When the General had come into his room once, to see me with bags on my feet and moving my legs, he did ask what I was doing.

He seemed to understand when I tried to tell him silently and I nodded when he asked if it was training.

I had to be fast!

The worst part was getting together things to make my own bag, so that I could continue with this training…

At first, I had made the bag too light…Then, I had made it that heavy that the bag broke and I had to do a whole new one!

But, finally, I found a good weight and I was able to start the training up once again!

Otherwise, for the time that I was there, I did what I had done the first time I had been with the General. Feed him, gave him water, bathed a certain degree of his body and ran away from him when he asked me to join him.

I massaged him, and we had some kind of communication going, even though I stayed mute.

It was strange…And somewhat special at the same time…

I had not seen Neil or Dilan yet, but now that I found a way to entertain myself, I didn’t particularly think of them much anyway.

The best time I had…Was when the General trained with me…Well that and…The time he spoke of himself and his past…

I would wake early, on purpose, and at first, I had watched him train, then I had tried to use his movements myself, and after that, we had trained together.

Through his training steps, he had told me that it doesn’t only teach one type of ability, that it in fact, teaches quite a few.

So, I learnt balance, speed, breathing, sound and striking, all in one lot of training steps!

And…He let me do it with daggers, instead of a sword…

He was shaking his head at first, as ‘It’s not training for daggers!’, but I was also learning…That I was quite a stubborn person…

After a while, he stopped badgering me about it and completely accepted my ‘daggers’.

Not only that, he had made sure I was doing everything properly, as he would make me do sit ups or jumps if I got something wrong!

I learnt pretty quick, well, at least I thought I learnt pretty quick…

But…

After this week or two, as I’m not sure how long I was there for, the General had run in, yelling out, ‘Puppy?’

Not long after that, he quickly took me onto his horse and we left the city of Vulmoss.

…So…

What did I miss now!?

“They are retreating, don’t worry Puppy.”

I wasn’t worried, who said I was worried!? I’d even sometimes forget that war was happening because you left me alone in that place!

As the General galloped up to the heap of soldiers north of the city of Vulmoss, I realised that something must have gone right!

I turned back and smiled at the General, whom chuckled.

“We were right, we ambushed the new General’s men and nearly obliterated them. We used the elites to do a second ambush, but the risk of them leaving the southern gate was worth it! General Whatts had retreated!”

I smiled again, and a hand found it’s way around my waist, “I know it’s a win for us, but now, we have to take more precaution. Just stay with me, Puppy…Stay with me…”

I put my hand over his and nodded once.

Knowing that I had really only spent two or three weeks with this man, I felt like it was longer.

We had found some type of special ground between us, even though I was holding onto a deep secret.

He shows some really strange faces sometimes, that I don’t understand, but it hasn’t stopped us from becoming close to one another.

For instance, he shows a frustrated, thinking face when I say no to bathing with him…He shows a happy smile when I do something right and sometimes…I have found him staring at me in contemplation.

I wish I knew what was going through his head…

He had asked how old I was and when I was going to ‘grow’, and I wrote down that I was twelve and that I will turn thirteen in a couple of weeks’ time. At that time, I hadn’t been sure of the date, so I could only give him an approximate time.

Actually, he liked my writing so much that he made me write a whole book about the art of war. Well…I couldn’t do the whole book, it was too big! But, I did notice that my writing got better!

He also read to me, as apparently, his father used to be a storyteller. Having found this out was a surprise, and what’s more, he spent that entire one night telling me about himself, while he made me pour him wine and sit next to him.

The General had not grown up richly at all. With his father as a storyteller, he was taught how to read and write, but, his mother had been a prostitute.

He grew up knowing how it was to get bullied and eventually sought out someone that could teach him martial arts and how to use a weapon. Not only that, he tried to earn as much as he could to help with expenses, because his father was no longer able to bring in as much money as he used too. The earnings of a story teller had not been very much at all and the savings his father had saved up for most of his life, all went to buying his mother from the place she was selling herself too.

It really was a sad story, as it seemed his father was unable to let her go…Yet, I hardly knew what that was, but it sounded something bad, reminding me of a piece of paper that had my name on it…Perhaps, it was like that…And since I thought of it like that, I changed my mind and was glad his father had saved his mother from that place…Because, I would have liked that too! For someone to save me…

The worst part of the story, was how his reason to learn martial arts and to get an income, had disappeared...Only to reappear a second time…

His mother was killed, and he had not been able to protect her. But, in the process of his mother dying, his older sister was then taken to become a prostitute.

For a short ten years, they had lived as a family, but after those ten years, it sounded like the General’s life kept declining into the depths of hell…Much like my own had…

After the death of his mother, the General put himself fully into his training, trying not to think or feel. He told me that it had hurt his pride for not being able to protect his mother, and was hurt by his weak father, as well as knowing of the loss of not having a mother any more.

That was obviously not the only reason, as he needed money then to save his sister…He was going to do as his father did and pay for her freedom because he was unable to get justice upon the people who had forcefully taken her. The problem was, the family had no savings and hardly any money to keep living…So, not only did the General have to start from the beginning, to save up enough money to get his sister released, he had to also make sure that his father and himself were fed!

The General got paid from being in the army, his name had started to become known and he climbed up to become a Lieutenant. The countries of Gelmain and Icklish were fighting at the border at that time, trying to obtain Mount Prime in the middle of the forest. War had not been clear in those days, all that was known was that peace was far from what Gelmain wanted. Little skirmishes here and there helped the General gain merits and experience, helping him become the man he is today.

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He was then suddenly made aware, about five years ago, not long before he was to ask once again for his sister to be released…That his sister had killed herself…

…He had the money a year before that, but they refused to release her…Then he was just too late!

He hated that he hadn’t been able to protect his mother, perhaps because he was too young, but now he hated himself more for not being able to get his sister out of this mess. He was older then, even able to fight and he was still unable to protect a loved one from dying!

He wished a great deal, that he should have just walked in and taken his sister back by force, just as they had taken her, and fighting anyone that would have stopped him! He should have!

But, it was all too late…The only remaining person in his life now, was his father…Who was losing himself and showing signs of being crazy…

Without the General knowing, these events caused him to become stronger, and caused him to have an air that people respected unconsciously…His demeanour was like that of a strong King that had the world on his shoulders…A person that gained attention, whether someone wanted to look or not, they looked…

Then, the General said that he went into the army to lose himself to work, to look after his father but try not to think of things so much…So this time, he seemed to not care much about his life.

In the last five years, he had taken large risks that could end his life, just to accomplish something that might not even be that big, hardly feeling the effects of all the damages that it had been done.

His face now had a gash across it, his back had two obvious strike marks, his shoulder had been shot by and arrow and a few other places held marks from being too close to a sword…

It pained me to hear him say that he really hadn’t cared about his life…That his father couldn’t even remember him when he went home nowadays…

He may have made a name for himself now and no longer worried for money, but, his father doesn’t remember him, his sister suicided, and his mother was killed…

Since he had been told many stories about mother’s and how they were with their children, the General showed me a sadness that I had seen in myself.

To live life without a mother’s love, I knew it wasn’t really nice. And strangely, we both lost our mother’s around the age of ten, but it didn’t give me any comfort. I didn’t like seeing him this way and I wanted him to be happy…Not sad…

He had put his arm around me then and put his head onto my shoulder. After a short time of silence, he finally said that he hadn’t liked his father because he had been so weak…But, until this day, his father now lives a better life because the General just couldn’t leave him behind…

Just before the General fell asleep that night, he admitted to having a whole new lot of problems when he became a General because he had no family background. That having been given the leadership of the new recruits, had been, in fact, an insult…He said though, in another breath, that it was the best thing that ever happened to him since his mother’s death and sister’s kidnapping.

He hadn’t made it to the bed that night, but I think he slept ok, even though he was on my small arm…Which had felt it had died through the night and I had to pry myself away from him…

So, knowing about his past, I wrote a small amount of myself back to him in return.

I didn’t write much, as I also didn’t want to give away the secret that I was female.

I wrote that my mother had also died and that I was most likely bullied because my mother was a barbarian. I didn’t write who killed my mother, but that I had seen her get tortured to death…And that I had been put as a slave afterwards. In fact, my words didn’t carry on to another page or anything, it was a small amount of words that weren’t even full sentences…But, I felt that…I felt that I wanted him to know that I felt his pain. That…I was thankful he opened up to me too…That since he had shared some of his past with me, I wanted to share some of mine with him…

Right at the bottom of my little letter, I had written ‘Thank you for sharing and reading my letter.’

My letter seemed to make him look at me with a gaze that I seemed to really like…It made me feel special…

To be honest with myself, I really liked this man.

He was strong and a lot smarter then me…But, he was also sweet and caring.

When he read the little piece of my past, he hugged me and said that if I didn’t want to go back to the Billings residence, then I could just stay with him.

It was like, we were already connected, he didn’t even have to put his arm around me for me to feel that way, but it was still a nice extra feeling that I had no intention of pulling away from…

Racing towards the other men on horseback, slightly to the north of Vulmoss, there was a bigger army then I had originally thought. Many…There were many…I had no idea how many there were…

But, I hoped that now I could see Neil and Dilan!

“Lorrie!”

I knew straight away, that this was Neil’s voice!

I nodded at Neil, while the General helped me off the horse.

“Lorrie, we are pushing them back! We haven’t even done much yet!”

I smiled and heard another yell incoming, “Lorrie!”

Dilan came and did the unexpected…He picked me up and turned me around.

“Put him down!”

Within a second or two, I was back on the ground and I looked over at the General.

“General, are you not worried about your reputation?”

I looked over at General Knowles, quite a few metres away, then back at the General.

His reply was, “Not at all.”

“Figures, it’s too late anyway. Poor little thing. I hate to think what will happen to the fresh breeze.”

The General looked over at me and I stared at him.

He looked a little worried, but after awhile he looked back at the other General and said, “Mind your own business!”

“Hey, Lorrie, have you been well? Eating properly?”

I turned back to Neil and nodded to him. I was actually really happy to see these two!

“Good! I didn’t even know where to go to look for you! I thought that you had gone elsewhere because when I once saw the General, you weren’t with him!”

I frowned.

It wasn’t like I didn’t want to be there! I was told to stay in the room!

“What’s wrong?”

I didn’t know what else to do but shrug and smile.

“Ah, little one, I missed you!” Dilan said.

I looked down and secretly smiled to myself.

Having someone miss me was completely not normal for me!

…It made me feel special…

“I think you’ve talked enough, come on Lorrie, let’s go!”

I turned to see the General already on his horse and putting his arm out, I put mine out too and within moments I was right in front of him.

But…We’d only just got here…

We galloped away, and I was only able to quickly wave at Neil and Dilan, before we were gone!

The people we passed though…They seemed familiar…

I was pretty sure that the General was in charge of the same recruits as Lieutenant Black was in!

That would be nice…Then I should be able to see more of Neil and Dilan!

As we got to the front, I finally saw that man!

I still needed to kick him! I needed to beat him up!

“General Wilton!”

“Lieutenant.”

“What are your orders, Sir?”

“We are in charge of an ambush.”

“Ambush, Sir?”

“That’s right. If they think we are leaving, it’s more positive to think that the new recruits would go for more training. But…We are going to make a detour through to the north and go along the edge of the forest, cutting off the eastern route passage.”

“Sir…These new recruits…”

The General was silent for a moment, “…I know, yet, there is a chance it won’t happen anyway. But…They are my orders Lieutenant!”

“Yes Sir! Nuggets, move out!”

***

After several days of us disappearing from the war grounds, we found ourselves at the forest.

This was where the country of Icklish had begun when the war began, so the amount of land lost was truly great compared to a few months ago!

Now that we had made it to the forest, we stayed on the edge of it and travelled to the east.

We had not been found by anyone, as we had made an extreme detour to show that we had completely left the war.

The problem was, now we had to depend on the rest of the army, to make sure that Gelmain does a full retreat and asks for a peace treaty. We would be safe if that happens…But, if it doesn’t, these new recruits may all end up dead. This was a very risky order…Again, it could be insinuated as an insult towards General Wilton by giving him this order…

The enemy had lost at least half their men, making it impossible now for them to take Vulmoss, so taking Ristro was even more impossible to take…

The General told me three times now, that it was just a matter of time that they make a full retreat and try to get away as fast as possible, which meant…The eastern gates…

The western gates were there, but it did go through barbarian territory, making it difficult for not only Icklish to use, but also that of Gelmain. The barbarians were easily remembered, but in return the western gate being used as another way in or out was completely forgotten! Only making the General go to the eastern gates would have been many people’s thoughts, both in the country of Gelmain and Icklish.

If a peace treaty isn’t going to take place, then their job was to set up an ambush and further destroy the enemy army.

And the job of ambush, was given to the newest recruits, as they wouldn’t give off any kind of strange impact to the war if they were to leave the battlefield. Well, that was the reason told to the General…

To a certain degree though, the most lethal group, could actually be this one at the moment…As we now have successfully gone ahead and cut the enemy off, which comes into the ‘moral’ thing again, which I was still trying to understand…

Apparently, we are making the enemy rethink their strategy and perhaps force a treaty to happen. Something along the lines of if they were able to do a peace treaty, Icklish could gain quite a lot because the Gelmain army had been put into such terrible situation.

But…I didn’t know how that worked when Gelmain had taken so much away from Icklish…How did that make any sense!

Since we had taken so long to get here to the forest edge, we strived to get to the eastern passage fast…But…Now that we were getting closer…We were finding the Gelmain troops and scouts all over the place!

We had wanted to do this as quietly as possible, but as recruits…This was our downfall…We had no experience…

The General was a bit upset that we had let the Gelmain soldiers know that we were here, but it did not stop the idea that the army of Gelmain was still surrounded…

What I didn’t understand was how could this amount of people be so quiet for so long…We were bound to be found, yet…The General was still unhappy!

In the next week, it was when us new recruits finally knew what war was all about!

We had to show what we learnt, our skills. We had to work as a team and push ourselves to the limit!

It was a time when not only a connection being made between the General and I was seen, but a small connection between everybody else was made.

The new recruits were in enemy territory and we had to stick together, always watching each other’s backs!