XIV

The company was assembled before the black rim of the swamp even before the sun had fully risen, casting its first light. “Alright men, Torin’s scouts will screen for us, picking off any enemy spotters in our path, I have point,” Adrian said his voiced raised to allow his entire troop of men to hear him properly. Today they pushed, the goal was to collapse the supply lines that stretched back into Kurtz, they were of course heavily guarded, but a small mobile force should, if the troop movements didn't change, be able to push and take the whole lot by surprise, and if they could effectively disrupt the supply lines it would force the enemy to reposition and wither commit more men to the supply lines, therefore, having less when an outright battle was to occur or to perhaps even shift the main body of the camp to allow for faster responses to threats from behind.

It was honestly a risky move, especially since they had so few men. Only forty six men now of the original fifty they had. Adrian had made sure to write down their names, he would make sure each man who fell in battle under the wolf company was written down as an enlisted officer so that their women and children would have a livable pension. It was a promise he had made to them, and one that he had every intention of keeping.

Less than twenty minutes later they were marching into the swamps, Adrian and Isi in the lead. He glanced at Isi, struggling to keep up at his side as his long legs and taller height helped keep him out of the water and allowed him more ease of movement. She had really adopted the graces of the uniform. Gone was the awkwardness she had first displayed when he had first put it on her. Standing there instead was a sorceress, poised for battle, two muskets a pistol and more than her shares worth of sorcery ready to aid in the attack. He shook his head and wondered if he should have left her alone, but once again the vision of her alone, mocked by all around her in a foreign land appeared in his mind.

And he put it out of it...

Once under the shadows of the trees, it seemed as though the sun would never penetrate the dark. Between the towering trees and thick ivy canopy that seemed to knit them all into one surface, one rolling verdant hill above head Adrian thought it might as well have been well into the evening, not early in the morning with the sun clearly risen to light the way.

Surely dawn never broke here, just as the sun never set. Here beneath the trees, the best showing day could make was a gloomy twilight. The neat line of his soldiers broken and twisted into unruly clumps as the trees and other vegetation divided them until each man or perhaps a pair of men was their own point on a jagged line and not a proper straight one at all, as they pushed through the dense undergrowth that somehow thrived even here.

Torin and his scouts would be far ahead making sure there was no way the enemy would know that a force was sneaking up on them. And thinking of the troops on the way Adrian shook his head. No doubt Emilia would want to push, not do the hit and run tactics that his unit was now so adept at. But this was no place for a land war. If there was an ambush they would only know it by the shots And Adrian knew by know how hard it was to locate a sound in this thick, cloudy air. “If the Kurtz know we are coming they could wipe out this entire troop before I could even order a counter or retreat,” Adrian said, his voice low so that the words could only be heard by Isi who still marched at his side. “Faster than we could mount an effective response.” She didn't answer, she simply nodded, keeping her eyes facing forward as she did so. “Keep up,” he raised his voice so that other men could hear him, “Keep the line together,” he told the nearest soldiers, trusting them to pass it on. Though keeping the line was a hopeless endeavor. “Keep insight of your neighbor!” he added, it was the only means he had found to keep even a small squad together in this hell hole.

Light struck him, and for a moment he was blinded, to either side of him was a staggered line of soldiers each and every one of them shading their eyes. It hadn't rained in the past few days but the fog hung so thick in the air that water clung to every branch, every blade of grass, and every inch of a soldier’s body. Across the clearing, as a clearing it was the thick stand of poplars took on a surreal look as every nook and cranny faded into that dreary grey, washed out landscape. As Adrian scanned the dense line of willows that marked the edge of the clearing he caught himself wanting to sink back into the darkness. Darkness was after all their shield, it was their protection, as it was hard to hit what could not be seen.

Adrian looked again at the clearing, it was a vast open meadow of grass and briars that stood almost to waist height, the morning light cutting over the canopy of the swamps was fierce and unsparing. Isi was already forging ahead, fearlessly pushing across the fields, most of the men accompanying her. But Adrain stood, scanning the far side for a second, and only a second.

Without the canopy, without the all-consuming heat he was reminded of the fields near his home, he shook the image out of his head and pushed forward after all Isi might currently be leading the march but he was still the commanding officer, and he couldn't lag behind.

Ahead Isi reentered the shadow of the forest canopy, and Adrian made sure all of the men followed her before going in himself, Isi still at his side. The rotting heat struck him like a hammer after the mere warmth of the field. The atmosphere of air and light became feted and insect clogged Instantly he was splashing through a pool watching a great reptile flick lazily away from the crashing boots of Helheim soldiers in their Blue and red uniforms. Quickly he moved to get back in position beside her, she simply glanced at him, not saying a word.

The men had started following her almost as much as Adrian, he knew they would still defer to him, but sometimes he wondered if that was simply because they didn't know what Isi was saying. Still, whatever the reason it was almost like she had become every man’s younger sister, and they often made sure she had everything she needed, which always brought a smile to Adrian’s face. This unit had become family over the past week, it had become his and Isi’s tribe...

No shots yet, no whistles.

They forced their way through ever-thicker undergrowth, man-high ferns, vines strong like nets, and mounds of moss growing knee hight as they clung to any surface they could find purchase on. Isi stumbled and Adrian's hand shot out automatically to steady her. Several men had their sabers out, hacking fiercely at the insidious vegetation that seemed to wish to keep them away from their target. He increased his pace, slipping and skidding on the poor footing as the insects stabbed at him, biting stinging and burning all at the same time on every available patch of uncovered skin, somehow fleeing out of range when he moved to swat at them. “If only we could move like the damned bugs,” he cussed swatting at a particularly offensive massive black horsefly that bit at his arm through the jacket. “Fly in hit hard and fly back out without a single casualty.”

“Ish jaran kilsar, mita rutha!” Isi stifled a laugh by biting on the lower section of her lip.

“I am not!” he shouldered the rifle for long enough to swat at her which she nimbly ducked and twirled around before a smile on her lips. “If either of us is as annoying as a bug it is you,” he growled but a smile was on his lips, and the knot in his belly had loosened a little. If they both got through this…

No.

When they both got through this, he was going to make sure she showed him that smile much more often…

Around them, the line became more and more ragged as men fought through the ranks of the swamp, the third combatant of every engagement, and it would seem that the swamp was winning thus far. Harassing his soldiers, sapping the line…

He gave a signal for them all to keep up, but he had no idea how many of the men could even see him. The light shone once again, but this time he was prepared for it. The second meadow, so casually drawn by an artist rendition. The reality of the field juxtaposed with the cartoonish map he had mentally pulled up to see where they were currently located approximately. All around him, the Wolf company were breaking out of the bog, picking up the pace as they made their way into the much more shallow waters of the open area.

“Ikta parth!” Isi barked and he followed the pointing direction of her arm and he felt the knot once again clench his stomach. It was Torin, with his half dozen scouts running back towards them at a full charge.

“Hold fire!” he shouted, not wanting any of the men to panic and shoot their comrades that were charging at them, the order hardly needed to be given, aside from the whitening of knuckles on stocks not a single man even twitched to aim their guns at the Helheim scouts. Adrian’s attention turned away from the scouts and back to the woods that they had come from, for there was a movement there behind the fleeing Torin.

A large mass of white coats was pushing out of the tree line at the far end of the meadow, At that distance, Adrian could see no details, he could pick out no single targets, not even with the plumed hats and long coats the officers usually wore. But Torin was still fleeing at top speed.

If they had not been aimed at him and his men Adrian might have been impressed as the Kurtz empirial soldiers made a movement in complete unison. Half of the men falling to one knee and the other half using their comrade's shoulders as resting spots for the muskets, and all of them pointing at his men. “Get down!” Adrian roared, the Kurtz empire men were outside of the effective range, but with the number of muskets pointed his way he knew that some would inevitably find their mark. “Everyone down! Down!” Then Adrian took his own advice, hurling himself down and dragging Isi along with him.

First, he saw the smoke, an almost solid curtain of greyish white that expanded and bloomed before the white firing line. Rothchild, a man of middling years with a gap-toothed grin and a particularly good hand at poker and five others that Adrian could see simply collapsed. A red mist spraying as more musketballs than he could count hit the stragglers of his company, dropping them like puppets that had their strings cut.

The shots were heard immediately after, a dull roar more like that of a great cannon firing than a line of musket shots, so close were the shots that it all sounded like one. “Up!Up!” a voice screamed, “For HELHEIM! FOR THE WOLF!” and after it a sound like that of a wolf on a full moon, the spine-tingling sound so fierce it was primally coded into a man to fear it. It took a second to realize that the voice had been his own and that the hellish howl was still issuing from his own throat, taken up by the men around him.

The Wolf pack, his tribe.

He was on his feet before he even knew it, charging forward Isi at his side her mouth open in a feral snarl as she rushed forwards, eyes blazing amethyst , gun clenched in both hands. Torin rose up in front of Adrian, his face grim, dark crimson on his left side where either a blade or a ball had knicked him just under the armpit. Despite his wounds, he turned on his heel and charged alongside Adrian, his mouth open to take up the howl.

Ahead of them, the whitecoats were reloading, with carefully practiced motions. He could see details now young men with dark hair and black caps, the immaculate white clothes he had seen from afar not quite as clean and tidy as he had thought, most were almost grey with filth from the swamp and stained with gunpowder smoke. The movements of the men were noticeably ragged as they brought the muskets up. The onrush of the enemy had thrown them, had their commander been more intelligent he would have fired in a volley, allowing only the front line of men to fire and allowed his enemy to rush, while still having half of his men in reserve, ready to cover should this possibility happen. The few men fast enough to reload before they got to them fired piecemeal.

The Helheim line was now broken up as men charged at the enemy, meaning there were plenty of open areas for the musketballs to disappear in without a man to receive them. Though the cries and screams behind Adrian told him there was plenty that was not so fortunate. But Adrian and Isi kept pounding forward, Torin not far behind, and the howl was still persisting.

As they neared there was feverish activity all along the Kurtz line as the tried to ready a third volley, that would undoubtedly butcher the charging Helheim soldiers who were now at rather close range. The Kurtz legendary efficiency seemed to be lacking today, however. He heard the shouts of their officers, some of the whitecoats were already beginning to lift their guns, the shouts for a massed volley and not individual shots preventing the faster men from dealing death to some of his men. Adrian saw more than a few pale faces looking up in alarm when he neared.

“FIRING LINE!” he roared, dropping to one knee as he lifted his gun to his shoulder, and suddenly there was a crowd of Wolf pack around him, even as the Kurtz were starting to bring their guns up. “FIRE!” he barked.

The air was choked with smoke and gunpowder that obscured his vision as his ears rang from the sheer ferocity of it, the vibrations felt through his chest and in the soles of his feet as thirty or so guns spoke in unison with his own. He didn't even wait for the smoke to fully clear before he called out; “SECOND VOLLEY!” dropping the musket in the mud in front of him he reached behind himself and unslung the Kurtz musket he had there, bringing the shorter heavier musket up to his shoulder. He waited for the briefest of seconds as the wind rid him of his obstructed view, revealing to him the ragged double line of whitecoats, now stained crimson from the thirty or so shot that had entered their ranks, taking or wounding more than there number. “FIRE!” And once again the word shuddered as a second volley tore through the rank of Kurtz men. “PISTOLS! FIRE AT WILL! CHARGE!” he screamed and pushed forward, through the smoke and haze, one hand pushing the now spent musket behind him before pulling the pistol out of its holster at his chest even as the other hand loosened the strap on the sword at his hip.

Kurtz guns were going off all down the line in individual flashes of fire and smoke, but not the devastating mass of gunfire the white coat officers had been wanting. And as he cleared the smoke, his pistol belching fire and death one hand holding the sword high the Kurtz line broke.

Some were still reloading, desperate to get off one more shot, but he could see a tide of fear flash across the faces of them all. Terror racing through the line, causing more than one man to drop his weapon and fleeing back into the swamps.

One of the men aimed and fired, and Adrian was unable to dodge, it hit his left thigh, carving through the flesh and muscles where it embedded itself into his bone, the shot almost causing him to fall. The world dimmed as the pain threatened to overwhelm him, but even with dim eyesight and a mind clouded by the pain he was not about to stop, not until either he or they were dead.

His blade danced up, cutting a man from navel to neck, spilling his insides, Adrian did not stop there, however, with a roar of pain and rage he kicked the man off the end of his blade with his injured leg, pushing him back into another, and with a savage swing he hacked into the man who shot him. He lacked his normal strength, so the blade only passed through the man’s neck halfway, and as he pulled it free he looked at a third, just in time to watch his head explode in a haze of purple light.

He didn't have to glance back to know who had done that.

The final man left in front of him was pinned beneath his ally, and Adrian without any ceremony stabbed down through both men, piercing the heart of the trapped whitecoat beneath through the chest of the dead. Panting heavily he pulled the blade free and stumbled when it came loose as he found he had little strength to resist his own momentum.

Isi caught him, using her own weight to hold him up he winced as her fingers brushed over the wound in his shoulder. “Ish tokpa-” her eyes widened as she looked at the wound.

“Later,” he growled and attempted to take a step forward but found his leg could no longer support him, he would have fallen had she not held him up. She grabbed him by the face and turned him to look at her, on her lips was a feral growl, one without words. “Fine,” he cursed. Looking around at the ragged remains of his Wolf pack. “You and you,” he pointed, at a tall man with blonde hair and another soldier, he was sure he would have known their names if his mind wasn't so clouded with pain. “Go back, help any wounded you can, get a few more men if need be,” he coughed and allowed Isi to lower him down against a tree. “Torin!” he shouted, a spike of fear shot through him when he didn't immediately hear the man answer.”Torin!”

“Yessir?” Adrian felt the relief wash over him as the big bear of a man showed up in his sight.

“Torin, take some of the unwounded men and secure the baggage train, I want everything we can take loaded for transportation, anything else I want it burned, understood? Also set some men to fetching weapons and unused shot cartridges, those that aren't helping with the wounded that is, as well as a scout to tell us if we have retribution coming to bear on us.” he glanced at the rather profusely bleeding leg propped out in front of him. “I am going to take care of this,” he said.

“Yessir,” Torin grunted, covering his chest with a massive hand as he saluted Adrian. Saluting back Adrain pulled his knife out of the sheath on his belt and went about the rather painful work of carving the musket ball out of his leg so that he could properly close it up with magic....