Chương 80: Tracks

"You three, stay back, and get ready to wake the others," I said to the other Dupes on watch with us.

"Anchor and I will check it out." Before leaving, I roused Burr, then grabbed her lead. I didn't mount yet, just so we would stay low. But there was no way we were sneaking up on whatever it was without getting spotted anyway, not on flat ground like this. We just had to get as close as we could. Anchor, Burr and I crept across the fields. I didn't tell Burr to do anything—not that she would've understood anyway—but she seemed to mimic us, almost like a dog who limped when its owner had an injured leg.

At least she stayed quiet. I whispered to Anchor, "When you can make out details, tell me. Give me a read on what it is."

"It walks like an orc," Anchor replied. I scowled.

"A scout?"

"It's seen us," Anchor continued.

"Probably a scout."

"Can you hit it?"

"It's turning away. Soon, it'll be out of my range."

"You're certain it's an orc?"

"Ninety percent." That wasn't good enough.

"I'm getting closer," I said. I swung up onto Burr's saddle then snapped the reins and she took off, trotting through the waist-high field, creating a wake of snow behind us. The shadow ahead began running, sprinting away, but Burr was faster. I narrowed my eyes, letting my Perception help. It wasn't as good as Anchor's, but it was enough to make out some details. A tall, gangly creature, wearing mismatched armour. It carried a short bow, and— And it spun around, yellow eyes glinting in the dim light.

It was an orc. I almost kicked myself for making this harder than it had to be, but what if we'd cut down a farmer who'd just been looking for help? But the orc must've realized it couldn't escape us forever. It drew its bow. I pulled Burr to the side, and she jumped over an abandoned farmer's wagon. The arrow thudded into the wagon just below her hoof. I probably would've lived if I'd taken that hit, but Burr was just a normal horse. I needed to get some barding soon—and until then, I had to be careful.

I was about to keep pursuing, but I pulled Burr to a halt. That orc would lead us back to its convoy if we let it. It would make our job easier, as long as we did eventually kill it before it spread the word. I turned Burr around, racing back toward Anchor, then said, "Hop on. I don't think we're far. We'll follow it and report back once we have a heading. I need you to shoot the orc on my signal." Anchor nodded, then hopped up onto Burr, sitting behind me.

He kept an arrow nocked, but he didn't pull the string back yet. I didn't want to get too far away from my squads, but we couldn't give up this opportunity, and there was still a watch—plus they all had their sergeants if something went wrong. But we needed to find out where this convoy was. I didn't make Burr gallop as fast as she could, otherwise we'd run down the orc. We kept our distance, but we let it know we were there so it kept running. At the same time, I watched for any other threats.

If it was leading us into a trap, I wanted to be able to back out sooner than later.

"Are regular orcs smart enough to try to trap us?" I asked.

"Are they capable of that?"

"Some of them, yes," Anchor replied.

"You can expect it from a Black Captain, but never let your guard down with regulars, either." The ground sloped down, and instead of wheat or grass, we crossed over a plain of iced-over swamp. There were frozen pools and hardened mud in between withered reeds and a few scattered, leafless trees, and it made a difficult maze to traverse. Burr's hoofs clacked on the ice, and she didn't get as good of traction, so I tried to avoid the ponds.

"So this is the swamp," I muttered.

"Bogland," Anchor corrected.

"Now's the best time to cross it. Any other season, you'd get stuck in the mud and couldn't move." If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Even the hardened mud hadn't solidified completely. It still squished a little under Burr's hooves. The frozen ponds cracked near the center. If orcs were trying to drag heavy equipment through here, they were still going to have a hard time of it. The orc scout kept running, and we kept following.

I took note of the nearby landmarks. A large boulder protruding from the lake, an especially thick patch of aspens who'd clung onto their leaves too late into the season—and they'd frozen in place. Then the orc turned abruptly, and we crossed a thick set of tracks. Footprints in the mud, wagon ruts, and even thicker wheels. I pulled Burr to a halt.

"Is this them?"

"I don't imagine many men would be travelling this way in this season," Anchor said.

"And they aren't old. Not even a dusting of snow in them."

"Great," I said.

"We have our tracks. Take down that orc, and we'll regroup."

"My pleasure," Anchor replied. He drew back his bow, aimed, then loosed the arrow. It arced over the land and pierced the orc between its shoulders. The beast fell face-first into the ground.

"Should we hide the body?" he asked.

"He was on foot," I replied.

"He couldn't have been too far away if he thought he could run for it." I shook my head.

"Leave him. We'll be back, and by the time they find the body or realize he's gone, we'll clean up the convoy."

"How do you plan on finding where they're gathering the rest of their forces? If we're still looking for their larger army, of course. I don't mean to step on any toes, sarge."

"We do the same thing that we did right now," I replied.

"We've gotta let a few of them go, then lead us where the larger army is."

"You think it'll work again?"

"I don't see why not." Anchor gave a curt nod. I turned Burr around, and we raced back to the camp, where the rest of the squads were camping. Dismounting, I rushed to the current watch and asked, "See anything else?"

"No, sergeant," one of the Dupes said.

"Good. Get everyone up. We move out immediately. It's not far, and we can eat once we win."

"Men fight better on an empty stomach, anyway," Anchor said.

"Ready your horse," I told him.

"You're with Sage."

"Yes, sarge."

"Did you see their force?" one of the watchmen asked.

"No, but we found their tracks," I replied.

"Looks like some heavy equipment, and I'd guess there are about seventy orcs among them. Plus an ogre or two." It was higher than the estimated fifty, but I wanted to be safe.

"Ogres are for pulling the siege engines," a different Dupe provided.

"Worry about killing the orcs," I said.

"My squad will handle the ogres. We can take their equipment afterward."

"We should burn it, brother," came Brawl's voice from behind me.

"It is orc equipment. It is best if we destroy it." I shook my head.

"We'll salvage what we can. The 294th will need whatever it can get, even if it was made by orcs." Once everyone was up, I waited a little longer for them to shake off the sleepiness. But, given how fast we'd woken everyone, they were probably running on adrenaline. We couldn't wait too long, or it'd wear off. I pointed in the direction of the orc tracks. By now, the sun was rising, and the sky was turning reddish-pink.

"Ten minutes' ride to the tracks if we move quickly," I said.

"We'll catch them unarmoured and off-guard. Stay mounted as long as you can, and target the orcs." For good measure, I told everyone, "Me and my squad will take down the ogres. Don't risk your mounts by engaging them." The crowd all gave a chorus of approval, and mostly everyone nodded.

"On your horses. Move out! Stick close to your squads. Romance, I want your squad to follow me down the center." I narrowed my eyes, envisioning what I planned. Since [Labyrinth Delver] had been merged in with my gravity manipulation Art, I still had some access to the knowledge Skills merged into it. [Eye for Framing] had helped with the directional manipulation, I was sure, but it was still baked into the overall skill, partially.

When I considered how I planned on using my gravity Arts to attack the convoy, it helped me create a picture in my mind. Dr. Doyle had taught us about the concept of mise en scène, which referred to the overall composition of everything in the frame of the camera, and he'd always encouraged us to imagine what the camera would be seeing with our own minds, to cut out the distractions and view the final product. This was a similar case, except the gravity Art, it was almost like the lens.

I saw things relative to it, framed the battle around how I was going to attack, and pictured how everyone around me would attack and react.

"Brick, take your squad in front of the column," I continued.

"Cut off any orcs who try to run away or ahead. We need to delay them until their force is almost spent. Can I trust you to leave two or three orcs alive?" Brick was a relatively experienced sergeant from the 294th. This job would take a little precision, but I knew he could pull it off. He nodded.

"I will see it done." Lastly, I said, "And Lute?"

"Yes, sarge?" a Dupe shouted. He had a scar down the center of his face, where a ruin-hound had clawed him, and it kinda looked like the strings of a lute, so that was how he had gotten his name.

"Their archers will stay back. They're the biggest threat to us, so I need you to take them down before they can hurt too many of our horses. When we arrive, curve left and aim for the back of the column."

"Understood!" Lute called.

"Everyone, move out!" I said, snapping the reins and tightening my legs on Burr's flanks. I rose up in the saddle, cushioning myself from the gallops and using my thighs as shock absorbers. We thundered off across the snow, racing toward our target.