you guys think will happen when we get to Brimhaven?”

There was a long silence. Lucas waited for Brennan to answer.

“We’re gonna swoop in and kill ‘em, like the commander said.”

“You think it’ll be that easy?”

“Gods no,* Lucas said darkly. “Look at how many men we’ve lost in the last few days. We’re half the squad we started with.”

“If I’d know this is what I was signing up for…” Rohan said wistfully.

“But think. When we come back, we’ll be heroes. This could change everything, taking away their ships.”

18-Sep-2013 05:39:03

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“You wonder though…what if somehow it’s already been won back on the mainland? And we’re just left out here? They’ve got no way of letting us know,” Lucas said.

This scary thought was met with silence. Lucas regretted saying it. The thought that all this, all they had suffered through just to get to this point, might be futile – that was dangerous thinking. Wars lasted a long time. Maybe it wasn’t over yet. It was strange to think he did*’t want it to end yet – for he truly did, but not before he’d finished what he came here to do.

In the coming weeks, he’d think back often to this night, this moment in particular.

It wasn’t long after that they heard a shout from the other side of camp. Rohan staggered to his feet, bumping Lucas. All three boys drew their swords. “Is it happening?” Brennan asked. But it was a singular shout, followed by none of the usual clamor of attack. There was a low rumble as some of the men woke up, and Travis’s voice rang out louder than the rest.

“Stay calm, we’re not under attack.”

Lucas could hear voices from where the shout had originated as Travis investigated. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but the watchmen were agitated and spoke in raised, fearful voices. Travis struggled to hush them.

“I heard it!” someone insisted, nearly shouting.

Lucas’ palm was sweaty on the grip of his sword. More footsteps? What was out there and what was it waiting for?

“Did you hear that?” Rohan asked.

“That guy, yeah, what –”

“No, not him. Shhhh.”

Lucas, Rohan, and Brennan were all still, listening intently yet again. And then Lucas heard it. It was so quiet he could barely make it out, and at first thought it was only the blood rushing in his head. But there was definitely a sound. Not footsteps. Whispers.

“The wind?” Brennan said softly.

18-Sep-2013 05:39:46

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
They all knew it wasn’t. It was definitely a voice, whispering in the darkness. Lucas couldn’t pinpoint the source – it sounded like it was coming from all around them. “You think that’s what they…?”

“Probably,” Brennan said.

The whisper faded, and Lucas let out the breath he’d been holding.

However, over by Travis, the commotion continued, rousing the remainder of the camp that wasn’t awake already. Men fumbled for their weapons in the darkness before realizing they weren’t under attack. They milled about blindly in the darkness, stumbling over those still on the ground and talking loudly. Travis struggled in vain to restore order, yelling at the men to be quiet.

Lucas, Brennan, and Rohan listened to this from their space at the edge of the trees. Lucas was drenched in sweat. He wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, only that what they’d heard must be real – otherwise the whole camp wouldn’t be mad with terror like this. Where was Jonah? Or Sorokin? There was no hope of finding them in this darkness, and he couldn’t pick their voices out of the chaos. Someone needed to take charge.

“Pssst!”

Lucas jerked back around toward the jungle. “What?”

“Wasn’t me,” Brennan whispered.

“Yeah, not me,” Rohan said.

“Psssst!”

“Who’s there?” he called softly.

Behind them, he heard Travis yell “Everyone calm down!” and the resulting complete disregard for the order. “Gather around me. Follow my voice. For the sake of the gods, be silent or I will feed you to whatever is out there!”

That got everyone’s attention. Silence fell, disturbed by low grumbling. Lucas relaxed slightly, feeling less likely likely to be caught by a vengeful horde of savages.

“Are we going?” Rohan asked.

Lucas looked toward the jungle, saw only black. “Yes, let’s go.”

“Wait!”

“What, Brennan?”

“I did*’t say anything.”

“But you just—“ Rohan’s voice trailed off.

18-Sep-2013 05:40:48

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Lucas’ hand went to his sword. “Who’s there?” he said again, but there was no answer. Something grabbed his arm and he flinched violently. A figure stumbled backwards.

“Ow!” Brennan exclaimed.

“What’s going on?” Rohan whined.

“Sorry, sorry. Why’d you grab me?”

“Was tryin’ to pull you along. Let’s just go, all right?”

The three boys jogged toward the sound of Travis’ voice and the barely visible clump of soldiers. They stood at the fringes of the group. Lucas chewed his fingernails. That voice. It sounded familiar. Just a whisper, and yet he thought – it was just his imagination. Or Brennan playing tricks, maybe.

“Quiet, quiet,” Travis was saying. “Please, everyone. I know you’re scared, but you need to be quiet if you want to hear the commander give orders.”

The men reluctantly stopped talking. People were moving, the small crowd shifting, but Lucas couldn’t see anything. He glanced over his shoulder, struck by a sensation that he was being watched, but found only darkness. What did he expect, yellow eyes gleaming in the night? That – this, whatever they thought was happening, was the stuff of children’s tales. He longed for Justine, to be in a warm bed with her tucked against him, and this nothing but a bad dream.

“We’re not under attack,” Jonah’s voice rang out. It lacked its usual bite, the hard edge it had earlier that day when condemning Athyr. He sounded exhausted, Lucas thought. “I promise you, you are safe.”

“How can you know?” someone called out.

“We’re surrounded! We hear ‘em out there, just waiting.”

“Whatever you hear, it’s not the natives,” Jonah insisted.

“Then why can’t we have a fire?” someone else asked. “It’s cold, commander.”

“Because I said so,” Jonah snapped.

“Why won’t you tell us what’s going on?”

"I know I heard something out there. Voices!"

18-Sep-2013 05:41:37

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
"Me too!"

"Someone's out there, sir!"

The clamor began again, and Travis struggled to restore order. Lucas felt a tap on his shoulder and whipped around. "What?"

No answer. He'd become separated from Rohan and Brennan, somehow, could just make out their shapes further away. There was no one behind him. But he'd felt something, he knew he had. Lucas turned back to the commotion around the commander. There was no calming people now.

18-Sep-2013 05:41:48

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