The War of Gods

Chapter 1 - Part 3

Each squad had a briefing and planning tent, which was slightly bigger than the rest. This was the tent that required more work to setup, as they demanded a square-shaped dugout, like an amphitheatre, with a big table in the centre. That way everyone could see and hear their respective captain. Usually, they only went through the work of setting up this tent for bigger operations, so everyone knew this was their final stop where the main drill of this trip would happen.

Mavar pitied Joel and Jordan. He was an elf, which gave him a naturally taller build than the rest of the humans, and Nerith would obstruct the view of anyone behind her, so their squad had to sit on the top of the stairs. This wasn't a problem for him, but he couldn't say the same for his smaller squad mates.

"Settle down, soldiers," Briggs said. The room quickly went quiet. The captain walked down the stairs and laid out a big map across the table. Was that a drawing of Tarlu? That was a Szofian city, wasn't it? Could they be near the border? The math would make sense.

"Today," she continued, with a heavy sigh, "we will be invading the city of Tarlu, recruits."

A long pause.

So that's what this was about. For everyone else, the sudden silence in the room would become deafening, but Mavar learned early on in his life to expect the worse. Even so, he tried to look at the situation rationally, but no matter the angle, it did not make sense for Korfez to attack Szofe in any way. Hadn't they set up an alliance just months ago?

Mavar felt a stir in the back of his mind at this information. Did this bother Him? Why would it?

Briggs let the soldiers take in the information, then broke the silence. "For the sake of whatever integrity is left in this military force, I will be completely honest with you, soldiers," She did not try to conceal the bitterness in her voice. "We are to pillage, destroy and burn this city. No survivors. A group of bandits will be blamed for what we are about to do, so make it look the part.

"We chose you, with little to no experience, because you are expendable. No one knows your faces and you will not have the physique or posture of an experienced soldier, and therefore no one will question it when we link the incident to lowlifes. The higher-ups will throw two hundred of their new blood to the wolves, if they need to." She clenched her fists. "I will not apologize. A soldier must follow the orders given to them. That goes for you worms, and me. Move out."

Mavar got up to leave but someone pulled on his sleeve. Nerith glared at him and then nudged to Jordan. The youth was pale as paper.

"You alright?" asked Nerith.

"We are... invading them?" Jordan could barely get the words out. "That makes no sense. Why would we? Szofe hasn't provoked us in any way! We are allies. My aunt lives in Ackchaman, right at the border!"

Jordan was right, it did not make sense. Not only the two countries were recent allies, but Tarlu was neither useful nor threatening to Korfez. It was a recently built small city four days walk off the main road. More of a settlement really. Maybe that was why? An easy target for an unexpected attack? Good enough a reason for Mavar.

"You heard the captain," he said. His squad mates looked up at him, surprised. "Orders are orders."

"Mavar, this... this means war," Jordan said, barely a whisper.

"Not our place to judge decisions."

"You cannot be serious," Jordan snapped, coming up to Mavar. Chest out, angry face. The boy was small next to Mavar, but still stood his ground. Mavar stood his own as well. "I know you are nothing but a foreigner, but this is my home. I will not take it to war without good reason. I will not watch my loved ones die, for whatever reason."

Mavar held Jordan's eyes for a few seconds. The silence was so loud, he could feel other men glaring at him. Mavar sighed and relaxed. He couldn't waste time with petty conflicts. "Look, kid, I don't like this anymore than you do, but it is what we signed up for. They gave you a chance to back out. Why do you think that is? What do you think will happen if you backout now, after you heard their plan?" Jordan started at the realization. Mavar placed a hand on the youth's shoulder. "You can't protect your people, if you're thrown in jail for treason."

"Or executed," Joel added nonchalantly.

Jordan slumped his shoulders and eyed his feet, defeated.

Joel gave Mavar an understanding nod while Nerith shot him a disapproving glance. He tried to ignore her. He didn't sign up to make friends.

"He's right, recruits," Chief Ghuil said as he approached. He was an older man, and he bore the aura of wisdom obtained over years of fighting. Mavar wondered what that wisdom had cost him. "Too late to back out now, I'm afraid. C'mon, we don't want to keep the rest of the troops waiting."

An oddly eager grin formed on his face. "Our group is the first one going in, after all."