The Stratigos of Dark Magic

The scorching desert heat blazed down on the party as they made their way through the desert. Everyone was clad in robes to keep the sun off their bodies and armor, and they were riding swift horses bred in the area. Camels accompanied them. Supplies of food, water, and arrows coated the creatures.

Tourmarchēs Khalid rode at the head of the formation. His straight sword was at his hip, his bow on his horse, and his quiver also on his hip. Ganzaya noted that while they were both horse archers, Khalid's sword was straight as opposed to his curved blade.

Demetrius looked on with a sense of pride. The akritai like Khalid and his men were perfectly adept at traversing the desert. They had the right clothes, the right steeds, and the right tactics. Memories of folk songs he heard about the akritai flowed through Demetrius' mind. These men were the stuff of legend, albeit folk legend. Still, it made him proud of the Remen Empire.

Adriadne, meanwhile, was slumped over on her saddle. Even with the robes, the desert was blazing hot. She felt sweat trickle down her brow. Her breaths were heavy. Demetrius saw his sister's condition and rode over to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine!" Adriadne snapped.

Demetrius flinched back.

"Dammit! I'm trying to reconcile with Demetrius, and I yell at him for trying to check in on me! What's wrong with me?" Adriadne thought before talking fast. "It is a bit warm here. I am not used to the desert heat."

"I've been here a few times. So, I'm more used to it. Do you need any water?" Demetrius asked.

Adriadne nodded.

"Yes, please," she said.

Demetrius handed Adriadne a flask of water. She drank it up greedily. Tourmarchēs Khalid looked back and took a deep sigh. Ganzaya approached him.

"Is something wrong?" the Ulv asked.

"I'm just perplexed, barbarian," Khalid answered. "You have traveled with Stratigos Demetrius for a while, correct?"

"He hired me in his last expedition to the steppe," Ganzaya confirmed.

Tourmarchēs Khalid nodded.

"Then, you know what he's like," the commander chose his words with care.

"He isn't as bad as he seems," Ganzaya said.

"Are you saying that because it's true or because Stratigos Demetrius is your employer?" Tourmarchēs Khalid questioned before shrugging. "I approve in either case. I would hate for Stratigos Demetrius to hire a mercenary foolish enough to insult him behind his back."

"It is true, but I doubt you'll believe me," the Ulv replied. "So, what perplexes you?"

Tourmarchēs Khalid looked towards Demetrius and Adriadne.

"Stratigos Demetrius, despite his personality, seems to care a lot about his sister. And yet, she hates him. How did that happen?" he questioned.

"I understand your curiosity, but that is a personal matter of the Kallergis family. If you want to learn about it, ask Stratigos Demetrius," Ganzaya replied.

Khalid nodded.

"It's good to know that Stratigos Demetrius hired a mercenary who can keep his mouth shut. You have my compliments, barbarian," the Tourmarchēs said.

"I am Ganzaya, greatest warrior of the Ulvs," the Steppe nomad stated.

"If that is true, it is no wonder that Stratigos Demetrius hired you. Magicians like him would never settle for anything less than the best."

The day was spent moving through the desert. Ganzaya had to wipe the sweat from his brow a few times. While he was experienced, as any man of the steppe in his early 30s would be, he was also not used to the desert.

Then, night started to fall. The akritai started to set up camp, and a chill came over the area. Adriadne felt coldness flow over her body. She moved closer to the ones of the fires the akritai were making.

"Demetrius wasn't exaggerating," she muttered to herself. "I was holding out hope that he was joking."

Ganzaya sat next to the fireplace. No food was roasting on it. The akritai brought various preservable rations with them for the desert trip. One of them gave some salted meat to Adriadne. She tried to take a bite out of it, but the girl couldn't tear one out. Instead, she had to slowly chew it.

"This is horrible," Adriadne said.

Demetrius walked over to her, moving with an incredible amount of caution.

"Field rations aren't like what we have at home, especially for expeditions like this," he commented.

Adriadne shot him a quick glare before forcing it down.

"Yes. This is more like the stuff I ate before Father knew I existed," she said.

"Rations are based around preservation, not taste. Though the main army tends to eat the same food that common farmers eat. That's mostly because they get it directly from those farmers," Demetrius explained.

Adriadne gazed at her food in silence. After a moment, she spoke up.

"You know a lot about logistics," she stated.

"All Stratigoi do. I'd go as far as to say that all military officers do. Logistics are how you win wars," Demetrius said. "They're even more important than magic."

Adriadne looked on in shock.

"Logistics is that important?" she asked.

"Yes. It's that important," Demetrius answered.

Ganzaya, who had been listening in, blinked in surprise. He would never expect someone from a magician family to say that logistics were more important than magic. Still, Ganzaya wasn't very surprised. In his time working under his khan, the Ulv learned just how important logistics was.

"Food, travel routes, supplies, and all manner of other things need to be arranged. If you can't get those together, you won't even be able to fight a battle," Demetrius said.

"The stories I heard from soldiers never talk about logistics," Adriadne commented.

"When soldiers talk about their experience around women, they typically only talk about the impressive parts. They reserve the boring, miserable stuff for talking with other men," the Stratigos stated. "Most military work is pretty boring. It's marching, making camp, doing work around the camp, or various other things that don't involve fighting that need to get done."

"I can see why they don't like talking about that," his sister said.

Demetrius nodded.

"It's not the most exciting or impressive thing, but it is necessary. That and most of the soldiers aren't involved in the logistical planning," he stated.

The next day, the group was traveling through the desert once more. As heat blazed down on them, they got thirstier and had to drink more water. Then, relief flowed through Adriadne. She pointed ahead.

"I see an oasis!" Adriadne exclaimed.

There was what appeared to be a body of water ahead of her. Excitement flowed through the girl. She imagined herself swimming in the oasis to relieve her from the heat. However, no one else shared her amazement.

"It's a mirage," Tourmarchēs Khalid said.

"What do you mean? What's a mirage?" Adriadne asked, turning towards him.

"Look back at the oasis," he advised.

Adriadne did so. What she saw was gone.

"How?" dismay flowed through the girl.

"Sometimes, you see illusions in the desert," Tourmarchēs Khalid explained. "Typically, it's of bodies of water. But it can be other things too. The heat plays tricks on you like a cruel fairy. Not that fairies exist, of course, but you get the idea. Though, sometimes mirages are caused by something other than the heat."

"I've heard of them before, but I never saw one myself until we started on this journey," Ganzaya commented.

Then, something caught his attention. Movement in the distance. One of the akritai spoke up.

"Someone's coming this way!" he said.

Demetrius, Ganzaya, and Tourmarchēs Khalid rode over to the akarai. They looked out too. A group of horsemen were riding towards them at incredible speed, the hooves of their horses kicking up sand.

The Stratigos could barely see them raising their arms up. He held out his hand, and a shield of darkness formed in front of him and his allies. Arrows flew from the horsemen's bows, hitting the shield and bouncing off it. Demetrius grimaced when he saw the directions the arrows were going.

"They'd have missed us anyway," he said.

Demetrius turned to Khalid.

"Stay back. I will deal with these bandits," the Stratigos ordered.

Tourmarchēs Khalid nodded and gave the command to his men. Demetrius turned to Ganzaya.

"Can you hit them from here?" the Stratigos asked.

"Most people, even most warriors, couldn't," Ganzaya answered. "But I could. Still, it would be foolish to try. At this range, even the lightest of armor would stop an arrow."

"And there's no point in wasting arrows," Demetrius said. "But I can use magic as much as I want."

The Stratigos held up his hand. He pointed it forward, extending a finger. His thumb was on that finger, forming a triangle shape and looking like the latch of a crossbow. Demetrius aimed at one of the horsemen.

"My magic isn't strong enough to pierce armor at this range yet, but it should at least hurt someone who is unarmored," he thought.

After taking careful aim, Demetrius moved his thumb upward. A bolt of darkness rushed out from his finger. It slammed into the horseman, and it did nothing.

"They're wearing armor," Demetrius stated as more arrows rained forward.

The enemies were still charging. With a sigh, Demetrius counter-charged them, moving with the magical shield still in front of him.

"Everyone, stay back! I will have the honor of killing these imbeciles!" he called out before thinking. "I can kill 12 people myself. There's no need for anyone else to risk their lives."

Arrows plinked off the shield, unable to even scratch it. They kept doing nothing as Demetrius got closer. When Demetrius was at the right distance for penetrating light armor, he pointed his finger forward again, his thumb on his hand.

Demetrius moved his thumb up. A blast of darkness moved forward. It hit a horseman, once again doing nothing. The Stratigos grimaced.

"They're wearing heavy armor," he thought. "I wanted to take their horses, but letting them get too close would be a bad idea. They could overwhelm me if they have swords or maces."

Pointing his hand at the horsemen, a fissure emerged under several of them. Darkness erupted from under it. Their horses' legs snapped. The riders fell, crashing to the ground. There were snapping sounds as some of their legs were crushed under the weight of their horses' bodies.

The four remaining riders kept charging. Demetrius sent out another fissure, making more of their steeds collapse. Still, the others moved forward. Between their charges, they were almost close enough to draw swords. Once more, the Stratigos made his finger crossbow.

Demetrius raised his thumb. A blast of darkness slammed into the chest of the nearest rider. Blood welled up as his lamellar was punctured. Still, it didn't go deep enough to kill him. The horsemen dropped their bows and drew their swords.

Fear pulsed through Demetrius. He made his horse gallop forward faster. Not expecting the Stratigos to try to close the distance, the horsemen were caught off guard. Their swings went wide, and Demetrius ducked under their blades.

The Stratigos put his fingers right on the armor of two horsemen before shooting. His blast of darkness punctured holes in their armor, blood gushing out of them. Another horseman dropped dead from an arrow to his unarmored neck. They got close enough that Ganzaya was able to land that shot.

Then, Demetrius turned to the final horseman. This rider charged the Stratigos with sword in hand. Demetrius blasted him in the arm. The weaker armor there was pierced by the Stratigos' magic with ease. Blood gushed out and the horseman dropped his sword.

The rider took his other free hand and pulled out a small vial. He drank it. His body slumped over, falling off the horse. Demetrius realized he was dead before he even hit the ground.

With his death, the rest of Demetrius' party rode over. Adriadne was pale with fear. There was clear concern on her face. She rode her horse forward faster than anyone else, rushing over to Demetrius. Shock coated his face. The Stratigos never thought he'd see his sister this worried about him.

"Are you hurt?" she asked. "That was..."

"They were amateurs. I was in no danger," Demetrius replied, blurting it out as fast as he could.

"Charging in on my own was a mistake. If these men were competent, I'd be dead," he thought.

Adriadne breathed a massive sigh of relief. Still, she was shaking all over.

"Thank the gods, you're alright. I was so scared," Adriadne said.

"Ummm...it wasn't much," Demetrius assured her.

His sister shivered.

"And you do stuff like this all the time?" she asked.

"I suppose so," Demetrius answered.

A pit formed in Adriadne's stomach. She felt horrible in so many ways. The girl looked down, sweat not from the heat pouring down her forehead. Concern crossed Demetrius' face.

"Adriadne, are you alright?" he questioned.

"Please worry about yourself," she answered.

With that, Adriadne moved to the side.

The akritai moved out, investigating the various bodies. One of them came back to the officers.

"They're all dead," he reported.

"I saw one of them drink poison. The others must have done the same," Demetrius said.

"And yet, they're clearly amateurs," Tourmarchēs Khalid noted. "Awfully loyal for bandits. Assuming they are bandits, that is."

He motioned to one of the suits of armor that one of the akritai was looting.

"That armor is far more expensive than what most bandits can afford," Khalid said.

"Some bandits were former mercenaries. They could also be assassins," Demetrius pointed out.

Ganzaya grabbed one of the bows and examined it.

"This bow is weak. It's more like a hunting bow than something you would take to battle. I doubt it could even pierce light armor, despotēs," he stated.

"Bows like that don't cost much," Tourmarchēs Khalid scratched his chin.

Then, he furrowed his brow.

"Even war bows do not cost as much as their armor," he said.

Demetrius sighed.

"So, we have people with very expensive armor and cheap bows. What's the quality of the swords?" the Stratigos asked.

He turned to one of the men.

"Decent but not the sort of thing a heavy cavalryman would own, despotēs," the soldier answered.

"If they were bandits who got lucky, they'd have higher quality swords and maces," Demetrius noted. "They might have been more worried about defense than offense and just sold those weapons. They'd have to be stupid to do that. They might have been assassins, but if they were, they should have been given higher quality weapons."

He then shook his head.

"We don't know enough to do anything other than speculate," Demetrius grimaced. "Cut their heads off and preserve them as best as you can. We will see if anyone recognizes them. The moment that's done and you've gathered their valuables and horses, we're moving out."