From a distance the army had looked imposing, but standing in the middle of it was a different thing entirely. Elaina couldn’t help but admire the order, the cleanliness of the traveling band, but there was an air of dread about, hanging and assaulting her mind wherever she went. The resplendent banners that flew above, the shine of the armor on the lines of soldiers that marched about, the flawlessly organized boxes and crates being loaded onto carts and wagons. This wasn’t what Elaina imagined when she pictured an army, but the clockwork machinations were equal parts impressive and terrifying. She couldn’t imagine any force in the world of any size standing up to this army, and it was only a little more than nine hundred people. With the students and teachers joining and rounding it up to a thousand, it had to be unstoppable.
“Eyes forward,” Calivahn shouted, “stay in file!” Elaina’s head snapped forward, wincing like she was about to be beaten. The Combatives professor had always been strict, but on this morning she seemed more like an actor playing the part of a soldier than an actual person. The dark blue military uniform adorned with badges and tassels didn’t help soften her either. “Hold!”
Elaina froze, as did Tira in front of her and the students around them as well. Even keeping her eyes straight ahead, Elaina could tell the students around her were nowhere near the level of organized as the actual soldiers. One to her right shook one leg back and forth, another to the left heaved like he was out of breath, even though they hadn’t so much as marched a half mile yet.
“Stand here, and don’t lock your legs,” Calivahn said, scanning the students as she walked around them. “We’ll be marching in just a few minutes. Do not leave unless I say so, understood?” A few half-hearted affirmations came from the students around Elaina, prompting a shout from Calivahn, “I said, understood?”
“Understood!” The chorus wasn’t quite as in sync as Elaina thought Calivahn wanted it to be, and she was pretty sure a few students hadn’t even participated, too struck with fear to respond at all, but Calivahn only mused over them a moment longer before shaking her head and turning around.
The air seemed to lighten second by second. It didn’t relax completely, especially not in the heat brought on by late spring, but the students breathed out sighs of relief, and even the surrounding soldiers let their heads lower ever so slightly now that the commanding officer was gone. “Gods, I thought she was scary before,” one student muttered. She didn’t get reprimanded, and even though no one else was brave enough to disparage their teacher, the drowning silence eventually evaporated into a mist of whispers.
“She’s been given her old rank back, apparently,” Flora said. “And from the look on her face, I don’t think she likes it.”
“‘Captain Calivahn,’” Tira added. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard that name without a curse word in the sentence… The guards back home that served with or under her never had good things to say.”
Elaina herself didn’t feel like talking, not about stuff like that anyway. She’d never imagined that this was going to be an easy trip, and she certainly didn’t think Calivahn would be going soft on them any time soon even before their joint conscription. She took the time to glance around a bit more, realizing that the soldiers weren’t quite as stiff as they were before, some even looking almost as relieved that Calivahn was gone as the students. Does she really have that much of a reputation?
She glanced back, seeing Carly staring directly into the ground with anxiety filled eyes. “It’s okay,” Elaina whispered, brushing against her friend’s hand. “We’ll get through this.” Carly nodded, blinking away some of the worry in her eyes, but Elaina could see the beginnings of tears in them as she did. No tear ever fell, but Elaina could feel Carly’s struggle to hold them back, and that hurt even worse than if they had.
“Attention!” Captain Calivahn’s voice snapped everyone straight again, and all eyes went forward. Calivahn led a group of people in the same uniform she wore, though none were quite as adorned as hers. Elaina recognized a few of them as teachers she’d seen on campus, but her engineering professor Sylvas was the only one she knew by name. But even though Calivahn was leading them, there was still one person she followed, a tall man with slicked back blonde hair, and a white uniform, no adornments other than the gold buttons and stitching. It really was a magnificent garment.
“Good morning,” he said. His voice was loud, but calm, no traces of anger or annoyance like when Calivahn spoke. “I am Commander Falln, and I am in charge of this expedition to the north. Everyone of you is present because of direct recommendation from the academy or one of the ministers.” He stopped walking as he said those last words, and his eyes fell directly on Elaina. They only lingered for an instant, but they felt like knives drawing across her skin, and she watched with a breath caught in her throat as the man looked over and stopped at another group of students. Waine and Prisma’s group.
“As such, I expect a great deal from all of you, but I am not unreasonable. You have not undergone basic training, so I will be forgiving for today in your ignorance of marching etiquette. Only, today. I understand mistakes are made, but I do not tolerate those who repeat them.”
The man stood still, eyes glazed over. His entire face was emotionless, so much so that Elaina could’ve mistaken him for a well painted statue if she hadn’t seen him walk up with her own eyes. If the air had been heavy with command before it was crushing now, a pack laden with stones sitting atop the shoulder of anyone around. The soldiers around them continued their duties, but they each moved with stiff precision, more like the Endrin automatons than people, each motion exaggerated and short both. Commander Falln turned away and began walking, and Elaina felt even Calivahn relax a bit, but no one moved from their spot, and certainly no one spoke.
Minutes later, they were marching to war.
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