Equivalent Exchange: Beginnings

In the beginning

"In a world of monsters, the only ones I fear live in the light"-Anonymous

Dust.

The powderized earth was kicked into giant clouds, sending stinging debris into Colonel Sterthans eyes.

The damn sand storms on the outskirts always managed to ruin things for him and his company.

On this occasion the sand had blown into his tent. Spewing the stinging powder into his closed eyes. Biting at his eyelids, irritating Sterthan as he slept.

He sighed. The thirteenth platoon from his company was still out. They hadn't reported back. Not even a peep. He'd have to send out another platoon soon. The fourth fucking one just this month. He sighs again.

After dragging himself from bed, pulling on clothes, fixing goggles to his face, and stepping outside the colonel snaps his fingers as a flash of blue light hits the ground.

The Colonels smile crinkles the skin near his eyes, as the dust shifts away from his little creation.

A simple telescope. Made with the sand left here on his tents doorstep. With it, He looked out far into the southeast. Studying the contours of the mounds of sand, and the shining rocks that stuck out.

No sign of anyone still. The colonel grunted and threw the telescope to the floor. Dammit and damn everything around him. The thirteenth platoon was due back three days ago. He simply couldn't wait any longer.

Feet planted firmly in his boots, and his mind made up, Sterthan marched down from his tent set upon a hill. Down to the encampment of soldiers he still had left.

After a few well placed steps and the avoiding of a roll or two, colonel found himself at the bare tent of platoon 23. Another few he had sent out to find the thirteenth. They hadn't returned either.

He regained his footing in the loose sand, picked up his pace,and strode as fast as he could towards the radio tent near the back of the camp.

The encampment laid out in circles. Like a protective ring, with the tent for radio contact placed in the center of the ring. An intelligent place for it the colonel thought, as the ambushes always targeted any radio stations they had.

This way every tent looked the same. That way no matter what tent, The bloods could never get it on their first try

That didn't mean it wasn't difficult for new recruits or visitors to the camp to find it. They always came to colonel to search for it.

Sterthan, though knew exactly where it was. He had been the way to lay out the camp, and he'd memorized it long before it ever sprang to reality.

Now as he entered into the radio tent Sterthan knew something was wrong.

Copper and the smell of magic hung in the hair. A leafy and blossoming smell that hung especially heavy near the radio box.

Colonels eyebrows bunch together as he takes a step forward. There's no outward signs of a struggle. No blood, no scuffs, and no broken equipment.

Everything was fine. Yet not a single person stood in that tent.

Even the small bunks at the back were empty.

Sterthan sniffs again, hard. He feels the prickling of magic enter his nostrils as he pulls the glove from his pocket. Yes the magic of the bloods was here. The copper of blood.

He could almost taste it.

The smirk was on his lips before the radio equipment started shimmering.

A roar split the stillness as the facade of equipment burst into dust revealing a near naked man clad in a single loin cloth, bursting his way towards Stetrthan.

The colonel spun around pulling the man with his momentum and swinging the blood as hard as he could through the flap of the tent.

Sterthan followed;planting his gloved hand into the sand below his feet. Electricity crackles through the air for a split second as the sand pulls up, and slams down on the struggling body of the blood.

Electricity crackles once more as the sand converts, in a flash to thick glass. Holding the man down.

"Nice try blood," Sterthan smirks "I could smell your kind from a mile away."

The man just growls attempting to wiggle around, but the glass holds him perfectly.

"I don't have much time so I'll make this quick," The colonel steps close to the man and lays his gloved hand down into the glass box.

"tell me where my platoons are, or I will end your life," Sterthan smiles as the air crackles. The glass slowly grows. Pushing its edge along the mans neck. Slicing a thin bead into his skin letting the greenish blood drip from his neck slowly.

"Now!"

The man looks up into Sterthans eyes. He opens his mouth but only gurgels bubble from him. A froth spilling forth from the bloods lips.

"Dammit," the colonel slaps the glass and it crackles one final time. The spurt of blood hits at his feet on the sand, as the head of the blood slips away from the glass, plopping down into the sand.

The damn blood couldn't speak. He had his vocal cords fried.

No amount of magic or alchemy could have fixed him. There wasn't anything but to end his life swiftly. The others in camp would have given him a much slower end.

Sterthan sighed once again. Now he had to assign new people to the radio.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

After privates Leon and Junior has manned the radio tent; Sterthan had sent the body and head deep into the ever sifting sand. Not much of a send of he thought, but they were the enemy. So they didn't deserve any small dignity he had to give.

The colonel now only had one option left to him. He had to wait. To wait he had to prepare. Tonight he knew an ambush was coming. The copper scent hadn't left since he'd killed that blood.

That meant more of them. With more of them he might even see his platoon again. Just not alive.

Night had passed long before he could feel the shifts in the sand signalling their approach. The bloods had brought their army, and there was no escape route.

Sterthan has already spoken with everyone. Each of his left over soldiers. One on one. They understood their fate now. Most had stayed strong. A few cried. The rest sat stoically and just nodded.

Not a one of them abandoned him. He couldn't have been more proud. The tears had found his eyes before he had even mustered the will to stop them.

Now as he stood on the crest of the sand mound. Sterthan smiled. From below came the growls and screams of a race of beasts looking to take the lives of the men who had sworn their lives to protect

Please leave any comments about anything you like, what I got wrong, constructive criticisms and the like. THANK YOU