Chapter 10

Signs of Injury

Luuk moved his men off into the forest. He wanted to get a good distance away from the main group before they stopped for the night. He moved his two fists off towards the border of the corrupted lands as fast as he dared without risking injury. He sent out two groups of two scouts each, they would range ahead for about a hundred yards. When the main group caught up to the scouts they would range out again.

This would give the main group plenty of notice of anything that might challenge them along the path, but would keep the scouts close enough that they could return to the main group if anything attacked them.

Luuk knew he could not lose any men, he really should have taken another fist with him but he didn't trust Beckmin to make it back to base with any fewer men and he needed Freeman to be his safety net. Freeman had to have enough manpower to make it back to base if Luuk failed to make it.

Luuk looked at the men he had with him. They were all young men, single. They were chosen for this duty because they had the fewest people relying on them back home. Odd that Luuk, an old veteran, would have more in common with these young men than with the other soldiers his same age. Luuk had never started a family. He was a soldier, nothing more nothing less.

After a few hours of jogging through these woods Luuk called for a short break. He wanted to keep the men fresh. He walked among them, talking with a man here, making a comment there. Making sure each man knew he was crucial to the mission.

Luuk studied his men. They were ready. He knew he had picked the right group when then men were all ready to go, no questions or grumbling when he declared the break over.

The forest didn't change visually as they moved towards the border, but there was a change. Luuk couldn't put the difference into words, but there was a difference. He estimated they were thirty miles from the border.

Luuk scratched absently at his left arm as he jogged along with his men. The morning passed quickly as the miles were traveled. Luuk called over his two fist leaders Williams and Fedor over to talk with him. He told them he wanted to keep moving as fast as possible so he was going to call for a quick meal break but the men would have to eat and then move out again. Williams and Fedor nodded and moved off to let their men know.

Once they reached a clearing big enough for the entire group the men stopped running and started preparing a quick meal. The men were efficient, setting up small fires for tea, warming themselves as they prepared the meal.

Luuk waved away anyone who offered him food. He was not hungry, he just wanted to get the men moving again. He made sure each man got a chance to eat and warm themselves by a cook fire.

He ordered the men to douse the fires and prepare to continue moving. He also told them they would not be running any further, they would be walking, they needed to keep moving almost until dark and needed to conserve energy.

“Lets move out!” He yelled, moving himself off into the woods.

He had walked at the point for almost an hour when Fedor approached him.

“Sir, should I send for a healer?” Fedor asked Luuk.

“I'm fine, Fedor. Why do you ask?”

“You have been rubbing your arm all day. The men are starting to comment about it.” Fedor told his commander.

Luuk drew back his hand from where he was scratching at his hand. He looked down at his left arm and saw that there was a long shallow gash running from his left wrist down the outside of his forarm to his elbow.

“It's nothing.” Luuk told Fedor, “I'll take a look at it when we stop tonight.”

Luuk left Fedor and allowed some of the men to pass him by. Luuk studied his men again. He thought the were just as prepared as when he saw them earlier but as they moved closer to the corrupted lands they seemed more uptight. There was more stress the men moved with more stiffness, not physical stiffness, but a mental knot was there in the men's eyes.

Luuk decided that he needed his men fresher rather than closer to the border of the corrupted lands. He wlked with his men for another hour and then called them together.

“That is far enough for today, we will continue tomorrow.” He told the men. “Let's see if we can find a good camp site.”

The men smiled as the group moved off to find a good camp site. If was still an hour or more before dark, but the payoff would be in morale rather than distance traveled.

The men quickly found a clearing they could all camp in comfortably and started to set up a camp. The men started by searching the area and setting up guard positions around the clearing. Men started up cook fires while others set up temporary shelters. Withing a few minutes the camp was ready. Luuk had given himself cook duties, so as the men came to the cook fire he was ready with the other two soldiers who were cooking to server them a simple but warm stew.

Luuk worried a bit about supplies. With the wildlife all fled or taken by the enemy force they encountered in the last town they would have to rely on whatever supplies they had brought with them.

The men ate and returned to their own duties. It did not take long to feed all the men. Luuk excused himself and toured the camp. He made sure to visit each guard post. He circled the camp three times with the scouts and then finally retied to his assigned spot in the common shelters.

Luuk fell into a deep sleep and began to dream of the attack in the town. He saw the battle from many points of view. From the rooftops standing with the archers. From the front lines. From the eyes of the enemy. From high above the street.

As the night went on he was bothered by the fact that each time he switched views his men seemed to be dong worse and worse in the battle. The battle started to turn into a rout of his men. The men on the rooftops started the night a few men firing into the mass of men in the street. After a while there seemed to be scores of men on the rooftops. Luuk started to wonder about the archers as there were more men in the rooftops than he had under his command. What did the dream mean?

Luuk woke in the middle of the night in a sweat. He looked over the dark camp and saw his men walking along the perimeter, standing guard. Luuk thought about the dreams, the nightmares he was having and what his mind was trying to tell him. Absently he rubbed at his left hand. Eventually he went back to sleep and returned to the odd dreams.

This time it was different. His dreams were earlier he was talking with Greg in the middle of the street. The dead but not dead cat in Luuk's hands, then clawing and biting at his hand and arm. Luuk through the monster the the ground and Greg pinned it down with his knife.

The dream restarted. The cat was in Luuk's arms. Luuk looked down at the creature as if bit into his hand. Luuk through beast to the ground and Greg reached for his knife.

The dream restarted. Luuk was petting the cat and it playfully scratched at his hand. One scratch went to far dragging the nail deep into Luuk's flesh. Luuk dropped the cat as Greg turned to grab his knife.

The dream restarted. Luuk was petting the cat and talking with Greg. Greg reached out to Luuk to grasp the cat. Luuk pulled away from Greg and a shaft of a war arrow burst from Greg's chest. Luuk continued to pet the cat.

Luuk awoke in the morning to find the wound on his arm throbbing. He was bothered by the dreams wondering what it was his mind was trying to tell him. He carefully wrapped the wound in a bandage and got ready for the day to come.

Fedor came to give him a report. Two men had gone missing during the night. No one saw where they had gone and no signs of battle were anywhere.

Luuk ate a quick breakfast and addressed his men. “We have to leave and continue our mission. You all saw what happened back in town. The men we lost last night may come back today, but we can not trust them. If they are seen they are to be immediately taken down. Don't kill them unless you absolutely have to but do not risk yourself or this unit to avoid it.”

The men looked at him, they understood, but they didn't like it.

“Let's move out, we have a long walk ahead of us today.”