Shadows in the Smoke - 27 - A Change of Command

"It is fortunate that the Lands of the Dead have such a backwards political system. The Lands of the Dead suffer for a myriad of reasons, but one such reason is their backwards political system. Organising a society on the basis of power and allowing the abuse of anyone weaker is both inefficient and morally wrong. Like the Empire, the Liche Kings cannot benefit form the true potential of their subjects because of their disgusting policies."

The Struggle for Freedom by Bjarne Midthun

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Without thinking Ester focused her magic. Almost too quick to register, bands of runes flared around the barrels of the hand cannons, crushing them flat.

A fraction of a second later, the closer soldier's weapon boomed. Flames exploded from the back of it and he dropped it with a shriek, clutching frantically at his face.

No one even looked at him. Two of the Republican officers accompanying the fort's commander practically leapt into casting poses, sideways on with a hand outstretched.

Ester just stood there, breathing heavily with her hands at her sides as her eyes flicked from Republican to Republican. Was this it. Had she been betrayed? Great Spirits, was she going to end up dead because she'd been too trusting, or worse, because of a stupid misunderstanding?

"For fuck's sake!" Lindholm thrust herself between Ester and the two Republican officers. "You, Captain, get the soldier medical attention." She turned her attention to the two Arcanists. "Put your hands down. You look ridiculous. Mage Mazar, do not even think of casting anything it would be inconvenient if I had to kill you."

With a deep breath, Ester forced her fists to unclench. She kept her mind focused, balancing on a razor's edge of magic, ready to lash out at the slightest provocation. Opposite her the Republican officers lowered their hands, but didn't take their eyes off her.

"He was going to shoot me!" She'd have died if she hadn't done anything!

"Yes and you made sure he paid for it."

That wasn't what she'd done, she was defending herself, not punishing him! Before Ester could voice her protest, Commander Sundt pushed his way through the officers to stand next to Lindholm.

"Who is this woman and why are you not arresting her? She just attacked two of my men!"

Ester's furious look faded slightly when Lindholm looked at him like he was something on the bottom of her shoe. "This is Mage Ester Mazar, she is here as a diplomatic liaison, which you would have found out if your guard had not threateend to shoot her."

"A Mage?!" His voice rose to a shriek. "You brought a crown-licker into my fort without telling me?! You were going to have her join our briefing? Are you a traitor or just mad?"

Ester could have sworn the temperature in the corridor dropped several degrees.

"You will address me as Arcanist-Colonel, Commander. You should have been informed of her presence before my arrival, I am not a messenger girl. As it is, your reaction was unacceptable. You could have asked who she was, and if you truly thought she was an infiltrator, you also broke procedure, as you should know. We do not shout accusations at potential vampires. We play along until we are sure we can secure them. Otherwise, people die."

"Arcanist-Colonel, I-"

"As for Mage Mazar, she can hear your briefing. I doubt that learning we are surrounded is going to be of much interest to the Empire when she eventually returns there. I am sure you can restrain yourself from revealing any state secrets."

"This is-"

"Do I need to remove you from your position Commander? I can assure you I am considering it after seeing the mess you have made of things."

"I am in command of this fort, with orders directly from High Command. You can't do that!"

"Can I not? Unless your next words are 'Yes, Arcanist-Colonel', you will find out."

The commander stared at Lindholm for a second, his mouth working silently until he suddenly slumped. "Yes, Arcanist-Colonel." He brought his fist to his chest in a salute.

"Very good. Right, I am tired and hungry. Get on with it."

As everyone started forward, Ester let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. None of the Republicans looked at her as she followed them into the briefing room.

Inside, there was a table with a map spread out over it. She craned her neck to try to see past the Republican officers. It showed the fort at the centre and then there were various figurines placed in and around it. Presumably the white ones in the centre were Republican and the black ones were undead. She took them in with a sinking feeling. There were a lot of black ones.

"Ahem." Commander Sundt cleared his throat, taking on an officious, precise tone that contrasted with the nervous glances he kept shooting at Lindholm. "We have been pressed hard over the last two months by repeated assaults from the undead. I am reasonably confident that a liche of some seniority and power has taken direct control of their forces here. At least an Ossarch."

What was an Ossarch? Was it different to a liche-king? Ester couldn't help but notice the way several of the 13th's officers had winced. She'd thought liches were just liches.

"At least an Ossarch? So you think it might even be one of their Sovereigns?" Lindholm sounded unimpressed.

"Perhaps."

"It is not."

"How can you know that?"

"If one of the Sovereigns of the Lands of the Dead was here, Fort Statvinger would not still be in the Republic's hands. As it is, I doubt it is anything more than an Exarch."

"How can you say that?! This is one of the greatest forts we field and you say we could not hold?"

"Yes. Continue."

Commander Sundt visible struggled to get himself under control. "Very well, Arcanist-Colonel, as you wish. Regardless, there is a liche of considerable strength leading their efforts. I sent for assistance when they first started pressing us. That is why we called for reinforcements."

"We got out deployment orders because of that, but then there was nothing more. Are you telling me that for the last six weeks you have been unable to contact a railhead that is two days' hard march away?"

"I sent messages, but never heard anything back. I even sent whole squads. The undead's lines are not solid around us, but they have infested the forests and murder anyone on the road south. I am sure with all of the soldiers in the fort I could break out, but then what? I would have abandoned the lynchpin of this sector's defences. I'd have been lucky if they just shot me."

"Hmm. So, you have a soft encirclement and you have allowed us to put our heads straight into the noose." A smile crept its way across Lindholm's face and she glanced around her officers. "We are outnumbered, surrounded and facing a powerful liche. Excellent."

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"Excellent?" Commander Sundt goggled at Lindholm. Ester wanted to too. "I am pleased your forces are here, Arcanist-Colonel, but I do not see why the situation is excellent."

Lindholm ignored him. "Here, these are the undead's lines?" She pointed at the map.

"Huh? Yes. They have set up camp out of range of cannon or magic in an arc across the north. Then they have smaller units moving all around us with a deep penetration through our lines. We haven't been able to gather much information on them, but we know there are infiltrators, backed by ghouls and carrionbound. They don't have the numbers to have solid lines, but anyone who leaves the safety of the fort vanishes. Whole squads just disappear."

"What about our own blocking units?"

"Dead or fled, I haven't had any contact with them in weeks."

Lindholm sighed. "That is the problem with static fortifications when you are dealing with something like the undead. I keep telling them, but they never listen. Fine. I shall deal with this situation. Commander Sundt, I am taking command of the front here. You and your men will be subject to my orders and I expect them to be followed to the letter."

The Commander's jaw worked for a second and then he nodded sharply. "Yes, Arcanist-Colonel. I understand."

"Good. Now, Gaarder." A tall, young blonde man wearing the badges of an Arcanist-Captain straightened slightly and saluted with his fist to his chest. "Get some sleep. First thing in the morning, you will take your company and break for the south. News of the situation here needs to get to the south. Do try to survive, but in this case your mission matters more. Someone must get through."

"Yes, Arcanist-Colonel. We will get through."

"Thank you. Commander Sundt will assign someone from this own troops who knows the area to assist you. Now, go."

Gaarder saluted again and headed out. Ester looked after him, wide-eyed. Had Lindholm just ordered him onto a suicide mission? They'd managed to get past the undead attacks, but she wasn't sure how big a company was. Or how good an Arcanist Gaarder was. Maybe Lindholm had just given him the only chance any of them would have at surviving? Would the rest of them just stay here in the fort, desperately trying to hold against hordes of undead while help never came? She started running through spells in her head. What could destroy the most people at once?

"Very well," Lindholm turned back to the map. "At present there is little we can do about small groups of undead being behind our lines. They will most likely fade away in the face of any attempt at sortieing in strength and sending smaller units after them risks our forces being taken apart piecemeal. As for the main body of their force, I presume we are significantly outmatched in open battle?"

Commander Sundt nodded. "Yes, Arcanist-Colonel. That is why I've been unable to do anything to fight them off. They sit outside our range and pin us in place, while sending in occasional probing attacks."

"Hmm. I would not say there is nothing we can do. Let me see, how long will our food, drink and ammunition last, Commander?"

"Not as long as I might like, Arcanist-Colonel. We have months of ammunition for my troops. With the 13th here as well, it will not last as long. Water will not be a problem, we have our own plentiful supply within the fort."

"Any risk of corruption to it?"

"No, it comes from a spring within the hill. There is no way for the undead to reach it."

"No way that you know of."

"Well, yes… As for food, we have perhaps a month's worth. Longer if we ration it, but that will weaken the troops."

"I see. Well, the good news is that hopefully help will be with us well before the month is up. Now, the undead camps, you say they are out of range of your Arcanists. How many do you have?"

"Four, Arcanist-Colonel, plus however many you brought with the 13th."

"Four." She didn't look happy about that. "And where does the most powerful sit on the Frandsen-Brunsvold Scale?"

"Should we be discussing that in front of…?" The Commander glanced at Ester.

"Is it a state secret? Do you have someone of exceptional power here?"

"No… our strongest is approximately 25." Ester frowned. What did that mean? It must be some measure of magical power, but that didn't tell her anything. How did a 25 compare to her? Lindholm's expression suggested it wasn't very impressive, but she had nothing to compare it against.

"A pity. Fortunately we have stronger in the 13th. Now, let us discuss what efforts you have made to take on the undead."

Ester stifled a yawn as they started to get into details. Despite her tiredness, she was determined to memorise every single word that was said.

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The next morning, Ester woke up early. She was still half-asleep by the time she'd managed to complete her morning ablutions and make herself presentable: it had ended up being a very late night, but she had no intention of missing anything.

The news that they were effectively surrounded was frightening. But she couldn't let that affect her. Lindholm hadn't seemed all that worried and she was the Republicans' leader. Something must have gone wrong though. From what Sonja had said, there was no way the Republicans would have sent her into a situation where she might be trapped and die. It would hardly help relations with the Empire if they went and got her killed after all.

Ester yawned, stretched up onto her tiptoes, made sure her dress was neat and then opened the door to her small room. Apparently having her own room was something of a luxury here. It was lucky she was used to living plain accommodation, she couldn't imagine someone like Mohsen or Negin Miri putting up with the spartan room she'd been assigned.

"Good morning, Mage Mazar." Ester jumped and whirled to face the speaker.

"Ah, uh, Arcanist-Subaltern Jakob. Good morning." What was he doing here?

"I hope you slept well. I am to be your escort for today."

Ester's eyes narrowed. She didn't need an escort! "My escort? I would not want to inconvenience you, Arcanist-Subaltern."

"It's no bother." He certainly looked bothered. "Arcanist-Colonel Lindholm just wanted to make sure that there were no more incidents like last nights."

"I see." She wasn't going to blush. That hadn't been her fault, but maybe an escort wouldn't be such a bad thing if that might happen again. "Well then, thank you for your assistance and I do apologise for taking up your day." She was going to be diplomatic. She was!

"As I said, it's no bother. Now, perhaps you'd like some breakfast and then what would you like to do? You'll soon find that life at the front is more boring than you might think. It mostly involves waiting for things to happen."

"Thank you, Arcanist-Subaltern. I will n-" Ester was cut off by her stomach rumbling. Actually, maybe food was a good idea. "Breakfast would be delightful and then…" She paused to think. "Perhaps I could visit the walls and see what the enemy looks like? If it would not be too dangerous for me." She couldn't quite keep the hint of sarcasm out of her voice and took a small amount of satisfaction when Jakob frowned in response.

"Of course, Mage Mazar. I have no doubt we will be able to keep you out of danger. The undead are sitting out of range of strikes from the fort, but that also means that we are out of range of their own magic. You'll see soon enough, but first let's eat. It won't be of the quality you're used to, but we get by."

Ester sighed as she followed him. Diplomacy. "I am sure it will be more than adequate."

It didn't take more than a couple of minutes of walking through the fort's twisting tunnels to reach what seemed to be its canteen. Or maybe just one of them.

Jakob directed her to pick up a bowl and join a short queue of Republican soldiers leading to a counter. Each of them placed their bowl on it to receive a ladle full of some kind of stew. It didn't look particularly appetising

By the time she reached the front of the queue, Ester felt like every eye in the small hall was on her. Did they all know who she was already? Was it because she was from the Empire or because of what happened last night? With only the slightest hesitation she put her bowl on the counter to be filled with the dubious brown liquid.

The… cook? She wasn't sure if he deserved that title, scowled at her, dipped his ladle just under the surface of the stew and deposited its watery contents into her bowl before pointedly turning his attention to Jakob behind her.

"Thank you, Citizen." She was going to be polite; however unreasonable these people were. Ester picked up her bowl and stepped aside.

A couple of seconds later, Jakob was done. The cook had definitely dipped the ladle deeper into the stew for him; his bowl had lumps of meat in it.

"Come on, let's find somewhere to sit."

As Ester followed him through the crowded hall, hostile stares followed her. Jakob headed towards a table with a few junior officers sat talking on it. While they were eating the same food, the officers didn't seem to sit with the common soldiers. So much for Republican equality.

The young men glanced up at the two of them and then pushed their seats back and stood, muttering about having business to attend to. Jakob sighed and sat down at the now empty table. Ester had to resist the urge to sigh herself. Was this what she was going to have to put up with for the next few months? It wasn't fair. She was putting so much effort into being polite and diplomatic to them, even though they were Republicans and she was meant to be their guest. Still, what more could you expect from a Republican? She'd show them. Sooner or later they'd see what it meant to be a Mage in the Empire.

Jakob didn't seem to be inclined to say anything, just spooning stew into his mouth, so Ester looked down at her own food. It was barely a stew; more of a watery broth. Jakob's looked far thicker.

She ate a mouthful and had to stop herself from wincing at the taste. Acrid, unfamiliar spices burnt at her tongue. It wasn't disgusting or foul, but it was strange and not particularly nice. Still, she was hungry and they probably already thought she was some pampered nobleborn.

Heroes and adventurers often had to eat horrible things to survive. If she'd wanted good food, she could have asked to serve her indenture making Schemas in Trevayn. It would probably have made the Professors at the Academy much happier if she had. As it was, she was here to serve the Empire and she'd put up with worse if she had to.

Ester spooned up another mouthful. She'd eat every bite and pretend she enjoyed it. However much she missed home. As she did, her mind started to work. If she was going to make a success of her time here, she needed to do something more than just follow Jakob, or whatever other resentful young man was assigned to watch her, around. She was going to have to do something to prove herself. To show these soldiers that she was useful and that she wasn't their enemy.

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