Dust, so much damn dust.
I don't understand how a desert can be so vast and empty. Not even a rock to break up the boring scenery.
Its been two weeks since the last transfer.
This place makes me wish I was back nineteen transfers ago on that stupid water world. Who would have thought going out by a giant man eating octopus would be more pleasant than dying of dehydration.
"Oh well, what's one more death"
Number one hundred and six.
What a life, or should I say what a demise. I must be loosing it again. The all too familiar feeling is creeping up in my soul.
"Hopefully the next round is a bit easier. See you later you stupid desert"
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
"Bury him a couple miles from the fort, I don't want any soldiers finding him "
A gruff voice from somewhere above stated.
What? God dammit another shitty one. Everything hurts like hell. Whoever's body I just claimed was clearly not having a good day. That's what I get for only lasting two weeks with nothing to show of it.
"Is that really necessary? Can we not just toss him in with the pit hounds?"
Another man near the first asked.
Alright I need to get this under control. Everything attached this time? Yup. Just a lot of stuff broken or fractured. What the hell did this guy do to be beaten like this?
"No, there isn't enough time. We are breaking camp in a few hours to head to the next pass"
The gruff sounding man gravely told the other.
"Fine Ill grab a few of the guys and finish this in the woods"
The second man grumbled.
"Report to me when the task is done"
The gruff man stated as his voice became fainter from walking away.
Great definitely already in the black book of someone with power. At least I learned to play dead the hard way a few times and bide my time. Dammit I'm loosing to much blood, at least if I'm passed out I don't have to pretend to be dead.
Five men quickly carried a broken and bloody looking corpse to a cart not far away and began to haul it towards a small game trail in the trees on the edge of the camp.
Slowly they trudged through the thick pines and oaks that guarded the edges of the trail like silent wardens. The sun was nowhere to be seen so all five men held torches in a desperate attempt to ward of the encroaching darkness. If there was a moon it wasn't strong enough to pierce through the foliage of the trees.
"Did you hear that the local Bishop wants to burn this whole stinking forest to the ground?"
Muttered one rough looking solider to the other men next to him
"Why in the nine hells would he want to do that?"
Asked the man pushing the cart
"I hear that the seventh and twelfth infantries vanished up near Gorilic pass"
The man to the right whispered to the others while his eyes frantically darted around searching the darkness.
Too bad humans cant see very far in the dark because if they could see just a few feet past the edge of their torches they would have fled in terror.
"Aye, they found only their boot prints and blood. The commander fears that a pack of fiend beasts and druids have moved into the area"
The man in front quietly said.
"What in the world are we doing out here then?"
The man pushing the cart franticly exclaimed while dropping the handles of the cart.
"Shut up! Do you want to draw whatever is out there over? Lets just get this over with and head back before we have to break camp"
The man in the front quickly turned around to reprimand the men following him only to realize there was only three men behind him.
"Where is Private Jennings?"
Uh this transfer sucks. Am I in a freaking cart now? Great, at least I'm not in the camp anymore cause I will not be able to run far in this condition. Huh? Something seems to be wrong these guys look like they are panicking. Crap this might be a new record for the shortest run yet.
A shadow quickly darted in front of the men just barely crossing into the range of their torches.
"Wh-who goes there? We are soldiers of the Se-Seraphic Empire!"
One of the men shouted into the darkness in his panic. All the men desperately drew their swords but the man in the back stumbled backwards and something quickly darted in from the darkness and slashed him in half like log being split. It vanished as quickly as it arrived leaving the corpse of the dead soldier staring with fear into the sky.
The hell was that?
"I am not dying here!"
The man who had been pushing the cart began running back down the path they had been trotting followed closely behind by the remaining two soldiers. Only the torch from the dead soldier remained sputtering on the ground desperately trying to keep the darkness at bay but fighting a losing battle.
No no no no no I don't want to transfer again so fast! The next one will be even worse if I only last a few hours. Getting blown up on that battle field within fifteen minutes on number thirty six lead to a vicious circle for a while and I really want to avoid that again. What can I do though? This body is broken and I cant fight. Play dead. Yes that the answer maybe whatever it is will leave.
The torch that had been fighting valiantly finally gave its last assault and was succumbed to the darkness. The wind whistled through the trees while a few figures slowly reveled themselves to look at their spoils. The grip of darkness was simply to strong and only the slight scuffing of their feet drawing nearer to the cart could be heard.