“Pack for an extended hike,” the Captain informed us, pointing to his map. “You’ll be going through D, into E, around F, and then back. Takes about a week. Bring your compass; GPS works in F sometimes. Sometimes it doesn’t. You see anything, anything at all, you call it in Lieutenant. That is, if radios work; sometimes they do….”

“And sometimes they don’t,” I finished for him. “Got it, sir.”

“Sir, permission to speak freely.” my Sergeant said, trying to bore into the man opposite.

“Granted, but I already know what you’re going to say. Your summoner isn’t ready for an extended patrol, she’s too new, etcetera. That the gist of it?”

Golem nodded, mouth shut.

“I’m down two summoners in three days, Sergeant Tomluv. Any incursion, any demon we let by, could kill dozens if not hundreds before it’s put down. I’ve no time to coddle anyone, and I’m fresh out of fucks to give about that. You have your orders, carry them out.”

We both saluted, Golem a bit more stiffly than I, and walked out.

“It’s too soon,” Golem muttered, frowning.

He started as I responded, a light shudder wracking his frame. “Maybe, but we do as we must. I’m pretty confident in my abilities Sergeant, and in time you will be too.”

“It’s not lack of confidence in you, Ma’am. It’s knowing what we’re getting into.”

Operations was as busy as always. A green looking pimply faced kid handed me a new, updated map along with the codes I’d need for the week before wandering off on some other errand. He probably had more time in country than I had in the service; that’s usually how that sort of thing worked.

I still double checked to make sure. Then I triple checked. Everything was in order.

Golem agreed with me; he didn’t say anything was off, at least. I started heading back to the surface.

“So, extra rations, extra ammo, extra clothes?”

Golem shook himself out of whatever thought he was in. “Rations, yes. Ammunition, and extra two clips; we travel light at all times, and if we find a demon or even humans anything more than an extra two clips is usually pointless; a fight is won or lost before we run out and we bug out regardless of the outcome.”

That… was depressing. I guess even for a win we would have casualties, and continuing would be foolhardy at best.

But how would we get out? “Evac by chopper?”

Golem shook his head. “There are some points where it’s possible. There are even a few old roads we sort of maintain, so sometimes truck is an option. But most of the time, it means hoofing it.”

That would mean leaving wounded who couldn’t walk behind – or finishing them ourselves.

To literal Hell with that; not on my watch. I may not be able to keep everyone alive through an attack, but I wouldn’t be adding to the body count.

I resolved to carry an extra few clips myself; I could always dump them later if mobility proved more important than a few extra pounds, and I wouldn’t likely be using my guns anyway.

The less said about my aim currently, the better.

“Also, clothes? Really? Never would have figured you for a clothes horse. What we take is what we’re wearing.”

To Hell with that too; I was taking extra underwear at least. Which reminds me – extra toilet paper too perhaps? Something to look into. “Didn’t you know? I’m a supermodel on my off hours.”

Golem gave me an exaggerated once over, and I could feel my face heat up; some things should not be said.

It got worse. “I could see it, but if you’re going to be a supermodel, you better lay off the granola bars. They are all a bit on the skinny side.”

Great, so now I was a fat clothes horse. No, it was just banter, and I didn’t have any body image issues. I was white as a ghost, with maybe a bit too much in some places, but I was in shape. I bet I could run Golem into the ground – all those muscles had to be heavy.

“Go see to the kids, Sergeant. I’ll see to requisitions.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

The quartermaster was a small, harried woman with a pinched face and stress lines who technically outranked me and unofficially didn’t care, or so I’d been told. She had a pretty good name for a gear officer.

“Lieutenant Carr.”

She took a sip of her coffee, her gaze pointedly fixed on her laptop screen. Well, she didn’t demand a salute, so Golem was batting a thousand so far. “A week for a squad, right? The standard kits’ll be ready by the time you’re back from breakfast. Anything special you need, let me know now.

“Five pounds of salt, a pound of powdered silver, a coarse horsehair brush, and two extra clips in nine millimeter. Oh, and an extra bottle of water testing tablets.”

She made some clicks on the keyboard in front of her. “Done. Anything else? Requested MRE’s? I hear the goulash can cause digestion issues.”

Oh, but her tone was spicy today. Not even an extra eye blink at the things I asked for. Well I guess other than the brush, they weren’t truly unusual.

“Anything else?”

I realized I’d been standing there for a moment longer than I probably should have.

“Yes, actually. One extra mag for each of my squad. I can’t speak for any specific request my squad might make yet though.”

Carr shrugged. “Done. If they have them and it takes time to fill, it’s their ass, not mine.”

I could feel the compassion.

“Right, off to breakfast then.”

Carr made shooing motions, still busily clacking away.

The mess tent was just as deserted at this pre-dawn hour as it was yesterday. They had fresh coffee this time, which was a plus, but it was army coffee, which wasn’t.

The waffles were instant, knock off eggos, the eggs had started as powder somehow, I was sure. But the bacon was good, and there was orange juice. I probably should be reviewing the troops like a good officer, but there was plenty of time for that after breakfast.

As expected, my squad fell in around me at the table as I was draining my first coffee. I took the opportunity provided by the chaos to snag another cup – not that the cooks wouldn’t have given me another anyway, but it was the thought that counted.

I was silent as they ate, joked, and laughed around me. They didn’t try to draw me into the easy conversation, but they didn’t make a point of keeping me out of it either; I’d take that as a win. If I were just a little less socially awkward….

They wrapped things up in half the time it took me.

“All of you will carry at least one extra mag. You can ask for more if you want, but you’re getting that much already.”

“Ma’am, you know procedure….”

Yeah no, I wasn’t asleep the day they covered this in boot. “I do, and we’re breaking it. End of discussion. I want you all ready and on the green in ten.”

They could probably do it in five – but I needed the extra minutes myself.

Golem seemed determined to take at least one of those, but he waited until everyone else had left.

“You know why we have the rule, Lieutenant.”

“I do.” I admitted. Having our weapons and ammunition fall into the hands of the demon army’s allies only allowed them to do more damage to us; a sniper with no ammunition for example, was useless to them.

But I had a feeling. “I know it sounds stupid, but I’ve got a feeling we’ll need it.”

The truth is, if we hit contact, odds were we would take casualties and pull back, succeed or fail. If we hit contact though, and didn’t take casualties, we’d still have to pull back due to expended supplies. I wanted the option to continue forward.

Golem eased up though, with a shrug. “Well, if you’ve got a feeling, that’s it then.”

Evidently he’s dealt with summoners who had gut feelings before – enough times not to question it anymore. No doubt a good survival trait.

I walked sedately back to the barracks (which still looked more like a dormitory to me) and grabbed my pack. Then I took a quick look inside it, just to make sure no one else had tampered with it in my absence; one could never be too careful, and I wouldn’t put it past any summoner to do so. It was all there, thankfully, and with no new additives.

Then I snuck in a few more pair of underwear, because an extra pound wasn’t going to break me either, while being disgusting might. I’d find some way of changing when no one was looking.

Lieutenant Carr was waiting for me. “Your stuff’s on the counter, take it and get out.”

Wow. “Thanks.”

A few small bags and an extra mag did weigh more than my underwear; I stuck them on top, and slid the brush into my pocket, where I could get to it immediately should I need to.

The squad was waiting for me at attention when I reached the green. They weren’t alone – there were two other squads there, with their officers nowhere to be seen.

Odd, I hadn’t seen any other summoners up and about. Beds had been empty of course, but it’d been an hour, and nothing. Oh well, wasn’t my problem.

I double checked them all in silence as they stood there, eyes front like statues, the only clue they were alive the breathing they couldn’t quite mask.

Some had snuck in some extra rations, some had snuck in some personal items (When would Lewd even find the time to read her trashy romance novel?) but they all had an extra magazine. Some even had two.

“Alright, fall in.”

I didn’t lead the way out of the gate for the same reasons as yesterday, and just like yesterday, nothing happened. The feeling that the world was buttering me up for something really bad to happen intensified. I didn’t even wait until out of sight of the compound this time.

“Grex, veni Huc!”

His arrival was a balm to my mind, and his hug wasn’t entirely unwelcome, not that he needed to know that.

His smirk told me he already did. “You rang?”

“You know the drill by now. Go scout for dangers to us.”

With a bow, he was gone, so fast he created a nice breeze.

“Lewd, Perry, take point. The rest of you spread out a bit, fifty feet.”

In keeping with the ruse that I was sure wouldn’t fool anyone, I posted myself away from our center, gun out. My best stalking impression was a clumsy job, but maybe an idiot wouldn’t notice. We had plenty of idiots on our side of the war, the other side had to have a few, right?

The only thing that broke the monotony were the quick checks I made of our position and heading; the morning passed quietly with only the sounds of nature to keep us company.

All in all, it was rather peaceful – I could almost fool myself into thinking I was hiking in a park back home. Well, while I was bored, I might as well be bored and informed.

“So Golem, what were those other squads doing this morning?”

“Patrols.” He answered stiffly, eyes darting around.

We were the only murderously intelligent life for miles, he didn’t need to worry.

“Their summoners were late then. I didn’t see any in the mess.” Or even awake, for that matter, though I didn’t know everyone.

“That’s because the summoners in question are insane, and likely forgot,” Dod stated. “with summoners, it’s only a matter of time before they crack. Their Sergeants were probably rounding them up or something.”

“Dod, that’s enough.” Golem admonished; what did he think I’d be offended or something? I knew summoners personally, we were all crazy.

“They can get away with that crap? Not even a reprimand?” That raised all sorts of interesting possibilities.

Golem nodded, his face sour. “Nothing official; we’re too short on summoners for that. Summoners can pull some pretty… crazy… stunts… shit.”

The light dawned, too late. “Music to my ears, even though I’d never ruin the integrity of the armed forces by cutting corners.”

Dod nodded along. “Very good, I almost believed you.”

“Thanks!”

Image was important, after all.

Golem palmed his face, for the added melodrama, just because. He didn’t hold the pose long of course, and thankfully the universe at large did not take that as a sign to enact something karmic on him.

There were trails here too, and again that made things easier, but wasn’t it true that the enemy would expect us along those trails, and either ambush or avoid us? Avoidance was probably unlikely since all demons had egos the size of battleships, but human enemies could cause quite a bit of damage and likely had humility beaten into them by now. I’d have to ask, later. Probably Grex to be sure on the first point, and wouldn’t that be a joy.

Nothing much to do anyway but hike and think, not that I’d trade being bored for excitement; I was no fool.

That summoner, the one who started the entire incursion back home; I wonder if he came this way? Down this very trail perhaps, dodging our soldiers all the way, ordered to strike at our heart. Perhaps it was to show that even under the shadow of the tower, no one was safe – I refused to believe it was solely for me, the man had to have been moving since before I was active, or the timeline wouldn’t fit.

Big S couldn’t see the future, could he? We were so totally screwed if he could. The world was so totally screwed if he could, and we’d just be going through the motions at that point, waiting for the end. No, if he could, then his decisions would make no sense at all; if he had anything like that it must be very spotty at best.

Right or wrong, I firmly believed that if he knew where I was, he’d already be here, foot tapping impatience away, flaying the skin from my new friends while trying to convince me it was the right thing to do, and all for my benefit somehow. Or theirs.

I had a morbid streak. I should probably watch that.

As the sun began the dipping part of it’s daily journey, Grex came walking back along the path we were taking, looking for all the world like a tourist, and dressed in a trench coat and fedora. He strode right up to Golem and stated loudly:

“Something interesting up ahead.”

Was he? He was.

“Grex, unless there is a presence causing me danger right now, you get the heck over here and address me directly. No throwing my squad-mates under the bus.”

He responded to my hiss with his usual aplomb, striding over. “Just getting in the cloak and dagger mood, my wonderful mistress. There is no presence which wishes us ill-will within a mile at least, but there is a very interesting cabin just ahead.

“A cabin? What’s so interesting about a cabin?” Other than it being the first sign of human habitation I’d seen in this forest. Well, as long as you didn’t count the army; most people did not count the army. Even the army didn’t count the army, I’d seen as much on the last census details for the area.

“The cabin he’s talking about,” Golem interrupted. “is more of an experiment with the idea of a forward fire base than a house. You’ll see when we get there.”

A forward fire base? I knew about those from my military history; in America’s brief intervention of Vietnam. Forward fire bases were used to spot trouble, and pound the heck out of it with large guns and air power. They were constantly in danger of getting overrun though; I thought that our current base was the local equivalent.

If the army had tried for something smaller, what happened to it would be no surprise. But what would be the point? You would need a string of such places, all close together, in sort of a modern Maginot line, and even then it wouldn’t work because failing anything else the enemy could just go over you; it wasn’t like flak did anything to demons other than piss them off.

And all that was after you considered the vulnerability to fire; we were in a forest, after all, and troops needed to breathe to be effective.

We reached a small clearing, and reality proved to be worse than my fears. The place was a small box, with a low wall and shuttered windows all around. It was hard to tell with the roof collapsed, but there might have been a skylight with angles on the air too. Each corner was actually a small round tower and the entire thing was made of logs that were bigger than I was.

The very air seemed to warp with the power of the wards still on the place, and those were just the ones still intact; I could tell there was more.

It was the strongest death trap I’d ever seen, even half burned and open to the elements.

Golem met my look with one of his own. “Like most experiments, it was a failure. But there were few casualties on this one, most people got out.”

That raised a question. “You were here?”

Golem shook his head. “Nah, no one here now was; this was all well before our time, a good thirty years ago.”

So not that bad. Military thinking always did take some time to evolve. The place was remarkably well preserved for it’s age, no doubt thanks to the words of power I had yet to see inscribed on it.

I really wanted to see those. “Chances the place is trapped?”

“Well, not high, but not zero.”

I’d take it. “Grex, go scope it out.”

“As you command, my Mistress.” Grex faded from sight as Golem swore.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he told me. “Just my own fault. I should have remembered how the place affects newbies. No offense, lieutenant.”

“None taken.” Yeah something like this would be a huge draw for the average summoner; an opportunity to learn in the field should never be passed up on.

Golem used the hand signal for stop and wait, and the squad took up positions watching each other and went to ground.

No sooner had they done so than Grex was back. “No traps of any kind, My dear Mistress.”

“Right, let’s go then.”

This close, it was easy to see that the door had half burned and rotted, the victim of elements and time. It hadn’t broken, immediately however, a testament to the power of whatever words lay carved on the other side of it. The walls were likewise still standing, in their own saggy way.

The place screamed to my senses, like being close to a live high voltage wire. So why was the roof gone? Surely, that would have been covered as well? Flyers were a common thong after all.

I bent down and picked up a piece of roof; it was a split log wooden tile, so thin I could break it with one hand. Oh, the shame of it all; the roof had come down first because it was the most vulnerable to breakage, the work on the rest of the place undone by a mistake of tragic proportions.

The place throbbed. Even though I could tell the writing on the walls had been defaced, with the silver poured into the carvings chiseled out, there was somehow still plenty of power here. This was the very sort of place we were discouraged from making in the States; the type of place a summoner could hole up in and it would take an army to root him out.

Of course, it had clearly taken an army to make, so there was that.

There were old shell casings on the floor of the place, under every window. Marks of claws riddled every sill.

It looked like, once up, this was the sort of stronghold that couldn’t be ignored – so the enemy hadn’t. Instead they had hit it, again and again, making the place too hot for the defenders to stay. How would you even resupply a base like this, once it was enveloped in a siege?

The words… were they Etruscan? Something even older? There was something about them…

Grex was studying them too, his face as blank as a mask.

I pulled out my field notebook and got started. The same calls for protection and immunity from dark powers that graced every such installation, but the language wasn’t one in common use by us today. Some variant of Babylonian or Etruscan, likely predating Hebrew. I was more a the hobbyist in ancient languages most summoners were than a P.H.D., but even I could tell something was there.

“Do you recognize it Grex?”

My demon shot me a look. “I don’t recognize one hairless monkey language over another. Do you recognize it, my Mistress?”

“Kind of. I haven’t seen anything quite like it, but it looks familiar. There’s just something about it.”

Grex nodded. “Yes, a certain elegance of line to it.”

That was...odd. For Grex to say something nice about anything, it must be as amazing as sliced bread; for him to say a language had elegance of line was the same as anyone else standing up and cheering about it until they fell over from lack of air.

But I had to admit my own fumbling attempts seemed somehow less complete than the crude-seeming carvings I was staring at. At least they got the message or meaning across, and expressed on paper, the relationship to Babylonian was even more clear; they were close sister languages. I certainly never expected to find anything like this out here; this front wasn’t the complete backwater that Russia was, but I wouldn’t exactly call it a mecca of learning.

I really wanted to find the authors, but they hadn’t signed their work and as old as this building was, they had to be dead. I’d look it up once I went stateside again. If I made it to go stateside again.

Golem poked his head in the door. He seemed entirely unaffected by what he saw. “Come on Ma’am. We’re burning daylight.”

Must be a case of repeated exposure.

“Alright Sergeant, on my way.”

Miles to go before we sleep, and all that.