Dekarru’s Perspective

  The se shifted again and we were with the young trainees once more.

  Henna and Olivia were ying on a patch of grass near an obstacle course, panting and drenched i. Phae walked over with teens and hahem eae with a cocky smirk on her lips. “You city folk are dht sad. I had harder days than this when I was fourteen and helping my pops haul hay bales.”

  Olivia gave the woman a rude gesture as she drank. Henna chuckled and shook her head. “Fine fine, we admit to the situational superiority of your bumpkin ways.”

  “You push too hard too soon. You gotta start at a more reasonable pace so you have reserves to tap into for the harder parts. You both sprinted as hard as you could through the easy bits so when you got to the wall you were already tired and it took three times lohan it would have otherwise. Pag is important.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes but still looked at Phae with a friendly smirk. “You learn that shoveling cow shit?”

  “Nah, herding. Shoveling cow shit taught me to put herbs in the cloth I ed around my fad watch where I step. Only so many times your foot go ‘squish’ before that lesson sticks.” She chuckled.

  Henna sighed after a heavy draw from her teen. “How’d you end up here then? Sounds like you had a clear path to a farming css, and the smile you just had tells me you like the work.”

  Phae’s shoulders lowered, as did her gaze. “Farm ain’t doing so good. Some fever went through and killed two thirds of the cattle. Not just ours either, every farm in the region got hit. Even our neighbors that wao help couldn’t. Hegemony soldiers earn enough that I send half of what I make bae and still be fortable.” Her lips ticked up into a small grin. “Then it turned out I’m so darned endearing that it makes me a good didate for spy work, or something like that. So to the special, extra shitty training I went. But hey, bigger paycheck means more money for my folks.” Her tone picked up in the end, though the cheer that it gave wasirely ho. I read people well enough to know that much at least.

  The se froze.

  The Olivia of now looked at the memory of the woma and sadness in her eyes. “That farm, gods. I should have figured it out back then.”

  Miratan gave her a disbelieving look. “You should have figured out that she would betray you because of a farm?”

  She turo look at him, fusion in her features for just a moment before she closed her eyes, rubbing her face with a deep sigh. “No, no you’re right. That wouldn’t have made se was a clue though, ily. Just ohat I didn’t have text for until years ter.”

  Things shifted again and we found ourselves in a park, tall buildings loomed over the trees in every dire. Some spot of green in a city it seemed. An older Olivia and Phae sat across from each other at a piic table, both staring at untouched sandwiches with haunted expressions.

  Olivia broke the sileer a few long moments. “Are we… doing the right thing?”

  Phae slowly raised her eyes to meet the other woman’s. “Liv, our job is to find threats to our society, we don’t decide the punishments.”

  “That boy was thirteen. Thirteen. He was just a kid, and they executed him anyway. For what, for being angry? He would have gottehat, teenagers are all stupidly over-emotional.”

  “He threw a brick at a Thundering priest.” Phae’s response was hollow, like she didn’t agree with what she was saying.

  “And missed, thehe hree months running and hiding while people like us tracked him down.”

  “Then why did you accept the assig?”

  Olivia leaned forward, ying her head on her crossed arms oable. “I thought they would give him a sp on the wrist, just a warning.”

  “That was a warning, to everyone else. ‘Remember to kiss your betters’ asses or we’ll kill you’. Just like always.”

  Olivia looked up at those words and saw tears on Phae’s face. “You don’t think we’re doing the right thiher.”

  Phae chuckled darkly. “Not much I do about it at this point.”

  Before either could say more Henna came running over looking frantic. “Hey! Fuck, have you two just been sitting here all this time? We need you both back at base now!”

  Olivia turaking in Henna's appearance. She was wearing her uniform but the jacket was unbuttoned and her hair was barely held in a messy bun. “What’s going on?”

  Henna took a few moments to breathe and stop panting. “The High Shaman was found dead in his home this m. All of his children immediately decred themselves the heir. Sin Otev is a fug battleground and our reports say the death toll is already ihousands.”

  I almost missed it, I would have if Olivia of now hadn’t been staring at Phae. The farm girl heard the news and for just a moment, smiled. But only for the blink of an eye before she covered it up with a look of worry.

  The moment froze.

  “She smiled,” I said first, looking at the High Marshal. “She was happy about the civil war?”

  Olivia nodded. “Yeah, she hated the Hegemony as much as I would learn to.”

  Mitaran tapped his in thought. “Her family’s farm…” his voice trailed off as he thought.

  “You figured it out already?” Olivia snorted.

  “She’s from Drunbury?”

  “Yeah.” Her shoulders fell and she rubbed tears from her face.

  “Gods, I remember that from when I was little. Beef and dairy prices went sky high for nearly three years because the farms were selling across the border to them.” His voice was soft, shallow, as though he was just speaking to speak because the quiet was not an option.

  I cleared my throat. “How novel, it’s rare I find myself the one g knowledge or experien a versation.”

  Olivia turo me and gave a small smirk that held only hurt. Then the se ged again. She sat behind that huge oak desk in her office. Signs of time having passed since her near death marked the room. The carpet she’d bled on had been repced, the Uvtrayl fg hanging where the Hegemony’s once had, and mray hairs had grown on her head. Most notably, her uniform was now the one she wore still. The markings of High Marshal clear and proud. She looked almost identical to the her of now.

  Henna walked into the room a a file on the desk. Muted anger marked her face, but she kept it from her voice as she spoke. “It happened agaieen dead and more then fifty wounded. Pitrak now has plete trol of Tamrangrad.”

  Olivia slowly sat ba her chair and covered her face with her hands. Long moments passed, her eaking. “How many is that now?” she finally asked.

  “Thirty four operations promised in the past five years. Most of which were high level cssified. We’ve lost nearly a quarter of our special forces persoo this.”

  “We have to find this mole, we ’t afford these losses. sider this yhest priority, Anna.”

  Henna saluted sharply. “Yes Ma’am. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  The se froze.

  Olivia of now sighed deeply. “I gave that order to four different agents without telling them about each other. I was starting to realize it had to be someone high up and I had no idea who I could trust.”

  Miratan avoided looking directly at her as he spoke, “Part of me wishes I had been more involved with the war decisions, part of me is gd I wasn’t. Three years in offid I mostly just let my generals hahings without interference, with only the occasional suggestion here and there from Sellian.”

  “That sounds like our Prime Mioo, any time I’d ask for his input he’d just say, ‘oh I trust you to do what’s best for Uvtrayl, High Marshal’ and ge the subject. I suppose it’s better than if he tried direg things, he’s a mert, not a general.”

  After a few more heartbeats of tense silence, he spoke again. “So she was feeding information to our side?” I was shocked at the direess of the question. The man didn’t e off as particurly flict avoidant, but that was still a very clear choice of words. Not dang around the subject but cutting directly to it.

  The se ged before she could respond.

  Olivia sat at her desk going over a file when the door opened. Phae walked in and approached her, Henna walking in shortly after and carefully closing the door. The look on Henna’s face was dark, painful, like she was trying to hold in tears or a scream.

  Phae stopped at the desk and saluted. “You asked for me, Ma’am?”

  Olivia looked up fused. “I did?”

  Henna stepped closer, her gun drawn on Phae. “Mission successful, High Marshal.” She said with a voice that held only the slightest tremble. “I found the mole.”

  Olivia saw Henna’s gun and her expressio to fusion and anger before she looked at Phae and that expression turo betrayal. The farm girl’s shoulders drooped as she stared down at the desk, guilt pin on her face. “Phae? What—this is a joke, right? She’s our friend.”

  Henna spoke, clearly f her voice to keep out her anger. “She ged her pce of birth on all of her records, but she fot to ge them in the logs for outgoing mail back when we were in training together. The letters she sent home had a different address. I probably wouldn’t have even thought to look if I didn’t remember her telling us about the fever that killed her family’s cows. Only a couple of pces had that happen and one of them is currently under Pitrak’s trol.”

  Phae stood still as she spoke. “I’m sorry, I really am. But they have my family.” Her head turo Henna, eyes drifting down to the gun before she ughed without humor. “You won’t hat, I don’t intend on making some final stand. I’ll e quietly.”

  The se paused.

  Olivia ughed, the sound quickly turning into soft sobs. “Fuck! Do you know what the worst part of this all was? She wasn’t even the only one! Within a month we found seven more high ranking officers that all had es to Pitrak trolled territory that had been covered up. ies gutting us from within for years. We were surrounded by enemies with snakes in our midst and I had been blind to it all!”

  Miratan started to reach out to her but quickly stopped. He took a breath before speaking. “I doubt I o tell you that Pitrak hasn’t had that problem to any major extent, you’d know about your ows better than I would. But we do have a simir ohe Empire has people in every city, every gover office, every level of authority in every part of my nation. Or, used to at least. We’ve been clearing them out surprisingly fast the past few months. I doubt that we’ll ever be free of them as long as the Empire stands, but apparently their p what they thought were easy positions has made them simple to find and manipute.

  “Imagine my surprise when I found my secretary repced st month, with Sel inf me that my previous one had been a spy since before I even won the ele. I had known her since my first year as Minister of Education. Three other members of my staff all got the same boot. One of enerals ‘had an act’ at home, our Minister of Agriculture was arrested for embezzlement, the list goes on. How am I supposed to work with people when any one of them could be a spy meant to undermine my nation?”

  Olivia turo him. “Any assassination attempts?” she asked, a strange humor ione.

  He chuckled. “Three sihe purge started, particurly close to success. I have a guard detail that is horrifyingly good at their jobs. Some poor bastard pulled a gun on me in my office a few weeks ago. Or tried to at least, his arm hit the floor before he could even raise it pletely. I didn’t even know my guards were in the room with me.”

  “Damn, sounds like I could use a couple of those. I’ve had Hegemony and Empire assassins on my ass for years.” She chuckled before sniffling and wiping tears from her face. “No, who I am kidding? I’d be worried they’d turn on me stantly.”

  I spoke as I stepped closer to her. “What happeo Phae?”

  “Prisoner exge. We traded her for three of our field officers and a few dozen of our enlisted. Shit trade, one of those assholes y too.” She grunted in annoyahey got more info out of her I’m sure, a another problem in our ranks. I’d do it again though, those soldiers deserved to e home.”

  “And?” I spoke, hearing the unsaid part.

  “And… I’m gd that I had an excuse to not order her execution.”

  The se ged again.

  We were in the woods, a train track to one side and a derailed transport car on its side to the other. Between them, where we stood, were dozens of bodies. Men, women, young, old, soldiers, civilians, all spread out and still bleeding. Red slowly covered the ground and rose until it was to our ankles. A crimson form rose from the pool, the blood p from it aing the shape underh e through. Esme, but with a gaping hole where her heart should be.

  “Then why did you order mine?” Her voice was wrong, it echoed and trembled with power and ahis wasn’t really Stareyes, but an eade by the Dream for the test.

  Olivia stared wide eyed. “I didn’t!”

  “LIES,” another voice spoke. We turned and saw Jaina in nurse’s clothing, her body riddled with bleeding bullet wounds. “YOU WANTED US TO DIE.”

  “NO! I was only trying to protect Uvtrayl!” The High Marshal screamed her denial, her breath starting to e in ragged gasps.

  Miratan looked pale as he took in the sight, but he swallowed and turo Olivia. He rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Tell the truth, what order did you give and why?”

  Olivia stared at him for a long moment, her hands trembling as she ched and rexed her firsts over and over. “I…” She swallowed and took a breath. “The enemy, shattered and tained, will e to end our ways and pnt flowers to our memories.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Our oracle, she spoke those words during a meeting with the high priests of Uvtrayl a few months ago.” Her voice shook and she had to take another few deep breaths before she could tihen I get a report of a wounded Pitrak soldier captured at a resupply base miles away from any known battle. Oh the ditions Mind Shatter and Soul tai, shattered and taihen some days ter she ges, a champion of some unknown Arch-Lord, while on the way into the heart of Uvtrayl. It had to be her, she was the ohat came to ‘end our ways’.”

  “FINISH IT.” We looked up and saw Henna, her uniform shredded and blood p from dozens of wounds, staring at Olivia with accusation in her eyes.

  The High Marshal closed her eyes and trembled. “I made a mistake, but I had reason to-”

  “FINISH THE PROPHECY, LIV.” the phantom general cut her off.

  “… they will mend the broken, build upon ruins, and spread their joy to all.”

  I stared hard at Olivia. “You chose to focus on the part that sounded like a threat.”

  “I couldn’t take another ce, Uvtrayl is just starting to bee itself again.” Her voice was quiet, the words barely loud enough to make out.

  Miratan slowly let out a breath he’d been holding. “After what you’ve been through, you look for enemies everywhere. I uand that, I do. But among my grandfather’s many s of wisdom is, ‘what you seek is what you find’. Go looking for help and you’ll get it, go looking for trouble and it’s all you’ll enter.”

  “You think I don’t know that!?” She screamed at him, tears on her face.

  “No. No I don’t think you really do. Not in a way that matters.” He shook his head. “You and Henna are friends right? When was the st time you acted like it? Had lunch without work involved, talked about how your families are doing? Asked about your love-lives?”

  “What does that-”

  “You spend so much time looking for ehat you’ve even fotten to live.” I cut her off and drew her attention to myself. “It would be bad enough if you were only hurting yourself because of it, but people have died because of your bad calls. Now answer his question. What order did you give and why?”

  “ANSWER,” the false Esme demanded.

  She gripped her arms tight and held her silence, seds tig by as the bloody specters gred at her. “I ordered her put in custody under my office’s authority. I knew Henna would fight me on it, her reports indicated as much, she was… too close to the target.” She stared down as she talked, refusing to look at the bloody visions.

  “But?” I asked quietly.

  “I gave the task to someone, someone I knew would not be kind about it. I thought he might—he would cause an act for her in transport bad she’d not be a problem anymore. I hadn’t realized he’d gotten so bad he’d order a full assault against friendly Intelligence agents.” She shook her head. “But I should have. That’s the problem isn’t it? I stopped paying attention to the right things, the important things.”

  “REMEMBER WHO YOU WAO BE.” Henna’s vision spoke.

  “A shield.” Olivia took a breath. “I wao be a shield for Uvtrayl.”

  Jaina’s specter tilted her head. “You fot part of it.” Her voice was growing calm, as Olivia kept going the anger ihree phantoms disipated.

  She looked up at the Henna standing before her. “I wao make Uvtrayl a nation worth defending.”

  The echo of Henna smiled slightly. “To not be what we were, what the Hegemony made of us.”

  “As a people and as individuals.” Olivia said immediately.

  Esme stepped closer. “Why did you order my execution?”

  Olivia’s head fell. “Because I was afraid. I aranoid. I only saw ahreat to be stomped out. Just like Sin Otev. Gods, I’m a monster.” She covered her face with her hands. “I’m just like them.”

  Miratan shook his head. “No, you’re not. You meant well, you just lost your way. you really tell me the Hegemony ever actually thought they were doing anything but proteg their own power over others? Do you think they ever meant well?”

  I snorted. “Hells, Raynim and Phae have one more lesson for you. Why they did what they did.”

  When Olivia looked at me she chuckled arouears. “She had a family to protect. He just wahe lesser people to know their pce. Is that it?”

  “Motive matters. Even you know that enough that yd you didn’t have to kill her, right?”

  Phantom Henna’s haed on Olivia’s shoulder. “What must you do now?”

  High Marshal Olivia Turaood tall and took a deep breath. “Be what I promised to be, a shield for a nation worth defending.”

  Miratan smiled. “Don’t fet, turn your eyes to hope.”

  “What you seek is what you find, right?” Olivia responded and Miratan smiled at her using his grandfather’s words.

  Thehing faded and we found ourselves drawn back to the waking world.