“Here you go,” the soldier guarding the gate said, handing Bordan his adventurer’s medallion back and stowing the list of names he had checked it against. “I’ll have someone take you to Division Command.”

He nodded at one of the younger soldiers who had been looking on with a bored expression. The youth saluted with a fist above his heart then turned and led them into the fort.

As they passed through the gate, Edwin looked around with curiosity. It was his first time in an army fort, and that this one was different from the standard only made it more interesting. The first hundred or so meters behind the wall were empty, bare earth flattened by hundreds of boots. To their left, Edwin could see a banner of what he assumed to be recruits march in circles to the bellowed commands of their officer. After passing through the parade grounds, the road disappeared between rows upon rows of identical wooden buildings, simple-looking two-storied constructions that had to be where the soldiers slept. The paved road intersected several dirt paths reinforced with split logs that curved inwards, so leading Edwin to assume that the roads were laid out in concentric rings.

Division Command was literally impossible to miss, as it was not just the only stone building in the entire fort, the paved road also led straight to its doors. It almost seemed like a miniature fortress in itself, several stories high with a walled-off courtyard, separately guarded, that held a small stable. As they had passed extensive stables for draft animals and spacious carriage houses just before they reached the building, Edwin assumed that these inner ones were for horses, which would explain why they stood empty. Their guide quickly exchanged a few words with the guards, then he nodded at the adventurers and turned back the way they’d come. One of the guards took over from him, leading them through the courtyard and into the building.

Three flights of stairs delivered them to the highest floor where the general had his office. Their guide knocked and announced them, then bade them enter and left.

Edwin had seen several offices of high-profile people over the years, the last one being Master Hector’s back in Pel Darni. Compared to those, General Asher’s was… plain. It had clearly been built with grandeur in mind, a wall of windows bathing the space in light and providing a magnificent view of the fort and the surrounding forest. There were none of the expensive furnishings Edwin had come to expect, however, no intricately carved desks or cabinets, no shelves filled with works of literature to show that the one possessing them was a man of culture and learning. Instead, the walls held lockers overflowing with paper, as well as maps. It was orderly, but barely so; the not-yet-chaos of a man who simply didn’t have the time to file away everything exactly where it belonged.

Edwin had seen General Asher from afar, but even up close he was exactly how he had always pictured a general. Short hair and trimmed beard more grey than black, neither short nor tall, lean despite his station forcing him behind the desk instead of on the field. He stood as they entered, walking around his desk with a smile. Bordan went for a salute but managed to stop himself and shake the general’s offered hand.

“Bordan, good to see you again. Hector sent word ahead to expect you, but I’m afraid I don’t know who your companions are.”

Edwin regarded Bordan with surprise. The former soldier, usually so confident and self-assured, had lost most of that the moment he had walked through the door. “Thank you, General,” Bordan said stiffly. “I wish it was under better circumstances. These are my teammates Salissa, Edwin, and Leodin. They agreed to come along and assist me with the preparations.”

“Well, they are more than welcome. Gods know we need all the hands we can get.” The general shook each of their hands with a firm grip, then gestured them towards a handful of chairs to the side of the room, taking one of them himself.

“You know,” Asher said as they seated themselves, “I admit that I was saddened that you rejected the request for reenlistment when the fifth was created. We really could have used your expertise, and I had hoped for another opportunity to work together.”

Bordan kept his face perfectly impassive. “I’m surprised you knew that I had moved here, as I assumed those requests had been sent to every retiree in the county.”

“Oh, they had been, but the list of those who had settled here was a regrettably short one, so I happened to see your name on it.“

“Then I apologize for disappointing you, General.”

General Asher’s smile wavered at that, and it seemed that he only now noticed Bordan’s stony expression.

“You know each other?” Edwin asked, trying to change the subject. “Did you serve together?”

“Oh yes, a long time ago,” Asher answered, his smile returning. “We both used to serve in the third division, where I was his cohort commander for a few years. Best damn bannerman I ever had. I tried to get him to change tracks and become an officer, but he refused. That must have been, what, seven years ago?”

“More like ten.” Bordan corrected impassively.

“So it has. Time flies,” Asher said with a sigh. “Speaking of time, while I do enjoy our reunion, I seem to be perpetually short on time these days, so let’s get down to business, shall we?”

He stood up, walked over to his desk, and opened a drawer. When he returned, he handed a small metal plate to each of them. They were beautifully made, bearing the Harvand gull and a stylized ‘V’ the number five on the old imperial script.

“First things first, you’re basically part of division leadership now, so these will allow you access to all areas of the fort. I know Division Lord Theodor would want to meet with you as well, but that will have to wait until he’s back from the city. My chief of staff as well as his section chief have prepared a briefing for you to get you started, so you should head down to see them. If you have questions that they can’t answer or need something they can’t provide, don’t hesitate to bring it to me.”

Bordan furrowed his brows. “Of course, general, but… I had expected to discuss the specifics of our role with you. The other adventurers have never seen a battlefield before, and there is much to consider…”

“You’re right, and we will do that, but not now.” Asher said with a sigh. “The General Staff has informed me that we will soon receive guidelines covering adventurer combat deployment, and there is not much point discussing it beforehand. In the meantime, I imagine you will be busy getting everything ready for the arrival of your guildmates. We will also be joined by a contingent of mages soon, so any tactical considerations we make now will most likely be moot once we have to factor them in as well.

“So, the College has joined the war after all?” Edwin asked. Asher nodded, face turning serious.

“I just got the news yesterday. The council has voted in favor, and the mages are gathering for war. I don’t know anything else yet, simply the information that each division will receive its own contingent and to prepare to receive them. I don’t yet know when they will arrive, but I expect them sometime after your guildmates arrive.”

As they exited the general’s office, Walter’s thoughts were bubbling to the surface once again. What did all of this look like in Pel Oreis? In his mind, the College was in chaos, peaceful scholars, teachers, and researchers coming to terms with the knowledge that they would soon find themselves in combat, risking their lives to take others’. Apprentices were hurrying through the familiar corridors, speaking in hushed voices. Were they whispering of the end of the world, of how their life had been turned upside down from the tidy path they had been imagining, or were they dreaming of glory on the battlefield, as the young were too often wont to do? What would it feel like to walk the halls of his past as the shadow of war descended onto peaceful gardens and classrooms? Was there anyone still alive of those he had known, and if so, did their faces show fear or determination?

Edwin shook his head and followed his teammates down the stairs, tacking the insignia he’d received onto his cloak, and adjusting it so that the gull was the right way up. It was high time he stopped dwelling on the past. After all, he was in the army now, and there was a war to fight.