The rattling thunder of artillery detonating boomed with nearly every breath our men took. The Germans fired relentlessly on our position, but we were dug in so most of the shells did little to no damage. They got luck a few times and managed to land a shot inside the trench, but we dug hard and sharp corners to stop the shockwaves from killing anyone in adjacent trenches. I was bunkered down next to Reeds, rifle in hand just in case they decided they wanted to charge our position, but the only one who ran towards me was a Lieutenant named Akerman.

“Reeds, Alucard, the Captain wants to see you two! Follow me!” He shouted over the explosions. We were all ducked down as we walked, no one wanted their heads blown off by a random fragment of an artillery shell. We arrived at the Officer’s tent and Lieutenant Akerman joined us inside. We stood up as we walked in, the tent was lower than most of the rest of the trench so that people inside could stand. There were a few officers, a captain and two majors, stood around a table looking at papers and photographs. “Captain Lance, Privates Reeds and Alucard sir.” Akerman announced. One of the officers, the captain whom I had never met, looked up at us.

“Ah, very good. Take a seat gentleman.” He said and pulled out two chairs from the table and then one for himself. We all sat, and he handed us each a folder. The captain began to talk, “Men, what you hold in your hands are photos and official reports taken and recorded by scouts. They are about those artillery cannons raining down on us now.” I opened my document and began reading. “Based on these reports, those cannons are their only long-range weapons. If we can take them out, then we can bring in our tanks and wipe them out. But at the moment, if we try to send in a large attack force then they will be seen and targeted. Their mission would be over before they even started it.”

“What are you asking us to do sir?” Reeds questioned.

“I need you, Alucard, and Akerman, to sneak behind enemy lines and destroy those cannons.” Captain Lance said plainly.

“That’s suicide sir!” Reeds protested. He ignored Reeds and turned to me.

“I hear the men call you Night-Walker because you take so many night watches. Others refer to you as a demon of the battlefield… tell me, do you live up to that?”

“I do sir, every word.”

“Will you do it then?”

“I will sir,” I agreed.

“I won’t, you’re crazy, Alucard. That’s a death sentence.” Reeds said.

The captain nodded his head, “I won’t make you private, you can go.” Reeds shook his head and wished me luck as he walked out of the tent.

“I can’t blame him.” Captain Lance acknowledged.

“It will be better this way, he would have only held me back,” I stated, “and so will Akerman. Allow me to do this by myself sir.”

Akerman scoffed, “You’re pretty cocky.”

“Is it arrogance if it’s true?” I asked him.

“Enough Alucard, Lieutenant Akerman will be in charge of this mission, and you will follow his orders. Are we clear?”

“Yes sir…” I said.

“Good, now let’s go over the details.” The plan was to circle around through a dense forest, then scale down the mountainside and into the left of the camp. It was theorized that the left would be weaker because no one could get a tank to climb such a sheer surface that was covered in ice and snow. It was supposed to be a week-long mission, and we could only travel under the cover of night. Our briefing was completed, and we started preparing. We were given dynamite to plant on the cannons, as well as suppressed rifles and handguns in case we ran into troops patrolling the mountainside. We left the next day as soon as the sun rose. We had to travel by horse for the first four days because the mountain was unpaved.

Everything we needed was pack in the saddlebags on the horses, except for our weapons which Akerman insisted we carry at all times. There were four of us total, Akerman and myself to complete the mission, and two others to watch the horses while we were gone. We walked along a small path, moon was high in the night sky, the chatter of animals rustled from the bushes, and the cries of owls rang loudly in the distance.

“The horses need a break,” Akerman whispered. We were all riding in a line, only breaking apart to walk around trees.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Fine,” I said and pulled the reins to stop my horse. I climbed off of him and attached a feeding muzzle to his face. It was sound proofed so that his chewing didn’t give away our position to any nearby infantry. The others did the same.

Akerman walked over to me and pointed up at a ridge in the distance, “that is where we leave the horses.” I nodded that I understood. At this point, I hadn’t eaten in days and was beginning to get rather hungry. I excused myself saying that I needed to relieve myself, but Akerman insisted on coming with me.

“No,” I protested.

“I wasn’t asking Alucard. We stay together, we watch each other’s backs.” He said.

“Fine,” I reluctantly agreed. We walked into the forest, and I told Akerman I was going behind a tree. He said he would watch the perimeter. As soon as I was out of sight, I quietly leapt up to the branches and began hunting. I used my sense of smell to try and pick up a sent. I wasn’t bother by the lack of light due to the sensitivity of my eyes, really, I was able to see just fine. After only a few minutes of searching I happened to catch the scent of a wolf and tracked it down to its den. There were several but I wasn’t worried. I dropped down, injected my venom, and was carrying the wolf away to feast in a matter of moments. I was satisfied and made my way back to the tree and Akerman. I dropped from the treetops and walked out.

“Okay, let’s go.” I said.

“Where were you?” Akerman asked.

“I was relieving myself. What do you mean?”

“I called out to you, and when you didn’t answer I checked behind the tree, but you weren’t there.”

“I walked a bit deeper into the forest.” I told him.

“I told you, we have to stick together. Why did you wonder off? I told you and you disobeyed orders.” He said quietly, but intensely. He was clearly upset.

“I don’t use the bathroom around people. Orders or no orders.” I lied.

“Just get back to the others.” He demanded and we walked towards the horses. After regrouping with the others, we rested for a while, then resumed our travels. We arrived at the overlook that we had agreed upon just before sunrise. There was a nearby cave that was uninhabited so the other two and the horses waited there. They knew they would be there for four or more days at the least, so they made sure to pack everything they needed. We all bunkered down for the day, and they rested. I volunteered to take first watch.

We couldn’t make a fire because the smoke would have given us away, so we couldn’t cook any food. We ate prepackaged meals that were sealed in foil. From our position, we could see a small outpost with a few men guarding it. We were careful to stay away from the edge where they might have been able to see us. After a while, four hours according to my pocket watch, I woke up one of the other men for their shift on watch. I kicked his boot lightly saying, “Reynolds” that was his last name, “it’s your turn for watch.”

He sleepily opened his eyes and mumbled in confusion, “What.. I… oh, okay.” He slowly sat up and rubbed his hands on his face.

“Here,” I said and handed him a cup. I had made some instant coffee and poured him a glass.

“Where did you get this?” He wondered.

“I brought it.”

“How did you make it without a fire?”

“This kind doesn’t have to be heated. I just poured some powder into water and there it was.” I explained.

He took a sip and sputtered. “No… I definitely think it should have been heated.”

“Better than nothing though.”

He looked down into his mug questioningly, “that remains to be seen.” A few minutes after finishing his coffee, Reynolds said, “You should get some sleep Alucard, I’m awake now.”

“I’m not tired.”

“How is that possible? By now you have been awake for over… twenty hours.” He said after doing some quick math on his fingers.

“I don’t sleep that much.”

“You’re a strange one aren’t you Alucard.” He chuckled.

“Quite so, yes.” I agreed.

“So, I have a question. How do you plan on escaping from that camp once you have destroyed the artillery?” Reynolds wondered.

“By running away, I should think, but other than that we are going to attach a detonation wire to a blasting cap and blow it from a distance. Then either find a place to hide or simply make for the woods.” I said.

“What a well thought out and carefully planned strategy.” Reynolds said sarcastically. We talked for a few minutes before I excused myself and walked away for a moment saying that I had to use the bathroom. In truth, I knew this mission was going to take a while, so I needed to eat before going since Akerman probably wasn’t going to give me the chance for a while. I hunted for twenty minutes catching several rabbits, a deer, and two foxes. Animal blood isn’t my favorite, but there were no enemy troops around, so I made do. After my lunch, I headed back to camp.

Hours passed, and I had to pretend to be asleep for a good portion of it, which was incredibly dull, but soon night fell. We went over the plan for meeting back up with the others one more time before leaving. Akerman and I started down the mountainside and towards the enemy camp. I was keeping an ear out for enemy patrols, but a whole day of traveling by foot passed and we still didn’t see any. We stopped only for daybreak and when Akerman needed rest or food. But eventually, we had stopped walking and had a clear visual on the camp. Akerman pointed at it in the distance and pulled out his binoculars.

“Looks like a hundred men, two guard towers and rather a lot of guns.” He said handing me the binoculars to look through. I didn’t need them; I could see fine from where I was. We had stopped and hid in a bush about a quarter mile from the camp.

“I think we should sneak over the walls closest to the cannon. I can take out the guards in the tower while you plant the charges.” I said to him.

“And how exactly do you think any of that is going to happen? Those walls are ten-feet high; the guards would see you coming a mile away, and there is no clear path of escape.” He retorted. He was partially right, there would be no way for him to escape. I could do it, but he would most likely die.

“Fine, any ideas then?” I said.

“We wait and monitor the comings and goings of the camp. We can try and look for a way in and out. Maybe via supply trucks or a shift change.”

“That will add a day or two to our mission, but we may not have another choice.”