Breaking The Front

Adam tossed his rifle out of his foxhole. He climbed out, boots kicking up slight traces of remnant bone dust and small pieces the overlord neglected to collect. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite darkening sky and chilling breeze.

“Do you not have ears!? Did not you just hear what these men told us?! There are two more vampire overlords. For all we know, the one we just killed could be the subordinate.”

“Why would they put the subordinate in the center?”

“Does that matter? They’re planning to tear open the defensive line before converging on Tarnobrzeg. Does it matter who’s stronger? Don’t you see those clouds in the distance? We’re facing two more of equal strength and our captain is out of the picture. We’re going to die! House Hannover got the last laugh. They got the last laugh. I can’t take this insult anymore. If it wasn’t for him,” he pointed at Kurl, who slept almost peacefully, “I would’ve made my way to Hannover and their entire cursed bloodline would be dead!”

The rifle clattered across the grass as the conscripts watched with alarm. Dirty white stones clustered in Adam’s palm. He launched them at Kurl. Tarnish plates caught the projectiles; Roxanne’s axe knocked them away. Adam slid on his knees and clutched his hair after the weak attack, “You stole everything from me! I had a plan! I had a damn good plan!”

Roxanne stood over him, casting a long shadow in the twilight, “Lady Gisela, the true Dutchess of Wittenbach, spoke highly of you. If you disgrace her name any further, I can’t be held accountable for my actions.”

“That old bat!?” Adam bust out laughing and knelt down with the back of his neck exposed. The sigil glistened ever so slightly, “That old bat recommended me? Has she gone senile? Strike off my head if you see fit! Go on, do it, but I refuse to take any further part in this madness! I refuse to be a pawn of House Hannover!”

“You’re tired,” Roxanne said as her chest heaved, “get some rest, take some deep breaths, eat something. But- but if that’s really how you feel. If that’s all more the regard for what everyone lost… Don’t fire a single shot! Don’t lift a single stone! Because you just as much said it y-y-yourself! We’re no better than the enemy!”

“I didn’t-”

“I know you hate House Hannover. You can hate them as much you want! I don’t care. Do you think I have any love for nobles? The man I love was assassinated and I don’t even know who to blame! I’m the one that took blame. I’m the one they put in prison. I have a sigil on my neck just like you. And they took Kurl’s entire family! Do you ever hear him say a s-single damned word about it? No! Not because he’s weak, not because he doesn’t have a plan! He’s just doing the next best thing like any of us are and you’re too stupid to see it!”

Frederika adjusted her maid outfit and remained silent with her head down, “Would you two stop fighting. Our captain is trying to reframe his mana.”

Roxanne collapsed to her knees and cried, “I said my piece. You can do as you like. It’s not like anyone here is going to stop you.”

The back of her hand wiped away her own tears as she stood. She turned to face the darkness over the cliff face as the sun sunk behind her.

A lone skeleton wandered in the darkness, back and forth aimlessly, just like them.

A clump of stone scattered over the shallow hillside cliff from an angry kick. The rifle raised with a slight hiss click of protest as Adam checked to make sure the powder cartridge hadn’t ruptured.

“Do you still need that stretcher?” the corporal asked.

“No,” Adam climbed the overturned cannon cart and sat cross-legged atop it, “It doesn’t seem like we’re going anywhere after all. We’re going to stay here and die like good dogs. That’s just the way it is. Unless… Roxanne, do you perhaps want to send the captain back to Tarnobrzeg?”

“I’m staying here!” Kurl shouted.

Adam nearly collapsed back into his foxhole, “You were listening!?”

“Didn’t hear a thing. Wake me up when the trouble arrives.”

Kurl went back to sleep, or at least he seemed to.

-----

Brunswick leaned over a table full of combat reports. A looking glass spied the terrain from the window, but there wasn’t much to see in the late dusk. A pounding on his office door startled him.

“Come in.”

The doorknob creaked and the squeaky door shifted open. Major General Stanislau entered with a bottle of brandy, “I wanted to commend your squad on their success. They singlehandedly reduced the burden on Tarnobrzeg by a third. Do you have any glasses?”

“The property came unfurnished. I have no such luxury.”

“Not a problem, I bought my own,” the general pulled two shot glasses from his satchel and placed them on the table, unsteady hands managed to pour two shots of brandy without spilling any.

“If you heard the reports. You realize our throne class mage is out of commission, and the vampire they eliminated is a classified abyssal. Meaning the overlord and his archfiend are still in play conducting a massive skeletal army. The center was a holding a front. The real attack is when those pincers strike for the city.”

The general downed a glass of cheap brandy. It wasn’t smooth and tasted like fire and rotten wood. He grimaced at the terrible flavor, “I’ve always hated Sterman brandy.”

“That’s because it’s the cheap stuff. You’re a general, I thought you could afford a finer option.”

The towering shape of a bone siege engine loomed in the distance. Stanislau poured himself another glass of brandy and downed it with a cough, “They’ll be at the walls by morning. Considering they lost an abyssal rank mage, it may be worse for us if they call for reinforcements.”

“Let’s hope the other fronts are keeping their mages occupied. I’ve deployed the silver angel. But I doubt she’ll be effective without the captain. Our orders?”

“Tarnobrzeg is a fortress city. We can’t afford to lose the sulfur. They promised a fresh division within the week. Not one step back.”

Brunswick raised his first glass to Stanislau’s third, “Cheers to that. Not one step back.”

The glasses clinked together just as a soldier rushed to the door, out of breath, “Lieutenant Brunswick, news from the front! We’ve confirmed that the squad captain survived!”

“Ah, Corporal Finkelstein. That’s all the more celebrate. Join us for some brandy!” Brunswick smiled, “We’re about to make the vampires break their fangs on Tarnobrzeg!”