“What is the meaning of this, Raen? Have you lost your damn mind?!”

  The voice cracked like a whip inside the scout regiment’s tent – a tent feeling far emptier than it should be, as only a fourth of the cots were taken.

  The rest belonged to men now buried outside the camp … or whose bodies were never recovered.

  A bald, thick-necked officer in a thick coat stood on the other side of a large wooden stable, glaring at Raen with a face twisted red with anger, nostrils flaring like an angry bull.

  He wore a heavy coat with silver stitching along the shoulders that marked his rank.

  “What do you mean, Commander Tarris?” Asked Raen, his voice calm and composed, completely unaffected by the man’s anger.

  He stood at the front of a group he would be leading today. A total of 9 people, including him.

  “What do I mean?!” Tarris asked, his finger stabbing at the map spread out on the large wooden table. “You wish to alter the sanctioned route minutes before departure, and you ask me what I mean?!”

  His voice climbed higher, the anger sounding almost like genuine disbelief.

  “The route has been chosen because it is the safest and fastest way to your objective!”

  “Is it truly?” Raen asked, his voice deceptively mild, polite even. But the way he said it, however, made the temperature drop by several degrees. His eyes lowered to the map, then lifted back to Tarris.

  Tarris’ face went from red to nearly purple.

  “Do you take the remainder of the scout regiment as useless?!” He hissed, his voice gone low, dangerous. He turned, sharply gesturing at the men gathered along the edges of the tent, about twenty of them.

  “Look, these are the people you are insulting with your current words!”

  A few of the scouts straightened, others crossed their arms. All of them stared at Raen with unfriendly gazes.

  “They are the vanguard,” Tarris continued. “Risking their necks to clear the immediate area so that makeshift squads like yours can even make it to your objectives without being ambushed!”

  He placed his palms on the table, pushing with such force that it creaked.

  “They are the reason you amateurs even make it to your missions alive! They track the enemy and keep you from walking into ambushes! Without them, you’d be corpses!”

  “Ah,” Raen said, his smile cold, devoid of warmth. “You mean like the last time? When the ‘safest route’ almost got the entire team and me killed?”

  Silence fell over the tent.

  Complete. Utter. Silence.

  A few of the scouts shifted where they stood, some sucking in a breath.

  The last mission Raen led was a disaster; everyone knew that. Two men dead, the team leader – Raen himself – heavily injured, almost killed. The squad was forced to withdraw. The only reason they had survived was because Dral and Thatch had taken it upon themselves to save them, cutting through the ambushers like ghosts.

  “Careful now, team leader. Your words could be taken as an implication for something … you might not be aiming to make.” Tarris said, his voice going quiet, dangerous even.

  “Implication?” Raen asked, tilting his head to the side, his face showing clear confusion. “I was not implying anything, sir.”

  He paused.

  “I merely believe that the enemy has seen through our tactic. That they are observing all paths we deem ‘best’ for our scouting units to take.”

  He paused again, his eyes moving across the scouts, meeting their gazes just long enough to make them uncomfortable

  “If you thought I was implying any of the men present are spies, you are gravely mistaken.”

  The scouts stared at him, some with open hostility. Others narrowed their eyes, their hands slowly drifting toward the hilts of their weapons.

  “Oy,” Thatch said from behind Raen, his tone light as he scratched his right cheek with one finger. “I would let go of those hilts if I were you.”

  He then smiled.

  It was a bright, cheerful smile that should have been disarming and friendly.

  “If not, I might get scared and do something to you that I do not truly wish to do.”

  The temperature in the tent dropped instantly.

  The hands froze as the scouts felt dread enveloping them. Thatch’s smile was akin to the smile of the Grim Reaper in their eyes. It was a clear warning. One delivered with perfect politeness.

  “Enough!”

  Tarris’s hand slammed down on the wooden table.

  It cracked and broke down the middle, a clean split.

  “Have you all lost your minds?!” He roared, his voice a bomb going off in an enclosed space, making all their ears ring.

  “I could cut off all your heads for insubordination right now, every single one of you!”

  His gaze swept across the room. It first landed on Raen, then Thatch, and then the scouts. The scouts snapped to attention immediately, their spines going rigid, hands to their sides.

  “You are supposed to go on a mission right now, “ Tarris said, his voice not softening. “So I will pretend the conversation and incident that took place here never occurred.”

  He turned his gaze back to Raen.

  “As for your sudden request to change routes, without any good reason from you, I cannot –“

  “I have a reason,” Raen interrupted, his hand moving to his pocket. “As well as a plan.”

  He took out a folded map.

  “May I step closer, sir?”

  Tarris stared at him for a while before his eyes flicked down to the map in Raen’s hands. Something shifted in his expression – curiosity, perhaps.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “… You may.”

  Raen stepped forward and unfurled the map on the floor behind the table. Only he and Tarris could see it.

  The map was more detailed than the one the regiment used.

  “Where the hell did you –“ Tarris stopped himself. His eyes flicked to Thatch, then back at Raen. “You know what, I don’t even want to know.”

  “Thatch gathered information,” Raen said, leaning close enough so that only Tarris could hear. “Some of the men in the night watch have been a bit restless for the last two days. They heard strange sounds.”

  His fingers moved across the map, tapping three locations in quick succession.

  “Here. Here. And here.”

  Tarris’ expression tightened. All three locations were directly on the routes the scouting teams were supposed to take today.

  “Sir, they say they brought the information back to the watch commander. Who should have informed you, but …”

  He let the implication hang.

  Tarris’ eyes constricted to needlepoints.

  “The watch commander told them he was already aware. That you had already informed him that the scouts would be doing something there. That the night watch was supposed to ignore the sounds.”

  He paused, letting it settle.

  “One of the scouts even dropped by to apologize to the night watch for the sounds they were making.”

  Tarris’ jaw clenched hard.

  “Because the locations are far apart, the sound is very faint,” Raen continued. “Only audible at night, when the camp is silent. Only the night watch heard it.”

  If Raen’s previous words brought implication to the commander, now they were outright accusatory.

  “You know the punishment for a false accusation. Are you certain of this?”

  “Yes, sir,” Raen said. “I am.”

  Their eyes met, and Tarris needed only one look to know his confidence was absolute.

  “Some of the night watch went to investigate, their curiosity stronger than the commander’s orders. They saw light from torches and campfires – one at each location. They also heard people talking.”

  “They figured it was the scouts and left.” He then glanced at the map. “That is why we know the locations.”

  Raen’s words were not completely true.

  The night watch did go to investigate, but they stopped quite far away after noticing light coming from the three spots. From such a distance, it was nearly impossible for them to pinpoint where they were.

  “What scout dropped by the night watch?” Tarris asked.

  “Front row. Furthest on the left.” Raen whispered.

  Tarris’ gaze didn’t move; he simply nodded once.

  “Your route request has been allowed,” he said, his voice still low enough that no one beyond the table could hear. “But privately. Now … play along.”

  Tarris straightened and drew in a deep breath. His face shifted back to red, and he shook his head with visible disgust.

  “The route stays the same,” he said, his voice now loud. “I will not allow for any further insubordination. Am I understood?”

  “Yes … sir.” The words came out with a hiss, clearly showing his displeasure. He turned sharply and walked out of the tent.

  His team quickly followed after him, but not before saluting the commander first.

  Tarris glanced at them before turning to the man standing near the entrance.

  “Fin.”

  The man moved, appearing beside him in an instant, his expression unreadable.

  “Call the other teams in,” Tarris said, his voice returning back to normal. “I don’t want to waste any more time sending them to their missions than I have to. This one took long enough already.”

  He then leaned in and whispered something to Finn.

  The man simply nodded his head before leaving the tent.

  “The routes may be compromised,” He muttered loudly enough for the scouts to hear, but quiet enough to sound like he was talking to himself. “What a load of crap, and that from someone with his rank.” He scoffed. “He’ll see when he comes back … “

  Some of the scouts relaxed while others smiled – cold, satisfied smiles that appeared for only an instant.

  ***

  Outside, the moment Raen’s team had left the tent, one of the team members – a nervous-looking man with a thin face – moved closer to Raen.

  “Raen, the commander will probably punish you for this after the mission. You know that, right?”

  Raen smirked.

  “The commander has agreed to his request,” Thatch said from behind, staring at Raen’s back. “What happened at the end was nothing more than an act. To confuse the spies.”

  The rest of the team nearly stumbled, staring at Thatch, then at Raen. Shock spread across their faces.

  “You should’ve let me deal with that guy. Ten seconds and I would have made him spill everything. Wouldn’t that have been faster?”

  Raen shook his head at Thatch.

  “His cries would attract attention. We can’t sacrifice the big fish in order to deal with the small fry right away.”

  He said calmly before glancing back to the tent, looking at Finn, who had just stepped out.

  Finn caught his gaze and gave him a single, nearly undetectable nod before moving on.

  “Plus,” he said, turning back to his team. “The commander isn’t a pushover. He’ll deal with things here while we deal with the enemies outside the camp.”

  ***

  Sometime later, the team stood in a small clearing some 20 minutes away from camp. The team was staring at the detailed map that Raen had unfurled on the ground, studying it.

  “Will the plan work? I mean, we don’t know anything about the enemy. Their numbers, their strength, nothing.” A woman who was wearing a skin-tight leather outfit lined with daggers and a rapier on her waist, asked Raen

  “That will be the job of you, me, and Thatch,” Raen said as he glanced at her.

  ‘Thatch himself would be enough for it, honestly, but I don’t want to rely on him too much for something as simple as this.’

  “The enemy is fully confident in their spies; they won’t expect us to already know their plan, so taking them by surprise shouldn’t be too difficult.”

  Raen continued aloud, tapping the map.

  “The job of the three of us will be to get a clear understanding of the enemy placement as well as their numbers. After that, we will go back to the rest of the team and plan the attack.”

  Raen stood up.

  “Stay here, we’ll be back soon.”

  Raen told the rest of the team, who nodded. They moved toward the nearby bushes, making themselves difficult to detect as the three of them moved to scout out further ahead.

  ***

  Light mist clung low to the ground, drifting around their ankles as beams of sunlight passed between the branches and leaves, akin to thin blades. Raen was at the very front, eyes lowered, tracing the ground, looking for any clues that might appear in front of them.

  Behind him, the woman, Selise, walked with smooth, graceful steps. Her steps were placed carefully, barely making a sound as she walked.

  She had once been a member of the scout regiment, as evident in the way she moved. She had been lucky enough to transfer from the regiment a couple of months ago, before the slaughter of the scouts began.

  Thatch, on the other hand, was like a shadow. He walked with his hands in his pockets, his expression too cheerful for someone who was heading into a potential trap. If you compared him to Selise and Raen, there was a stark difference. His steps were so light that even when walking beside him, you’d barely hear them.

  His presence was another thing, as it was difficult to ‘sense’ him next to you at times. He simply … wasn’t there, even when he was.

  They followed their new route that Raen had made after talking with Thatch. It was supposed to lead them close to the trap without being noticed by the enemy.

  “So, you’re confident the enemy expects us on the original route?” Selise asked, exhaling slowly. Her tone suggested she was still not fully convinced of Raen’s plan.

  “Definitely, and thanks to our little ‘play’ previously, the spies will have no reason to tell them otherwise.

  “Even if they did, I’m sure the commander will intercept any message or signal they try to send.”

  “How did you even come to your conclusion?”

  Raen glanced at her, smirking. “It wouldn’t be fun if I gave away everything, wouldn’t it now?”

  Selise frowned at his words and was about to say something when Raen suddenly stopped.

  “We’re close.” He said, eyes staring straight ahead at a ridge line barely visible between the trees.

  “Past that slope, we need to be very careful; the enemy is close.”

  The two nodded before they all moved forward, climbing the incline in silence, each of their steps deliberate.

  ‘Was he always this good?’ Selise asked herself as she glanced at Raen.

  Even before, when they were moving through the forest, he felt a bit … off to her.

  They had done a total of three missions before, so they couldn’t be said to be close teammates, but Selise clearly remembered that although he was a solid leader, he was nothing out of the ordinary either.

  And yet now, he was moving closer to how a scout moved, his eyes darting around, looking for any signs of movement. His steps were deliberate, barely leaving a trail, and his whole demeanor was different from what she remembered.

  Even Thatch glanced at Raen twice when they were moving. Intrigue was visible in his eyes for an instant, then his expression changed.

  His eyes narrowed as they reached the top of the slope, his demeanor shifting.

  “Thatch?” Raen immediately picked up on it, glancing at Thatch.

  “Enemies are close by,” Thatch said.

  Selise frowned. “How do you –“

  “Birds.”

  The single line did little to dispel Selise’s confusion. “They’re present, wings flapping and all.”

  “Yes, but the sound is off from the front, there’s less of them there,” Thatch said, catching Selise off guard.

  ‘Seriously … only he would be able to notice something like that.’ Raen thought before glancing at the two.

  “Selise, take the right, Thatch, the left, I’ll go in the middle.”

  The three split up, and the forest seemingly thickened, the atmosphere shifting as an invisible pressure settled in the air.

  It was the kind that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, even if you couldn’t see the danger yet.