Vas’s group followed the lead of the captain in front of them. Vas himself walked beside the captain and made occasional small-talk, about the weather and the state of the Wall and recent skirmishes with Risen.

Mostly, Vas and the captain walked in silence while Alex told stories of their last few days slogging through the snow in snowshoes.

Vas tuned her out, not very concerned with how frustrated Alex was about wearing snowshoes for long periods of time. He suspected she was talking more than usual since she was excited.

About half a day of walking brought the little group through multiple outposts and into a large area covered by tents and buildings. Eventually they arrived at a large office building which functioned as a command structure.

The captain turned to Vas and the others, “I’ll take your captain, but the rest of you should go get cleaned up. You can all meet up again in the Scout barracks not far from here.” Alex gave a thumbs up and immediately started skipping through the snow in the other direction. Selene and Joust watched Vas, and Vas gave them both a nod. After his affirmation, the other two Scouts turned and followed Alex.

This was fortunate timing, as it was the same moment that Alex tripped and fell into the snow.

Joust snorted and helped Alex up quickly as he snickered, “Are you sure you don’t need some snowshoes?” Selene laughed, and Alex hurled a few expletives at them both.

Vas smiled, watching his group of friends finally at peace. No impending doom lurking in the shadows here. The captain nodded to Vas, “Good group you’ve got there. The little one talks a lot though.” Vas rolled his eyes, “Tell me about it,” he said.

The captain laughed softly and motioned for Vas to follow him into the building. The two guards in front of the doors let them in, and a guard inside the doors held one open for them.

Once inside, Vas and the captain walked down a hallway, through another door, down another hallway, up some stairs, and around a corner. They finally reached a double door with two guards standing in front. The captain nodded to each of the guards in turn, “Vince, Sigmund. Next to me is a Scout captain with a report on a Risen horde to the south.” The guards nodded, and one of them knocked on the doors a few times in a pattern. He listened for a moment, then nodded to himself and opened his door. Vas and the captain walked through this final door, which lead to a large study with four men and two women. Two of the men inside seemed to be guards, and there were two other men and two women who seemed like commanders. These four people were standing around a huge table with army positions and strategic advantages marked.

The captain next to Vas saluted, and Vas followed suit. “Commanders, this man is a Scout captain with information about a Risen horde to the south.” Three of the commanders seemed to ignore the captain, but the fourth, a woman in her mid-40’s, nodded. “Thank you captain. You may return to your post.”

The captain nodded and left the room. One of the guards closed the door after him.

“Now, I do not recognize you. Don’t remember any captains with your… Demeanor.” The woman said. “I am Salar, the Scout field commander.”

Vas saluted her, “Commander Salar. The captain misspoke. I am an interim captain.” One of the men at the strategy table, short and bearded, shook his head, “Lost another squad, did we? No need to speak in riddles kiddo, whose squad was it?”

Vas nodded to the man, “Commander. I was a part of the expedition to the South, a member of Kara’s squad.”

Immediately, all four commander’s eyes gained a hint of wakefulness, and they devoted their full attention to Vas. Commander Salar raised her hand, “I will require a full report. First, what was this about a Risen horde?”

“It isn’t fair to keep that to yourself, Salar,” said the man who had spoken earlier. Salar shushed him and waited for Vas to respond.

Vas cleared his throat, “The volcanic eruption seemed to be some sort of signal to the Risen. They began gathering into large groups and marching north in waves. The first wave should reach our outer area within the next six days.” Vas almost forgot, but this time he didn’t, “Commanders.”

“No need to keep calling us commanders. We haven’t forgotten.” The short commander said. He stroked his beard, “How many Risen in each wave? Also, how many waves?” This man was obviously calculating costs and preparations. Vas liked him already. “Com—I mean, sir, there are hundreds of thousands in each wave. As for how many waves, I believe this is an all-out attack that will be undertaken by all of the Risen. Therefore, the number is incalculable.” One of the other two commanders cursed. “Equipment?” The short man was still planning. Vas squinted his eyes, remembering as best he could. “Nothing special. Most of them were armed with tools and other makeshift weapons.” The man tugged his beard a bit, “Shovels? Ropes? Any sort of siege equipment or something that might have a chance to breach the wall?”

Vas shook his head, “I didn’t get a good enough look to know. There are Risen armed with crossbows and bows, but they are fairly uncommon. I did not see siege equipment.”

The man nodded, apparently satisfied for now.

Salar stepped forward, “Now follow me back to my study. I want your full report on the mission to the South.”

Vas complied, and even though the other commanders gave Salar disapproving looks, they seemed to be aware that it was very much in her power to keep this information to herself. Vas assumed this was some sort of political power play of some kind, but had neither the insight nor the authority to intervene.

After a few minutes of walking, Salar and six guards strolled to a building about six hundred paces away from the command structure. Vas followed until they eventually arrived. Two of the guards posted on the outside, and the other four followed Vas and Salar inside.

“Now, please answer this question first. Did Ishone survive?” Salar’s eyes seemed almost hungry for the answer, which caught Vas off-guard. He grew wary, and decided to skew the details a bit. “No, commander. Ishone, Kara, Tapo and Serj were all killed in a Risen ambush. Because of that, I took command of the survivors.” Salar nodded and smiled slightly. Vas was starting to feel uncomfortable now. He had a bad feeling.

Salar took a deep breath. Vas’s mind was spinning. He knew there was something going on here, but had no idea what it was or how to deal with it. He was exhausted. “Thank you, young Scout. Please go back to your barracks and have a good night’s rest. You can report the rest to me in the morning.”

Vas glanced up, surprised. “Thank you, commander. I am quite tired.” He knew she didn’t care about the rest of the report, and was only pleasantly surprised that she was letting him leave so soon.

Vas turned towards the door, took a step forward, and then saw a blur in the corner of his eye. He rolled forward, barely dodging the club of the guard who attacked him. As Vas rose back to his feet, he ripped the club out of the guard’s hand and knocked the man out with a swing to his chin. One of the other guards kicked his knee into an awkward position from behind, and Vas took a few of that man’s teeth with the club.

Unfortunately, Vas wasn’t fast enough to avoid the next blow to his head. Pain flashed through his body, and he slumped to the ground. One of the guards cursed, and Vas heard Salar’s slightly panicked voice say something.

Some warm blood splattered on Vas’s face, but it wasn’t his own.

Vas, dizzy and confused, lost consciousness.