Alex, Soldier of the BDF

It was day three of my rotation at the Westside Lookout Post Number One. There were six lookout posts along the rim of the cove. Each one had a bunk area and a tower. There were six of us at this location. We had more than any of the other outlooks because we were at the mouth of the cove. It was cold and windy this time of year, and all of us were grateful for the excellent shelter provided for us by Lord Bicman. Even the tower had adequate protection from the cold rain that pounded down occasionally this time of year. At least they hadn't put the barrels of black powder under the bunk yet. That stuff made me nervous.

Despite this, the assignment was boring. We trained when we weren't posted on the tower and fished during our off-hours. Our training included combat and learning our letters and numbers. As an incentive to continue our education, an extra copper penny was added to our pay for each level of mastery we obtained. We were even given permission to hunt in the surrounding area, a generosity I had heard was not often given to common soldiers. However, we would be here for a month, and I knew I would get sick of it by the end.

I had left Necia at home with our newborn, whom I had only seen for a few days before leaving. I missed her and my son. My first wife, Jal, had died with our child while giving birth. Necia was a blessing sent from the Endless One to rescue me from my despair. Now, being away without knowing how they were doing made me anxious.

Still, Lieutenant Griff had been kind enough to let me defer my leave to this post until my son was born. It was odd how much my life had changed, how much the barony had changed since our new lord had taken over. I grew up in Alfer, not having ever seen the baron or his family the entire time I lived there. I was kept out of sight when Baron Aaron came to visit and look over things. He had only come a couple of times that I could remember. In the last year, I had seen Count Amos a dozen times since he took over, and even shook his hand when he gave a brief speech at my graduation from boot camp.

It was almost laughable how afraid we all were when he first took over the barony. We had heard rumors that he was cruel and were worried that he would torture us for not being able to produce much from our soil. Then we started hearing whispers of how he would go out among the people of Bicman village, frequently handing out food. We laughed at the storytellers and made up funny stories about a crazy baron who gave food away.

Then, he came to visit the village and stopped to speak with my Necia while I was out in the field. When I came back from the field, she couldn't stop talking about how nice the lord was and how he thanked her for her dedication to Bicman and her family. When the idea of the spinning wheel was presented, she was one of the women who helped build the wheel and presented it to Lord Bicman. The fact that he had invented it but gave praise to the women for making it was spoken of in Alfer for the next month. I think that is when I truly decided I wanted to serve Amos Bicman with all I had. So, no matter how boring this was, or how far away I was sent, I knew he would take care of my family. And for that, I would serve him with all my strength.

I was thinking of all this while trying to learn my letters so that if a message came from home, I would be able to read it myself. I was interrupted by a shout from the tower.

"I think something is on the horizon," Gregor shouted.

Within moments, we were all up on the tower. The platform was not meant to have room for this many people, but nobody wanted to be left out of seeing what was out there.

"You think it is a ship?" Nell asked. "Should we light the fire?"

"We won't know until it is closer, so we won't light the fire just yet," I said.

**************

An hour later, we lit the fire, and our pigeon was sent to Fort Cove. Soon, the other towers lit their fires, and around the cove, smoke billowed upwards.

The ships were just about to enter the mouth of the cove when a rider came up to the fort. "I am sorry that we did not reach you sooner. We received a pigeon from Cooper's Mill concerning the ships on the horizon."

"Why are they here now? I thought it would be another month. They haven't even finished our ballista yet," I said.

"Nobody knows. Also, I overheard the lieutenant speaking, and apparently, there are double the ships we expected."

"What are our orders?" Gregor asked.

"All personnel are to retreat to Fort Marsh. There is no point in maintaining these positions since we don't have anything we can use to stop them."

The tension in the air was thick as we quickly gathered our supplies for the trek along the newly built road to Fort Marsh. Double the ships. It was ridiculous. Were we prepared for so many? Maybe if the people in North Point were here, but we barely had a fraction of their numbers. We would have to retreat to Bicman.

Captain Vance, North Point

It had been a long day. The recruits were worse than the last batch. They would need to be turned into soldiers quickly in preparation for next month, when we are required to move out towards Hitub. They wouldn't be coming with us, of course, but they would fill in the gaps of the BDF we were leaving behind. It was frustrating how the Duke had ordered us to go to the front line. Bicman was supposed to be exempt from this. Still, the messenger sent with the petition for our release from obligation sent a message from Kimton after he arrived, saying that Bicman could be excused, but six hundred people were still required. After discussing it with a small council, Lord Bicman decided it would be best to still send our people. Forcing Plimgus and Malcomp to take responsibility for all of the county themselves would only increase resentment.

We all understood that this was just the nobles playing their games. They thought that we would gladly accept this, and the Barony of Bicman would withhold their troops. Instead, the situation played into the count's hand. Word was spread among the people of Plimgus and Malcomp about what the rulers of the duchy had said, along with the news that the count would not put the entire burden of creating the army on them. This unified our people further and earned the respect of Malcomp and Plimgus.

In the letter, it also stated that a substitute could be made. Amos could pay 3000 gold crowns to hire mercenaries to replace his troops. He did not have the money. He didn't even have the money to replace some of the men. When he found this out, he was furious. He said that if he had known this earlier, he would have found a way to get the money. When he asked Benjamin why he hadn't told Amos about this option, Benjamin showed him the original letter, which pointed out that substitutes would not be accepted.

In the future, as the villages grew, the village watch would be divided into patrol units, village guard units, and a new organization Count Amos called a police unit. The patrol unit would monitor the outside of the village in a five-kilometer radius. The guard would monitor the walls, and the police force was to help settle disputes within the villages. The city watch would also be in charge of training the citizens. Amos wanted every loyal man to be able to assist in the defence of their town. Women also, if they desired, but it wasn't strongly encouraged like it was for the men.

They would all be the same thing right now, but Lord Bicman thought it would be best to put the infrastructure in now. I rubbed my head, thinking about what this meant for me. I was put in charge of North Point, and Lord Bicman had me taking educational classes not just on reading and writing, but also on the laws of the kingdom and county. I had a sneaky suspicion that the offer of Cofi as my barony would be rescinded, and I would be put in charge of North Point when we all returned from Hitub. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Cofi was beautiful and had an ever-increasing amount of wealth being generated, while most of North Point was only consuming money. We were building farms nearby, but we were still mostly dependent on the county for our support. Also, the population would drop significantly next month. Not that it would affect the farms directly, but it would be nice to have the hands around during harvesting.

We would, of course, eventually return, but how many of us? I looked over at the cloth armor. It used to just be layers of cloth sewn together, but someone had tried waterproofing it. It stiffened it, so they decided to mix it with glue and harden it in molds. Now, it was much more durable. Especially since we switched from linen to hemp, if we had this when going up against the mercenaries, a lot of lives would have been saved. It wouldn't stop a direct hit from a crossbow or an arrow in most cases, but as we had increased the number of layers and hardened it, anything that wasn't a direct piercing hit, whether arrow, spear, or sword, was a lot less effective. Maces and other blunt weapons would probably crush someone's insides, but nobody had volunteered to try.

The fact that we would be able to fit a lot of our soldiers with this armor before we left was incredible news. Knights have fitted their men with cloth armor for a long time, but due to our ability to produce cloth in higher amounts, we were able to do the same thing more cheaply and faster. The problem is that calling our men to battle forced us to produce the cloth faster than we would have liked. Now, we had to worry about Malcomp and Plimgus revealing our ability to produce vast amounts of cloth quickly to their true masters. Hopefully, we had done enough to deceive them with rumors of Amos buying fabric for North Cove. It wasn't too far of a stretch. I am sure Lord Amos would have done it if we had fallen behind in production.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

We offered to allow Plimgus and Malcomp to pay a discounted price to equip their people with armor. They only needed their people to gather the plants to make it. Plimgus only agreed begrudgingly after Malcomp had. They both, however, were not interested in fitting all their men with it.

The new iron spearheads were not something we were willing to share just yet. I had been sworn to secrecy when I received this experimental spear. We did not want Malcomp or Plimgus knowing we had them. They held an edge better and were more durable than even my bronze spear, which I had first received when getting my position.

We had a limited amount of these spears since not every batch of iron turned out to have the right hardness. They were trying to find a way to make each batch consistent. Some were soft and dulled quickly, like most worked iron spears, or became brittle.

Leaks could happen, but he hoped by the time Messengers and spies came to investigate, he would have plugged all the holes in the deception. If I had to say one thing about Amos, he was certainly good at coming up with stories.

A knock came at my door amidst my musing, and I called out for whoever it was to enter. A boy with dark brown hair and a pointed nose came in and bowed. "Captain, an urgent message via pigeon arrived."

Handing me the small transcribed note, my eyebrows rose as I read it. "Gather some more camp runners and have them spread the word to the lieutenants, knights, Baron Malcomp, and his son to meet me here in a quarter bell."

********

A half a bell later, everyone had finally gathered. "I have just received word that seven ships are making their way up the coast towards North Cove."

"Are they possibly traders trying to get an earlier start?" one of Malcomp's knights asked, not seeming concerned in the least.

"It is doubtful. Although seas have calmed down, it would still be a risk to go all the way to North Cove when we don't have a strong presence on the coast yet." These men did not know that we were expecting something like this. At least Amos had only mentioned it to a few people in secret. Only those in the leadership and military up North were aware of what was going on. If I had told these people I was certain it was an attack, that would have led to more questions, and I would have had to explain why I hadn't informed them sooner. I had to remember that, although I had grown close to these people this winter. Their loyalty to Amos was shaky at best. Any information I gave them could be turned against Lord Bicman.

"And what would you have us do?" One of Malcolm's knights retorted. "Do you expect us to march to North Cove?"

"No, I expect you to gather your forces and protect your villages along the coast. I will bring those of Bicman back to our villages to help in the defense.

"You want everybody to withdraw from the camp?" Baron Malcomp asked in his perpetually displeased tone.

I thought for a moment. "You are right. Those who have not made it through boot camp would be of little use, and we should keep a tenth of the regulars here, just in case. The knights of Plimgus should make their way to the coast and then travel south. Baron Malcomp and his men should travel down the Great Northern Road and then make for their coast."

"I agree with this plan," Malcomp said.

We spoke for a while longer before having dinner. We would all leave in the morning.

Amos

Tarrence immediately started shouting orders as we watched the black smudge start to fill the horizon. "Destroy the dam! We need to flood the road now. Ring the bell and prepare the watch on the back pass. Prepare the women and children for their retreat to Bicman."

Orders continued to come in, and the people at Pine Ridge worked efficiently to ensure everything was done. After standing there awkwardly for half a bell, there was finally a lull big enough for me to say something.

"Tarrence. What can I do to help?" I asked.

The question seemed to catch the man off guard. "Forgive me, my lord. What do you mean?"

"Help. How can I help with the preparations for the coming raid?"

"Uh, my lord, the plan has always been for you to leave with the noncombatants and make your way to Bicman."

"Yeah, I understand that. But now there are seven ships. Even if we kill a lot of them, it won't be enough. Just put me to work until they make landfall. I could even just help assemble crossbow bolts. I really don't care. I just feel like I should be doing something useful."

"You will be, my lord, you will be escorting women and children to Bicman," Tarrence said evenly.

"Are you patronizing me? I know I am not a fighter, but there has to be something I can do."

"I am entrusting my niece to you. Would you really let Emily return to Bicman without you to escort her?"

I gritted my teeth but then took a deep breath. He had a point. Emily did tend to get herself into trouble when I wasn't around. However, knowing that seven ships were about to make landfall at North Cove made me want to do more. Ah, screw it, I am sure that I could find ways to be useful in Bicman.

"Alright, fine, I am not going to be one of those stupid people who insist I get my way just because of who I am. I…"

Just then, the individual we had just been talking about came marching up with Tarrence's wife at her side. Tarrence's wife had the most serious look I had ever seen on her face. I didn't even realize such a gentle person could look so stern.

"Tarrence, you better not let anything happen to my loom while I am gone, or you will be sleeping in a different house when I get back. We just got it working, and I am halfway through the boards necessary to create the first pattern." She said firmly.

She had to be talking about the Jacquard loom, but when had it become her loom?

Emily then butted in. "Forget the loom. If you let those raiders touch my workshop, I'll… I'll…" Suddenly, she burst into tears and flung her arms around Tarrence's waist. This, of course, caused Tarrence's wife to burst into tears, and they all wrapped their arms around each other. I stepped away, giving them their private moment. I had a feeling this would be the only heartfelt goodbye. We had prepared as best we could, but many things were still not in place. Plans we had to reduce the enemy's numbers. Now they had come early and with a lot more people. Would they be able to overrun us?

Jess, Fortress of Karr

Night had fallen, and the inside of the small home in the fort had become pitch black. However, reports were still coming in. We did not use paper for these reports. We could not use paper for these reports. Everything had to be done in the shadows. Fortunately, we were used to working in the shadows. For the last 100 years, all our actions had to be hidden from our masters. Our order had been small, but we had found ways to defy our overlord. Stealing from them in order to help our people. Making a few people fall ill. Never quite being able to strike a decisive blow.

Now, the oppression had been lifted by the Descended, but the need for our order had only grown. Within the last month, our order had been transformed into something greater when we took over the newly formed group, Defenders of the Chosen. Now, we would serve the Descended in the open and in the shadows, watching over him and protecting his interests.

Silent as a whisper, the door opened, and a shadow stepped through it. "Prime, I have the report."

"Speak," I said, announcing my location.

"Twenty-six people under our surveillance tried to flee during the chaos when the alarms sounded. The Bicman guards caught a few of them, and our agent within the guard says that the suspects claim they were afraid and were fleeing south to try to be safe. The guards sent them to the work camps."

"And what do you think?"

"They were lying. Other agents found the spies gathering in the woods," the shadow said.

I smiled. "They have given us an excellent opportunity. Let them gather. Follow them and wait for an opportunity to strike."

"For the Descended," came the whispered reply.

"For the Descended."

Borges, Spy of Hern

"So are we doing this, or not?" I asked.

Nick thumped me on the head. "Patience Borg, we will make our way to the Melnon road as soon as we make sure nobody else has escaped their villages."

"The longer we wait, the more likely we will be discovered. Also, we have to make it to Melnon Road before dawn. We need to be in position."

"He will have well-equipped guards. Right now, there are only twenty-two of us. We need to overwhelm them quickly so nobody gets away. An hour won't matter."

"It will if they catch us."

"Stop being paranoid. The guards have enough to deal with. They won't be chasing us while there is the Rabiss to worry about."

"One more bell, and we will head out."

I sat back down at the stump close to the small fire. It was chilly, and I doubted the fire would do much to help. This was stupid. While we were here, another group might already be making their move. This opportunity was too good, and once it was done, we could finally leave. I couldn't wait to get home to my wife. It had been a lonely winter without her and my sons. And our next child should be born soon.

At least this barony wasn't too bad. It was a shame it was so far away from everything. If it weren't for that, I might have moved my family here after the mission was done

I heard the snap of a twig in the woods and immediately stood up. "What was that?" I whispered. Before anyone could respond, I heard the yipping noise. Then from somewhere else there was a short, quiet growl.

"Sounds like a couple of coyotes sensing each other. I can't believe how many they have up here." York said.

"This place has almost no people, of course, the coyotes are going to be everywhere," Nick said. Nick slapped his neck. "And bugs."

"What are you talking about. There shouldn't be bugs out at this time of year," I said as a few other people started to slap their necks. Then I felt one myself. When I slapped my neck, I broke the tip of a wooden needle stuck in it. Grabbing the needle, I held it up to the firelight. A small ball of something soft was attached to the end. I tried to cry out a warning, but my voice stopped working. It felt like I was choking but nothing was in my throat. I stood up but stumbled a bit. Then, there was the sharp twang of what sounded like a bow, and Tom dropped to the ground with a miniature arrow protruding from his chest. There were several other twangs as I dove to the ground.

My face felt numb, and I flipped to my back to see if I could figure out what was going on. My muscles were starting to cramp as I heard the clang of metal on metal. Crys rang out but died down quickly.

"You crossbows… incredible, Giglon," I heard someone say. There was a slight accent I recognized as the people of Karr.

"I would have to say our cousins' blow guns are quite impressive as well. Speak your own language, no need to practice here."

Suddenly, they changed languages. In the dim light of the fire, I saw a man wearing a hood that cast his face in shadow. It didn't matter, though, because his face was covered in white wrappings. Who were these people? Were they the people from over the mountain that others had been whispering about?

My whole body was numb by this point, but I still felt the rope being slid over my head and around my neck. As it tightened, I heard the voice of my executioner whisper in my ear. "May your blood atone for your defilement of the lands of the Descended."

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