Order of the Fire Box Set

by P. E. Padilla

  Kate made it to the Command Center and Major Travada’s office just as the first of four bells rang. She abhorred being late, and cutting it so closely made her nervous. One tiny delay could have caused her to be late, provoking Travada’s ire.

  He hadn’t had her report specifically to him since he assigned her to Anvil Squad. She wondered what she had done wrong now.

  The secretary motioned for Kate to go through the open door to Travada’s office. She did so, standing at attention just inside the room.

  “Kate Courtenay, reporting as ordered, sir.”

  Travada looked up from the mess of papers on his desk. “Ah, yes. Courtenay.” The way he sneered with his voice when he said her name made her cringe. It also made her want to do something court-martial worthy. “Close the door and come in.”

  Close the door? What was so important that she had to close the door? She did as commanded and stepped three steps into the room, stopping at attention.

  “Sit, girl. No need to be at attention.”

  She didn’t like this. When he treated her like a human, she felt like she was about to be ambushed. Still, he gave her an order, so she had to comply. She took the chair closest to her and sat in it rigidly, as if at attention while seated. She had to. With her shield and sword strapped to her back, any other posture was difficult.

  “I have not heard of any misdeeds or infractions by you. Have you finally settled in, or do you do as the other women in the squad and placate the sergeant?”

  Kate’s face reddened that he thought she would stoop to such despicable actions. “I do not placate Sergeant Seeth. I perform my duties of guarding the gate and do not speak much. I try to blend in.”

  “Yes, I see. Well, I don’t blame you. You are a beautiful woman. You don’t need to lower yourself to a dalliance with that type of man.”

  Was that an actual compliment that came from his mouth, or had he implied that she carried on dalliances with other types of men? She decided it didn’t matter. This man’s opinion of her mattered little, if at all.

  “I called you here to give you a special assignment,” the major continued. “There is a very important message that must be delivered to Gillet Derksen, the commander at Faerdham Fortress.” He waved a sealed letter in front of her. “You are to depart immediately, as soon as you leave this office. You are not to speak with anyone about it, and you are not to delay. Do you understand me?”

  “A…message, sir?”

  “A message. A message!” He waved the letter more vigorously in front of her as if she hadn’t seen it the first time.

  “Pardon me for asking, sir, but couldn’t a message be delivered through the normal messenger service? The one that runs back and forth from Faerdham to here almost daily?”

  “No. This message is too important. It must be taken by someone other than the messenger service. That someone is you. Do you not understand your task and your orders, Soldier Courtenay?”

  “I do understand, sir. I will leave immediately, as soon as I requisition a horse from the stables.”

  “No. You will not be riding a horse. You will travel by foot.”

  “By foot, sir? If the message is important, wouldn’t it be prudent to get there as quickly as possible?”

  Travada didn’t hide the rolling of his eyes. “I did not say it was important to get there quickly. I said it was an important message. You will travel as quickly as you can, but you will do so on foot. Is that clear, Courtenay?”

  “I…um, yes sir. It’s clear.”

  “Good, then I suggest—no, I order you to make haste. I want you out of this fortress and on your way in less than half an hour. Again, you are to tell no one, and you are not to delay.”

  “Yes, sir.” Kate took the letter from Travada’s hand with her left as she saluted with her right. “Is there anything I need to tell the commander or anything else I need to know?”

  “No.”

  Kate waited for him to continue, but he merely stared at her. “Yes, sir. I will get to it.”

  He turned his attention to his desk and began shuffling the papers there, his conversation with her apparently already forgotten.

  Kate left the office, her mind racing. She had half an hour to get out of the fortress, but she was not equipped to travel. She would have to stop at her room and then at the supply officer to get rations for the trip. If she ran, she would barely make it out of the gates in time.

  She ran.

  When she had come to Gateskeep for the first time with the other newly graduated recruits, it took them two and a half days to make the trip. Of course, it was a fairly large group and they were heading up farther into the mountains, so the trip was uphill. She knew she would make it in much less time than that, but it always paid to be prepared.

  She retrieved the pack she kept stocked in the chest near her bunk and some food from the supply officer consisting of hard tack and salted meat. It wasn’t very appetizing, but she would only have to eat on the road one day.

  And a road it was, so most of the items in her pack—rope, signal mirror, assorted other things—were probably unnecessary. She would make use of the flint and steel, though. Traveling too far in the dark, even on a road, was not generally advisable. The road was fairly well maintained, but it went through the wilds. A predator could still hunt her as she went. It was better to make a fire to keep unwanted animals away.

  As Kate headed out of the front gates, she realized she had not taken leave to Leydford, the hamlet near Faerdham Fortress, since she had been at Gateskeep. She seemed to miss the rotations that allowed her leave, and when she attained the Black, she spent much of her time in their service on her mission to Hell. In a way, she could say that she spent her leave in Hell.

  That made her chuckle, and she felt uncharacteristically cheerful at leaving the fortress. She had work to do there, and it had become more of a home to her than even the place where she grew up, but the freedom from all the tedious games and contests between everyone she had to interact with was welcome. Well, she amended, there were no games with the Black, Molara, and Wilfred, but they had all been taken away from her. It was good to be able to decide her own next steps, even if it was within the context of a useless mission.

  However, the more she thought about it as she made her way down the road, the more it vexed her. What was the sense in having her deliver a message, and on foot, instead of sending a normal messenger or including it in the other messages going to Faerdham from Gateskeep? She would be wasting her time, that’s what.

  She stopped in the road when the realization struck her. This wasn’t some petty task dreamed up by Travada to make her life miserable and to waste her time. This was specifically meant to remove her from Gateskeep. They knew what she was up to, that she was their enemy. They sent her away so she couldn’t interfere with their plans.

  For a moment, she contemplated going back and sneaking into the secret section of the library to work on Infirium business, but she rejected the idea. If she was found out, they would have grounds to kick her out of the Order for good. No, better to hurry and complete her task and get back.

  The major hadn’t given her a time frame in which to complete her duty. He told her to get the message to Faerdham as quickly as she could on foot. If she traveled all night, she could make it there by mid-morning.

  But then another thought struck her. What if the message she carried told the commander to apprehend Kate and feed her to the demons kept there, or something similarly devastating to the goals of the Infirium and herself?

  She had to find out. She would do so, later that evening when she built a fire. Thinking it through, she figured she might as well sleep for a few hours if she was going to stop and build a fire, and she needed to do that. There was no other way to do what she needed.

  The events of the previous three or four months swirled through Kate’s head. From joining the Black to the mission into Hell and killing the demon lord to the odd way the Order seemed to be digesti
ng itself, these were momentous times, ones that would be written about in the histories. Where would she be in those tales? Would she be a traitor who was executed?

  By the time she stopped for the night, two hours after full dark, she was agitated. There was too much she didn’t know. Just when she and the others had seemed to be getting the upper hand in their information gathering, everything fell apart. No, that wasn’t right. Things didn’t fall apart. The enemy exerted its force on them, and they were helpless to resist. The thought of it made her blood heat.

  It took less than fifteen minutes to gather some of the plentiful deadwood a few hundred yards off the road and start a fire in the shelter of some rocks. The temperature was still mild, so her cloak would do to sleep in. It wouldn’t be the first time she had slept on the ground. At least this time it was in her own world.

  But first, to her task. Warming the dagger she removed from her pack over the fire, she allowed it to get hot, but not too hot. When she was satisfied with its temperature, she slid it under the major’s seal on the letter. The wax imprint separated easily and remained in one piece.

  Carefully opening the letter, she read in the flickering firelight what the major had written.

  Gillet,

  I would appreciate it if you would send along some of the Vonamyth Red with the next shipment. I have not had a taste of good wine in some time. I would appreciate it.

  Aedmund

  Really? Wine? The important message was to send bottles of wine to Travada? Kate wasn’t sure whether she should be happy it did not call for her execution or upset because it was such a mockery of everything that was right.

  Grumbling, she carefully folded the letter and, using her warmed knife to melt the wax, reaffixed the seal to the paper. She inspected it and tugged gently on the flap to make sure the seal held. Satisfied, she put it back in her pack and lay down. Maybe the sheer stupidity of the whole matter would seem less ridiculous after a bit of sleep.

  25

  A few hours later, she woke and continued her journey as the sky lightened with the new day. She couldn’t say that she felt good, considering the circumstances, but she always liked greeting the sun as it made its appearance. It gave her the hope of endless possibilities to do good things because the entire day was still ahead of her.

  Four hours later, she wasn’t so optimistic. The road was wide open, with not one other person visible, but it only highlighted how far from civilization she was. Though the day was cool, the brightness of the sun held at bay by puffy white clouds overhead, she was anxious to be done with her task.

  It was taking too long. She knew she would not arrive at the fortress until evening, but the wait seemed interminable. With all the things going on at Gateskeep, she was stuck walking on a mountain road. She ground her teeth and continued on her path.

  As expected, the road approaching Faerdham seemed familiar, especially when she passed through Leydford. She had only traveled that road a handful of times, but it was more familiar than the terrain on the rest of her trip.

  She made the gates of Faerdham an hour before sunset. The walls seemed to gleam in the late afternoon sun, and the appearance of other people, some of them in red, made her feel a little like she was coming home. She waved at the guards as she went through the gates.

  The layout of the fortress was simple enough to navigate after spending so much time there. She didn’t delay, heading straight for the commander’s office. On her way, she passed Captain Ephratus Bant’s office and felt the urge to slink by. It was ridiculous, though. He could do nothing to her now that she was a full Order member. Besides, he probably wouldn’t even recognize her.

  The commander’s secretary let her go into the office to deliver the message herself. Kate had expected to be told to give the letter to the underling. She stepped inside, stood at attention, and announced, “Sir, I have a letter from Major Travada at Gateskeep.”

  Gillet Derksen was just as she remembered him from her orientation and the proceedings to expel Arronax and execute Charity. He was a large man—not fat or muscular, just large—with a full head of grey hair. The major looked up from his papers and removed his eyeglasses. “Travada, you said? Are you a new messenger? No, you couldn’t be, not wearing the red. It must be important to send one of his soldiers, especially one with so much renown.”

  “Sir?”

  “Coteny, no, Cosetay, no, Courtenay. That’s it. You are Soldier Courtenay, are you not?”

  Kate’s mouth dropped open. He knew who she was? “Yes, sir. Kate Courtenay.”

  “Damn shame.”

  “Sir?”

  “It’s a damn shame what they did. With the Black, I mean. The hero of the Battle of the Breach, among others, stuffed into red and made to deliver letters. I don’t know what you did to receive command’s ire, but it’s a damn shame. You should be killing demons, not playing messenger.”

  “I, uh, yes. Thank you, sir.”

  “Well, nothing I can do about it. Hand the letter over.”

  Kate did so and turned to leave.

  “Stay for a moment, Soldier Courtenay. If the message is this important, Aedmund may want a reply.”

  The commander broke the seal and read the message. He barked a laugh and looked at Kate as if she had played a joke on him.

  “He wants wine,” he said. “That was his important message. Perhaps you have raised more ire than I had originally thought if you are getting assignments just to waste your time. You can tell him I will take care of it. No use in wasting a sheet of paper to respond.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

  “You may go. There are bunks set aside for messengers. Eat something and rest before leaving.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Oh, and Soldier Courtenay?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Thank you for your service and your heroics. It’s horrible when the Order treats its heroes in such a way. Dishonorable, is what it is.”

  Kate stood even straighter at attention and saluted. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  The commander saluted, waved her away, and put his glasses back on, muttering something about the state of affairs of the Order and paperwork.

  Kate had a few hours before she would be ready to sleep, so she walked around the fortress, the ghosts of memories haunting her mind. As she moved about, she noticed that recruits, and even fortress personnel, turned to watch her. Groups of people whispered amongst themselves. She caught the words “Black” and “hero” several times.

  Could it be that they all recognized her? She did have recognizable features: her red hair, her sword, possibly her height. It was a bit discomfiting to be the target of their comments, but at least it was in a good way. The stigma against the Black didn’t seem to have made its way this far.

  That reinforced her belief that demons were affecting the minds of those in Gateskeep. Which, of course, reminded her of where things stood. She told the commander she would sleep and eat, and to be honest, she did need the rest, but she would be off as soon as possible.

  It was nice to be reminded that some people still believed in the Order’s mission and respected the Black for trying to achieve it.

  All of that gave her an idea. She changed her direction and headed toward her old barracks, where she stayed when she was just a green recruit.

  She stepped into the small room at the front of the barracks. It held only a bed and a small desk with a chair in front of it. A tiny window let in some light from the setting sun.

  There was no one there.

  Damn, Kate thought, and turned to leave, her eyes still on the empty room.

  “Are you here to cause trouble?” a rumble of a voice said. “To steal something, maybe? Or to lord it over poor, hardworking men?”

  Kate nearly ran into the speaker on her way out. The great bear of a man stood there, looking much as he always did, his beard even bigger than ever.

  “Phileas!” she said, but then realized what she had done. “I mean
, Sergeant!”

  Part of his beard split to show a smiling mouth. “Pah, for you, I’ll make an exception. Not every day a hero of the Black comes calling.”

  Kate couldn’t help it. She stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

  At least, she tried. She had forgotten just how big Phileas Darknoll was.

  The sergeant stood still for a moment, but then put his arms out and patted Kate on the back. “Enough of that, now. Anyone sees us, they’ll think I’m sweet on you.”

  Kate stepped back. “Aren’t you?”

  “Ha!” His laugh seemed to shake the room’s walls. “If I am, I’ll take that knowledge with me to the grave. Come in, sit down and talk with me for a while.”

  Phileas sat on his bed, motioning to the chair. Kate took the hint and sat in it.

  “So, what’re you about that you come to visit your poorer cousins?”

  “I’ll get to that, but first, I want to thank you, Phileas.”

  “Thank me?”

  “Yes, well, I want to thank you, too, for your training and your help, but mainly I want to thank you for saving my life in that last battle. The one they’re calling the Battle of the Breach—a ridiculous name. If it wasn’t for you leading the squad to drill through all those demons attacking me, I’d be dead right now, and so would several more of the Black.”

  “Aww, it was nothin’ that shouldn’t have been done. I was just at the right place at the right time, is all.”

  “I still don’t understand how that happened, but it was more than that. You went above and beyond duty. Not many would have done what you did. It was heroic. Did you get a commendation for that?”