Flags straightened, waves cast across its red canvases where silver lions rose on their hind legs. Bearing a crown, small that no one paid heed to, each creature offered a coronet of gold to the skies which had become a bleak, gray umbrella. Refusing earthly offerings, it returned them a shower of tears. A light mist fell on their skin after their morning had been drizzled by a heavy cloud washing by. Even above the marshland, the ground had become soft and the soil had turned into mud. Bogged down by the weight of the earth, none found any enthusiasm in duty if it had not yet been lost by years wearing at themselves. Dampened as the grass was, the morale of the camp had been entirely wetted. The blades of green shone like knives from a coat of water reflecting glints of steel around. From the swinging swords holstered to hips to greaves and chest plates of chevaliers, troops scurried about and hands busied. Officers flustered with reports clasped beneath their arms, fleeting from commander to commander. They spoke of the plot that was occurring and spewed whatever opinions they had that they could not withhold from the tip of their tongues. Joined by comrades, the loudening murmurs and shouts added to the putrid heat in the air. Dozens stood together in congregation, of middle and high-ranked soldiers, calmly-spoken and focus-minded, adjutants of the high command sent off their runners and received messengers in place of their superiors. Although, when one provided an answer to a previous ask, ten more questions would fill its place. But unfaltering, everyone worked to solve their crisis with no gaps left unfilled and not a single page in their reports unturned. The heart of the army was another battlefield within a battlefield.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNsTlJDHJFT
Mud kicked up from the march of men, soiling their greaves and boots. A few among the elites had already gathered, shoulder to shoulder, with files beneath a hand and another on the hilt of their sabers. Often times giving way for comrades to exit according to orders and giving way for those budging in to administer, all eyes were peeled on their mapped situation, following pointers and chattering with neighbors. The site of battle was laid on a surface of a sturdy hardwood table with the length of a small row boat. Stretching from ends to ends, the canvas of the map had roads clearly lined and thick contours marking the inclines of hills. Spots of forests were dabbed by ink and the marks of marshlands were spoiled by a smudge of pencil lead. The officers of greater importance were donned by a seat of honor as the holder of metal-tipped rods who suggested paths to victory. As seniors, they oversaw a crowd and a class of adjutants who learned and thought for the department of the whole as generals tapped their sticks and explained their tactics with the simplest words they could find. Seeing some nods among the party, there was a common sound of accord across the majority. However, there was a minority who spoke of greater risks which many were unwanting to listen to or obey. Out of respect for the one who was most watched and was given his own sovereign thought, he stood alone with little supporters and a mind only mattering to himself. His voice was loudest and most prominent, but it never meant that what came out of his mouth was any more sensible.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8aLCNYhSf4
“We are expecting an onslaught of Confederates in the coming days.” An aide-de-camp reaffirmed, dragging his rod along the road. “I have made prior preparations with our batteries stationed here, on these ridges.” Pointing at the blocks on the map, like chess pieces, he had coordinated his simulated forces to overlook a primary marshland in the center of all.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75OpdPPEAd
The officers stayed unmoved by any hope and tilted themselves to better angle their view on the map. A single distraction could lose their train of thought.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1d0TVvB4zN
Raising his voice, he shocked his comrades into pause. “If they dare, which we know them to be,” More or less an advisor, he deduced out of a gambler’s chance, “Our cavalry will cut them down in this funnel which we have dug for them.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmI29DSFYiK
Unconvinced, the council of advisors looked at each other, then to the sky, and the ground. Worrying over the wet earth and the forecasted rain, a soldier with sense would know that cavalry would struggle too complex a maneuver and batteries would be rendered immobile. Tentative, their heads turned down, lacking the same optimism yet lacking a single idea too, of how to defend themselves when their past two years were carved with one word. Attack. Sucking on their cigarettes and clotting their minds with fumes of exhaustion, they laxed over their pride, believing themselves to be capable enough to display their prowess when the time came, unneeding of consultation prior. But across the table, an elder stood, believing himself to be wiser than ever than any other. His hand was flat on the map and he bore a dominating presence over his side of the headquarters. Shaking his head, he puffed a ring of smoke from a pipe he held and pointed its stem at his younger comrade. Though, of equal rank, he had to stay any rudeness.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzp5wdTzRS
“Lieutenant general,” The elder aide considered as all eyes turned to him. “Please do not mind my asking but how many are they fielding?”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUd4c51d99
The naive lieutenant general replied without an incident of hesitation, “Over eight million on our front.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0O5LS9zDR
His mouth was set half awide, realizing his mistake of saying. Lowering his head, he had been humbled in an instant, his eyes closed and his jaws flexed, defeated.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBO8APTabaG
“The Rus alone.” He completed his knowing, quieter.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnz5LIr9Mb
As sarcastic groans began to break the silence and hands threw up into the air, there were a few immature chuckles aimed at the general and smirks which mocked. Enjoying their smokes, others were more mature, who seeing such foolishness of their comrades, could not contain their own temper.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AF9wMCUov
“And you expect us to hold out against even a fraction of that?” One erupted as a third entered the fray, pointing with his cigarette between his fingers. “We hardly have four million—!” Once an untroubled voice became a yell of annoyance at the lieutenant general’s naivety.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsezw6k7pFT
“Order now, order!” A brigadier had to step in from his post beside the high seat.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4fygeeXZP
Tapping his baton on the table, the knocking grew furious, battering the bickering into eventual submission. Generals and officers of the meet straightened out their uniforms and fixed their collars in awkwardness, clearing their throats and cooling their faces reddened by their brawl of words. Inhaling their smokes altogether, fumes expelled from their nostrils, as by the order of the general, the commander at the head of the table, the assembly of adjutants were reserved again. He spoke not for his own self, seeming to be a troubled man. His fists were held together where his forehead rested upon. Shamed of his incompetence, the general dared not face his subordinates. Yet, they all waited, patiently for his thoughts on the matter.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pziim8QTC
With a square league of territory beneath his nose, he could not think clearly when only darkness responded whenever he commanded. “Twenty armies and one hundred corps, not to mention four hundred thousand men per force.” The general of the army estimated his opposition’s numbers, who dared not say any less to breed any ill-intended overconfidence. “What are we supposed to to do?” He asked his faithful officers.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARPdzmA6bj
Mumbling, the commander tossed away any dignity he had left, “What are the westerners waiting for whilst our children die in heaps?”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6P1LSPpfu
Muted, the headquarters was emptied of voices, dampened of any more thoughts. As plumes and feather hackles of their hats fluttered in the breeze which remained easy, the banners above them drooped. The clouds slowed in the sky. Beneath the overcast heavens, they were surrounded by war wagons, chained, with its defenses mounted by elite troops whose rifles were always at the ready, keeping watch of happenings beyond the assembly that they failed to ignore. Outside, those without the burden to decide upon the deaths of entire regiments rested. The soldiers laid beside their horses who lazed as the machines of the army failed to wake. Every branch of the force had a similarly weighted heart whose spirit had been destroyed by two and a half years of endless warring. Without a single victory in sight, every day repeated with inaction in the reserves. But soon, they would find that their life would go with meaning. For once, the late morning was broken by the clobbering of hooves and the soft churning of soil under its shoes. A neigh came from a hard pull on its reins, docking into the hands of a stable boy, as a soldier dismounted at haste. Giving way of passage at the show of a messenger’s seal, spears lifted away for the officer to march up to the high command, although the table was unbelonging to a man of his rank. Halted at the end of the table with his commander ahead, only when he clicked his heels and saluted did his generals acknowledge him.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmks3ee2g7
“Warneńczyk’s just issued his retreat.” The colonel projected, sure that all had heard him, as sweat poured from his scalp. “Our allies are falling back to the Istul—” Holding out an extract of a telegram, rolled into a scroll, he informed with undeniable proof.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZw7uPEzBW
“Ridiculous! That’s over seven hundred leagues away!” A lieutenant general slammed his hands on the table, profuse with anger.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzceYn6WFZk
Drawing the ire of the brigadier who tapped his baton once more, the men were thrown into discord until the general of the army held up a hand and the restart of noises were quelled so quick.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvRvhYhXnk
With a sudden exposure to conviction, the commander stated, “So be it.” Spoken for his adjutants and subordinates and what soldiers fought for him, the general grasped his heart, “If it will better give our allies a chance of survival, I will happily sacrifice this broken body of mine.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4M14B1tkuB
Unsure if they were determined enough to throwing themselves into a needless pot of sacrifice, there was still a duty to respect. To honor themselves, not those around, as a warrior, every man and few women knew to follow the stories of chivalry heard since childhood that a soldier should never question and should always be subordinate to glory. But their eyes did not lie. Solemn for their future. Not many were accepting to waste themselves for a cause that could not guarantee victory and the threat of misfortune carried on. It seemed without choice that they had to fight when in the distant field there was a front of fire and a storm of steel that pledged to march eternally until its enemies were scraps on the soles of their boots. The rumbles of war began again and the truce of battle ended. Finding a prey without a sense of defeat yet wounded by infected cuts all around, the chants and war cries of the Confederacy burrowed deep into their skin. The heavens were torn apart by whistling shells of howitzers breaking the gray ceiling and watering down unto the raided bodies of the Aelon on the meadow becoming a graveyard. The distant gunfire drew closer and the scene of hell rose from their nightmares. Soon, the swarm colored their eyes.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYn7J8zBf2o
