The Invasion Read online

I decided to gather twelve of my best men and to send them to Worldsend to investigate further the matter. They will be accompanied by Yuri, who knows both the place and its inhabitants, and whose presence could prove useful.

  The merchants insist for their representatives to join the expedition. I am, however, not inclined to accept, as we can’t rule out that all this affair is mainly linked to commercial issues.

  I expect to have more information within three weeks.

  Reverentially,

  Kahid, Bailiff of Karabia

  Letter 2

  To our Emperor Niklas

  Last month I informed about the strange disappearance of Worldsend’s inhabitants, and my intention of sending twelve men to look into this matter.

  They were all experienced warriors, having worked either with our intelligence services, our local law enforcement troops, or our special mission team. Some had actually operated with all those corps, and they were all highly qualified when it comes to stealth, combat and survival.

  Accompanying them, Yuri, one of our most appreciated tax collectors, was far from being someone who gets easily afraid. While not being a soldier, he had the necessary skills to dissuade brigands hoping to steal from him while on the road, or to persuade recalcitrant lumberjacks that they should fulfill their duty to the Empire and pay their levy.

  It must be said that merchants from Karabia, anxious that business might crumble if villagers from Worldsend do not start soon to deliver again some of their smoked fish, were adamant to include one of their people. Even if they offered to cover the costs for the complete expedition, I did not agree to their request. In case we are confronting a Valkyan invasion, I was afraid to put a civilian’s life on the line.

  A company of thirteen men was thus formed. They took with them four additional horses, carrying enough provisions for them to cross the Karabia Peninsula many times, even at a slow pace. They were armed, and aware of the peculiar situation reported in Worldsend. I personally told them that facing Valkyan warriors at their final destination was a possibility to be considered, and that they should be prepared for such eventuality.

  Back then, I was more of the opinion that the fishermen had organized some kind of foul play to escape levies and negotiate higher prices for their catch, however. All evidence seemed to suggest so, and I was convinced that the arrival of twelve armed skirmishers and a tax collector was the answer to the problem.

  Further developments made me change my mind.

  The trip to Worldsend would have taken them eight days at most. This means sixteen in total for them to return. While there was no reason for the company to stay more than two or three nights at the village, I gave them ten more to investigate every lead and solve our current issue. The all operation should have needed a maximum of twenty-six days, in the worst case.

  At the time I am writing this letter, our thirteen men have been gone for a full month. None of them has come back yet, and I do not expect their return anymore.

  ***

  I must admit that the situation is presently worrying me deeply.

  Even if they had been ambushed, even if they had been attacked by a group twice their size, some of them should have come back to the city Karabia by now. At least one. I can’t fathom a threat able to dispose of all the combatants sent there. They were among the best warriors of the whole province.

  Neither can I think of any reason why the population of a complete village, no matter how small it is, would vanish magically.

  I do not believe anymore in a tax-escaping scheme orchestrated by a bunch of uneducated fishermen.

  My duty as Bailiff of Karabia impose that I take great concern in this matter and I mustn’t overlook the facts in front of me. Citizens of the Empire have been killed in the Karabia Peninsula, either in the desert or by the sea. There is no doubt that we have an enemy within our borders, and I must act accordingly.

  Unfortunately, we do not know yet who the invader is.

  Valkyan warriors are our prime suspect for obvious reasons, but I wouldn’t hurry in putting the blame on them. Should they decide to attack us, it would be far more convenient for them to focus on the region of Igereiger, where they can sail more easily. Moreover, if they had come there to conquer us, they would now be at the door of Karabia’s capital. But there has been no sign of them.

  The facts point to some raid made to the hamlet of Worldsend by an enemy with no plan of further invasion. Maybe we are contemplating the work of some isolated pirates who simply looted the settlement, murdered the men and kidnapped the women for their pleasure.

  However, the fate of the company sent to the tip of the Karabia Peninsula remains unclear. Unless they had the misfortune of being there when a second offensive was made on the empty village, I can’t see why they couldn’t come back.

  All this makes me think that the enemy is still looming in the area.

  Yuri’s first report—and his return from Worldsend on that occasion—, tells us that no invader lingered on the shore of our territory. The only conclusion I can reach is that they are presently located in the Valkyan Sea or the Great Ocean, moored at some distance from the Karabia coasts.

  Currents are treacherous there, as the cold water coming from the west meet the warmer southern sea, and weather is notoriously dangerous due to storms that can form within minutes. Waves more than thirty cubits can arrive suddenly, having gathered energy while traveling unobstructed through the Great Ocean, outpouring their fury on the vessels sailing those shallow parts.

  The Imperial Marine avoids this cape, preferring to go further South to cross from the Great Ocean to the Valkyan Sea. Boats registered in Igereiger stay clear from the area. As a matter of fact, only the small skiffs of Worldsend’s fishermen navigate those waters, which might be the reason why they’ve been so successful over the years. But even so, they rarely venture out of the bay, in the wide-open sea.

  This last comment recalls another incongruity, brought forward by the merchants. In the past months, the goods sold by the villagers were less abundant, and of poorer quality. They were complaining about it, and didn’t have any explanation. There had always been plenty of food in this part of the ocean.

  The likeliness of having a rival fleet navigating and fishing our waters is very high.

  In the face of the evidence presented to me, I decided to send an entire platoon counting two hundred infantry men and fifty riders of the Imperial Cavalry to the community of Worldsend. This demonstration of our forces should be sufficient for the enemy to see that he has nothing to gain by challenging the Empire Furthermore, I expect to receive important intelligence with regard to its identity and whereabouts.

  I shall inform you about the results of this expedition as soon as they come back to the city of Karabia.

  Reverentially,

  Kahid, Bailiff of Karabia

  Letter 3

  To our Emperor Niklas

  Shame and guilt fill me, but I will not fail to report, nor tamper the facts as I know them. I deeply underestimated the threat, handled badly the situation, and am directly responsible of too many deaths already.

  The entire platoon sent to the village Worldsend has been decimated. Two hundred fifty soldiers of the Imperial Army lost their life somewhere in the desert, against an unidentified foe. That awful information is confirmed, and this might be the only good aspect from this unforgivable disaster I created. For the first time since those enigmatic events in the Karabia Peninsula began, we have an eye witness who’s been able to give a personal account.

  Yesterday, a horse from the Imperial Cavalry was seen in The Marsh by some locals hunting for snake skins. They didn’t dare to catch it as they were convinced its rider was the ghost of a wounded soldier, and they fled as fast as they could.

  Luckily for us, they reported the incident immediately, and some guards were sent looking for this mount and its mystery passenger. They didn’t think it existed, but had to investigate in order to calm the people. Many of our c
itizens believe in such things as spirits and demons, and we can’t afford to have rumors of a supernatural being hanging in The Marsh spread among civilians.

  There was indeed an imperial horse cruising wildly in The Marsh, but its rider was not dead yet. He was hurt, had lost a lot of blood, and was badly dehydrated, but he was alive. He was brought immediately to our Imperial Hospital, where he was attended by our best healers. This is where I met him.

  I had guessed instantly that he was one of the men sent to Worldsend and, maybe for the first time since the beginning, I was not wrong. Camaxin was a young caporal, who had volunteered for this expedition. His body was in a very bad shape. A deep cut ran along his arm. It had been bleeding abundantly, but the hemorrhage had stopped days ago. By the time he was found, the gangrene had settled within the wound. I could smell it before coming in the room where he was.

  No wonder the hunters had believed a dead rider was wandering in The Marsh, the foul stench of a decaying corpse was surrounding him.

  Maybe he could have been saved by the specialists working in the Imperial Palace, but he was far beyond the healing possibilities we have in Karabia. I knew it, and so did he. There was no hope in his eyes.

  Before I go further in my account, I must insist that, despite his failing body and the fever running in his veins, he was clear-headed. His speech was shaky and feeble, but didn’t strike me as the ravings of a man who lost his mind. As disquieting and implausible as it might be, I believe his tale and will not make again the mistake of disregarding evidence because it seems unlikely to me.

  Here is an exact report of the conversation I had with Caporal Camaxin before he passed away.

  “Caporal, where are the other soldiers?”

  “Dead. All dead, Bailiff. All dead. Everybody’s dead there.”

  He was talking slowly, each sound costing him a great effort, but there was no misinterpreting his words.

  “What do you mean ‘all dead?’ Are you the only survivor?”

  “I didn’t want to leave,” he apologized with a spark of shame on his face, “but Captain Korgsky told me to abandon the beach, to come back and warn you, Bailiff. He said you must know the danger. He chose me because I’m the fastest on a horse. At least among those who were still alive.”

  This long statement had tired him, and he took a lengthy pause before starting again.

  “I left the waterfront, but they caught me anyway. They got my arm. I kept on riding. Through the desert. Then The Marsh. Until you found me.”

  “Who caught you? Who is attacking us?”

  “I don’t know…”

  This frustrating answer was far from satisfactory, but the poor man was in a bad shape. Pushing him would have been pointless. I simply spilled some cold water on his forehead, and waited for him to start talking again.

  “We don’t see them. They come from the sea…” His speech was a whisper. He was still articulating, but it was becoming hard to hear his words. He was dozing off, and I was afraid he would never wake up. I poured some more cold water on him, hoping to cool him down and stir him back to consciousness. It worked, and this time I pressed him, eager to get as much information as possible.

  “Caporal, you did all this way to warn me. You went through this ordeal to pass precious details. Tell me: who is attacking us in Worldsend?”

  “Death in the water… They come from the bay… They’re Death… They don’t exist, they just bring death from the sea… No enemy, Bailiff. Just Death on the beach…”

  Each of those sentences had been pronounced with great effort. Caporal Camaxin used his last forces to transmit me those words, before falling in a sleep from which he never woke up.

  ***

  We must assume that the villagers of Worldsend, and the first company of thirteen warriors sent there met the same fate. I do not believe anymore in a scheme to avoid taxes, or in a massive desertion.

  According to our last census, 320 men, women and children lived in Worldsend. Almost 600 citizens of the Empire—half of them members of the Imperial Army—, have been killed by an unknown enemy on our own land. All evidence suggests there is a hostile troop, of yet unrevealed origin, stationed somewhere at the tip of the Karabia Peninsula, where the Great Ocean meets the Valkyan Sea.

  They already raided our shores at least three times, and we have no idea about their intentions. They could leave, or they might debark an entire platoon in the Karabia Peninsula, far from our eyes. They could gather forces on our land without us knowing, and invade the Empire with more men than we could fight.

  Today, I ordered the limits of the Karabia Marsh to be constantly patrolled by armed soldiers. They are to report immediately any activity they can observe in the desert. Our guards in the city have been doubled, and our state of alert raised to medium. Our troops believe it’s an exercise, but they are ready in case of an offensive on our walls.

  I have no reason to suspect that we will be under attack soon, but I already made too many mistakes since the beginning of this crisis.

  There is nothing more I can do from my side, having no warships under my command. So, I am asking for support from the Imperial Marine, requesting for a fleet to be sent from Massala to the waters at the tip of the Karabia Peninsula. I would hope for them to spot the invaders, assess their forces, and eventually destroy them.

  Being now powerless in the face of the present situation, I remain waiting for answers from the Imperial Palace. If anything new should happen in Karabia, I will immediately inform.

  Reverentially,

  Kahid, Bailiff of Karabia

  Letter 4

  To our Emperor Niklas

  I’ve been informed by our War Minister that six frigates and four galleons from the Imperial Fleet have left the port of Massala, heading south towards Karabia. I understand they sailed both the waters of the Great Ocean and of the Valkyan Sea, and that they came as close to the shores of the peninsula as safety allowed.

  This mission was led by Admiral Khelpy. I appreciate from his records that his skills as a navigator and warrior are unmatched in the Empire, and that he is to be entirely trusted. This is why I do not have any reason to doubt that his report is anything but complete and exact.

  While I am sure that you also received a copy of this report—or at the very least a summary made by our War Minister—, I am presently writing because I suspect some aspects might have been overlooked. I assume that the commandant of this expedition was unaware of the events that took place in the past months and he might not have checked everything thoroughly.

  As the admiral rightly pointed out, the waters of the Valkyan Sea close to our southern shores are heavily navigated by fishing boats from Igereiger. While they rarely venture further than the Cliffs of Insanity towards the tip of the Karabia Peninsula, they would indubitably spot any armada approaching from Valkya and heading to our coastline.

  No such reports have been made, and we can safely assume that the attacks were not perpetrated by an army coming directly from the Southern Continent.

  However, the discovery of Valkyan vessels traveling west through the Great Ocean is a matter for worry. I am glad our fleet intercepted one of those ships looking for information but I seriously doubt the veracity of the answers given. This is highly unlikely to me that they are mere merchants opening a new trade route to some uncharted Kingdom in the West.

  Barbarians from the Southern Continent have always been famous for their inclination to loot and murder rather than exchange and negotiate. And the idea of a powerful Kingdom in the West, unknown to the Empire is simply laughable!

  I do believe, though, that they might have joined forces with another uncivilized tribe living in some parts of the Great Ocean where our fleet hasn’t been yet. Maybe they could be located on an island closer to our coasts than we imagine, and they would be leading their raids from there.

  This is presently the most likely explanation to the unfortunate deaths of the last months. I can only deplore that Admiral Khe
lpy, unaware of those events, decided to let the Valkyan ship go free. We would have liked to interrogate its captain in the city of Karabia. I have no doubt that we would have managed to get more information.

  ***

  I saved the most important incongruity for the end. I do not hesitate to use this word, as I’ve been checking various reports and maps, of both civilian and military provenance. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, I can affirm that the information transmitted by Admiral Khelpy includes at least one significant mistake.

  He says, and I quote:

  “By the cape located at the tip of the Karabia Peninsula, where the waters of the Great Ocean meddle with those of the Valkyan Sea, treacherous currents make navigation uncertain and potentially dangerous. A skillful sailor could venture in those streams and might cross them unharmed. However the reason someone would decide to do so remains a mystery.

  - Passage between those two expanses of water is easier and safer further south. This is the route that has been taken for centuries both by the Imperial Fleet and civilian fisherman.

  - Access to the bay located at the tip of the Karabia Peninsula, between the Cliffs of Temuco and the Cliffs of Insanity, where the village of Worldsend lies, is forbidden by some huge rock formations. They create an impassable natural barrier extending for almost five furlongs. While they are fully visible at low tide and can be avoided, they are mostly hidden when the waters are high and can easily cause a boat to sink.”

  This is where I must contradict the admiral.

  Such a natural rock formation, capable of destroying our ships, would have been duly marked on our maps. However, none of the documents I consulted seem to indicate such a dangerous reef preventing the access to the bay.

  Furthermore, this is widely known that the fishermen of Worldsend were going out in the open sea. This is where they were catching the tunas and marlins so appreciated through the Empire. How could they have done so if “an unpassable natural barrier” had been sinking their skiffs?