FROM THE SCRIBBLINGS OF RANY

“Do not fall asleep on me.”

“Christ,” I said. “Why would I do that?”

“You started to snore.” She stopped what she had been doing with her gifted tongue and climbed on top, straddling me.

“Most men would not even think of falling asleep when I do that. Perhaps I should find someone else to spend my evenings with?”

“Gods no, just keep going!”

Less than a minute later, it was over and she laid beside me. Outside, someone clapped. Someone else yelled, “thank the gods!”

She licked my ear and murmured, “You need to learn to be more quiet. You woke the whole camp.”

“Fuck them.” I sat up. “I need some wine. There it is.” I took a long drink.

“Perhaps you had more than enough of that tonight.”

“Thirsty.” I drank more, draining the remainder of the flask.

“From what? I did all the work.” The woman, Landria, certainly did not talk like an escaped slave.

I had seen the brand just once, when the band on her arm came off during a more frenzied than usual bout of coupling. She had stopped everything to put it back on, and I had pretended not to notice. The fuck did I care? She could do things in bed I had never dreamt of, and my imagination is quite good.

She was older than any woman I had ever been with, but her body was young and supple enough, and her face quite lovely when you looked at it closely. She had a way of hiding her beauty somehow, around camp. She had noticed me looking at her one day, and that very night she was in my bed.

By bed, I mean old blanket in my humble tent, somewhere in the middle of fucking Destra, far from any civilized city. I know that we have marched five days since heading north from the Prince, at about twenty miles each day, so whatever that is. Or is it six days? Fuck, I really have been drinking too much. I never was a drunkard but lately can’t seem to sleep without a belly full of strong wine.

“May I sleep here tonight?” Landria whispered, pressing her soft breasts into my back. “I think our secret is out.”

“Sure,” I said. As if I could tell her otherwise and have her listen. Her slave days must have been long behind her, the way she acted. In private with me, at least. Around the others she was as docile as a lamb and quiet as a mouse.

I tried to go to sleep. I was fully awake now, thoughts churning. All my wine gone. Maybe I could get dressed and go find some more.

“Stay still,” she said, rubbing my chest very gently with her hand, stroking my skin with her nails.

“I’m moving out at first light,” I said. “I might be gone a few days.”

“By yourself?” Her hand stopped moving. “Why so long?”

“Alec wants me to watch the pass, about a day’s ride out. I’m only riding to the mountain, going up by foot to the ridge. I’ll camp there, watch the north plain, see who comes along.”

“There is still snow up there, on the peaks at least. You’ll freeze.” Her hand began to move again.

“Hmm. True. I’ll take heavy cloaks, blankets. I know how to build a fire now. I’ll be all right.” In fact, I was turning out to be quite the outdoorsman. Quite a turn of events for a city rat like me. I wasn’t really going up the mountain though.

“It makes no sense,” Landria said after a bit of silence. “Alec has outlanders in all directions, delivering reports on troop movements. Why waste a valuable resource like you up there?”

She was right. I was a valuable resource.

“Hmm. Who knows. Alec rarely consults me on anything anymore.”

“Why are you lying to me?” Her hand stopped again. She sounded hurt.

“It’s true. He doesn’t.”

“Not about that. You’re not going up the mountain. If that were the case, you would have been complaining about it all evening. You hate the cold.”

Gods, how did she know me so well already?

“You’re right,” I said. “Sorry. I’m just not supposed to talk about where I’m going. But I will be gone a few days, I think.”

“Do not lie to me, Rany. That’s all I ask. If you can’t tell me something, just say so.”

“Sorry. Just a habit, I guess.”

“I did not even ask if you were going on a scouting run. You brought it up yourself!”

“All right. I said I was sorry. Fuck.”

“Are you really going alone? Is that much true at least?”

“Back off, woman. Jesus H. Outlander Christ. I didn’t even say I was going alone. You asked me if I was and I did not deny it.”

“That is because you almost always do go alone. So, are you?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Seems so dangerous.” The hand began moving again.

“Much safer that way really. Alone, I can move quickly, quietly.” I pondered my abilities for a moment. “I’m like a ghost.”

She laughed. “You’re very cocky.”

“It’s true. I’m very good at sneaking around. Always have been.”

“Just do not try sneaking around on me.”

I chuckled uneasily. All I needed was a jealous woman. Here I thought she had been offering herself to me out of sheer generosity, perhaps out of sympathy after what had happened to Sammyl. Perhaps she wanted more. Damn, but I am a fool.

“Gods, I wish I could fucking sleep, for once,” I complained.

“You wish for me to go?”

“No, no. You’re not the reason I can’t sleep.”

“Maybe I should continue what I was doing earlier? That seemed to be working. You were going right to sleep on me.”

“Oh come on, I wasn’t-“

“No, really. I will not mind this time. If that’s what it takes. I am at your service, my Lord.” The “my Lord” sounded foreign on her tongue, but after that her tongue was busy doing other things, and I forgot everything.

I didn’t fall asleep, but it was worth the attempt.

Landria woke me in similar fashion. At last I had found a bit of sleep, with dreams that for the first time in awhile were not so bad. It would have been quite nice to sleep until the afternoon, but at least Landria made getting up a more pleasant exercise. She was gone from my tent by the time a soldier came to fetch me.

“Time to go,” the man said, not loud, but his voice breaking the peaceful stillness of the quiet morning. “Alec is ready to see you.”

I dressed in the cold dark and crawled out of my tent. I wobbled through the large camp, still feeling the wine.

Alec had a tent large enough to walk around in. I was allowed in by the guard standing outside. Alec was alone. Often Jade was by his side, but not always. I had learned that early morning for us was close to midday for Alec and Jade, but not for all outlanders. Their world never failed to puzzle me.

“Hey Rany,” he said. He sat at his table, a map spread across it. It was a large map of Destra, markers on it indicating troop positions and movements.

“Morning,” I said, mouth dry. I drank some water from my canteen.

“I think I found Falcon,” Alec said. “Right here.” He pointed to a marker on the map. He paused, going blank for a minute. I waited, fidgeting. Damn it, he had wanted me to get an early start, hadn’t he? I still had to pack up my horse.

He came back to life and moved Falcon’s marker an inch. Alec was able to get information in minutes or even seconds by some form of instant communication with his outlander comrades, who were scattered all about Destra.

Jade had taught me how to read the maps. Falcon was a two day ride to the southeast of us. The markers represented a force half our size.

“Let’s get him,” I said. I would welcome the end of Falcon and Alec’s obsession with him.

Alec shook his head. “Too obvious. Smells like a trap.”

I said nothing, not wanting to betray my irritation. Alec would not hesitate to attack even when the odds were not so plainly in our favor. He was all about bold strokes and aggression. With Falcon, he seemed unduly cautious.

Alec said, “He can bring reinforcements up the Prince, maybe even align himself with those three factions to the north that we haven’t cleaned up yet. Then to the west, there’s Priell.” The small city of Priell was one of the points of arrival for new outlanders.

Alec continued, “He still has a reputation, could recruit a shitload of noobs, train them up real quick and bring them in to hit our western flank.”

“Maybe,” I said. Thankfully I never had to kiss Alec’s arse and agree with him all the time. Not that he ever heeded my advice anymore, but at least I could voice it. Right then in his tent, I had no idea about anything other than I needed to take a piss, maybe drink a bit of ale to chase off the developing hangover, and get my ass moving to wherever it was he wanted me to go.

“Take up a position twenty miles east or so of Priell,” Alec ordered. “That’s just a few hours from here, for you.”

I had taken to horses, to my surprise, and it turned out I was a quite decent rider.

“You’ll know what to look for. Once you have the intel, haul ass back. If you see nothing significant in three days, head back.”

Fuck, this sounded boring. I would need plenty of wine.

“That’s about it. Any questions or anything?”

“No. I got it.”

“Shit man. You’ve really turned out to be a fucking asset. Hey, I hear you’ve been banging some chick every night. Waking up the whole camp and shit.” He laughed.

I shrugged.

“It’s ok. I don’t give a shit. You deserve it. Probably takes your mind off Sammyl too.”

“Alec, I really need to go piss. I’m fucking dying here.”

“Ok, ok. Jesus Christ. Just trying to make conversation. Go on. I’ll see you in a few days.

I turned to go.

“Hey Rany,” he said. “Be careful out there. Don’t do anything fucking stupid.”

I did something fucking stupid.

Next afternoon I spotted fifty riders on horseback, coming my way. I saw them at a good distance with my looking glass and watched them for awhile, sipping wine, not worried in the least. I had found a perfect position on the crest of a good sized hill, could see for miles in every direction.

I could get a good count and head back at my leisure. They were barely enough in number to worry about, but Alec would want to know about them.

Then, a few miles south of the riders I had been watching, I saw more of them, just specks out there, but heading in the same general direction, toward our army. I looked at the closer group and began to make out the banner they carried. Jade had taught me to identify all the banners in the empire. This was the banner of Emiline, Queen of Konn. They should not be here – it violated some treaty or other with Destra and Queen Kemile.

My instincts, damn them, told me I needed a bit of clarification before I headed back. I didn’t want to give Alec some half-assed report.

There was a nice bit of forest below, which they would need to pass through. I packed up and moved out. I rode down on Whisper, my horse, into the forest. I tied her up to a small bit of brush, small enough so she could pull free and come to me if I whistled for her. She was a damn good horse, very smart and loyal.

I continued on foot and found a good hiding spot in the brush, where I waited.

I heard them before I saw them. They made no effort to keep quiet.

I had misjudged where they would be riding, so I crept my way through the trees, getting closer and closer to them. I did that until I was close enough to see the stitches on their clothing and hear individual conversations.

I heard one say, “I gotta log off by seven, I got some people coming over.”

“Seven? It’s eight now, what fucking time zone are you in?”

“Pacific, dumbass. How many times have I told you that?”

“Oh, right. Well, that’s plenty of time. Don’t worry.”

I could not wait to hear more of this riveting conversation, but then something happened. I had gotten close enough to the men that they would be able to hear me if I sneezed. And of course, that is exactly what I did.

“What the fuck was that?”

“Someone’s in the trees. Everyone stop! Shut the fuck up for a second!”

They stopped. They became quiet.

I was quiet. A dozen bows were pointed in my direction.

Only the birds and squirrels chattered.

“What was it? You sure you heard something?”

“Fuck yeah, I heard someone sneeze. Warman, Neetles, go check it out. Right in there.” He pointed almost directly at me.

“Guys! Guys!” I yelled. “You got me! I’m alone! Chill the fuck out!”

“Who are you? Come on out!”

“I’m Death Rider!” I yelled. “I’m just a noob. I got lost. Gimme a break, ok?” I was pretending to be an outlander. Again.

“Come on out. We won’t hurt you.”

I made my way out. I wanted to put my hands in the air, but an outlander wouldn’t do that, so I just walked over to them casually, looking sheepish.

“Please don’t kill me,” I said, feeling the arrows pointed at me. “I just made this character. Took me an hour to get the facial features right.”

“What the hell are you doing out here? This is no place for noobs.”

“I know. I just felt like exploring. I’m an idiot.”

“Dave, what do you think?”

“He seems ok. Let him join us. He can learn a few things.”

“You with a guild yet?” the leader asked me.

“No man, I literally just started playing.”

“How’d you end up here? You generated in Priell, right?”

“Yeah. I just have been running around, checking shit out. I have no idea where I am now.”

“You picked a bad place to wander. There’s a massive army not far from here that’s been picking off noobs right and left.”

“Yeah, I heard. Alec something or other.”

“Yeah. He’s a fucking asshole. All right, hell, come with us if you want. You’re going to see some serious shit in about an hour.”

“Sounds fucking great,” I said.

We started moving.

“Where you from, man?” said the other outlander. “You got a bit of an accent.”

“New York,” I said. “But I’m originally from Italy.”

“Italy? You sound sort of British to me, not Italian.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I hear that all the time.”

“You a Yankee fan?”

“Well, of course I am.”

“You catch the game last night?”

“No. Afraid I missed it.”

“Think they’ll beat Japan this year?”

“Ah well, you never know.” I had no fucking idea what we were talking about.

“Hey Noob, what sport do the Yankees play?”

“Really, you have to ask me that?”

“Yeah. I do.”

“Well that’s an easy one. They play the sport of GO FUCK YOURSELF!” I took off running into the woods.

Whisper rode like the wind. She had at least two arrows in her but I rode her harder than I ever had, for far longer than I would have ordinarily dared. I had an arrow in my back, the point coming through my abdomen. I took out a Healing potion, ripped off the cap with my teeth and downed it, just as the world was turning white. I downed another potion in the same fashion. Colors returned to the world. The pain returned, but I was alive.

Whisper galloped hard, hooves pounding the ground, her mouth frothing. We had gained ground but I could hear them coming behind us. She did not slow, only ran faster, toward our camp. I did not even need to steer her – she knew where to go.

They began to gain on us. She was slowing. More arrows rained down. I kept my head down, hugging Whisper, urging her on, my eyes watery. From the wind. Whisper took another arrow somewhere and cried out in pain.

Then Alec was in front of us, with the men. Arrows flew over my head from both directions. I reached my comrades, slowed Whisper and leapt off to join the fight. For once my aim with the crossbow was true, and I downed one swordsman, then an archer, then a man with an ax.

I grabbed a sword from a dead man and went to rush in, but someone grabbed me and pulled me down.

“It’s almost over,” Landria whispered in my ear. “No need for you to die. Not today. We need to get these arrows out.” I had more than one arrow in me, turns out.

Alec and the men mopped up. Alec used his special sword on the two outlander men I had chatted with earlier.

Jade removed the arrows and there was a lot of pain, but she healed me up.

The men cheered me and clapped me on the back for my good work. We had just taken out fifty men. I told Jade about the ones to the west, but she said we already had eyes on them. They were in full retreat.

The pursuit had fouled up the enemy general’s plan. Seeing the advantage lost, the southern army was withdrawing as well.

I found Whisper lying on her side. I stroked her thick fur and mane one last time. It was too late to comfort her. She had died while I joined the fracas, perhaps moments after I leapt off her. From the injuries or exhaustion from running too fast and long, I do not know.

She was a good horse though.

The last thing I remember from that day is Landria taking me back to her tent. I drank a good bit after that.