The Voice

The Morning Lights

I gazed around, taking in the soft afternoon lights of the forest. It looked just like the pictures of forests I've seen on the internet. Complete with the light filtering in from the gaps in the trees and the brilliant greens of the leaves. I sniffed the air; it smelled damp, as if it had only just rained and the dirt had a strong smell that reminded me of the dirt you could buy at a hardware store.

"Where are we?" I inquired, reaching out to touch a trunk. I've never seen so many trees in one place before.

Ace was watching me, a curious look on her face. "You've never been out of the city have you?" she queried.

"Nope," I said cheerfully.

Ace chuckled. "We're in the forest," she said. "We are almost at the camp we'll be staying at."

"We're camping?" I asked, my voice excited. I'd always wanted to.

Ace glanced at me, a hint of a smile still on her face. "And you're in for a whole lot of trouble."

"Why?" I asked as I followed Ace through the trees.

"At this camp," Ace started. "We camp tough."

That was all she said until they reached the camp.

The camp certainly did look tough, there were canvas tents held up by branches all around the place. People dressed in leather jerkins and tunics stared at me as I passed by. What made it disturbing was the fact that they all were sharpening their weapons and that none of the men were clean shaven. Not to mention, the women looked like amazon warriors; ready to kill in an instant. Torches were lined up on either side of the worn paths, presumably for the night. Smoke filled the air from all the cooking fires and most likely a bonfire. I could smell the damp-dirt-smell getting fainter as we walked deeper into the camp.

As we neared what I assumed to be the center of camp, I could see that I was right to think that there was a bonfire. Stacks of wood were piled up in the middle of a ring of dark gray stones, creating a cone shape.

Ace noticed me looking at the stones that surrounded the wood. "We drench the stones and the ground around them in an attempt to keep the fire contained at night." She glanced at the stones with a frustrated sigh. "I don't think that it would hold it but...what the commander says goes. He's paranoid if you ask me."

I nodded as I followed Ace to the right and then left. I wasn't sure I should voice my agreement with the commander or not. I was a little nervous around fire in general. When she finally stopped, it was in front of a wooden staircase that led to a house up in the trees.

"Wow!" I exclaimed. " A tree house!"

"Come on nerd," Ace said with a smile. "You need to meet the commander."

Once up in the house, I first noticed a table with a map spread out. Then, I noticed the group of warriors around it, which explains my impulsive reaction the second I stepped into the room.

"Awesome!" I said, moving swiftly to the table. "A war strategy thingy!" My eyes analyzed the map and saw many camps marked in two colors; red and white. The towns were marked by brown cubes and the three castles that were on the map were marked with three different colored flags; royal blue, dark green and a dark orange.

From what I could see, the red camps were quite a lot more than the white camps. The red team looked to be surrounding the white in the corner of the map. The white camps took up about a fourth of the map, and the red took up two fourths. One corner, the farthest from the whites was completely empty but for the towns and the green flag.

I took in a sharp breath. "Not so good for the white team," I muttered. Then I saw it, a weak point. "There," I muttered, pointing to a spot smack in the middle. "That will get them out of the corner, but then it would allow the reds to flank them..." I trailed off. I was in the zone, I won't come out until I have solved the puzzle. "Maybe if they put obstacles in the way on both sides so it would be difficult for the reds to get through...and archers, whites would split the reds completely in half and reduce their numbers immensely while keeping the majority of the whites safe from the reds. Perhaps the elderly and children in the center..." I was silent for a few minutes before nodding. "Any other move would be suicide. Well, more suicide than that."

The room was silent for so long that I finally looked up from the map. Four people were staring at me with unidentifiable expressions. Ace was staring at me with a slight smile on her face.

"Oh," I said. "There are people here." I did a small, awkward laugh, I had not realized that. "Sorry to interrupt." I told them with a slight crack in my voice.

Well, you do find a lot of ways to embarrass your self. Cal commented in amusement.

My second grade cafeteria incident came to mind, unbidden. As well as a whole bunch of different events. Shut up.

Ace stood to the left of the one I desperately hoped wasn't in charge. He wore silver colored armor with golden lining that gleamed in the dim light of the room. His helmet was in his hands and it had a golden border like his armor, a symbol the shape of a lion decorated the sides. He was scowling at me, his brow scrunched together and his lips pressed in a firm line. A golden hilted sword hung on his left hip which his hand was currently resting on. "Ace who is this?" he asked, his voice was deep and gruff.

"Dad, this is Denin," Ace said, looking at the one with the lion helmet. "Denin, this is Commander River of Apocaryde. He is in charge of the entire army you just walked through earlier..."

Dang it

"...His lieutenant, Austin of Beckrode and Captains, Thornyer and Montier." Ace finished.

"That was some plan you just made young man." Commander River commented. "How did you learn battle tactics?"

"Um, I read any thing I can get my hands on," I told him, glancing nervously at the people around I. "Sir," I said as as an afterthought.

"Do you now?" the commander said, his lips twitched.

"Yes," I said, wondering where this was going.

"Have you had any experience with this sort of thing?" Lieutenant Austin asked, gesturing to the table in from of him.

"Ah, no, no I haven't," I answered him awkwardly. "Sorry, did I totally insult any plans you had made?"

"Nay, in fact you solved a problem that we had been trying to solve for years now," one of the captains said. He looked impressed. "How did you do it so quickly?"

I shook my head. "I don't know," I replied. "I've always been a bit quick on the uptake."

No you haven't.

"Alright, not always," I conceded.

Not ever.

"Shut up, Cal," I muttered.

"Cal?" the commander questioned.

"Yes, Commander, that's the, um, voice in my head," I explained.

"Ah," he said in understanding. "Please, call me River. Don't need to stand on formalities."

"Okay," I agreed. I stood there for a few seconds before River spoke again.

"Lieutenant, Captains, you heard the boy, let's try this plan out in three days," River eyed me carefully. "We'll see if it has any merit. In the meantime, start packing and move into formation."

The Lieutenant and Captains saluted, saying, "Sir." Before moving down the treehouse ladder.

"Ace, why don't you take this young man to find a form of living quarters with a little privacy?" River suggested. "Then get him some suitable weapons and a teacher."

"Of course," Ace agreed, bowing in his direction.

"Denin, follow me," she said as she moved passed him out the door and down the ladder.