In the United City-States of Sutherland’s Sixth City of Rue Shalla, there was an old fort named Dagon. It was the farthest north of all their military installations, built in the warlord period to keep Fernest in check. A century later, Fort Dagon continued to fulfill this same purpose—but with Fernest in decline, no one now believed they would invade Sutherland. Accordingly, the soldiers stationed at the fort were so few in number as to be little more than an afterthought.
The Walls of Fort Dagon
One never would have believed Fort Dagon lay on the border with an enemy nation, so relaxed were the soldiers who defended its walls. That day, like every other, they toiled away trying to stave off boredom. The guards on the gate at least still held their spears at their sides as they dozed; up on the wall, many had swapped spears for playing cards, chatting away without a care in the world.
“Another day of leisure, eh...” Shelah, a man of slight build, yawned widely as he dealt a hand of cards. The third-born son from a tiny farming village, he had become a soldier for the simple reason that he figured there’d always be something to eat.
“Too much leisure, and you’ll get rusty. A soldier’s got to cut a man down from time to time or you lose your touch.” Donga, who was twice Shelah’s size, stood up and began to mime swinging a sword with his cards. Shelah watched, unimpressed, as the other man’s sagging belly and chin jiggled with every stab.
“That again? You’re incorrigible. How about you get rid of that disgusting belly before you start yapping? You ain’t convincing no one like that.”
Donga, apparently unfazed by this, let out a wistful sigh. “If only Fernest would invade, then you’d see that the legend of the great hero Donga is true!”
Donga, who hailed from a larger town compared to Shelah’s, had supposedly been a renowned swordsman. Not a day went by that he didn’t tell them the great expectations the other townsfolk had for him. If he were such a man, one would have thought he’d be posted to a more important fortification than an all-but-abandoned fort, yet for some reason, Donga spent year after year adding to his record as the longest-serving soldier at Fort Dagon.
“He’s still going on. Always struck me as odd—don’t it ring a bit hollow to you?”
“Don’t even bother. That one’s got flowers growing where his brain ought to be. It all goes in one ear—hah! Take a look at that, I win again. Everything’s coming up Hahato today!” Hahato, a man bald as an egg, spread his cards before them with a flourish. Three of the five showed the Goddess Strecia.
“C’mon, no one’s that lucky...” Shelah grumbled. “You’d better not be cheating.” He pulled two copper coins from his pocket, then tossed them unceremoniously at Hahato, who snatched them smartly out of the air before cheerfully slipping them into his own pocket.
“I’m out.” Donga tossed down his cards, then slowly looked up at the sky. “Now, I don’t ask for my own Strecia. But if I only had a girl, it’d breathe some life into this humdrum existence.”
“I told you, you can think about that after you lose the belly.”
“My belly? What’s my belly got to do with it, eh?”
“It’s got everything to do with it. Unless you’re a noble, most folk judge a book by its cover. There, did I make it clear enough for even a self-titled master swordsman to catch my drift?”
“Hah! Let’s get one thing clear. Womenfolk like a strong man. Always have, always will.”
Shelah snorted. “Oh yeah? Where’s your girl, then?”
“Your theory’s full of holes!” Hahato added, and the pair fell about laughing. Donga eyed them resentfully.
The three of them went on entertaining themselves at cards until a voice called, “Oy.” All three looked around at the same time and saw Enya, who had definitely been snoring loudly until just earlier, now looking up at the sky. Automatically, the three exchanged a glance—Enya never woke up of his own accord.
“Enya woke himself up, eh? You reckon we’re in for a storm or something?” Shelah joked. He went to stand beside Enya, but the other man’s eyes stayed fixed on the sky. Shelah followed his gaze. “Hey, there something up there?”
“You haven’t noticed, Shelah?”
“Eh? Noticed what?”
“They’re gone. The death-eater birds that always fly over this time of day.”
“Death-eater birds?” Shelah looked back at the sky again and saw that indeed, there were no death-eater birds in sight. He didn’t see what it mattered, though.
“Most likely, they found a new feeding ground, no? I mean, they do get called the land’s cleaners. They must be able to sniff that much out.” He looked back at Enya, half exasperated that he’d been called over for something so pointless, only to be met with a look of even stronger exasperation.
“Once death-eater birds claim their territory, they almost never leave it. Everyone knows that.”
“I never heard that. Well then, they made an exception and moved ’cause there’s no food here. Man or bird, you can’t live without food. Territory doesn’t come into it, does it?”
“Are you stupid? We’re surrounded by woods, and you think death-eater birds can’t find a meal around here? If you’re really thinking that sort of thing, you ought to have a healer check your brain.”
There were no towns or villages in the vicinity of Fort Dagon. What land could be seen from the walls was blanketed with forest. Bored out of their minds out here in the middle of nowhere, all the soldiers had to look forward to was buying small indulgences from the merchants who visited the fort once a month.
This, Shelah told himself, was ridiculous, as he began to grow annoyed with Enya’s roundabout way of saying everything.
“All right, where’d the death-eater birds go, then?”
“How should I know?” After putting on airs as though he were an expert in death-eater birds and their habitats, Enya declared his ignorance with such confidence it made Shelah’s head spin.
“Then stop talking all significant-like. Death-eater birds are about as important as a gray rat’s arse.” Hahato and Donga gestured at him to hurry up and get back to his station. He didn’t especially care about continuing the card game, but it would be a damn sight better than carrying on with this stupid conversation.
“Well, enjoy your bird-watching anyway.” He had only taken one step toward Donga when a hand grabbed him hard by the shoulder.
“—the hell?!” Shelah let his annoyance show in a furious scowl, but Enya paid this no heed at all as he pointed mutely to the northeast. “Hey, what the hell?!” Shelah repeated. Cursing under his breath, he followed Enya’s outstretched finger and saw ash crows rising up into the sky with screeching caws. In fact, they were taking wing in a line that led toward the fort. Even Shelah had to admit it was disturbing.