Thousands march while the sun strikes the land with its radiant glow. We dismantle our camp and begin our march to the mine. Some Dogs snarl, snickering with the thought that they are going to liberate their first mine in the north. They want to see themselves as heroes, warriors who participated in the freedom of our people. I only want something simple, more soldiers to fight my war. If I am to win this, everyone will need to participate.
My right leg tenses and flares up again, making walking even more painful than before. It will take a while before it can heal up. But if it means I have to limp to the mine or fight the Cinari for the entire duration of the war. So be it. I won’t let my injuries slow me down.
I reach the top of the hill, excited to overlook the mine below so they can witness their liberator. Yet right in front of me, my frustration builds, my rage unfathomable. Every Dog chats among themselves, unsure if we made a mistake of some kind. But I know we didn’t. We followed the right path and never have we ever been lost. There is no mine! There is nothing but an open field covered in snow and mud. With a few benches and seats randomly scattered around. The Cinari placed those there to mock me!
‘We’ve been duped.’ Jackle points out, and he is right. The bastards tricked us!
I pull out my map, and it points out that the mine should be here. Yet it doesn’t fucking exist! There has to be a true map, one that isn’t tainted with falsehoods. I bring out the map the assassins have on them, and it doesn’t show Jagged Mine; in fact, it claims this place is called Jagged Park.
‘Get Vern here, now!’ I order my soldiers as they run off to get him. I will demand some answers from him, and I will want them right now!
Jackle approaches me. ‘Marak, we’ll need to warn Midrax and Karl. If our maps are wrong, theirs will be as well. Send the word and I’ll head off and send the message.’
I nod to Jackle to follow through with his request. We are now more vulnerable than I anticipated. By not putting everything down, there will possibly be forts and mines hidden from us. We’ll need to search every inch of land we have control of to make sure we didn’t miss anything. All of that progress, all of that effort will need to be backtracked! Every piece of land needs to be scouted again in case we missed anything by accident. For all I know, my army is currently being flanked. We need to fall back to fully occupied territory to prevent any kind of ambush. Bastards!
My Dogs shove Vern to his knees before me. His bruised face smiles as he looks at me. ‘What’s wrong? Got lost or something?’ I put the two different maps down in front of him. ‘Shit, you have two maps now? That is a massive shock, isn’t it? What’s next? Do you want to show me three maps?’
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Don’t play cute! In retaliation, his nose breaks with a single punch. I want to go further, but he has the unfortunate privilege of being useful.
‘Why are the maps different?’
‘Fuck me! You tell me; I thought you were the smart one.’
I clench my fist, and he sighs, knowing that it will be wise not to push me. At least he is smart enough not to fuck around.
‘Information warfare,’ Vern refers to the maps with a bloodied smile. ‘That is what they are. We do it so we can dumb cunts like you confused.’
Clever, but all that will do is delay our progress. ‘And how will I know if they are accurate?’
Vern shrugs with a smirk, ‘well, looks like you have to find out for yourself. Because not even I know if they are accurate or not. I know, such a fucking pity.’
There is no point in getting any more information out of him. I wave my soldiers to drag the vermin back into his cage. If I have to make a guess, every Cinari Commander or leader will have their own map of the area. This will slow me down. However, I can’t rely on fighting them and hoping they have a map on hand. There is a quicker way to get what I need.
After a sharp grunt as the pain in my right leg flares up, I point at a random soldier and gesture for them to come towards me. ‘Gather two hundred soldiers of your choice. I need you to scout ahead and determine the defences of the North. Once you map everything out, come back to me and report your findings.’
They shiver, but they nod in response. ‘Yes… my lord.’
I wave them off; they'd better get things done now. For now, I’ll set up camp here and make this a base of operations. The bastards have wasted my time and given me false hope for more soldiers. I will make sure they pay for the inconvenience. For that to happen, however, I will need to discern truth from fiction.
