Deep in the night, the soft sounds of scurrying feet could be heard as Essie moved across the forest floor. She used her ARO training to muffle her footsteps while the collar of her cloak masked her cold breath in the frigid darkness. In the distance beyond the forest’s edge, the camps of Estinain forces could be seen. Large fires blazed as groups of enemy soldiers huddled around the welcoming warmth.
Koda’s men had no such opportunity to light even an ember. A single spark would give away their position and another onslaught of attacks would befall the already shaken forest. During the first week, the king’s mages were able to shield the soldiers from most attacks. However after a while their magic waned and several of the mages were killed. That left the remaining six mages hesitant and defensive.
Essie leaned against an uprooted tree. Its trunk was large enough to provide temporary cover as she took a moment to count her supplies. She bit her lip when she found herself low on dullweed, a plant used to numb the pain of a patient. She tried to think how her supply could have run out so quickly. They had been entrenched in this forest for the last week. She started with at least twenty pieces of the weed, and that was enough for forty patients. The attacks left soldiers completely mutilated and maimed. Dullweed was given out liberally at first, but all that changed after the third night.
I should find some bitterbark.
Bitterbark was not as potent as dullweed, but kept the pain low enough to avoid sending a patient into shock. Finding it would be the tricky part, but at this point it would not be as scarce as dullweed.
Noticing a flash of shadows weave into an adjacent tree, she whistled a low call to grab the attention of a fellow soldier. The soldier poked his head around the corner, showing that he was a fellow medic. Essie motioned for him to run to her, but the medic seemed too fearful to expose himself. After another failed attempt at convincing him to come over, Essie darted and slid to his tree.
“Private Essie Windfoot, first Anti-Rogue Ops,” Essie rapped out her name, rank, and unit in a single heavy breath. Sure to keep her tone low so that he could hear, but not those around her.
“Corporal Jempsen Rivertread, second Medical Corps. I’m attached to the first Wolf Lancer Division. Can’t find any of them though. Have you seen any Wolf Lancers, Private?” His eyes were tired and blank. The unit he was attached to was part of the front line. The Wolf Lancers were scattered after the first day, and Jempsen had been wandering among the forest ever since.
Essie instinctively checked Jempsen for any visible wounds. He was shaken to the core, but was not physically injured. She frowned and shook her head, “Sorry, Corporal, I’ve not run into your kin,” She pointed a ways off, and Jempsen turned his head to where she pointed with a delayed reaction, “I know if you walk a bit that way, you’ll run into a Sergeant Elimder Barkwick. He’s a platoon sergeant for the second Tactical Information Relay Division. If TIR doesn’t know where the Wolf Lancers are…Well, he’ll know.”
Jempsen continued to stare off in a daze. After a minute or two, he finally responded, “Thanks, Windfoot.”
Essie grabbed him by the sleeve as he was getting up, “Corporal, do you have any dullweed you can spare? Maybe some bitterbark?”
Jempsen reached into his haversack and pulled out a stack of dullweed tied by twine and tossed it into Essie’s shivering hands. She smiled weakly and carefully stashed the dullweed in her medical satchel. She watched as Jempsen slowly trudged through the forest once more. She took a long breath and moved out of her resting place herself.
***
The night grew colder as the pale moonlight revealed itself from the navy blue clouds. The night was at the pinnacle of danger when the moon came out. What was once a safe and quiet time within the foxholes became a troublesome rat race to keep from being hit by bombarding boulders and piercing ballista bolts.
Essie dashed quickly, sliding into the nearest foxhole as the delicate moonlight dawned on the forest floor. The frosty air hung silent. Not a howl from a wolf nor a peep from a soldier could be heard throughout the lines.
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Blayvaar and Lear smiled lightly, happy to see the familiar face of Essie as she dove into their foxhole. They wrapped their cloaks around themselves to keep warm. Lear nibbled on the carcass of a vole he found in the loose dirt. He tried sharing the mutilated rodent with Essie, but she made a squirming face and politely refused the offer.
Blayvaar prodded Essie on the arm and used his ARO training to whisper lowly, “Hey Es, any word on when more rations are coming this way? We haven’t eat–” he scrunched his face at the sight of Lear happily chewing the small critter’s bones and intestines, “I haven’t eaten in three days.”
Essie took out her last loaf of bread and broke off a sizable piece. She then tore that piece in half and gave the pieces to Blayvaar and Lear.
“Chew slowly. When you eat too fast after having not eaten for so long, you can get awful stomach cramps,” Essie warned as she inspected her two companions for any physical damage, “Which way to the captain’s foxhole?” she finally asked after being satisfied with her inspections.
“This yikahti saw him taking a piss further to the east. Be careful Essie,” Lear said between mouthfuls of bread.
Essie nodded as she jumped out of the hole and sprinted to the east.
***
Essie crawled on the flat of her stomach as she moved closer to Wiccer and Ashmer’s foxhole. Once already, a fiery boulder had careened through the night, crashing somewhere in the northern lines. Cries for medics broke through the thin air, giving away the fact that Estinia had landed another triumphant strike. Essie squeezed her eyes shut, drowning out the screams of anguish, attempting to concentrate on the task at hand. She needed to find out if there were any more supplies coming from the north to refill her dwindling resources, and hopefully garner word on any reinforcements.
“Captain?” Essie whispered at the edge of the foxhole. She was surprised to find that the foxhole was filled with several people. Along with Wiccer and Ashmer, Avalon and Elucard were in the foxhole as well.
Wiccer reached over and gingerly pulled Essie into the warmth that the several bodies gave off. They were huddled in a circle looking over a topographical map of Stonewall and the surrounding forests and mountains. Several ‘x’s’ were scratched onto the map, each indicating the locations of the different units and overall forces of Koda’s men. A set of lines and circles marked the Stonewall side of the map, indicating Estinia’s large force.
“I’ve reported to King Koda, Lord Athar, and Lady Baneberry that we’ve lost a quarter of our men to wounds, injuries, and sickness. Another quarter is also in rough shape and will probably add to our casualties if we stay in this position another week,” spoke Ashmer in a low raspy voice. He coughed and hacked as he attempted to the get the string of words in one go.
Essie took out her water skin and a few herbs. She placed the herbs into a wooden cup and poured in the water. She had to make a crude paste, “It’s not hot tea, general, but this will help with your cough.”
Ashmer gratefully accepted. His face puckered from the bitter taste, “Could use some sugar, private.”
Essie frowned lightheartedly, “Fresh out of sugar, sir.”
“Fresh out of a lot of things,” added Avalon grimly.
“When are we getting fresh supplies, captain?” Essie asked Wiccer.
“We were supposed to get new supplies two days ago. We’ve heard nothing from the quartermaster. No raven, no scout, nothing.” His mind was heavy with the entire situation, not just the lack of information coming from the Northern Shore.
“Elucard, what are your thoughts? Are Black Rabbits cutting off our supply caravans?” asked Ashmer between wheezes.
Elucard looked at Avalon as she nodded the answer that he already knew, “No doubt, General.”
Ashmer’s mood soured even more. He took the final sip of the cold paste before turning his attention to Wiccer, “I don’t know how many Rabbits are on the road to the north; obviously enough to interrupt a large supply caravan. Can your ARO recapture that access road?”
Wiccer’s eyes darted to Essie, then to Elucard, before finally giving his gloomy answer, “General, my men haven’t had rations in at least three days. They are stricken with sickness and have not slept in a week. To ask them to deal with a squad of Black Rabbits would be unwise. I would advise taking a platoon of men to secure that road.”
Ashmer frowned from the answer, “I will advise Koda and the two lords to make a decision. As of now, we have no food, no medical supplies, sick men, and nowhere to bring our injured. If we do not take swift action, the king’s best option will be to surrender and hope that Estinia takes prisoners!”
Essie scrambled up the foxhole. Supplies or not, defeat or not, her job was not done. She pressed onward into the cold, somber night.