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" A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell."
― C.S. Lewis,

General Blaine growled under his breath as he saw the long procession of the Alrahdan army's supply caravan. Blaine was an Enarkin, heavy set, thick muscles, black shell-like skin, and one of the strongest Enarkins that lived. He had not procured the rank of a general by doing nothing, he was also an excellent fighter, he had unnatural strategic skill, and the brain power to think up plans quickly.
He had been ordered by the only person over him, the High General, to sabotage the Alrahdan supply caravan. Although he had petitioned to command the party that struck the army in the Hiki Marsh, he had been usurped by General Zarkean; his rival in the same rank. He took it personally, openly showing his displeasure to the High General and stalling as much as he could. Zarkean had taken command of the army mission, while Blaine was stuck with the droll job of preying upon the supply carts. And Blaine hated Zarkean for it. He had also hoped to have brought the human Fadriel with him, he was the best archer in all of Enarka, but that also was begrudged of him.

Sain'Rea, a Enarkin commander, clambered up the boulder, came to a halt on the large ledge on which Blaine stood, and saluted. Although she was an Enarkin, her feminine features showed, she had a much shapelier body than a male Enarkin, and her face showed more feminine features.

"Report!" She said in a clear voice.

"Proceed." He mumbled.

"The scouting party that I command has reported that the enemy is totally oblivious to our presence, but..." She trailed off.

"What?" He barked.

"I and my scouting party made a small amount of noise, and they became a bit wary." She finished, looking down at the reddish granite. General Blaine spat.

"Leave it to a northern Enar to alert the enemy!" He snapped.
She set her jaw, her cheek muscles visibly straining. Blaine immediately felt bad for what he had said, but his years in the military had taught him not to show emotion or feelings.

"Return to your duties." He said, waving her off. She turned sharply on her heel with military precision and descended the boulder.

A northern Enar was a Enarkin from a certain provence in northern Enarka, they had been the provence that had been repeatedly attacked by the barbarians of the Northern Winder river, and defended all of Enarka from the frequent raids. However, somewhere in history, between now and then, the idea had sprung up that for some reason, the province, and anyone who came from there was unlucky or cursed. The legend had stuck, humiliating any from the province. Commander Sain'Rea was from that misfortunate province, and hated it to be mentioned.        

Presently, the sound of the cart wheels, stamping of many feet and hooves, and the lowing of cattle reached his ears. He and his small army had hidden about a pile of boulders, and General Zarkean doubtless had done the same thing. General Blaine had only to wait a few more hours before the enemy came close enough to attack.
The time passed too slowly. The carts slowly creeping across the ground.
A thick fog had rolled in from the Hiki Marsh a few miles to the west.

Finally they were nearing the boulders. The trail was very wide, allowing the passage of fifty or more carts abreast at a time. All the better for us Blaine thought as he looked around the granite rocks to see if his men were ready, they were all watching him intently for the signal to attack. When the time was right, he gripped the large rock in front of him and hoisted the boulder—which was about his own size—over his head.
He paused just for a moment before hurling the large rock down onto the supply caravan.
The boulder soared through the air and landed on a wagon. The horse, driver, and wagon were utterly destroyed, the wagon splintering under the weight. The Enarkins under general Blaine leaped from their hiding places and off the boulders. More smaller boulders smashed into the wagons and carts. Chaos erupted from the caravan, screams, shouts, whinnying, and fighting split the still, muggy air.

A typical general would say hidden, not entering the fight, but the Enarkin generals were trained for this, being more capable than the soldiers under them. General Blaine leaped from the boulder, some thirty feet from the ground, and landed on top of a shocked guard, crushing him under his weight. He swung his sword, slicing a horse in half and imbedding the weapon in the carriage his unfortunate prey was toting. He swung around and kicked a man in the chest, crushing his ribs, before turning the other direction to face one guard. The man swung his sword down at Blaine. He raised his forearm and the blow glanced off his shell-like skin. Blaine stormed in and buried his short sword up to its hilt in the guards stomach.

They were losing the element of surprise and the guards were grouping and pushing the Enarkins back.
General Blaine was unpleasantly shocked by how fast they reacted and fought back, they must have been anticipating some sort of attack from the start. His mind whirled, he used the brain power that had got him to his high rank to find a quick solution to the unanticipated resistance. General Blaine put a horn to his mouth and blew, the effect was immediate. All the Enarkin warriors, captains, commanders, and soldiers scurried back up the boulders into the heavy mist.

All the commanders, including Sain'Rae, came up to General Blaine for their orders.
"B'nar, mahhr, and Sain'Rae; take your troops to the north, cut off any that might back-track and escape. Tahjj, Latyne, and Pa'um; take your troops to the south, cut off any that try and flee along the trail." He swept his hand over all of them. "High General Lareneg wants us to take out a quarter of their numbers: we shall take out half.
Jayse, Rayhn, and I will attack again, we will strike hard in the middle, and push outwards, forcing them into the other commander's troops." he jerked his fist to the side of his head, his elbow thrusting out in an Enarkin military salute. The commanders returned the gesture. "go!"

*******
Curtis still smelled the death and blood from the carnage that had occurred, even though they had traveled miles and miles since. The grumbles and moans had doubled after the battle, some from battle inflicted wounds, others grumbled just for the sake of it.
Curtis, being a Captain of two groups, and a commander of the elite army, had been called to the front to the general—who rode of the only civilized beast in the marsh; a mountain ibex— to discuss the recent attack and to talk about further strategies. The army had camped along the trail on a slightly wider part. The men had quite literally dropped their bed rolls right on the trail and went to bed. The line of sleeping soldiers extended for at least a mile on the skinny trail. A few fires were lit, but most men went to bed without one. Curtis crouched by one of the small fires, chewing on a piece of jerked eagle. He mulled over the recent ambush he tried to remember the strategies that the Enarkins had used, but his mind kept returning to the bowman. He did not know why, but the man intrigued him, more than any man, enemy or friend, in his life.
Curtis inhaled the rank humid air. The wind was starting to change, bringing with it the smell of blood from the north, which in its turn, brought fear and uncertainty into Curtis' heart. He wanted to go back to his home in the Alrahdah. Before, he was confident about a safe journey home, but now he was not so sure. Would he make it back to his warm happy abode, or would he die in the Hiki Marsh, alone, unmourned, and forgotten by all he held dear.

********
Panic. General Blaine had succeeded. The guards, cattle, drivers, and slaves were all in utter panic and chaos. The resistance that the guards had so masterfully mustered had been totally eliminated. They ran from the Enarkins as if all of the demons in The Underworld had been released in their midst. It was only a matter of time before the guards' sheer numbers drove the Enarkins back, but Blaine had accomplished the impossible. He had preformed a deed that would make High General Lareneg surprised: High General Lareneg was never surprised. General Blaine had utterly destroyed over half of the guard and supplies, with only a loss of fifty men.

According to Blaine's plan, the guards had been forced to the north and south; into the awaiting ambush. They had been caught in total confusion. Blaine's men had stormed into their ranks, cutting down the men on either side.
Finally, General Blaine blew the horn again and the Enarkins retreated. Blaine smiled as he ran ahead of his army back towards Enarka. He couldn't wait to report to the High General.

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