Crossroads and Other Tales of Valdemar

They spent the rest of lunch break running over simple techniques. Rury seemed more relaxed at the end of it. Erek hoped it would be enough. Keeping out the random jitters of his comrades was one thing. Shielding against the raging emotions of two armies locked in mortal combat would be an entirely different beast.

The night was clear and cool, with stars twinkling in a black sky. No one looked at the stars. Soldiers glanced away from their fires toward the Karsite border, where an orange glow marked the encamped Tedrel horde. Tension and suppressed fear, thick and heavy, pushed through Rury’s best attempts to shield his mind. His own fear kept intruding on his efforts to block out emotions of those around him.

Sergeant Krandal stood and stretched, wincing.

“Better hit the bag, people,” he said. “We don’t want to oversleep the party tomorrow.”

“Sarge,” said Snipe, “I heard the next company over is sleeping in their armor. Should we?”

The sergeant shook his head. “No, not unless you’re sure you can actually sleep that way. If you have any clean, dry clothes with you, especially underclothes, change into those. Wouldn’t hurt to keep your boots on either.” He looked around. “Tellar and I will take first watch. The rest of you turn in.”

They shuffled and muttered back to their tents. Sergeant Krandal had Rury take a position on the company’s tent line, facing away from the banked fire. After noise from the tents settled down, he appeared at Rury’s side.

“You might not feel like talking, Tellar,” he said, “but tell me true, how’s that empathy thing going?”

“It’s better, Sarge. Really, it is.” He paused, wondering if he should go on.

“But you still feel afraid,” Sergeant Krandal said.

“Well . . . yeah, kind of.”

“You’ll be fine, lad.” The sergeant smiled. “Every sane soldier is afraid at some time or another. It’s what separates the good soldiers from the dead ones. A little fear is Nature’s way of making you pay attention. If you feel afraid, use it. Stay calm and let it turn to something else, something you can use.”

“What if I freeze up?”

“I doubt that’ll happen. Let your training and reflexes take care of things while you deal with it. Herald Erek taught you ways to handle the Empathy, right?”

“Yeah, Sarge, but I’m not sure if I can make them work.”

“Then turn in and practice until you sleep. I can handle the rest of the watch, and I want you fresh tomorrow.”

“Sarge, I don’t . . .”

“That’s an order, Tellar,” Sergeant Krandal said gruffly. “Go.” His tone softened. “It’ll be all right.”

Krandal watched Rury trudge off, then muttered under his breath, “I hope.”

Half a candlemark later, Erek and Deanara appeared at the edge of the firelight. Sergeant Krandal waved them in silently.

“Well?” he said, barely above a whisper.

Erek swung off Deanara, sighed heavily, and sat down. He replied in equally soft tones.

“I didn’t get much farther than you did, Sergeant. The brass isn’t about to pull one young pike soldier off the line this late in the game. I’m sorry.” Behind him, Deanara gave a snort of disgust.

“I’m not surprised,” Sergeant Krandal replied. “Guard policy is like Guard cooking. What’s best for the army is usually hard on the individual soldier.”

Erek nodded. “I did point out that an untrained Empath probably wouldn’t survive the coming battle, and that the intensity and volume of emotion he’d face would leave him dead or insane.” He sighed heavily. “They said there are hundreds, maybe thousands of young soldiers in this army who won’t survive the battle, Empaths or not.”

“They’re right. So, what’s to be done?”

“I spent what time I could teaching him shielding techniques. It wasn’t much, but we have to hope it will do. We’ve simply run out of time. Can you shift him in the unit?”

“I could, but he’s one of my best. And if he’s capable of what you say, and he panics, he could take the whole unit with him. If he breaks, I’d just as soon it be where I can see him. I’ll shift things so I’m behind him in the second line.”

“So you can help if there’s trouble?”

Sergeant Krandal stared into the fire a moment.

“So I can help him. And if it’s the only way, so I can stop him.”