"Bring me Ruben, Erik, Henrik, both Hans's, Otto, Sven, Tomas, Victor, Agnar, and Lennart," Mikel said to a younger soldier.
"Sir!" saluted the soldier and walking away. Mikel turned to see Evelyn emerging from her tent. He grinned.
"How was your rest, lass?" Evelyn had a grumpy look and was still shivering.
"Very funny commander, I barely got an hour of actual rest."
It was still dark outside. She only found the commander because he stood in a well-lit area with many torches. She looked up hoping to see any form of light peeking through the canopy but to no avail, it was like staring into the abyss.
"What time is it?" asked Evelyn. Mikel also fixed his gaze upward.
"It's the morning that's for sure. Daylight should come through in an hour or so."
Evelyn looked around to the other sources of light. Though not as well-lit as where she stood, she could see Mikel's men setting up fortifications, carrying stakes and shovelling snow. There were multiple rows of large stakes, all facing toward the chasm in front of them. They towered over the men, reaching as high as three metres. Mikel had positioned their tents about fifty metres from the chasm's edge. Between here and the edge were four rows of stakes each with a small one-meter wide gap. Whatever beast they intended to hunt must be significantly larger than that. She dreaded the thought.
"Now that I have you here, I must tell you what to do if things go south," Mikel started. He turned to her and dropped his grin. The sudden change in tone shocked Evelyn. Mikel pointed toward the rows of stakes. "If the beast breaks through the first fortification, you must retreat. As far as I'm concerned, your job here is done and we can't have you dyin' on our hands."
It's true. Evelyn had already created an accurate map with all the major landmarks. She had led them to this chasm but to what end? She pondered his words for a moment.
"To be honest, you lot have told me scarcely little about this beast. Am I in that much danger? What are you trying to accomplish here?" Mikel recoiled a little. Those questions had struck a cord. Mikel grinned again.
"You don't pull your punches, do ya lass?" He stared off into the distance, his grin slowly fading again. They stood there momentarily, listening to the sounds of sawing and hammering wood. Evelyn dared not speak up, this was the most serious Mikel had ever looked. She knew his reputation, his history, his accomplishments. The general that united his country, tamed its people and brought lasting peace. He squinted his eyes and frowned, accentuating the wrinkles around his eyes.
"I miss those days… The glory, the thrill." He let those words settle in for another moment. "I thought I would enjoy peace in my old age but as the years went by I… I miss it." He turned to Evelyn. "When that Darak Prince returned from the Land of the Gods and your fancy council asked me to conquer this wood, that thrill came rushing back." That manic grin returned. Evelyn's heart started to race. She stared at his face and for that moment, felt genuine fear. Here, standing before her was a beast trying to satiate its hunger moments before closing in on its prey.
"This beast was discovered decades ago and any survivor would return with horror stories," he paused, "I want to be the one to hunt it. You, Evelyn Haussard, will be my witness, one last accolade for the history books." He raised his right arm toward the fortifications as an artist would display their latest work.
"Don't scare the lass, boss!" shouted a voice from behind. Evelyn turned around and saw Ruben leading a dozen men, one of which was the soldier Mikel had given orders to. These must be the men he asked for. Mikel laughed.
"Form up, men! You are the lucky soldiers who get to be bait," said Mikel. Half of them groaned in unison.
"...thought as much," Ruben grumbled.
"Now now, no complaining. As I was telling Evelyn here, your names will go down in history." They were not impressed. These men would be a footnote in a history book.
"I've given you a rough idea of how to bait it," said Mikel, "We will use the cover of darkness to trap it in the chasm. You must find the beast before next nightfall but only bait it as night falls. Any sooner and the plan may fail, any later and you could get lost. Mark your path, you'll have to tread the same ground in the dark." His men had fallen silent, the graveness of Mikel's orders setting in.
"Erik, you lead the search effort to find it so you will lead this too. Use your best judgement, if you don't think the mission can be done today, delay it. We'll try again tomorrow."
Erik had a concerned look on his face. He thought for a moment. "We should sandbag our horses and approach its territory on foot, we can't afford to anger it by mistake." Erik's pondering was plain to see.
"Good, good. It appears Erik is already coming up with ideas," Mikel directed to the rest of the men. "Make sure he gets everything he asks and do as he says, he is your commander for this mission. Dismissed."
They left Evelyn and Mikel to their devices.
In the next hour, Evelyn had worked out a rough timeframe for the mission. Erik and the group were to leave two hours before night falls and should arrive half an hour after the darkness set in with the beast in tow.
When day finally came, it was time to lay down the bridge to cross the chasm. Two dozen men hoisted the massive wooden structure and carried it down to the chasm. Notably, gaps in the stake fortifications remained to allow the bridges through. Mikel directed Erik and his men to cross the chasm immediately so they could install the weaker bridge and finish the fortifications. As such, they were on the other side of the chasm resting and eating with their horses.
Evelyn received no special treatment, she lined up with the rest of the soldiers eagerly awaiting a long overdue breakfast. On today's menu, beef jerky and potatoes, not a glamorous meal but it was served with hot water which she was always thankful for to fend off the cold. At this moment, she would brew some tea with the hot water but she had run out over a week ago. This is probably one of the last meals I will have in this hell hole, she thought. Contrasting the bland meal, Mikel's men were in high spirits. Evelyn was walking through a bustling crowd to return to the main tent, the men were chatting enthusiastically while enjoying their meals.
"Come join us, Evelyn!" one of the scouts called as she walked past them. The scouting team she helped before were all eating together minus Ruben. They were gathered near one of the giant trees about fifteen metres away from the chasm's edge. As she approached, one of the men offered her his seat. Half of the group was sitting on shorter stakes hammered into the ground with the other end sawed to a flat top.
"Thanks," she replied, sitting on the stake, "It's odd to see everyone in such high spirits." A lot of them had wide grins on their faces.
"Yeah, Kurt was just saying that he'll get to see his little one soon," one of the scouts said. Evelyn knew Kurt was a fairly young man, not much older than herself though it was harder to tell when everyone was sporting bushy beards. His thick brown moustache was angled upward hiding his grin while chewing his food, crumbs littered his beard.
"Oh really? Son or daughter?"
"I don't actually know, Juni was pregnant when we got the call. Gods, I hope she and the baby are alright." One of the other scouts patted Kurt on the back in encouragement.
"Don't worry, lad, let's slay this beast and go home. They'll be waiting for ya."
"What about you lass? Got anyone waiting at home?" asked Kurt in return.
Evelyn's thoughts immediately went to her father and his concerns. He taught her everything she knew about the map-making craft and how dangerous it can be out in the field, especially in a place like this. But even with his protests, she convinced him to let her go, this kind of experience is very valuable for a map-maker. Not to mention the recognition, the first to create a map of the Galken Wood.
"My parents," she paused fort a moment. "This is my job but I want to ease my father's worries. I'm sure he'll be relieved to see me back alive."
"The old bastard is still going?" The scouts turned to see Mikel approaching.
"If I see him again, I'll vouch for you personally," said Mikel, putting his hand on Evelyn's shoulder. "He would be proud of the work you've done here, lass." All the men cheered in unison, showing Evelyn the same camaraderie they did Kurt.
"Okay, enough slacking men, back to work!" shouted Mikel, ending the festivities as quickly as he joined them. A few scouts groaned in response and others stood up in salute even if unenthusiastically.
"I'll hear no complaints! This chasm isn't going to fill itself."
They headed over to the supplies behind the fortifications taking up shovels. Mikel intended to fill the chasm with loose snow to add to the illusion of what was essentially a natural pitfall trap. One group of soldiers retrieved the working bridge from the chasm while another group brought the faulty one to replace it.
"General!" called out Evelyn.
"What is it, lass?".
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Mikel turned to her and raised an eyebrow.
"You've done more than enough, lass. We have our mission schedule. I can't ask anymore of you."
Evelyn raised her right hand to her head and saluted him—a show of her seriousness.
"Sir!" she exclaimed, "You've stressed the importance of this mission and I don't want to be standing around idly." Surprised at her initiative, Mikel pondered for a moment.
"Very well, go with the scouts, they'll be taking horsecarts out to gather snow from elsewhere."
"Sir!" she exclaimed again in response and left to join the scouts, taking up a snow shovel.
Mikel scoffed and mumbled to himself, "I can't say I know many soldiers who want to do this kind of work."
"..."
Mikel looked up, a vast canopy leaking light through, an overcast of branches and leaves barely holding back the sun's radiance and for a brief moment, it couldn't. Mikel brought his hand up to cover his eyes before the rustling of the leaves hid the sun again just as quickly. It was a day like this, stray beams leaking through a blanketed sky, an impending battle. Mikel had requested the services of a Coalition cartographer as he expected the last remnants of the Ridatt to attempt to retake their keep. He was nearing the end of his campaign, to unite the clans of Rafathod and the Ridatt were the last to fall into line. He was unfamiliar with the surrounding terrain. The Ridatt keep was centred in a vast empty field bordered by the Galken Wood to the north and the Hvitan Hills to the southeast. Such a large stretch of flat terrain favoured the Ridatt, who specialised in mounted combat. The hills and the forest were as enigmatic as the horizon, you could not see beyond it and that worried Mikel. But in the coming days, he hoped to put those worries to rest.
"Isn't it phenomenal?" exclaimed Holden. Mikel gave him a puzzled look and snorted.
"Femo-", Mikel struggled with the word.
"Phe-no-me-nal," Holden emphasised each syllable.
"Phe-" he tried again, "Ah, screw it. I ain't learnin' every fancy word you tell me."
Holden chuckled.
"It means remarkable or amazing, great." said Holden. He gestured toward the landscape.
"Great? It's borin' and grey, not to mention the clouds. I haven't seen the sun in days. We're lucky it's not raining."
Mikel and Holden Haussard were atop the keep's walls. Though mostly stone, the fortifications were all wooden much like the railing separating them from a deadly drop. They were wandering from one corner to the next, moving between lookouts.
Holden was a tall, spindly man. He had short brown hair, which he kept combed, and his large nose was accented by a wide, bushy mustache. Much to his surprise, Mikel had found out that Holden was in his mid-thirties. Though he looked it, he did not act that way. Even now, months into the campaign, he was still in high spirits, constantly in awe of the scenery which Mikel himself took for granted.
"Can't you see?" asked Holden. "It's strange, the land around this keep is unnaturally smooth, almost perfectly flat. But go far enough and suddenly, it is very rough and hilly. It's as if something impossibly large flattened this very place."
Mikel gave him another puzzled look. He looked out onto the hills and observed precisely that. Strange, I've been here a handful of times but never really noticed, he thought.
"On top of that, or should I say the opposite," Holden continued, "I think these plains are lower elevation than the surrounding lands, only slightly. It makes you wonder how it came to be. Even the Galken wood looks higher; I can scarcely see over its trees, even atop this wall." Mikel turned to the wood. Though he could see over the smaller trees near the edge, the colossal ones further in still stood out and would tower over the keep's walls if they were next to each other. Even at this distance, he could make out the impossibly wide trunks.
"Sorry, General, I'll stop gawking. What would you like me to do?"
"The Hvitan Hills," Mikel pointed to the southeast. "The Ridatt will no doubt come back to claim their keep. We don't know this land, and I suspect they'll come from the hills. I'd like to have a better idea of what's in them. Perhaps we could ambush them there."
"Then I will begin surveying them immediately!" replied Holden with his usual enthusiasm, right hand raised in salute.
"Hush now, Southerner. It's getting late. You can start tomorrow."
"Ah, of course, these long daylight hours are still confusing. Well then, I'll see you first thing tomorrow!" Holden raised his hand in salute again before leaving.
The false bridge was completely buried in loose snow, the chasm filled to the brim. To an unaware eye, it would look like any patch of snow with solid ground beneath. As Evelyn approached, Mikel was recounting his orders to Erik and the ten others were to act as bait.
"You'll see us back here with the prize in tow," called out Erik, standing on the other side of the chasm. Though it did not appear that way, if she didn't know any better, she'd thought it normal for these men to hold their conversations over long distances.
"You better be ready, Sir!" shouted Ruben. "Running from this beast was not on my bucket list."
Mikel, laughing, "Well, we'll make sure you can do the other things on that list before you kick it." The others joined. Evelyn wondered how these men could joke in a situation like this but she gathered this was the reason why Mikel had selected these people.
Mikel sent them off, and they rode away.
The next two hours were tense. Clearly, the rest of the soldiers did not share the jovial mood. Evelyn had taken her place up at the back, behind rows of fortifications and lines of men who all had axes, blades, spears and bows at the ready. A good third of the men were in groups of four, carrying large stakes, thicker than their arms, that were carefully sharpened to a point. She had not seen the beast, but she could guess its size. Mikel himself was in the front row, barely twenty metres from the chasm's edge, with a stake in his arms and a sheathed blade at his waist. Short torches had been placed at either side of the chasm, signifying where the false bridge started and ended underneath its cover of white.
The canopy was now a dark blanket, the shapes of men becoming a blur as Evelyn could no longer make them out. The winter night was setting in again, the torches as fireflies in the dark once more. She could see a sparse trail of fireflies leading away from the chasm into the black unknown, the trail Mikel's bait would follow back to the camp. Although she couldn't tell, she knew the entire expedition had their eyes on that trail. All was quiet, and every second felt like an eternity.
Then, the sound of crunching snow in the distance. A lone rider approached the chasm; it was one of the eleven men. He was not carrying a torch. Evelyn could not tell who it was but the entire expedition could hear Mikel berating the man.
"Why are you alone? Where are the others?" She could hear the anger in his voice. The stern general had showed itself again.
She could not hear his reply but could make out his terrified tone. Mikel was efficient, Evelyn saw him point backward behind the fortifications and the whimpering soldier was already leading his horse to the back.
"Hold everyone!" shouted Mikel, now facing everyone behind. "The mission is still a go, we will wait for the others. Hopefully, with the beast in tow."
Not minutes later, Evelyn could feel a slight rumbling at her feet.
"Archers!" cried one of the commanders.
As the rumbling grew louder, Evelyn could make out new torchlight in the darkness ahead, seven lights flickering. As the specks became clear, she could feel the ground shake beneath her feet, resonating to an unending rhythm. Accompanying it was the sound of wood cracking, snow crunching and then muffled shouts.
One of the seven lights was snuffed out, more muffled shouts. The rumbling stilled for a moment and then began again, more ferociously than before. Evelyn thought she could make out a scream but the overload of sounds drowned most of it out.
The figures of the six remaining men came into view, their torches outlining their forms but they were contrasted by a large shadow mere tens of metres behind them. They themselves were only a couple hundred meters away.
"Draw!" cried the commander, followed shortly by the tension of bow strings.
A deafening roar sounded out from behind the horseriders, a guttural, gargling, deep hum. A deep breath split by the chattering of teeth, the thumping of its stride and the crackling of wood. Evelyn cupped her ears, only now noticing the leaves falling, tangling in her hair but her eyes remained locked on the chasm and the approaching riders. Mikel's army held their hidden positions.
The riders approached, fifty metres away, forty metres away, thirty, twenty, ten, the trail they followed was snuffed out behind them. The first of the six crossed the bridge at breakneck speeds. The rest followed, single file, making their way toward the gap in the rows of fortifications.
As the last one rode over the concealed bridge, it burst out of the darkness, mere metres behind him. Everyone was staring in horror, that moment in time paused. It was a hulking mass of fur, wider than any colossal tree. Save for its head, bare skinned and grey. Round like a bear's but with a longer snout like an alligator's. Its jaw was open, sporting teeth as long as blades and twice as thick. Its fur from the neck down was a glistening silver, but it did not hide its muscular frame. It had two pairs of front legs or arms, Evelyn wasn't sure but it was using them to run aside from one which was reaching out, claws bared, to swipe at the last rider.
Its stride caused the chasm and the bridge to shake, the last horse almost losing its balance. Some of the snow had been shaken off revealing the wood beneath but it was too late for the beast to notice. It put one of its front limbs on the bridge's edge and it immediately gave, splinter and cracking beneath its weight.
"Fire!" howled the commander, as loud his voice could carry and mass of darkness flew toward the beast. It stumbled, falling headfirst into the chasm, for it could not slow down in time. Many arrows flew true but ricocheted off its hide, only a handful piercing its now exposed back. Evelyn was knocked off her feet as it crashed into the closer wall of the chasm, violently shaking the ground beneath her. She quickly stood up, leaning on a nearby fortification. The six riders had sprinted past her behind the safety of the army.
Its guttural screams continued, almost deafening. One of its claws peaked over the chasm's edge, grasping for something but Mikel was faster. He screamed, charging with three other men holding the large stake and driving it into the beast's paw. It recoiled in pain, screaming even louder, it was enough to pierce its thick hide. One of the men with Mikel had not fully let go of the stake and was pulled into the chasm with its paw.
The rest of Mikel's army was behind him, joining the battle cry and charging with their stakes. The monster tried numerous times to pull itself up out of the chasm, each time it was met with a stake to its paw, its arm, its head, its neck. A handful of men were pulled into the chasm with the beast. Mikel remained in front, swiping at its limbs whenever it came close. The rest were throwing their spears and axes; even some of the archers had come up to the chasm's edge to add to the barrage of timber and steel.
"Uproot the fortifications, we need more stakes!" yelled Mikel. The groups of four men began pulling the wooden stakes out of the ground and resumed their task.
The encounter lasted around ten minutes but it felt like an eternity. The archers were out of arrows and the remainder of the army resorted to pelting rocks, sticks, anything they could find on the ground at the monster.
The monster reached its paw up again but at the other side of the chasm, outside the reach of any of the men carrying stakes. Its claws were scraping against the chasm wall, trying to find a grip on any of the imperfections of the cliff face. Some of the men lobbed their stakes as best they could across the gap but it was too far and there was little force behind the throws. Most missed and the rest bounced uselessly off its hide. It found its footing on the other side and began to limp back into the darkness. Evelyn could see its hind legs, they were much shorter than its front limbs but much thicker.
"Bridge!" Mikel roared as he charged back toward the structure, "Get the bridge! We cant let it get away!"
Mikel pulled back to the group of men tasked with following Evelyn in case of a retreat, ordering them to hand their horses over. He and a few others mounted up and rearmed themselves with new spears.
"Sir, it killed Henrik and Lennart." It was Erik, one of the six men that had crossed the bridge. He had a slight quiver in his voice. "Victor and Hans separated from us."
"Have you still got your head on your shoulders, soldier?" asked Mikel.
"Yes, sir!" Erik straightened up, saluting. "I'm coming with you."
"Good. Let's put this monster into the ground. Now, where is that bridge?!"
Two dozen men were carrying towards the chasm, their heaving breathing and heaving audible to everyone.
"To anyone courageous enough to follow, come!" addressing the whole expedition. "It can't go far."
He noticed Evelyn in all the chaos and approached her on horseback.
"Wait here, lass. We will be back with its head on our pikes."
"No, sir. Don-"
She was cut off by a loud thud, signaling the placement of the bridge.
"Forward, men!" he thundered, charging forward, barely giving enough time for the men who carried the bridge to move out of the way. He was backed by at least thirty other men on horseback and they all crossed the bridge in twos, resuming their battle cries. Their forms disappeared into the darkness, only a handful of specks of light among them fading into the darkness.
And all was quiet.
A few moments passed, and Evelyn's racing heart finally came to a halt but her thoughts did not. Is Mikel leading them to their deaths? There is no chasm nor fortifications to help them. Where is it going? Why are we here?
She could not sit idle. She pulled a torch from a nearby stand and mounted her horse.
"What are you doing?" Ruben, noticing her. "Stop! You'll get yourself killed." He rushed over to her and tried to block her path.
"Sorry, Ruben," She tarried the horse forward, forcing Ruben to jump out of the way. She led the horse down to the chasm, coming into a gallop and crossed the bridge. She could see a trail of blood amongst the damage to the forest and followed it into the darkness.