Chapter 3.5 – The Ambush

Ninth Day of Learning 1127 (15 years ago)

Many things could be said about Bad Sato, a moniker he had more than earned. You could say that he had a violent streak. You could say that though he was an excellent fighter, he often took on more than he could handle. That his first impulse was to reach for a weapon. What you couldn’t say was that he wasn’t able to handle himself in a fight.

Even now, standing with Jenn on a narrow walkway between two long drops with six giant rock wasps approaching from all directions, he was ready to go to war. He had a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. He preferred short straight double-sided blades, like the one he now in his right hand. The dagger in his left was curved with a barbed tip. It was a dagger that did just as much damage emerging from a wound as it did entering, particularly if you twisted it on the way out.

The wasps, of course, were unaware of Sato’s temperment, prowess, or naturally violent inclination. They saw only bodies they could incapacitate and lay their eggs in, so while they were wary of the screaming human, they weren’t scared of it. After all, they only had to knock it over the edge to accomplish their objective.

The smaller human they ignored, in spite of the fact that she was dangerous in her own right. Sato’s aggression drew their attenion, allowing Jenn to fire off arrow after arrow at their attackers.

A third of those arrows missed, as the wasps were able to hover and change direction, and did so often. Even the arrows that hit, didn’t all penetrate their hardened exoskeleons. But a couple did, and it was enough to deter at least a few wasps from attacking.

But four of them dove at Sato, and, predictably, he met their attack with a broad smile. This was what Sato liked best. The thrill of fighting against overwhelming odds. He struck the first of the wasps away with the flat of his blade. He swiped with his dagger at another, but it darted away undamaged. The third came directly at him, and fell in two halves at his feet. Five to go.

The fourth wasp darted around him and tried to attack him from behind. Sato was used to fighting alone, but he was part of a team now. If he were to win this fight, he had to depend on others. In this case, that meant Jenn, who he didn’t know well at all. Still, he couldn’t turn to face the wasp behind him without exposing his back to the one in front of him. So he struck out with his sword, blocked and stabbed with his dagger, and dodged or sidestepped whatever he could, hoping that Jenn was capable of picking up the slack.

He heard the sound of a bowstring, the satisfying sound of an arrow striking its target and the even more satisfying sound of a creature falling to the floor somewhere behind him. He risked a glance and saw Jenn dropping her bow in favor of the sword she wore on her belt.

Unlike Sato, it seemed she preferred a curved blade, probably because she thought it looked cool. Though he had to admit, this was a particularly good looking blade. The blade was too thin to be a cutlas, but it was too short to be a scimitar. He hadn’t seen many like it.

That was about all the time he had for reflection, as the wasps had regrouped and were on their way in for the next attack.

The rest of the team was too far away to help, or so they thought, when Mauri, the most experienced of them, leapt from where he had been, across two ravines to land on the platform with Sato and Jenn.

Sato stared at him. “Are you crazy?”

“Yes,” said Mauri matter of factly. Then he draw a double-bladed two-handed sword and took a position to Soto’s left.

The wasps looked like they were about to attack, when a ball of energy from out of nowhere smashed into one. It went limp and fell back into the chasm. Sato risked and glance and saw that Tiny had used a scepter to attack it. Wasn’t she a healer?

Another wasp was taken down by a bolt of lighting that came from Auzz’s staff. One second it was there, the next it was ash. Neat trick, that.

Osdor couldn’t reach the melee, but she did cast buffs on them. Sato could feel his strength and precision increase. He could feel healing energy suffuse him, though he wasn’t injured. Still it refreshed him. Made him ready for what would come next…or so he thought.

What came next was six more wasps flying out of the canyons on either side. He couldn’t help but think that they looked angry.

*

When the first two wasps flew out of the canyon, Gallen started worrying. When four more followed, Gallen felt real fear. But when the final six appeared, something changed. Gallen did what he always did. He shoved that fear into a box, and hid it deep inside. He’d been taught the lesson over and over. Fear had no place on the battlefield.

He knew he couldn’t get to his men as fast as Mauri had, so he did the next best thing. He encouraged some of the enemy to come to him. Gallen had never been great with a bow, but he did carry a sling, which had the advantage of not requiring arrows. As long as there were some sizable rocks around, he had ammunition. In addition, he always carried half a dozen sling bullets in his pouch. Made of hardened clay, the bullets packed a punch. They wouldn’t pierce like an arrow of course, but they could so some serious damage if you were good enough.

He loaded his sling and aimed for the closest of the enemy, a black wasp that hovered menacingly, facing the original target. He swung the sling over his head and released. The bullet made a satisfying smack as it hit the creature’s body. It turned and flew toward him.

Tiny and Auzz realized what he was doing and followed suit, drawing some of the enemy away from Sato, Mauri and Jenn.

“I’m not going to be able to buff all of you,” shouted Osdor.

“Stay on them,” said Gallen. “We’re all ranged. We we can take them before they reach us.”

At least he hoped that was true.

Twelve wasps in total, four had been felled now, leaving eight enemies to deal with. Three of those enemies attacked Gallen’s group, leaving five for Sato’s. Well, Sato and Mauri were the heavy hitters. He wished them luck, before shifting his attention to his own attackers.

Four people, three wasps. Should be easy. One dove toward Osdor and she drove it off with her staff. Another attacked Tiny, but Auzz fried it with a lightning strike.

“How are you on mana?” asked Gallen.

Auzz shrugged. “I’m okay. It’s a surprisingly low cost spell.”

“Well, pace yourself. You don’t want to run dry at a critical moment.”

Auzz nodded, but Gallen didn’t see. He was busy with the final wasp, which chose that moment to dive at him. Gallen dropped his sling and pulled a sword from his belt. He had a buckler behind him, and in one swift motion, reached back and managed to position it so he could start fighting immediately. He’d practiced that maneuver for hours, until he had it right. It seemed crazy to him that some warriors didn’t have instance access to their shield. It seemed like the kind of thing you might need at a moment’s notice.

He found it easy enough to block the wasp’s attacks, but harder to pin it down for a hit. Finally frustrated, he smashed it with the shield when it dove for it’s next attack. This seems to enrage the creature, which came right back at him. His swiped missed and the creature struck him forcefully in the center of his chest.

He was surprised at the impact. It hit hard. He felt himself back up a step. He looked behind him and realize he was only a step away from the edge of the canyon. He moved forward again. The creature dove. He swiped again and again missed as it dodged aside at the last second. Amazing that it could m while airborne.

“Die you bastard!” yelled Sato. He must have killed another.

His wasp came at him again, and this time he hit it with his sword, but the blade just glanced off the insect’s hard carapace. He hated fighting giant insects. He’d have been better off with a mace or hammer. It came at him again and struck him, this time in the shoulder. Damn that hurt. Fortunately, it was higher on his body and he was able to maintain his balance.

“They’re trying to knock us off,” he shouted.

When it came at him again, he was ready for it. What he hadn’t been ready for was Mauri landing in front of him and killing the creature with one swipe of that huge sword. It startled him so much, he almost dodged backwards, which would have brought him over the edge.

“A little warning, maybe?”

“Sorry,” said Mauri. “Spur of the moment decision.”

The battle was over. All of them were dead. It didn’t seem possible. Of course, it didn’t mean there weren’t more of them in the canyons below.

“Head back, now,” he shouted.

He didn’t have to tell them twice. They made their way back out of the canyon maze, but nothing attacked them. Gallen breathed a sigh of relief. They moved further from the maze, and posted a watch.

“We’re not going to cross that area. Either we find a way across or head back now.”

“We’ve only been out here for three days,” said Jenn.

“That’s true. But if this is a barrier created by the Undead King to protect the entrance to his realm, I’d say we have enough information to bring back. We were lucky this time, but who knows what might happen the next. And we don’t even know how far across that maze goes.”

“That’s true,” said Mauri.

It didn’t take them that long to retrace their steps, but they remained vigilant throughout the retreat. The relief of making it back to safer footing was palpable.

Gallen suddenly felt thirsty. He took out his water skin and moved to raise it to his lips. It fell from his fingers. He looked down at it.

“What the hell?”

He opened and closed his hand. It felt stiff. Wrong somehow. He thought back to the battle.

“Hey, help me off with this chest piece.”

Like the rest of them, he wore hardened leather armor. Metal armor was expensive and they were all new. Most of the infantry would wear leather and it was better for scouting than metal anyway. At the very least you could move faster in it, and it made less noise.

Tiny was on him immediately. “How do you feel?” she said, beginning to unbuckle the straps that held his armor in place.

“I don’t know. I feel a tingling in my arm though.”

No one else said anything, but they all looked on concerned. When Tiny finally pulled the armor from him, she gasped. There was a hole in his right shoulder, red around the edges, with a web of black lines extending from it. So far it only touched the edge of his arm, but who knew if it might spread.

“You’ve been stung,” said Tiny, though it was obvious to everyone there.

“Can you do something for me?”

“I don’t know. I can try.”

“Anyone else?” asked Mauri.

No one answered.

“Lie down. Get comfortable,” said Tiny, bending down to pick up the water skin. “Have a drink.”

She waited until he’d followed her directions, then took her scepter and touched his arm, chanting a prayer to Sylinar. Nothing happened.

“Strange,” she said. “My spells worked earlier, but not my healing.”

“Is it a prayer or a spell,” asked Auzz.

“A prayer,” said Tiny.

“Well, we’re not connected to the gods here. Healing spells should work, but maybe not healing prayers. Do you have any healing spells?”

“No,” said Tiny.

It hadn’t occurred to any of them when they were setting out. If they couldn’t reach their gods, some of their skills might not work.

“What do we do now?” asked Jenn.

“We go back,” said Mauri. “We were under leveled for this mission. We’ve already taken a casualty on our first encounter. We’re not equipped for this, and we did learn something.”

“Jenn,” said Gallen. “Take Sato with you and scout east. See if there’s anything we need to concern ourselves with.”

“You should rest,” said Tiny.

Mauri was already shaking his head. “If this is venom, and we have no healing, we have to get him back to camp as soon as possible…or at least out of Xarinos.”

“Agreed,” said Gallen. “Help me get up on my horse.”

“It’ll be dark soon,” said Auzzman.

“I know.” Gallen looked pale and a fine sweat had broken out on his face. “But we should get as far as we can while light still holds.”

Though he was in charge, they all looked at Mauri, who nodded.

Auzz helped Gallen up and got him onto his horse. Everyone else mounted and were ready to ride off, when Sato and Jenn came into sight. They waited until the two approached.

“That was fast,” said Auzz.

“We got trouble,” said Jenn. “There are undead between us and our path back.”

“How many?” asked Gallen.

“Fifty, maybe a bit more.”

The all looked at Gallen. “You guys go out again. Let’s see if we can get around them.”

“You’re okay to travel?” asked Tiny.

“What choice do I have?”

When the road east, back towards camp, the easy going comradery that usually accompanied them was replaced with a sullen silence that wasn’t broken for a long time.

*

Gallen sat in the saddle, hunched over. Exhausted, resigned, worried they made their way long the canyon maze, heading north east, both toward and away from their base camp at the same time. The camp was now, more or less, directly south east. The rock wasp nest seemed to stretch forever. There could be little doubt it had been cultivated or placed deliberately to block entrance into the Undead King’s domain.

There wasn’t much to do as they continued, except think. Occasionally those thoughts would be interrupted as Jenn returned with a scouting report. No matter how far they rode, there were always groups of undead, some smaller, some larger between them and base camp, as if the undead were planning a massive offensive. And every hour that passed, Gallen felt weaker, and his shoulder ached more. Also the pain started moving down his arm. He wondered how long it would be before he could no longer stay in the saddle.

To distract himself, he looked around. To his left, the canyon maze, which he now knew to be a nest of giant wasps, stretched 0ut as far as he could see. To his right, hills of stone, supporting no animal larger than an insect, and no plants at all. They weren’t riding fast, but rather walking their horses, because the sound of so many horse hooves would echo through the hills. So slowly and steadily, they made their way east, away from their camp.

He must have lost consciousness at some point, because he was on the ground when he woke. The cold had seeped into his bones, making them ache. His parched throat couldn’t form words, and sweat dripped down his face and into his eyes, despite the chill. He blinked once, twice, three times, but his vision didn’t clear. There were voices in the distance, or maybe nearby, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. When he forced his head up to look around, he saw a figure sitting on the rock beside him—an impossible figure.

“Father?”

He doubted his eyes at first, but the man before him was his father, who looked much like an older version of Gallen. Short blond hair, blue eyes (bloodshot in his father’s case), beardless, and thin as a starving beggar.

Saul Burke had always been slender. As he aged, he looked frailer than he was, but he maintained a deceptive strength until the day he died. The day he died. He’d been sick, and there was nothing the healers could do. How could he be here? Was it possible? Did all the dead end up in the Plains of Xarinos.

Of course not, that was ludicrous. There wouldn’t be enough room for everyone who had ever died.

“Aye, my boy. I’m here.”

“No, you’re not.”

His father’s ghost chuckled. “No. I’m not.”

“Who are you, whatever you are?”

“You know who I am.”

“I’m dying. Is that why I can see you?”

“Mayhap, my boy. You’ve done yourself proud, making first scout at your age.”

“My mission is over. It’s failed.”

“Has it?”

He scowled and his father grinned at his annoyance. It felt so real. “We can’t return to share what we’ve learned.”

“How do you know? Can you see the future now?”

“Can’t you see that I’m dying?”

His father stood, his emaciated body looming. “I can’t see anything, because I’m not here. I’m a hallucination, nothing more. A fever dream. I’m not your father, boy.”

He studied the man, or hallucination of whatever the hell he was and realized how small his father had been. He was almost as short as his father, and nearly as thin as well. It had always bothered him. Other boys his age were bigger and stronger. If he were to win fights, he had to be faster and more skilled. As he refused to be bullied, he’d had his share of fights and learned something from every single one of them. But he never thought he’d be invited to join the town guard.

By chance, one of the guardsman had seen him fighting, and invited him to the palace. He never believed he could be a guard. He even asked Maynor about it after he’d been training with the guard for a while.

“There’s more to being a warrior than size. Some of the best fighters I’ve ever met were small. Being a warrior is about technique. It’s about precision. It’s about heart and courage. You have what it takes. That others are bigger won’t necessarily make them better with a blade. That comes with experience and practice. You may have to work harder than others, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem for you.”

Gallen had been surprised that Maynor had been paying attention. He looked at where his father had been, but the stone upon which he sat was now empty. Then he heard voices. They had been there all along, he realized, but he’d been too distracted to make out what they were saying. His friends were talking.

“We should leave him,” said Mauri. “We can’t save him, and the burden of keeping him with us might cost us the mission.”

“No!” said Sato. “There has to be a way through.”

“I don’t get it,” said Osdor. “How could they possibly have missed us?”

Tiny looked thoughtful. “Their scouts are going away from us. They have no reason to believe anyone would be attacking from the wasp’s nests.”

Mauri shook his head. “They know we’re here.”

“Then why haven’t they attacked?” asked Auzz.

Jenn’s voice sounded grim. “They’re trying to force us deeper, maybe. They don’t want us dead.”

“If they wanted us alive,” said Osdor, “they could capture us at any time.”

“That’s true,” said Mauri. “But maybe they’re just seeing what we’ll do. Testing us. Maybe we’re not the only ones on a scouting mission.”

“You have to leave me,” said Gallen, his voice so weak he didn’t recognize it. “One of you has to get back to report.”

“I can lead them away,” said Sato. “Cause a distraction. We can all ride and, hopefully, one of us gets through.”

“That sounds like a terrible plan,” said Gallen.

“Do you have another?” asked Mauri. “Our options are limited. We can go forward through the wasp nest, but we’ve seen how that’s worked out already, and we’re a man down. We can follow it along, hoping we find a break where we can go forward, but if we do, we’re getting further and further away from help. Gallen dies anyway, and we’re worse off than we are now. And if we try to face them without a distraction, we’ll all die. I think we have to let Sato try.”

No one spoke for a long time. Sato’s jaw was set in determination. Osdor looked fierce. Jenn looked excited, no doubt anticipating the mad flight through enemy territory. She always was a daredevil. Auzz frowned as if trying to think of an objection. Gallen sighed, resigned.

“Sato, are you sure you want to do this?”

Sato shrugged. “No. But what choice do we have? Sit and wait for them to find us? Take another shot at the wasps? Even if we could get through, we’d be going in the wrong direction. You’d die for sure.”

“I’m already dead. I know you don’t want to face it, but it’s true. When you guys ride out, I’ll be staying behind.”

The chorus of protests died as fast as it started when Gallen began a coughing fit that lasted several minutes. Tiny was beside him in a second.

“I wish I could do something for you,” she said, when he’d finally caught his breath. 

“You can. Leave me. Get home. That’s an order.”

Tiny bit her lip then nodded in determination. Mauri studied him.

“Anything you need? We can leave you some of our provisions.”

Gallen was already shaking his head. “Just go. Getting back and reporting is the only thing that matters. Make my death mean something.”

Mauri saluted, something he hardly ever did. The gesture tugged at Gallen’s heart. He returned the salute. Even that took more effort than it should have.

“How will we know when to go?” asked Jenn.

Sato grinned. “You’ll know. Take it easy, guys. Once you set out, don’t stop and don’t look back. I’ll see you lot in the next life.”

Before anyone could answer, he turned and strode away to his horse. No one spoke. Sato mounted and walked his mount west. He waited until he was almost out of sight, before breaking into a gallop away from them. The enemy would hear him and follow that sound. They had to. Which gave the group only a short time move.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” asked Tiny.

“It’s a bit late to change plans now,” said Gallen. “We all knew the risks. I’m okay.”

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“You haven’t done anything wrong. I asked for this.”

Mauri broke in. “It’s time. Everyone mount up. We ride hard but not together. If one of us gets through and makes it back, this mission will be successful.

It was the longest of long shots and everyone knew it. Gallen would have prayed if he thought Sheba could hear him—not that he had the energy to pray. No one looked at him as they made their way to their horses. No one wasted time on further goodbyes. That was good for him. He had enough regret without having to see the looks in everyone’s eyes.

They each left in a different direction, walking their horses at first, before mounting and taking off. He wished he had a better view of what was happening, but he couldn’t see well or far enough to track any individual rider.

“Gods speed,” he said, aloud. “You can do this.”

“No, they can’t.”

He jerked his head to the left and regretted it immediately. A tall, thin man he didn’t recognize stood nearby, arms crossed, staring at him.

“Are you another hallucination?”

“Fraid not. The name’s Tylex, and I’m reborn.”

“Reborn? You mean undead?”

“We don’t call ourselves undead. We’re reborn.”

“What do you want with me?”

“Just a chat. Would you like to complete your mission?”

“Of course.”

“Well, it’s too late to save you. But if you want, when you die, I can make sure you’re reborn so you can go back and report.”

“Why would you m?”

“Because you don’t know anything that would change the results of the war, and because once you’re one of us, you’ll understand the other side of the story.”

“And what side would that be?”

“We’ve done nothing more than defend ourselves. Death’s Doorstep has been attacking us for years, and we’ve put up with it. No human kingdom would have put up with those attacks as long as we have.”

“Why did you then?”

“Because the Undead King thought it was unwise to start a war with humans. He said he never works out well.”

“So you’re just going to let me go?”

“We’re going to make a deal. You’ll die and come back, and we’ll release you. You can return to your people and tell them anything you want…though I wouldn’t recommend you tell them you’re reborn.”

“Why is that?”

“Because once they know, they won’t believe that you’re still loyal to them. They’ll think you’re an agent of the Undead King. A trap. Whatever intel you’ve gathered will be seen as misinformation, and your mission will have truly failed.”

“If I return, they’ll expect me to fight you.”

“I know. The Undead King is okay with that. He expects you to kill many of us in the months to come.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Why do you want me to go home and report?”

“The Undead King likes the idea of having a reborn in the palace.”

“I won’t spy for you.”

“That’s okay. You don’t have to do anything you do want to. You’ll be forced into nothing. All you have to do is agree to die and come back.”

Gallen stopped and thought. This sounded almost too good to be true, which made it suspicious. “Let me ask you this. What’s to stop you from bringing me back once I die anyway. Why do you need my permission?”

“We don’t, but we’d prefer it. We want you to see that we’re not the monsters you people say we are.”

“And my companions?”

“They won’t make it.”

“How can you be so sure?” 

The man didn’t immediately answer. He stood up straight and spread his arms, as if delivering the final powerful note of a ballad. He closed his eyes. At first, nothing happened. Then Gallen heard sound—faint at first, but quickly growing louder. Buzzing. From behind the man, hundreds of giant rock wasps flew toward the plains. Tylex was correct. His friends wouldn’t survive.

“How the hell do you train a giant wasp?”

“They’re reborn as well. The Undead King can communicate with them.”

“And they obey?”

“Animals can’t say no. They obey instincts. The Undead King provides those instincts. With humans it’s different. We have free will even after being reborn.”

“I only have your word for that.”

“That’s true, you only have my word. But if you take me up on my offer, you’ll see things as they are. Are you so close-minded that you don’t want to know the truth?”

And there it was. A choice that was no choice at all. “Bring me back, so I can complete my mission.”

Gallen had expected Tylex to grin like a villain in a play, but that didn’t happen. He just stood watching, perhaps listening. Whatever was happening, Gallen could neither see nor hear it. For a long time neither man moved. The wind picked up, the first sign of a breeze he could remember since he’d opened his eyes.

“One of your team is about to be taken.”

“How do you know?”

“The Undead King has given me more powers than most reborn enjoy. I can look through the eyes of my troops. I can share that vision with you. Would you like that?”

What did you say to that? Did Gallen want to watch is people get subdued or killed one by one? Of course not. But if he didn’t, no one would be left to bear witness to their end. To tell their stories. To remember their sacrifice.

“Show me.”

Tylex closed his eyes and when he opened them again, Gallen saw a woman riding a horse through the waste. He didn’t have to wait for her to glance back to know it was Tiny. The angle at which he was seeing her was wrong, as if he were too high. And then he realized, he was seeing her through the eyes of one of the wasps.

Two others passed him and closed on her. She turned in the saddle and managed to get a couple of shots off with her scepter. Predictably, she hit nothing. Aiming at wasps flying from the back of a moving horse while turned in the saddle was a shot most couldn’t make.

The wasps flanked her and drew closer. She tried again with the same result.

“Come on, Tiny,” said Gallen, but he didn’t have much hope. Tiny specialized in healing, and while she could fight if she had to, she wasn’t going to be able to find off a couple of giant wasps. He drew closer and remembered that he was inside a wasp.

He didn’t want to watch. Didn’t want to see his friend fall. He knew what it would feel like without healing, and she wouldn’t be able to heal herself. One darted in and she swung her scepter at it as if it were a mace. The other darted in and stung her in the back of the neck. That quick and it was over.

She was still riding, still moving toward camp, but it had taken a while for the venom to affect him as well. He wondered how long it would be before she was no longer able to ride.

“You don’t need to do this,” said Gallen, the desperation in his voice made it sound almost like he was begging.

“Humans didn’t have to invade our territory.”

“And what about Death’s Doorstep. You invaded them first, did you not?”

“No. Death’s Doorstep invaded us first. They’ve been violating our sovereign border and attacking us for years.”

“I’ve never heard of this.”

“Of course not. You get news from Death’s Doorstep, not us. Let me ask you. If we’d told you? Sent a missive saying humans were attacking us, would you have sent aid?”

Gallen started to answer, but stopped himself. “No.”

“Of course not. So after many years of being attacked for no reason, we responded. Where is your sense of outrage for us?”

“You took out an entire city. You killed towns on the way to that city. Death’s Doorstep may never recover.”

Tylex shrugged. “We did that, yes. The man who ran Death’s Doorstep hated us, or at least said he did. In reality, he probably didn’t care about as at all. But he found that making people scared of us was a way to increase his political capital. He wanted people scared of us. He turned the entire population of Death’s Doorstep into enemies. People who would rather see us all dead. What else were we to do?”

Gallen didn’t have an answer. Even as he thought it, he saw Tiny slump in the saddle, and then fall to the rocky ground. He closed his eyes, but the vision was still there. Gallen dropped his head.

“The others will fall soon, just as easily. In fact, we’re in pursuit of all of them, but one. I don’t suppose you have any idea of where the one called Sato has gotten off to.”

“I do not, but I wouldn’t tell you if I did.”

Tylex nodded knowingly as if he had expected the answer.

“I don’t need to see more.”

“I thought you wanted to bear witness.”

“I thought I did too. But there’s no one I could tell about it. You’re going to bring them all back, aren’t you? They’ll be your soldiers.”

“Only if they choose to be. We don’t force anyone to fight.”

“Truly?”

“There are more than enough volunteers available. Perhaps it would be different if their weren’t. You should take your forces and go home, you know. You’ve never fought a battle like this. You’re not prepared.”

“That doesn’t sound like the kind of thing a general would say.”

Tylex raised an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting a general can’t have compassion?”

Gallen started to answer, then thought about King Terrence. “No, of course not.”

A wave of pain shot through him and he shuddered. Gallen closed his eyes.

“Not long now,” said Tylex.

“Aren’t you going to ask me if I have any last words?”

“I originally died over a hundred years ago. I’ve died twice since then. What you say now won’t be your last words.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Gallen didn’t open his eyes again, and didn’t say another word, but Tylex sat with him, keeping vigil, while Gallen Burke went about the business of dying. The world faded away bit by bit until even the pain left him.