Chapter 2

I got out, as the soldiers were gathering for the instructions in the yard. We had to make a schedule for patrolling the forest and I didn't want to end up in the night shift, though it kind of happened anyway. As I was crossing the yard, the commander saw me.

“You! Are you wasting time wandering around? Don't you have anything better to do, soldier?”

“I was going to check the schedule.”

“I'll simplify the schedule for you: go to the canteen and help wash the dishes! Are you there yet? Move!”

I had to go to the kitchen, so the schedule was decided in my absence... and I got the night shift, of course.

At night the forest was full of lurking shadows, cracking branches, screeching owls, unexpected shuffling of leaves and we being startled at the slightest sound. We put our night vision goggles, so we at least thought we were safer somehow even though it was still unnerving, to stare into the darkness and walk on our toes.

Close to dawn I came back and climbed in bed. Everyone was asleep. Seloren was asleep too.

However, in the morning when the alarm went off, just a couple of hours after I had thrown myself in bed, I looked around and I didn't see anyone: they had already exited to the yard. I was still so sleepy that I put the blanket back on my head.

Then I heard a voice next to me:

“Ky, wake up. The alarm already went off.”

”I know, I heard it”, I said from under the blanket.

“So come on, get up!” she insisted. “It's been five minutes since the alarm.”

I took off the blanket and looked around.

“Get up Ky”, Seloren spoke again.

She was closing her backpack, putting a towel in.

I mumbled from my bed:

“I don't feel like going to the morning checkup. I've been on patrol last night and I'm sleepy. You go and tell them I'm asleep.”

“You'll be in trouble. The commander will be furious.” she warned me.

I yawned. She came next to my head.

“You really aren't coming out?”

“Nope. I want to sleep.”

“And I'm telling you the commander will be furious.”

“So what. Let him.”

“ As you wish,” she said and went out.

She returned in less than ten seconds.

“The commander said you should come outside right now.”

I realized I had to get out of bed and face the situation again.

I went outside. The commander was waiting in the yard, with everyone in line, staring at me. The yard was too silent, with too many eyes.

“Why didn't you come out when you heard the alarm, soldier?”

“I was sleepy.”

“Is that how you talk to an officer?”

“No, sir.”

“I didn't hear you!”

“No sir!” I shouted.

“No sir what?”

“No sir that's not how I talk to an officer, sir!”

The commander scrutinized me again, squinting his eyes to see if I was doing it on purpose.

I expected the worst to happen: thunder or lightning to strike me down. In the silence of the yard, the commander spoke word by word:

“I'll give you a chance: we're about to have shooting exercises this morning. You'll shoot first. If you don't hit the target in the middle – if you don't shoot a perfect shot, you'll serve in the canteen, wash the dishes then stay on patrol the whole night! Let's go.”

I went to the shooting field at the back of the quarters. They had lined up cardboard targets, white shapes with black circles and the middle point that I had to hit by all means.

I was given the rifle and I stretched down in the grass, aiming attentively. I could feel the eyes of my comrades and also Seloren watching me curiously. My hands were not steady. I was tired after the night shift. My eyes saw the target through a veil of fog. I pulled the trigger and I heard the roar of the bullet. It hit the cardboard, but not exactly in the middle.

The commander ordered immediately:

“There you go: to the canteen! And tonight I'll check how well you guard the gate and the premises!”

I stood up. I didn't know how I got the courage to speak. Maybe Seloren watching me gave me the audacity to surpass the borders of what I would usually do.

“That's not fair, sir.” I spoke firmly.” I was up last night too. I won't be much use if I don't get a few hours of sleep.”

That tipped the odds against me: having the nerve to contradict the orders.

The commander became furious, just as Seloren had warned me.

“One day of underground lockup for you! Take him away!”

Two soldiers grabbed me by the arms and dragged me to the cellar that was meant for prisoners. First they hit me a few times, because I didn't want to get inside, then threw a bucket of cold water on my head. And then I was left in the dark, to tremble the entire evening and the whole night. I was sitting down, crouched with my head on my knees, feeling the water still dripping on my back, the shirt sticking to the cold skin. I thought the hours were endless.

However, not after long, something unexpected happened: when the barracks were silent and I could only hear the owls screeching far away in the forest, everyone sound asleep, the door cracked open and someone slipped in.

“Are you here?” I heard an anxious voice.

It was her.

I looked up in the dark.

“I'm here”, I said.

“Then why didn't you say anything?”

“I just did.”

She came closer and her bright eyes glistened in the night towards me. She knelt next to me, touching my cold hands.

“What did they do to you?”

I shrugged carelessly.

“They threw water on my head.”

“What's up with your hands?”

“What's up with them?”

“They're freezing”, she said, bewildered that I couldn't figure it out.

“So what?” I said in a matter of fact tone.

She looked at me curiously and then started smiling amused.

I asked her a more serious question:

“Have you come to set me free?”

“No”, she answered.

“Then why did you come? And how did you get the door open?”

“Actually, I brought you a blanket”, she remembered and unfolded it over my shoulders. “Here, to keep you warm. I had to bribe the guy at the door with a pack of cigarettes”, she smiled.

“You're slick”, I smiled too.

“Yeah,” she admitted and her eyes glimmered in front of me.

“Thank you for the blanket.”

“Don't thank me. It's the blanked from your bed. You'd better not lose it, or we'll both be in trouble. I couldn't let you freeze in here the whole night”, she added. “It's cold in here, isn't it?”

“Isn't it obvious?”

“Yes, it is.”

Then she suddenly laughed:

“You were great! I can't believe you confronted the commander that way. But why didn't you shoot right? I kept my fingers crossed for you!”

“You did?”

She stared at me sideways, her features more serious in the dark.

“Yes, I did.”

“Well, it seems it didn't work”, I grinned. “I'm in here now.”

She smiled again. Then she said:

“Tell me something.”

“What?”

“Did you do that on purpose? Get yourself in trouble, I mean.”

“Do you think I like being in here?”

“I've been watching you yesterday and I think you have a talent for setting people off.”

We both laughed.

Outside the guard moved and banged on the door.

She stood up.

“I must go. Good night.”

“Good night. And thanks”, I added as I watched her disappear.

The blanket made the night warmer. In the morning, when the door cracked open, I stepped outside to find the commander enraged again. He grabbed the blanket, taking it off my shoulders.

“What's this ? Where did you get it? Who brought this to you?”

I was blinded by the morning sun and the mountain fresh air, so I didn't feel like speaking right away. And I wasn't going to tell him. The commander turned to the guard who confessed, so Seloren was called to stand by my side.

“You're going to be on guard by the gate, both of you, for twenty four hours straight! Let that be a lesson for others who don't take orders as they are instructed!”

So it was decided: we had to stand and guard the gate together, Seloren and I.

I couldn't help but see it as a fortunate opportunity to spend more time with her. I enjoyed her company in a way I couldn't explain.

She wasn't very happy about it though: the idea of standing there until the next day didn't enchant her.

At first we remained by the gate, listening to the shouts in the distance, where the soldiers were exercising. We just stood there in silence, watching the mountain tops high above the forest: the steep rocks and the snowy ridges.