Rulers of the Darkness

"I, Captain Frigyes," came the answer, and the Gyongyosian soldiers relaxed.

"Advance and be recognized," the sentry said, and then, a moment later, "Come ahead, sir."

Frigyes scrambled down into the redoubt. Nodding to Istvan, he asked, "All quiet in front of you, Sergeant?"

"Aye, sir," Istvan answered. "Swemmel's whoresons are sitting tight. And so are we. But you know about that. I guess everything worth having is heading for the islands, to fight the stinking Kuusamans."

The company commander nodded. His every motion was sharp, abrupt. So was the way he thought. He was a good soldier, but Istvan often missed the more easygoing Captain Tivadar- and he didn't want to think what would have happened had Frigyes been the officer who discovered he'd inadvertently eaten goat.

"Everything worth having is heading for the islands," Frigyes agreed. "That includes us. We pull out of line here tomorrow, after sundown, the whole regiment. No, the whole brigade."

For a moment, none of the soldiers in the redoubt spoke. Several of them stood there with their mouths hanging open. Istvan didn't realize he was one of those till he had to shut his before he could start talking: "Where will we go, sir? And who'll take our places here?"

Frigyes' broad shoulders moved up and down in a shrug. "We'll go where they send us. And I don't know who's coming in to deal with Swemmel's goat-eaters. I don't care. They're not my worry anymore. Somebody else will kill them; that's all I need to know. Anybody here ever fight against the Kuusamans?"

Istvan stuck up his hand. So did Kun and Szonyi. "Aye, sir," they chorused. "On Obuda," Istvan added.

"I'll pick your brains as we head west, then," Frigyes said. "I know the Unkerlanters, but those scrawny little slanteyes who follow the Seven Princes are a closed book to me." He turned and went up the sandbag steps and out of the redoubt. Over his shoulder, he added, "Have to let the rest of the squads know." Then he was gone.

His footsteps were still receding when all the soldiers in Istvan's squad started talking at once. He let them babble for a little while, but only for a little while. Then he made a sharp chopping motion with his right hand. "Enough!" he said. "The captain told us to be ready to move out tomorrow after sunset, and that's what we're going to do. Anybody who can't get ready by then" -he smiled his nastiest smile, all teeth and flashing eyes- "we'll leave behind for the Unkerlanters to eat."

"They're pulling the whole brigade out of the line," Kun said in wondering tones. "They can't be putting another brigade in. There'd be no point to that- if they had another brigade to put in, they'd have sent that one to the islands instead of us."

"The Unkerlanters are quiet," Szonyi said. "We've been talking about how quiet they are."

"But how long will they stay quiet once we're gone?" the youngster named Lajos asked, undoubtedly beating Kun to the punch.

"Like the captain said, that's not our worry anymore," Istvan said. "One way or another, the generals will deal with it. We've got to start thinking about the Kuusamans." He didn't care for that notion. They'd come unpleasantly close to killing him a couple of times on Obuda. Now they'd get more chances.

When Istvan thought of the Kuusamans, he thought of going into action against them as soon as he left the redoubt. Reality proved more complex, as reality had a way of doing. Along with the rest of the brigade, Istvan's regiment pulled out of the line when ordered. He didn't see any inexperienced young men trudging forward wide-eyed and eager, as befitted a warrior race, to take their places. It was nighttime, of course. Maybe that made a difference. Maybe. He tried to make himself believe it.

Having left their positions at night- presumably to keep the Unkerlanters from realizing they were going- they got no sleep. They got no sleep the next day, either, but kept tramping west through woods that seemed to go on forever. By the time Istvan finally was allowed to stop and rest, he was readier to fight his own officers than he ever had been to fight the Kuusamans.

The brigade had to march through the woods for most of a week before they got to a ley line. There might have been others closer, but they hadn't been charted. This whole stretch of the world was far, far off the beaten track. And then the weary men had to wait till enough caravan cars accumulated to carry them all west.

"It could be worse," Kun said as the squad did at last climb aboard one. "They could have decided to make us march the whole way, across the Ilszung Mountains and all. Why not? We fought our way across 'em coming east."

"Shut up, curse you," Istvan said. "Don't let any officers hear you saying something like that, or they're liable to take you up on it."