Carine Forest — Outer Camp — Next day
Morning arrived beneath a sky of ash.
Smoke still drifted above sections of Carine Forest.
The fires had weakened during the night.
But they had not died.
Thin pillars of black smoke rose through the canopy like scars across the horizon.
The camp itself had already awakened.
Engineers repaired damaged armor.
Supply wagons rolled between fortified positions.
Artillery crews cleaned barrels blackened by yesterday's bombardment.
Farther away—
Priests walked among the wounded.
Soldiers ate.
Worked.
Prepared.
Because war rarely waited for grief.
Inside the command tent,
"Request denied.", Sous.
Kleber sighed then turned around and walked out of the tent.
"Let me guess.", Adrean came in, "He wants to destroy the entire forest?"
"Yes.", Sous
Adrean nodded.
"What was the justification this time?"
Sous grabbed a report.
"Too many unknowns."
"Insufficient information."
"Possibility of additional subterranean vectors."
Another pause.
"He also wrote three pages explaining why forests are strategically inferior to artillery."
Adrean blinked.
"…Three pages?"
"Three."
The First Prince rubbed his forehead.
"Of course he did."
A pause.
Then he glanced toward the map.
"Unfortunately."
His finger tapped the forest.
"He is not entirely wrong."
That made Sous finally look up.
The prince continued.
"We have already spent over a week here."
"Faros continues mobilizing."
"Supply reserves are being consumed daily."
"Every army gathered here is an army not preparing elsewhere."
A pause.
"We cannot remain indefinitely."
"I know.", Sous, "This why we will be going on the offensive."
"Can you even convenience him for that?", Adrean, "He will never commit his host to such a risky gamble."
"I will force him if necessary.", Sous.
Carine Forest — Laosian Camp — Restricted Section
The restricted section had expanded again.
More barricades.
More warning sigils.
More guards.
The smell remained terrible.
Rot.
Chemicals.
Burned flesh.
Fortunately—
The command tent itself smelled only slightly terrible.
Progress.
Logos stood over a workbench covered in papers.
Glass containers.
Mana probes.
Preserved root samples.
Three separate diagrams depicting parasite growth patterns.
And one sketch that looked suspiciously like a giant artillery shell.
Sous chose not to ask.
Experience had taught him that the answer would only make things worse.
"Sure."
Sous blinked.
"What?"
Logos looked up.
Then carefully returned a glass vial to the table.
"You want to attack."
"Yes."
"Sure."
Silence.
Sous stared.
Logos stared back.
"What?"
The question escaped before he could stop it.
Logos tilted his head.
"You expected resistance."
"Yes."
"Why?"
That somehow made the situation worse.
"No one is omniscient."
Sous folded his arms.
"You said that yourself."
Logos sighed.
"Your point?"
"You submitted a proposal this morning requesting permission to level half the forest."
"Yes."
"Now I arrive proposing an offensive and you immediately agree."
Sous narrowed his eyes.
"What are you planning?"
Logos looked genuinely confused.
"Don't you trust me?"
Sous raised an eyebrow.
"For someone so intelligent, you are remarkably bad at manipulating people."
For a moment—
Neither moved.
Then Logos sighed.
"Fine."
He walked toward the map table.
Dozens of markers already covered the forest.
Red.
Black.
White.
None labeled.
Naturally.
"You want an offensive."
"Yes."
"You believe speed is necessary."
"Yes."
"You are correct."
Sous frowned.
"I know."
"Good."
Logos pointed toward the map.
"The problem is that everyone keeps imagining the objective incorrectly."
His finger tapped the center of Carine Forest.
"The objective is not killing creatures."
A second tap.
"It is not burning nests."
Another.
"It is not clearing territory."
Sous studied the map.
"Then what is the objective?"
Logos looked directly at him.
"The intelligent one."
Silence.
The answer settled heavily.
Because everyone had been thinking it.
Nobody had said it aloud.
Sous crossed his arms tighter.
"You said you would drag it out."
"Naturally."
"How?"
"I have a method."
"I will need more than that."
Logos reached for a report.
Yesterday's battle.
The pages were covered in observations.
Retreat vectors.
Behavioral patterns.
Response timings.
"The organism is intelligent."
"Yes."
"It observes to learn."
"Yes."
Logos placed the report down.
"It also retreated."
Sous nodded.
"That is true."
The creatures had withdrawn.
The nests had fallen back.
The entity itself had never committed fully.
"Territorial organisms retreat when damaged."
"Correct."
"This thing did not."
Silence.
"It attacked."
"It adapted."
"It infected."
"It repositioned."
"It withdrew only after determining continued engagement was disadvantageous."
Sous slowly narrowed his eyes.
Because he could already see where this was heading.
Logos pointed toward the forest.
"That means it values something."
A pause.
"Or someone."
The tent became quieter.
Even the guards outside felt distant.
"You think it has priorities."
"Yes."
"You know what they are?"
"No."
The answer came instantly.
Again.
Sous almost appreciated that.
Almost.
"So your plan is what?"
Logos pointed toward the center of the map.
"I told you."
"I want to destroy the forest."
Then his finger traced a rough circle across several marked regions.
"But not all of it."
He tapped one section.
Then another.
Then another.
Each location formed a tightening ring.
Sous stared.
Then realization struck.
"You are shrinking its territory."
"Yes."
"You are trying to force movement."
"Yes."
"You want to remove options."
"Yes."
Logos looked pleased.
"Good."
"You are following."
Sous ignored that.
"What happens when it reaches the center?"
For the first time—
Logos smiled.
Dark.
Cruel.
Just the kind his facial structure allowed.
"Then it makes a decision."
The smile vanished.
"Either it abandons whatever it is protecting."
"Or it comes out and stops us."
Silence.
"And if it does neither?"
Logos looked back toward the forest.
Toward the smoke still rising above the trees.
Toward the unseen thing hiding somewhere beneath the canopy.
"Then it wasn't intelligent."
A pause.
"And I have wasted everyone's time."