5 In Which We Learn a Lesson, 5

Arlo almost smiled as he looked over the list. A slimy, cold smile, a smear across his pale face. "I can almost laugh at this, Captain." He crumpled it up and tossed it playfully back at Yannis across the table. Outside, the clear night was awakening the winds from earlier that day, tossing them about, pummeling their faces and hair. "Where's the real list?"

Yannis narrowed his eyes, feet planted in the mud. "If the Lieutenant has no objections… that is the final list approved by the Colonel."

"None of my top recommendations are here."

Yannis shrugged. "Half of the platoon are some of our most experienced soldaten…"

"And the other half are recruits."

"Chosen by you."

"With the expectation that we would not be bringing four additional recruits."

"Nathan…"

"Nathaniel is easily one of the best in our company. A recruit doesn't often do that. Recruits Chui, Aristea, and Sascha were runner-ups, which is why I picked them. Captain, forgive me if I'm wrong, but that only adds up to four soldaten. This was to be an exercise to realize the full potential of our highest performers, without the burden of the rest."

"This is no exercise." said Yannis. "The system works in a very specific way."

"That's some vague bureaucracy bullshit you've given me, Captain." Arlo gripped the edges of the table, leaning forward. Some emotion was surfacing, something simmering just under the surface of his solemnity. "You are endangering every other soldat on this operation by the inclusion of this dead weight."

"It is not respectful to address your men as dead weight."

"You said it yourself. This is no exercise, so respect takes place next to logic."

"I've had enough of this." said Mordeci.

"I'll take some more." said Arlo.

"You won't do anything of that sort, Captain. You'll take this platoon as is. Yannis - you're dismissed."

Yannis saluted dispiritedly and left. As soon as he was out of sight, Mordeci grabbed Arlo by the collar. Arlo's eyes remained hostile as she wrung him close to her. "This attitude you like to pull stops as soon as we leave this camp. I will not have you speaking of dead weight, bureaucracy, or your list on my operation. Are we understanding each other?"

"I've never understood somebody so well before." Arlo lightly pried her fingers off his collar, and fixed it as he stepped back.

Mordeci frowned. "Listen, recruit-" She stopped as she realized her mistake.

Arlo paused, fingers on his button. "Somebody seems to be in the past."

She sat down on a barrel, leaning on the wobbly table. "Don't give me a reason to treat you like one. Dismissed."

Jacob found a stream. It was a shy thing, thin and hidden, more rock than water, but still a stream, flowing. He kicked a pebble into the water, and it was distorted to pieces by the chopping current, blurred into a grey lump. He followed it until he found the burnt tree, and he sat down besides it. After a spell, he raised his eyes to somebody coming from the camp. It was Arlo.

"Why are you sitting in the dirt, recruit?"

Sunlight attacked Jacob from the trees. Squinting, he said, "I don't think I have any place better."

"Is that meant to piss me off or make me pity you?" Arlo asked.

"I meant neither, xiansheng."

"Save it." Arlo crunched a fern under his boot, and began peeling off the rest of the dead trees bark. He looked at Jacob. "Xiansheng's for your superiors."

"By rank, you are, Captain."

"By rank, yes, but by stature…" he grasped his pistol. "How quick are you to the draw, recruit?"

"That was something I was good at."

"Shut up with the loathing before I shoot you. Now get up." Arlo stepped back ten paces, and instructed Jacob to do the same. "Get ready - I want to test your dexterity."

"How would it make you feel if I told you I only learned that word a year ago?"

"We expect you to learn something in the military. Go."

Jacob gripped his pistol hard, arms tensing as his boots dug into the ground. He focused on Arlo's eyes, but found nothing. His hold was lackluster, uncaring. That his eyes were unchanged worried Jacob-

Arlo's barrel, polished as ever, sneered into Jacob's face. Jacob drew a second later, but-

"A second too late." The barrel frowned as Arlo put it to rest. "I'm impressed, recruit. Most don't get the gun out of the holster."

Jacob felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He ventured forward tentatively. "What happened to those slow on the draw?"

"You're asking if it was all practice. I'll tell you if you can draw at the same time as me."

Jacob suddenly felt exceedingly light-headed, and wondered if he could stop Arlo even if he meant to use that weapon. He felt the joints in his arms as he tenses once more, and a giddy feeling overcame him, a childlike excitement. The sentinels spectating the duel waved their green arms excitedly, and the stream grumbled its discontent. Sweat in the armpits, on his back as the sun itself leaned in to watch. And for a second the stream was silent, and the world turned to look-

The barrel was there once more, sneering again. But this time, Jacob was right behind it, almost exact.

Arlo raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement. Holstering his pistol again, he said, "You did well. But you forget that there are two in a standoff. Your body language screams with the exact moment you plan to draw."

"I don't plan an exact moment to draw."

"You don't plan an exact moment to get shot, either. Once more. Go-"

Finally, Jacob's barrel greeted Arlo's. Before he finished his sentence, Jacob had drawn on him, but somehow, some way, they had tied.

"You still managed to catch me." said Jacob tiredly. "Captain, how-"

"Don't worry, recruit," Arlo assured him. "It's easier to read the movements of a person than a dummy. You'll get the hang of it eventually, I should hope."

"I hope so, too."

As they left the forest, making way to the camp, Arlo plucked some redleaf off of some shrubs. He handed some to Jacob, who chewed curiously. "Tastes… minty."

Arlo shook his head. "No. It's more fiery, I'd say. Crisp, not minty."

The distinction became exuberantly clear in Jacob's head. "Yes. Fiery."

"Recruit."

Jacob slowed his chewing and looked at him. "Xian - Captain."

"There has been a change in a mind. You're attending the excursion."

The suddenness slapped Jacob into silence. He licked his lips. "Captain."

"That's why they call it phoenix feather."

"What?"

"Redleaf. I haven't tasted a real phoenix's feather, though. Have you, recruit?"

"No."

"Maybe one day you'll get to try it." He walked off without another word, leaving Jacob with his leaf.

"Hey. Get up. It's time."

Jacob stared at Sascha's boots as a voice from above spoke. His face was pressed into something wet on his pillow. He sat up, a cowlick slicked over the side of his head. He patted it down uselessly as he looked up at Sascha. "Do I look as beautiful as ever?"

"You may wanna wipe your mouth."

Jacob touched the sticky drool running from his mouth and wiped it off on his sleeve. He cupped his hand over his mouth and took a long breath, then gagged. "God, that's not right."

"No time to brush your teeth. Here… take some of Chui's redleaf."

"What?" huffed a tired voice, the single word rising and falling.

Jacob sat up. Chui was near the tent entrance, shirtless and doing push-ups. His muscles rippled with sweat, his broad shoulders pulsating with effort.

"Do you ever stop training?" asked Jacob, getting up and stretching.

"The way I see it…" said Chui, as he got up and began to thrust forward on his knee slowly, "Somebody will always be training. If they are training and I am not, does that not mean they are getting better, while I am not?"

"You know," said Sascha, "You can't challenge the whole world."

"I can if nobody else will." he said, grabbing onto the top bunk and doing pull-ups as sweat pattered down onto the blankets below. "I have to if nobody else will."

"Tod's not going to appreciate that." said Jacob, looking at the sheets.

Outside, torches had been lit at the cafeteria canopy, extra tables lined up to make long stretches of bench running yards down the camp. Wind cast down from the bright blue stars up above sent the scent of frothing, hearty food through the grounds, and Jacob could nearly taste a leg of lamb, as he and Sascha made quick for the line gathering in front of the cook's tent. It was a short yellow thing, and a short fat man yelled out orders to people scurrying around back, smoke wafting out of the tail end. Jacob grabbed a tray and waited as he moved along, until a glob of food was smacked down into his bowl. He bowed and waited for Sascha before they found their way to the edge of the tables. Jacob brought a spoonful of steaming broth to his mouth and bit into a chunk of lamb, severing the bloody leg between slices of carrot and beets, fatty broth full of onions and dripping fat that crunched as he bit into them. In a few short moments he'd sipped down the whole bowl.

"Ahh," he said, moaning as he swallowed the last potato. "It smells as good as it tastes."

"I've had better, city boy," said Sascha.

"Gonna eat that, then?"

Sascha pulled the bowl away protectively and said in a proud tone that suggested he'd done it himself, "Nothing better than fresh food."

"How different does fruit taste when it's not all old?"

"Plums - you have the sour orange kind. Not me - when I was younger, and today I'd bet, we'd climb up the trees and tear off these big swollen things, all purple and blackish on the inside. Some of them were full of worms, but the ones that weren't we rolled up in our shirts and carried to town, sold them right there. Anybody living by everybody else… you don't even have the sense to go pick your own food, you'll just buy it off some kids on the street." Sascha chuckled.

"What about meat?" inquired Jacob. "Cow, pig, lamb…" he added, lifting the bowl.

"Well, I will say… you never forget the first time you see an animal slaughtered."

"Oh." said Jacob.

Just then, Aristea sat down by Sascha as Huoyan sidled up to Jacob. "How's it going?" asked Huoyan, putting an arm around Jacob.

"We're doing just fine," said Jacob uneasily, sliding out of his touch.

"Aw, man, what's gotten you all wound up?" said Huoyan, puckering his lips. "Jacobi's got a stomach ache?"

"Never, with this food." said Jacob.

"How could you eat that?" asked Huoyan disgustedly.

"You put it in your mouth and chew!" said Aristea, lopping a spoonful of Sascha's meal into her mouth. "Like this," she said through a mouthful of beet and broth.

"I was going to eat that." said Sascha.

"You really shouldn't, though," said Huoyan. "Last time I ate that stuff - so - let's just say I think I left some of myself back in basic-"

"Ooo-kay," said Jacob. "Gonna grab another bowl."

"Oh!" said Aristea. "I should snatch myself something too."

As she hopped up from the bench, her foot caught on the underside, and she spun into the mud with a crash. Jacob stopped a blurt of laughter that escaped from his lips - Sascha was doing the same, biting his lip. Huoyan burst out into a full roar, and Jacob felt eyes on them - he couldn't tell what was attracting the most attention, the fall or the laugh. Jacob helped her up, smiling. "You alright?" Her hair was lopsided, and her deformed ear was fully visible, the back seemingly melded and flattened to the rest of it.

"Yeah," she said, red in the face, covering it back up.

Huoyan started slapping the bench, and Sascha's food fell onto his lap. He slapped Huoyan on the side of the head. Huoyan went wide-eyed. "What's your problem?" he said. "That hurt, man! What the hell?"

"That's a good question." said Sascha. "You're howling in my ear and you've just spilled my food all over the place, so what's the problem here?"

"It was an accident, come on-" Huoyan was at once defensive and explanatory.

"You make accidents like these every day." said Sascha gratingly. "You ever think to shut up for a second?"

Huoyan went silent, but the noise was picked up by a group of guys nearby. One of them whispered something to the other, and one pointed at Aristea. She noticed as well, and the scarlet poured back into her face as she sat down timidly and tried to look busy. Jacob felt the heat trying to escape his clothes, and he shifted uncomfortably and sat down as casually as he possibly could, feeling increasingly stupid.

Sascha apparently wasn't in the best mood. "Is there something funny, gentlemen?"

"No, no," one of them said, grinning ear to ear, big eyes gleaning. They broke back into laughter as the tall one with the tall neck whispered something to the group of six.

Sascha stood up. "Then why are we laughing? There some big joke here?"

That certain annoying smile spread across the tall one's face - the smile somebody gets when they seem to think it is you who is the irritating one. "Hey, take a step back. We're just talking."

"Yeah - 'bout that." whispered big eyes, looking at Aristea.

Sascha stepped out of the bench and moved toward them. He grabbed big eyes by the collar. "Surprise - I heard you."

"I wonder if she can." he laughed.

Aristea folded her arms and moved her mouth meekly, trying to form words. She cupped her hand instinctively over her ear. Big eyes didn't seem to register the anger in Sascha's eyes, and he let loose another jape. "You turn it left to turn it on, sweetie."

Sascha kicked out his legs from under him. He thudded to the ground.

"Hey!" protested Aristea.

Big eyes was shocked. His friends rushed forward and pushed Sascha back, as big eyes got to his feet.

"What's the deal?"

"Get back-"

"Come on, it was just a joke." said the tall guy.

"Is that all it is?" spat Sascha. "You're the only ones who seem to be laughing-"

He stopped as big eyes stumbled forward and punched him, now as red as his victim. "How you like that, huh?" he asked, out of breath. His friends stepped back as he fell onto Sascha.

"You gonna do something about that?" Huoyan hissed at Jacob.

"Y-yes." said Jacob. "Yes."

"Oh, great. For a second I thought you'd gotten your senses back about you."

Jacob moved forward, but Aristea pulled at his arm. "Don't." she ordered. "I can handle myself."

"I think it's him I'm more worried about."

Sascha howled as he slapped at big eyes. "Come on!" he yelled. "Lemme up. Let's see what you can do on even ground - ow! - hey, hey!"

Jacob ran forward to intercept them in their tug-of-war match. Big eyes' hand shot up and slapped Jacob across the face.

Oh.

Well, shit.

It hurt more than he would have expected or liked - a tension built up in Jacob, and that heat turned into a violent sweat, a rage. It'd been a while since he'd gotten hit by somebody who he hated, and that slap was the decisive factor in that hate. He got more angry when he realized his reasoning made no sense.

Jacob screamed, "Get off, will you?", slamming a boot into big eyes' side. The connection was satisfying and jumped through Jacob's leg. Sascha scrambled to his feet.

"You better watch yourself." said the tall one as he moved forward. "You assholes-"

Jacob punched him before he finished the sentence. "Who's the asshole?" he yelped. "Who's the asshole?" He punched again and again, then kicked him in the shin. Sascha came to him as the others moved in on them. Arms swung and a boot hit his thigh, then something connected with his head, and the fury only built up. Every touch was another drop of blood, and every time he struck them it was a release-

Again and again and again-

"What's going on here?" yelled somebody off in the distance.

Jacob felt arms grapple him from behind, and his feet left the earth and he was tossed onto the ground. The air was knocked out of him and there was a crack in his arm. Shaking with rage, he-

A boot drove into his stomach-

Again and again-

Something warm poured out of his mouth-

"Disperse! What's happening?"

Then some of the heat fell away, then more, then the beating stopped. He looked up from the murky mud, dizzy, and wiped his face, but only smeared more blood and dirt on himself. And suddenly the rage was gone, and his face went slack. Why… did we fight again?

"Get up, soldat." ordered Mordeci, who came into focus after he shook his head a few times, pushing past Huoyan. "Out of the mud."

Jacob stood unsteadily, and noticed Arlo following behind her, along with Captain Yannis. Arlo scanned the surrounding environment. "Not much of a fair fight, was it?"

"Fair enough for them to start it, xiansheng." said the tall one.

"I'm sure, I'm sure." Arlo stepped into the center of their grouping. "So, why did this happen?"

"That doesn't matter. They should all be punished accordingly." said Yannis.

"And they will." said Arlo.

"The blond one, he came at-" started the tall guy.

"He throttled me." said big eyes intensely. "Kicked me onto the ground."

"I'll throttle you if you don't stop avoiding the question." said Arlo.

"We - xiansheng - we-"

"Sascha. What happened here?"

"They insulted us." said Sascha.

"How so?" asked Mordeci.

Sascha glanced at Aristea. "I'm not too sure - they were laughing at us."

"They were… laughing at you."

"I mean… yes."

Mordeci stared at him.

"Well, it sounds stupid without context-"

"It looks pretty stupid too, soldat." Mordeci turned to her captains. "What would you like to do with these men? They're yours, captains."

"Palo, Dailen." said Yannis. "I think you'd do well to get used to the smell of shit. You're gonna be working the outhouses from now on-"

"Or…" said Arlo. "We can try for a few rounds of war crimes."

"What?" said Jacob, gasping. "A - what?"

"He means the game." said Sascha.

"Oh - I thought-"

Mordeci seemed fascinated by this conversation. Apparently the idea of these four idiots batting each other on the head appealed to her, for she immediately decided to proceed with the punishment.

"But is it really a punishment?" asked Jacob, smiling wanly at the girl who was tending to his cuts and bruises. "I-I...ayee…" The sentence broke into a fragment and shattered, falling in the grass between them, like a dead animal. They were sitting behind Squad Nima's tent, conveniently hidden from the others. His smile faded as he saw her roll her eyes. She stepped back and picked up an ointment, and the static look on her face made him think of Captain Arlo - but Arlo didn't come off as condescending. She looked at the bottle, then at him, shirtless, then tossed it into his lap.

"Help yourself." she said.

He didn't respond or complain, because her irritated hazel eyes glazed over and she shifted onto one foot, staring into the forest, in a wistful trance, thinking of some other place. He was near certain that she intentionally placed a wave of chestnut curls between them. He felt a sudden urge to know who she was, a feeling he got occasionally when he thought he had met somebody exceptional - whose character he felt would lead to something greater in life. It stirred a tingly, vivid feeling inside of him, and his curiosity became insatiable. Like meeting somebody famous.

The famous girl noticed he was staring at her, and she narrowed her eyes. "Are you done?"

"Thank you… for helping me with this. Well, the first part, at least."

"Just be grateful I helped you with it at all."

She's cute. That's cute - phew. Okay…

"The bruises really hurt." he said, nodding and looking at her intently for a reaction.

"Cool." A paper thin, insulting smile spread across her face.

Dammit, was that supposed to be impressive? What the hell am I doing-

"You should hurry on up. Captain Yannis gave me five minutes to fix you up, sadly."

"Yeah," he said absently, her face growing on him more with the passing seconds, the tingling inside of him turning into a throb. She's nice… in a way. "You know anything about, these, these war games?"

"War crimes." she corrected.

"Right."

"No, I don't. What did you do to get yourself into this anyways? I was not there, unfortunately."

Okay, let's be careful with our words, Jacob.

"I punched some guys and my friend."

Oh god that wasn't it-

She chortled, and her voice became less monotone, more lively, and he was reminded of lights flashing on and off as a chorus sang, a memory he didn't possess. "That looks like something you would do."

"I didn't hit my friend." he said quickly. "Me and my friend…"

"Hit some other people, I get it. Okay, well, you seem pretty able to handle the rest yourself, so-"

"I actually, uh, can't reach my back."

"Is that supposed to be sexy?"

"No, my back just hurts." His voice came off higher-pitched than he intended, and he couldn't tell if it was good or not, but she did that little chortle again, and covered her mouth as if she was embarrassed of it.

"Alright, give me a second, Scotty."

"Scotty?"

"You strike me as having a dog's name." She took the bottle from him and asked, "Where?", then quickly added, "I'm not going anywhere on the lower back."

"No, between my shoulder blades - yeah, right there."

He was considering what posture would be the best looking when getting his back slathered in medicine when Sascha walked past the tent, not noticing either of them. He walked to the treeline, crouched by some supply crates and reached into the grass next to them, pulling out a bag. He picked it up and looked inside, then started back before he saw them, staring at him. Jacob looked at him blankly from the chair, shirtless, as the girl held her hand on his back.

"Am I… disturbing youuuu?" Sascha's voiced turned into a squeak, and he pursed his lips.

"No! No, no," Jacob got up and started to explain before being interrupted.

"What's in the bag?" asked the girl.

"Wouldn't you like to know," said Sascha quietly.

"Yeah - what's the deal with the bag?" asked Jacob, scratching his head nervously.

Sascha looked around then reluctantly held it open at them. "Look," he said enticingly.

Both peering inside, Jacob was met by a dark mass of…

"It's…" Jacob reached inside, and his sentence was finished my the girl.

"Candy." she said, in an unsure disbelief.

"What did you expect?" demanded Sascha. "What was I supposed to have stashed in that bag?"

"Yes, that bag that you hide out in the forest." said Jacob tiredly. "What should I have expected from Sascha? Hey," he turned to the girl, and using her own words, said, "Does this seem like something this guy would do?"

She looked back and forth from both of them, then said, "I wouldn't expect anything less. Come on, you don't want to keep the Lieutenant waiting."

Jacob smiled at Sascha. "Hear that?"

Ducking a punch, he made off after the girl, and the three disappeared into the tents.

Moving past the last few tents, Jacob found himself looking at the center of the clearing, where a crowd awaited them. When a soldier spotted the three, he whistled, and the crowd cheered. The girl ducked out of view and sunk into the back of the crowd.

Jacob turned to Sascha. "What's her name?"

Sascha thought for a moment. "So she was just helping you with your back, then."

Jacob glared at him. "What makes you think that?"

Chui shook his head as the crowd parted.

The rains had not spared the grounds of the glade. Blades of grass and the stalks of plants were frothing at the edges with mud, the ground slick and squelching as they walked. A fallen tree was wedged across two rocks, making a long bridge over the mud pit. He stopped in front of the rock, and Captain Arlo appeared from the crowd, his face gleaming in the light of the lanterns they'd laid out in the arena.

"I assume you've never played before," said Arlo as he handed Jacob a canopy leg, each end wrapped with duct-taped pillows.

"No."

"So you don't want to fall in the mud pit."

Yeah, I gathered that much.

"You know what?" said Arlo. "I think it will enhance the experience if you find out as you go."

"Thanks for the knowledge, professor." said Jacob dryly.

Arlo stepped into the forefront of the crowd, and Mordeci took his place. She fired her gun into the air, and the crowd went quiet, an excited hum moving through the field.

"Alright!" she said. "Everybody step back. We need to give our contestants room."

Contestants, okay.

"You all know the rules."

"I don't." he said.

She glanced at him before continuing. "But we've decided to switch things up a little. We're shuffling the teams. Recruits Palo and Jacob are together-"

"Oh, no." said the tall one whom he'd punched, standing a few feet away.

"- and recruits Liam and Sascha are together."

Somebody shouted something, and then the horde sped back into a thunder, people clapping as Jacob felt somebody push him forward. He stepped onto the rock, and put one leg up on the tree. It's sturdy, at least. He shifted his foot, and peeled off a chunk of wood.

Oh.

He later heard in the infirmary, although very faintly, as his ears were wrapped in ten layers of gauze, that Sascha had annihilated his opponent.

"I have pride in my son..." he said, looking fondly at the murky tent top flapping above him.

Huoyan, who had been sitting next to him, ready to issue apology, paused in the middle of his chocolate ration, and slowly edged out of sight.

The procession left on old paths, backtracking past the train and following the tracks for a time, the post office eerily empty, sign squeaking in the wind. The wind was no longer biting, instead walking besides them, dancing along the blue, cloudy morning sky, the smell of morning dew thick in the air, tempting the horses. They were quiet for a time, until somebody was bucked off of their horse, who ran onto the field to their left and began grazing. Arlo had the soldier chase them down, and when they finally came back, both horse and soldier covered in mud, he made him walk for the next ten miles, which passed in a crawl, the hours dragged down by the nothingness that was occuring in that time. The conversation which had excitedly picked up at the soldier's bucking was now running dry, and so was Jacob's throat. He drank his water sparingly, knowing well supplies were little as they made haste. On the hour past noon, Mordeci dropped to the side of the group.

"Listen, soldaten!" she shouted. "Let's make this very clear - this is not a typical excursion. Contrary to basic training-"

"Which lasted for about half the time as this," muttered Huoyan.

"-we will not be adhering to normal survive and evade tactics in any form of combat. This is a stealth mission, and will be treated as such. Don't use your Icarus Gear unless absolutely necessary. If you need to climb a tree - climb. If you need to jump over an obstacle, jump. If you need to jump off a cliff… well, by all means jump."

There was some strained laughter. Arlo heard the nervousness in the air and looked at Mordeci. He nodded.

Mordeci said, "I understand just over half of you are recruits. And I understand you are a bit scared, if not terrified."

Jacob tried to sit up higher in his saddle, the others doing so as well, even his Chestnut Bart. The only one who didn't was Chui - he was already sitting up straight.

"But this is a low risk mission," continued Mordeci. "Not a soldat will die, not a drop of blood will be spilled. Think of it like a hunt. You take it seriously, you keep it quiet, but not because you might die - because the deer might get scared away. Our deer happens to have killed his wife, and is believed to possess some weapons and possibly a damaged suit of power armor. He will be defenseless, and we'll sink our teeth into him. Not a problem to be had. To it, soldaten." She moved back up the line as Yannis barked for them to speed up.

Jacob turned to Sascha, a certain tension in the air lightly evaporated. "What kind of weapons do you think the doctor has?"

"Scared, are we?" Sascha folded his palms over the saddle head. "You heard about that munitions box Captain Arlo found? I heard most of the contents were still there. He may have a rifle or two, whatever he can carry."

"We don't know what he can carry. Remember there was no tracks or footprints around the cabin?"

'It's storm season, and it's muddy."

"There should be some trace of his family coming and going. Not to mention his children, right?"

"Are you suggesting he has an airship?"

"No. But you know who does."

Sascha sighed, and as he spoke he searched the sky around them. "The Delians wouldn't go this far into our territory. That's ridiculous"

"As if we know anything about what's going on out here. Nobody inside the belly of the Serpent knows what's going on out here."

"We're not losing the war, that much I can assure you."

"I know - but it's not that far of a stretch to assume…"

"No. I suppose it's not."

As night fell, the bucked soldier fell asleep, along with Tod. Mordeci watched as Tod's horse slowly drifted off the path, until it had fallen behind and was trailing after them in the grass. She slowed down and kicked the horses bottom, and it reared in surprise. Tod woke up with a yelp, and flailed about as he searched for the reins. The horse sped up and slowed at the back of the platoon, and Tod drew it to a halt, petting its mane. Mordeci followed. "You managed to stay on the horse," she said as she sidled up next to him. The other soldiers turned to watch. Sascha shook the bucked soldier awake before they became the next victim.

Tod pursed his lips. "I did. Yes."

"Are you experienced with horses?"

Tod chuckled nervously. "Raised on a farm. I've been riding for a long time."

"You should get along with Specialist Walfree. I'll leave you to it. Stay alert, recruit."

"Right."

They set up their tents off the path, a few hours later. Birds, horses, and soldiers were all fed. They had made good time.