Cole led Tyler’s group of twenty men through the deserted, darkened streets. A few wispy clouds blocked some of the moon’s light, but so far, the group had enough light to navigate, so they left their torches unlit. They didn’t bother attempting to be stealthy since a group that size had no hope of concealment if any eyes watched them. So far, though, the streets remained empty.

The group from Enderton passed without noticing the bodies of the two men posted as a watch at the edge of town. Cole had seen since when he snuck by them on the way out of the village, they had still been upright and breathing. I’m glad she’s on our side, he thought about Mindy for the third time that week as he remembered pale, lifeless faces of the bodies.

Cole shivered, though the night was warm, and took a deep breath to steel his nerves. Here comes the tricky bit. If we can capture their leadership, we might be able to win our town back without losing any of our men’s lives. He wasn’t sure when he had started thinking of the men from Enderton as “ours,” but risking life and limb together seemed to have a way of forging bonds.

He started to hear the sounds of moaning and pain from several of the houses they passed. Have to hurry. The poison is taking effect.

Finally, they arrived at their destination. “This is it,” Cole quickly spoke in a low voice. “The house their command staff took over. My house, in fact. Hearth and table to the right, beds to the left. I don’t know where they will be.”

Tyler moved his weapon hammer back to the full-cocked position, and the men lined up by the door.

I’m amazed we’re still undiscovered, Cole thought, as the moments felt like they lasted hours. Tyler took the time to peer in through the crack by the door. Seeing no locking bar across the gap, he grabbed the handle and prepared to yank open the door.

From behind, Tyler heard someone exclaim, “What?” His heart sank as he turned his head to look with the rest of the squad. They saw the soldier that had appeared from around the corner. Half the guns turned to track the unfortunate man as he struggled to pull his sword from its sheath in the dim light.

Two of Tyler’s squad started toward the soldier. Then someone in the squad squeezed their trigger.

No! Tyler yelled mentally, but it was too late. A smattering of gunfire rang out, and the enemy fell limply to the dusty street. Surprise lost, Tyler shouted, “Form up! On me!”

Those men who hadn’t wasted their shot pushed forward. The rest grabbed at their belt pouches for a new cartridge.

Tyler didn’t wait, hearing the sounds from inside the building sharply increase. He wrenched the door wide open and barreled in.

To the left, he saw a man coming out of a doorway from the room beyond, holding a pair of boots. Tyler quickly looked to the right where two men approached the door with half-drawn swords.

Tyler spun towards the men on the right and aimed at the closest man’s chest. The boom shook his whole frame, and he saw the man start to slump and fall forward. The other man came at him, thrusting the polished tip of the sword, glittering in the lamplight, straight towards his chest.

Another echoing boom went off as the squad members rushed in. An unlucky piece of pottery on a far shelf shattered, shards flying in the air. A third thunderous roar shook the room, and finally, the oncoming sword point turned weakly to the side.

Tyler spun, the flintlock held in his hands like a club, looking for the third man. The enemy was nowhere to be found, and the fighters rushed into the other room, looking for threats.

Tyler heard shouts from the opening. “I yield! I yield!” When he entered, he saw a bare-foot, cowering man that his teammates quickly knocked the rest of the way to the floor. Tyler saw a fourth man lying on a bed. The man's face was filled more with anger than fear.

“Who is in charge?” Tyler yelled, and his voice reverberated throughout the room.

“It used to be me,” the man on the bed replied.

He has only one arm, Tyler noticed.

The man continued, “Now, the company is led by that sniveling coward over there,” he gestured with his remaining hand.

Tyler grabbed the man and jerked him upright. A squad member to his left grabbed the sword from the sobbing man’s belt, and the man on the right caught his shoulder.

Tyler got right in the man’s face and spoke in a tone that brooked no argument. “We will march you out these doors, and in your loudest voice, you will yell that you and your men surrender. All around town, you order your men to stand down. Understand?”

The man choked back his tears and managed a nod.

“Alright,” Tyler grabbed the back of the man’s shirt collar and propelled him towards the door. “Be convincing, because if we are attacked, you will be the first to feel the pain.”

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---

Jason heard the sounds of distant thunder while his men were several hundred yards outside the town. So much for peaceful capture, Jason thought. Plan B, then.

“Light ‘em up!” he called out.

The group quickly pulled out several shuttered lanterns and touched the ends of their match cord to the flame, then placed them into the holder on the gun locks. After a minute of the group’s preparations, Jason still hadn’t heard further gunfire. That’s either very good or very bad. Time for us to do our part, he thought as he saw the men finishing up.

The men formed a moving wall as they advanced down the street. They ignored the houses to the outskirts of the town, Cole having told them that the soldiers all bunked near the center.

When they got further into town, they began knocking on doors, four or five men at each, with all the groups within sight of each other to call for reinforcements as needed. Jason’s forces waited a short amount of time before escalating their actions. Most of the townspeople opened their doors. Several families waited to respond until the more substantial threats started.

“No answer over here,” one of the teams called out. Another group, one with an ax, joined them and started hacking at one of the shuttered windows. A few seconds later, the covering was converted to kindling, and two soldiers got boosted up with a lamp handed in soon afterward.

“There’s no one here,” the call came back, and the men came out the front door.

They moved down the street, house by house. Some houses concealed soldiers that surrendered. Some buildings had been evacuated recently, judging by lit fires and overturned chairs.

Some contained men huddled on the floor in excruciating pain. Jason forced himself to meet their frenzied eyes; to take responsibility for his choices. I’d like never to have to do this again, he thought. But if it comes down to my people or theirs, I’ll choose the life of my men every time.

Still, that’s a terrible way to go.

Leaving the house he was in, Jason looked up at the moon as it slowly drifted across the sky. It will be a miracle if we’re done before that sets. It’s going to be a long, dark night for more than one reason.

---

The two soldiers crouched in the shadow of a small house, looking down the street. They saw the intimidating wraiths with their weapons of lightning and thunder moving down the street in their direction, pummeling each door they came across and questioning or capturing the occupants. A red ember burned in the dark by each man, the eerie glow seemingly evidence of the force’s sinister purpose.

“We’re not getting out that way,” the first soldier said to his companion. “We’ll have to head toward the river.”

They shrank back into the darkness beside the structure and headed north. Hopping from building to building, they stayed ahead of the net of danger that was sweeping through the town.

Finally, they reached the final cluster of buildings that approached the water’s edge. Nerves still on edge, they peered out into the darkness, hoping to find some evidence of safety.

Both men swore almost simultaneously as they made out small pinpricks of the glowing embers ahead. “What are we going to do now?” one of the men whispered.

“I don’t know,” a voice whispered back. “Perhaps surrender?”

The two men looked at each other, suddenly neither of them had spoken. They slowly turned and looked rearward to the pile of barrels and equipment they had avoided in the dark.

“Easy,” The voice of the third man said. “If you want to live, no sudden movements. Unless you want to die a sudden, tragic death.”

The two soldiers lifted their hands, palms up, to show they were unarmed. “We surrender sirs.”

“You are smarter than you look,” the voice hidden within the shadows said, then called out in a low tone, “two more for you.”

Five men ran out of the building, grabbed the two, and hauled them inside where they were bound and gagged. With no evidence left behind, the jaws of the trap were reset, waiting again for new prey to arrive.

---

It was one hour until daybreak when Jason and Tyler agreed that they had searched the whole town and likely uncovered any soldiers still hiding within it. The final tally of the enemies revealed 36 men captured and relatively unwounded, 41 significantly affected by the poison the townspeople had managed to spike the alcohol with, and seven dead or dying.

Jason and Tyler reached the cluster of houses where prisoners were kept, still bound. The lord asked how many people had been stationed here, but he was met wildly differing answers.

“One hundred twenty,” the one-armed former commander claimed. “Ninety-five,” his replacement assured the lord. The other soldier’s varied answers only added to the confusion.

How is it that there’s anywhere from ten to forty men who we can’t account for? I expected some to be missing, but I didn’t think they wouldn’t even know how many men they had.

“Tyler, what do you make of this? Why the discrepancy in headcounts?”

“Probably desertions,” the large man replied, shrugging his shoulders. “They likely were not excited to keep a record of how many of their men abandoned them. It is an age-old officer’s trick - if you can pass off the problem of reporting the losses, whether of men or supplies, to your successor, then your record can stay untarnished.”

Jason shook his head. “I don’t see how you can run a successful military if the top brass doesn't know what they really have to work with, but that’s a thought for another time. What do we need to do now?” Jason asked as they left the crowded building.

Samantha, who had been waiting outside for him, caught the question and jumped in as they walked. “Did we send a messenger to the other town?”

Jason looked at Tyler. “We did. I sent a rider on horseback as soon as it was clear we would succeed in capturing the town.”

“Liberating,” Jason corrected. “Not capturing, liberating. We must be clear that these townsfolk are being set free to be part of our kingdom, not captured.”

“All right, sire. Liberating it is,” Tyler humored him.

“Thank you,” Jason smiled. “And speaking of liberty, I hope the next town’s liberation goes smoothly.”

“Me too,” Sam commented, as the three walked through the streets of their new town, the first addition to the kingdom. “Did they ever tell you how they were going to do it?”

“Segar never did tell me, and I never directly asked,” Jason admitted. “He just said they’d be able to burn out the corruption.”

“Well, however they do it,” Jason stated, “It should be happening any minute now.”