“Lower your arm, keep your foot back here. Right.”

Summers stood above Asle. She was holding an M9 with one eye closed as she looked down the pistol’s sights.

“And fire when you’re ready.”

Summers watched as the gun muzzle flashed, kicking back for a split second. Asle didn’t flinch back or break form as the bottle they were using for a target shattered. He had to hand it to the girl, was practically a natural.

“Very nice work.” Summers’ praise earned him a nod from the girl. “Now give it here.”

Asle carefully pointed the barrel down before handing Summers the butt of the gun, the motions almost reverent. The fact that he hadn’t needed to correct her discipline once was more impressive to him than anything. He stowed it into the holster at his side.

Since he’d taken his “time off” the sidearm was usually the only thing he carried around camp. It was a little odd to be mostly unarmed after all this time, but it felt good to lose the extra weight and free up his hands.

Nowak was sat off to the side, acting as a supervisor of sorts.

“You sure this is smart?”

It was a valid question, one that Summers had put a lot of thought into. Nowak had learned to shoot when he was about Asle’s age, so there wasn’t any concern over ability. The problem was, they weren’t teaching her to fire a gun at a paper target. They were training her to use a weapon, then putting her into a situation where that might mean the difference between life and death. And not just her own. If they were marching into a war, there was a good chance they’d run into trouble, and as their interpreter she’d be on the front lines with them.

“Depends, how confident are you that she’ll never need one?”

“You know what I mean.”

Logan stepped forward, placing a hand on Asle’s head.

“Sergeant I don’t think we can really judge the kid’s maturity on our own standards. We’re just different culturally, not even getting into biology.” Logan looked down at the kid. “That said, she’s never gone against orders or endangered herself unnecessarily during my time with her. Given the kinds of things we’ve seen, I’d say that’s impressive on its own.”

“If we weren’t walking blind into this thing, I wouldn’t have suggested it.” Summers pointed out.

“According to your girlfriend we’ll be in and out before shit hits the fan.”

“With how our luck’s been what do you think the odds things are going to go according to plan?” Summers countered.

“…Fair point.”

“So, do we have any other options?”

“Not really.” Nowak replied. “I’ve been looking over the map, we can try going around, but there’s only a few towns nearby for resupply. If there’s trouble this close to home, I don’t expect the locals will be too friendly to strangers. Or have much to give in the way of food.”

“We could still risk it.”

“We could, but the caravan gives us the opportunity to learn the language. Plus, Synel has political sway, which might protect us against shit like what happened with the guards.” Nowak looked to Asle. “So why didn’t you tell us about this earlier?”

“Merchants lie. She says there is danger to get close to him.” Asle gestured to Summers. “Then she says there is no danger, and we will escape. She’s a liar one way or another.”

“Asle I don’t care if you think someone’s lying, or if you don’t like them. If you don’t tell us what someone is saying we might not be able to see danger coming.” Nowak chided.

“To be fair, that’s another reason we need her safe.” Summers was looking at Asle now. “Logan said she had a five-man detail. We’re not going to be able to do that. One of those traders gets the idea of grabbing the kid... I mean don’t get me wrong, they’re scared of us now. But who knows how long that’ll last.”

Nowak considered that.

“I’ll think about it. But it’s gonna take more than some target practice to change my mind, for now we’ll stay the course.” Nowak pointed to Asle. “You hear Synel say anything else about where we’re headed, you tell us.”

Asle nodded in response.

Summers walked back to their wagon to find Cortez seated on top of it. Every now and again she’d have to shoo away a curious civilian. It’s not that they wanted to be rude, but despite all the ordinance they’d used on this trip thus far, they were still sitting on enough gunpowder to launch themselves into orbit.

As Summers got closer, he was surprised to see Cortez talking with someone. Or trying to, anyway.

“Shit.” Summers muttered under his breath. He saw the woman that had been putting the moves on Adams back in the city. She was talking to, or rather, at Cortez in a very animated fashion. He could only assume that Synel had sent her to try and apply pressure.

Asle didn’t need to be told, she moved forward to speak to the woman. After a brief back and forth, the woman’s shoulders dipped ever so slightly, she said something then she turned to leave.

“… She wanted to talk to the boy she met at the restaurant. I told her he’s not here anymore.” Asle explained. “She said she’s very sorry.”

“Appreciate it Asle.” Cortez called down.

And now Summers needed a distraction. Or alcohol. Preferably both.

“Take five Asle, I’m gonna hang out here for a bit.”

Asle sat in the snow, kicking her legs back and forth.

She was bored.

Logan’s shift had just ended, so he was resting, and she understood Summers needed some time alone. The others were either getting ready to sleep or watching the traders. Which was good, they shouldn’t trust them, and she shouldn’t distract them. But it meant she had no one to talk to.

The caravan was setting up camp for the night, a few bonfires sending smoke spiraling into the sky. Every so often she’d see someone glance their way. Naturally they weren’t so rude as to show it, but the eyes told her everything she needed to know. There was uncertainty, they were afraid of Asle’s group. That was also good. They should be.

“Can I take a walk?” Asle looked up at Cortez on the wagon.

“Sure, just don’t go too far. And be back before sundown.”

“Can I have a gun?”

“What’d Sarge say?”

“Said he’d think about it.”

Cortez seemed to ponder that for a moment before tossing down a KA-BAR knife. It was about the size of Asle’s forearm.

“Consider it a compromise, okay? Yell if you run into trouble.”

Asle nodded as he picked up the knife. She liked Ms. Cortez.

After about twenty minutes Asle had made it a good distance from camp. It was stupid how the others were worrying. She was fast, and smart. If something chased her, she would outrun it, and they would kill it. If they were soldiers, they would kill them. It was that simple.

Because they were strong.

Because Asle knew the truth.

Asle had prayed to every god she could invoke, every night she could. And they were the answer.

Asle had prayed for her freedom, and they had given it to her.

She’d prayed for vengeance. They had witnessed it, and they had protected her from it.

And they had given her back a life that she could be proud of.

She wouldn’t allow anything to take that away ever again. Not soldiers, not monsters, not even the gods.

As Asle looked up, she saw a figure in the distance. Then another. And another.

Were those… people?

Asle turned back to the camp.

“I have run into trouble!”

Summers sat watching a group of elves being interrogated by a few of the caravan’s guards. There were four total, a family as near as Summers could tell.

Asle had alerted them, and they had let someone else deal with the problem.

And it was a problem. Summers had no idea what these people had been through, but they weren’t having a good time of it. They were dirty, they were tired, and from the lack of any kind of equipment they hadn’t left prepared.

“They ran from their home. From war.” Asle explained.

“Refugees then?”

Asle shrugged.

“That’s bad news, right? If these people are running from wherever we’re heading to.” Cortez looked to Nowak.

“Could be, the locals will know more about the landscape than we will. Honestly, we should wait until Summers can get Synel’s opinion on this.”

The woman in question was standing on the sidelines. Every now and then a guard would approach her and say something. As the last guard approached, she moved to the group and spoke.

“…She says she has no room for them.” Asle spoke low.

The kids looked to be on the verge of tears, even if they were doing their best to hide it.

“What do you mean no room?” Nowak was looking from Synel to the refugees. “The caravan’s huge.”

“She said no one’s willing to share food, and they have a long journey. She does sound like she’s actually sorry.”

“No one wants to risk taking them in if we have to skip the city.” Summers concluded. “Like you were saying, there’s nowhere else to resupply.”

“She hasn’t asked us.”

“That’s because we’re mighty warriors and all that jazz.” Cortez countered. “Probably doesn’t want to offend us.”

“Christ…” Nowak muttered. “All right, group vote.” Nowak raised a hand. “All in favor of not letting kids starve, hand in the air.”

“You know this is compromising your authority as our leader, right?” Summers put a hand up.

“This has gone way beyond my pay grade and I am beyond giving a fuck.” Nowak glanced around.

It was unanimous.

The kids were around Asle’s age, a boy and a girl. Asle spoke with them off to the side, away from their parents.

“What are you asking them?” Summers watched the girl, curious.

“What town they’re from. How many soldiers. If their parents are bad people.” Asle answered. “Parents probably lie, kids don’t, usually. Or they’re bad at it.”

Well, she wasn’t wrong.

“Girl’s name is Erne. Boy is Beorn.” Asle pointed to the two in front of her.

Synel stood off to the side, closer to Summers than he suspected was appropriate.

What they said lined up with what they’d learned from their parents so far. Soldiers had arrived, their leader was speaking some foreign language. They raided their town. Most of the village were killed when they put up a resistance, their family had managed to escape in the confusion. The good news was the town was a few days behind them at this point. If they kept up a good pace, whatever force that had hit the village would likely be long gone.

Synel spoke to the Asle once more, then bowed.

“She agreed to help watch them. As long as we feed them.” Asle sounded almost happy about the negotiation. To be fair, the security risk was something they were worried about, feeding was one thing, but just watching the wagon stretched them thin as it was.

Summers gave Synel a slight bow before she spoke again.

“Thank you.” Synel spoke with a slight accent.

That took Summers by surprise. He’d only taught the woman the phrase a day earlier. She bowed, then moved to the refugees, looking to get them settled.

The next morning Summers and the others sat huddled around the wagon. Summers was busy trying to spread jalapeno cheese over a biscuit as hard as glass.

They’d had to ration their generous supply of food with the four extra mouths, so they’d dipped into a few of the MRE’s they had stored away from the Humvee. They weren't good, but they were calories.

“Asle says they have family in the city. We get them there, then they’re not our problem anymore.” Summers spoke as he ate.

“Seems like it’s good for the kid.” Cortez gestured to Asle, who was leading the other two children around the camp. Showing them one thing or another.

Summers grabbed his rifle, with the news of an army at their back, he figured it was worth lugging it around if it meant being prepared. Even if he was “off duty.”

“Speaking of, we should probably get them fed.” Summers stood and started towards the kids.

As he got close, the girl, Erne looked up at him, then froze.

There was a look of sheer terror on her face so plain that Summers stopped in his tracks.

“What…” The boy grabbed his sister and tried to run, only stopped when Asle grabbed his arm. She was muttering something as the boy screamed at her.

It was clear Asle was trying to calm the two as they stared up Summers in sheer panic. He held his hands up in a placating gesture, it was only then he realized they weren’t looking at him.

They were looking at his rifle. It was hanging from his side, and their eyes kept darting to it.

Nobody Summers had met in this world had recognized their rifles for what they were, and these kids were terrified at the sight of his.

“Asle, I think we need to ask some more questions.”