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  The Fort

  Worldsend Garrison Book 1

  M.D. Krix

  Grivs Publishing

  Copyright © 2020 Mike Dean Krix

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Cover design by: Thea Nicolescu

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  The Fort

  Introduction

  Letter 1

  Letter 2

  Letter 3

  Letter 4

  Letter 5

  Letter 6

  Letter 7

  Letter 8

  Letter 9

  Letter 10

  Letter 11

  Letter 12

  Letter 13

  Letter 14

  Letter 15

  Letter 16

  Letter 17

  Letter 18

  SOON...

  The Rise

  Introduction

  Worldsend Garrison Series

  The Fort

  Worldsend Garrison Book 1

  M.D. Krix

  © 2020 Mike Dean Krix

  All rights reserved

  Artwork by

  Thea Nicolescu

  www.ikaruna.eu

  Published by

  Grivs Publishing

  Introduction

  The sun is high above a desolate landscape. Not a single trace of life can be spotted on the burning extent of barren land stretching as far as the eye could see. Rain never falls on the Karabia desert. The scorched terrain is not marred by any river, any lake, any pool.

  There is no water here, only sand and rocks everywhere.

  But this arid place is not far from the sea, and this is enough to change things. The humidity from the ocean would ascend in the air and condense back during the cold nights. When morning comes, this unforgiving desert is covered by tiny beads of dew. They don’t linger there, disappearing when the sun rises above the horizon, when its powerful rays quickly increase the temperature ti unbearable levels.

  Amazingly, those scarce and ephemeral beads of water manage to sustain existence in such a place. Plants and animals may be rare, but they are nonetheless present. Looking closer at the stretch of sands, small bursts of vegetation can be seen. Yellow tuffets struggling in the heat, dry moss surviving in the shadows of the biggest rocks…

  Despite everything, the Karabia desert harbors life.

  After sunset, when the temperature drops to reach bearable levels, its inhabitants appear. Tiny rodents emerge from their burrow—where they slept the warmth of the day—to nibble on the scarce bushes. Those small mice are constantly alert, jumpy even. They knew they are being hunted by a relentless predator.

  The sand scorpion is always hungry, and few preys were available around there.

  To survive, the fittest and strongest ones had to become an efficient killing machine, armed with powerful claws and a poisonous barb. They are, sneaky, silent, and very patient. Once they locate a potential meal, the poor soul has no chance to escape. They would sting the tiny mouse before it even knows it was hunted. Paralysis comes within seconds, and the struggle is over.

  Usually, the rodent is dead before the scorpion started to enjoy its dinner. Usually.

  By night, terrible fights for life are a common sight in the Karabia desert, but during the day, nothing is moving. It is simply too hot. No creature can survive in those conditions. Not without water, not without shadow.

  The peace and tranquility of this God-forgotten land remain untroubled when the sun is high.

  Today is different, though.

  ***

  Under the cloudless blue sky, something is moving among the vast stretches of sand. A form of life is crossing the gigantic plateau of the Karabia Peninsula. Coming from the wetlands, it is making its way through the desert, heading for the shore of the Great Ocean.

  Most of its journey is completed, and it is only a few miles away from the coast.

  High above, some lost seagull notices it, and gets curious. It hasn’t eaten for days, and is hoping to grab something. Closing in, the bird recognizes the moving shape: a cart, pulled by four horses.

  This was a surprising sight around here, but the gull doesn’t bother to consider. It knows that carriages meant humans. And humans mean easy-to-steal food.

  Further north, on the eastern coast of the peninsula, this bird has learned to live among people. There is always something to loot from the fishermen of Igereiger. Life is easier there; it shouldn’t have left to discover new horizons. Heading south along the cliffs bordering the Valkyan sea has not been a good idea.

  But if it could get a bit of meat or bread from this cart, maybe it could find the energy to fly back to the harbor, back to where survival is not the only thing that matters.

  The gull is closing in, and sees the man driving the chariot. He is constantly drinking from a flask, not trying to save this precious liquid. He has plenty. His carriage is loaded with water, beef, vegetables, fish, and quantities of food sufficient to feed a colony of scavengers for years.

  The bird knows it would be a mistake to target those provisions. The man would defend them, and it could easily get hurt. A broken wing here would mean certain death. A slow and painful one, drying alive in the furnace of the desert.

  So, the seagull focuses on what is piled in the back of the cart, further from the driver. This can be eaten as well. Many people wouldn’t consider it as a food but, for a scavenger, corpses are a wonderful meal.

  The bird lands on those and stares at the man in front, ready to fly if he posed a threat.

  He doesn’t. He doesn’t even turn back.

  Reassured, the gull starts to wander among the bodies, trying to find the easiest one to peck at. It noticed a dozen of them, all dressed in the same fashion. This makes things more complicated for the scavenger as it has to uncover exposed flesh. Finally, a hand is spotted. It is unfortunately not very meaty, being mainly bone and tendons.

  But it is better than anything.

  The gull starts to cut through the skin with its sharp beak, when suddenly the dead hand moves, shooing it way.

  ***

  The seagull flies away. It heads back north, towards the port of Igereiger, a place where things are easier. It doesn’t know if it will make it, but it understands it shouldn’t stay here, in the furnace of the Karabia Desert, where even corpses can’t be eaten.

  At the southern tip of the Karabia Peninsula, where the desert plunges towards the treacherous waters where the Great Ocean meets the Valkyan Sea, life is not welcome.

  Letter 1

  My Love,

  My dear Love, how I miss you…

  We’ve been separated for so long already; my heart is aching. I’m sure yours is suffering as well. I know there is no way back, I realize I will never see you again. I must get used to this idea but I can’t. This would be admitting defeat and I don’t want to resign. As long as there is life, there is hope. And I’m still alive.

  Amazingly, I am still alive.

  I’ve been told that no communication with the outer world is allowed. I know that my letter will never leave this damned place. But it helps to write to you. I feel as if I’m talking with you, I imagine your smile while you listen patiently to my words, your hand touching slightly mine to calm me down when you see the anger rising in me.

  It also gives me hope. I know this letter won’t be sent, but maybe I will find a way to escape and I will bring them to you. Thinking of us reunited is the only thing that keeps me going.

  Oh, my sweet Theodora, how I wish you could be by my side at this moment, comforting me. But this is so selfish of me to desire you here. This place is damned and wherever you are, you’re better far from me.

  I imagine that you’ve also been punished harshly.

  I’m convinced your father would never hurt you, but I’m sure he found some isolated manor to lock you down for your own good. We’ve always known that our love was impossible. No matter how real and strong it is, there was no way it would ever be accepted.

  We’ve been stupid to believe in us. Passion can’t win over politics, we learned it in a hard manner.

  I don’t blame your father, an honorable and respectable man who will invariably have my admiration and loyalty. It’s only normal that he protected his daughter from a future by my side. He must think of the greater good and can’t allow such a union as ours. I’m lowly-born, I’m not fit for you. We knew it from the beginning. No matter how much we love each other, there was no possible happy end to our story.

  Deep inside, we always understood this would finish like this.

  We are young, and we couldn’t accept the truth. It hurts to think that I brought so much pain and misery upon us. I can’t live with myself knowing that I caused you problems.

  However, I didn’t decide to write those letters to complain or express regrets. What is done is done, and nothing I could say or do will ever change the past.

  I’m writing because I consider that I have to inform you. I want for you to know that I’m alive, that I think of you and that I’m fighting for you. And maybe one day, if I ever manage to escape and bring those letters to you, then the world will discover what
is going on here.

  ***

  I’m sure you remember the soldiers rushing in our room, surrounding us when we were making love. You must recall how I jumped out of the bed trying to reach for my sword and how I never made it, hit on the head by a coward who came from behind, and fainted.

  Maybe you know what happened afterwards, but those are my last memories of the real world.

  I woke up some hours ago, lying on the ground under a scorching sun. A moment before I was profoundly asleep and, in an instant, I was perfectly conscious, all my senses alert. I immediately noticed the sandy terrain, the strong smell of sweat and urine, the voices around me. Before opening my eyes, I also heard the faint sound of waves crashing on rocks. A whiff of iodine confirmed that I was not far from the seaside.

  I couldn’t help wonder. Where did they bring me?

  I opened my eyes and saw more people on the ground close to me, all wearing uniforms. I turned my head slowly and observed two soldiers standing by, near to a cart strapped to four huge black stallions. They were unloading bodies, all dressed with military clothes, throwing them uncaringly on the floor. I guess they had done the same with me only minutes ago.

  Then two of the bodies stood up, almost magically. Just like me, they had been fast asleep an instant ago, and suddenly they were awake. This made me understand that we had been drugged. Most likely we were all supposed to regain consciousness quickly. Lying motionless on the ground was useless, I wouldn’t trick anyone.

  Like my fellow prisoners, I stood up. I realized that I was also wearing a military uniform, but it was not mine. I was naked when they caught me, so they must have dressed me after taking me captive. And this had been quite a long time ago because the smell of sweat and urine invading my nose was actually emanating from my own body.

  What had happened to me?

  All the prisoners were awake now. There were fourteen of us. We were eyeing each other silently, looking for clues, trying to understand something, hoping to stick some pieces together in order to make sense of all this. We were obviously all lost.

  I was dirty, I was thirsty, and the sun was starting to burn my skin.

  One of the other prisoners shifted to me and inquired: “Where are we?” but I didn’t have time to confess my ignorance when a powerful voice roared behind us.

  “SILENCE! Nobody’s allowed to speak unless asked a question.”

  We all turned to face the man who had talked. He was in his fifties. His hair and mustache had a silver streak and his sunburnt visage told me that he had been spending a long time outside. His uniform was of a colonel and his eyes left no doubt. He might not be tall, but he is the one in charge here.

  “Did you forget all discipline? Soldiers, in line!”

  We all obeyed and faced him instinctively. Only one of the prisoners didn’t salute and took a step forward instead, asking defiantly:

  “An admiral receiving orders from a colonel? I doubt so!”

  The Colonel looked at him with a grin and started to laugh:

  “Admiral Adolf von Buchmann, I read that you did a terrific job at the Wenceslas battle. The Emperor himself admitted that you had most likely saved the Empire on that day. But I am sorry to tell you that there are no admirals here in Worldsend Garrison, so step back and salute.”

  ***

  His words took my breath away, and I saw other prisoners also reacting to his statement. We knew what it meant. The fables were true. Even the admiral didn’t dare to say anything else and came back inline before saluting, abandoning instantly the rank he so hardly gained over the years.

  Worldsend Garrison! Could it be real?

  Few people heard of it. This is a secret, a legend, a tale told among some of the soldiers. I remembered the gossip about this enigmatic fort at the outer fringes of the empire. Nobody knows where it is, nobody knows what its purpose would be, and nobody knows if it is even real.

  Those stories are often surrounded by mysteries, making it hard to believe. I personally had constantly doubted its authenticity. How could a place like this exist?

  It is said that no one had ever come back from this place, and that is the reason why the information about it is so scarce. What a convenient excuse. To me, it had invariably sounded like a lousy explanation, and I had always discarded rumors I heard.

  Now, I appreciate that I have been wrong.

  Worldsend Garrison exists and, finally, I know its purpose. This is a jail for political prisoners, for those who are deemed too dangerous for the established order. Indeed, it now makes sense that no one has ever come back from this place.

  The reason was suddenly obvious and I started to understand that none of us would ever be welcomed back in the Empire, even before the colonel confirmed.

  “I am Colonel Balakov, commander of Worldsend Garrison, and I am in charge here. You’ve been sent to me because we always need more recruits in the fort, as you will soon realize. You are all brave warriors, fine tacticians who served the Empire dutifully. I read your files; you can be proud of your achievements. But they are meaningless now, and you will all be considered as simple soldiers.”

  He paused for a minute, letting his words sink.

  “You all know what brought you to this place; you all know what you did. Nobody’s interested in your reasons and this is not the moment to beg for mercy or justice. There is no such thing around here. But the good news is that no one cares about your deeds either. You will not receive any punishment for what you did in your previous life, nor will you be judged by those who stay in the fort. Now I will ask you a single question: is there anyone among you who considers that his crime doesn’t deserve death?”

  This was a purely rhetorical question that was not calling for an answer. In my case, I was surprised to be still alive and the look of my companions told me they were of a similar mind.

  “Excellent. Then you will all be thankful to Emperor Niklas the Sixth, who decided to give you a second chance here in Worldsend Garrison. Some say that death is better than this place and I can’t deny that they have many very good arguments to sustain their opinion. There is no motive to worry, however. Death exists in Worldsend Garrison and we will all face it. It only depends on you if it will be sooner or later.”

  His mysterious words kept ringing above our heads. Was it a hidden threat or a fair warning?

  “We’ve all been sentenced to a lifetime here—and note that I include myself—, for very good reasons. It is now our duty to serve the Emperor and to fulfill his wishes by keeping this fort standing. Do so, and you’ll see that life here is not very different from life in any other fort. Apart from the lack of contact with the exterior world, you might even find it cozier than most of the places where you’ve been sent before. If you don’t mind the heat.”

  The colonel’s introduction was becoming more and more mysterious. I couldn’t imagine how we would have to defend this place, lost in the middle of nowhere, uncharted and whose existence was unknown to most. Furthermore, I simply couldn’t believe that he was also a prisoner. Nothing made sense.

  “I strongly suspect that you will all fulfill your duty as soldiers and obey orders without a second thought. Nevertheless, be sure that if you ever contemplate escaping—or even worse, questioning my authority—, we will find ways to bring you back on the right path. As we are all on the same side and should work together, I do not like to do so. But I will not hesitate if I consider that you are a threat to this fort and its occupants. Testing me would be a mistake, and most likely the last one you will make.”

  “Now, Sergeant Camillo will bring you to your quarters where you will be able to shower and rest until dinner time. You will find clothes and a comfortable bed. Make good use of them. But before this, I have an announcement to make. Due to the loss of our late Lieutenant Harrison, we need a new officer to take his place and, after evaluating everybody’s file, I decided to promote Giorgio.”

  I was dumbfounded, and I felt the anger in me.

  Minutes ago, I was in bed with you, my dear Theodora, and now I wake up in this strange place, receiving orders from this man? I have no clue of where we are, I don’t know what we are supposed to do, I’m tired and stinky, and he’s pretending to give me to the rank of Lieutenant?