This is a novel I've started writing recently, I decided to fill up my story selection a bit I might put this here for you guys to enjoy! ^_^

This is an idea that I'm researching hard, and I hope you all enjoy the concepts I'm putting in! So far no transformation of werewolves visibly, but definitely some action coming in fast!

The American Civil war was thought to only have two sides, but for the soldiers that survive through it they quickly realize that this couldn't be further from the truth. There was another side to this war, and for Nathaniel a son of a widow and brother to many siblings. He sees the other side of this war in horrific detail...

This story is rated general, though be aware that there may be parts that there are on occasion darker bits, please be aware of this and enjoy.

I hope you all enjoy, I would love tips on how to make this story more detailed and interesting, I hope you all enjoy!

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Chapter 1: Civil Disputes

Fingering the delicate silver amulet at his neck, Nathaniel took a deep and stepped forward as the man in front of him held out his papers to the recruiters. He glanced around nervously as he stood in line; there were multiple young men surrounding him about to enlist in the army just as he was. A war was raging in their country. The name “Civil War” was floating around, but it was anything but civil in Nathaniel’s opinion.

America was at war with itself, and its young men were rearing up for a fight. Glancing around the line, Nathaniel saw the town going in full motion around the line. Men rushing to get their work done, women talking in their long dresses, and the town’s kids were off playing in the fields much to the farmer’s chargin.

Nathaniel was a striking young man, his dark brown hair hiding a pair of striking blue eyes underneath At nearly six foot he was immensely tall within his family.

He clutched his papers in his hand nervously; being eighteen he was required to have his parent’s signature upon them He knew that his mom would’ve turned him down if he’d asked so he had been forced to forge her signature. Nathaniel took another deep breath. “Damn it…” he hissed under his breath. The man in front of him had turned out to be his young neighbor Brenton. Brenton himself was seventeen but it was obvious from his still young face that he wasn’t yet eighteen.

“Next,” the voice of a gruff recruiter called. Nathaniel hesitated; he could’ve left right then and there, but instead he brushed away his inner voice and steeled himself as he stepped up to the table. The Union soldier looked up at him. The soldier was probably in his early forties, nearing the cutoff age for enlistment in the military. The man’s eyes seemed to explore Nathaniel’s face for a moment before he spoke, “Papers?”

Nathaniel gulped and hastily handed the papers in his hand over to the soldier, the older man took them in hand and started to look them over. As he proceeded to look over the documents in silence, Nathaniel realized how shaky the forged signature must look; he gulped nervously and prepared himself to be sent away any moment now. But the man continued to read over his papers, every now and then grunting in affirmation as he read the information on the sheet.

A cold sweat formed on Nathaniel’s brow, he wanted to sweep it away, but it seemed as if he were to even move his charade would be up and he would be caught. Then the man looked up from the papers. “Well, everything seems to be in order.” Nathaniel’s shoulders drooped in relief. “Except…” Nathaniel’s heart started to beat crazily against his chest again, the old man gestured to Nathaniel’s health records. “You seemed to have missed a checkup, but that’s no problem. We have a nurse on hand right now, we’ll have her look you over and then you’ll be cleared to go as long as nothing’s wrong with you.”

Nathaniel’s face split into a grin. “Thank you sir,” he said, grinning as the recruiter called over a woman who pulled Nathaniel into a back room. It took an half an hour for the tests to be run, but that didn’t matter to the young man; he was in. After handing over his renewed health papers, the recruiter pressed a stamp onto the paper marking its approval.

The old man looked up at Nathaniel. Nathaniel was sure that the elder gentlemen would’ve been happy for him, but instead he saw a deep sorrow in the older man’s eyes. “Welcome to the military son,” he said, his voice still holding strong as he handed Nathaniel’s papers back to him, “And good luck.”

***

Biting his lip, Nathaniel slipped into his house, shutting the door behind him quietly. The hallway was dim, lying on the floor were discarded toys from his younger siblings. Pulling off his faded jacket, Nathaniel walked down the creaking hall. His house wasn’t that large; his mother, being a widow, wasn’t able to afford a large house. But for all intents and purposes, it was their home, and they were all happy with it. Nathaniel pressed his ear to a door in the hallway. He could hear the soft snoring of his brother, Bradley. Nathaniel closed his eyes and listened softly, knowing that this would be the last time he would hear his brother’s snores. He set his hand on the door for a moment, but he let out a shallow sigh. He had promised his little brother that he would play ball with him, Nathaniel leaned his forehead against the door and sighed sadly before turning away.

Treading lightly, Nathaniel next opened his sisters’ door and peered in, his two sisters shared one room. One was nine and the other was seventeen. He could see his younger sister, Lerene lying serenely in her bed, but Sarina’s was obscured by a sheet they had hung in the middle of the room to separate the girls. Scattered on the floor was a mixture of hand drawn pictures, and little dolls.

Biting his lip softly, Nathaniel sighed sadly, he knew that Lerene would miss him, but Sarina wouldn’t forgive him for leaving. He had promised her that he wouldn’t join the military like their older brother; sadly, even then, he knew he had been lying through his teeth. Shutting the door quietly, he turned towards the end of the hall and walked up to the door next to his own. He had been dreading this door the most, pushing up against the door he grunted, the door was stuck again. After a few more pushes, he was able to open the door and revealed his sleeping mother.

Nathaniel’s mother was a small thing, she was delicate as a porcelain doll, and just as strong. He slid into the room, approaching her, he noticed that her sheets were gone. “Damn it, mom… I told you that the girls would be fine…” he hissed. Whenever his mother thought one of her kids were cold or uncomfortable, she would gladly give up her blankets to them to make sure that they were warm. Lorane Silver, his mother, a woman who was one of the most loving people in the world, was forced to live in a hovel.

Nathaniel brushed his mother’s hair out of her eyes, revealing her tired but beautiful face. He sighed heavily as he rubbed his eyes. He loved his mother immensely, and it pained him to have to leave her or his siblings, but he knew he had to do it, as his brother did. Standing up, Nathaniel walked back out into the hall, causing the wooden floor underfoot to creak. Nathaniel grimaced; he quickly glanced up and down the hall to make sure no one heard or saw him. Slipping back into his room, Nathaniel thought he was fine until he heard a loud cough in the room causing him to jump and slam his head right into the low ceiling.

Landing on his butt, Nathaniel blinked a few times, his head aching and the room spinning. It took him a few moments, but after the room stopped spinning he finally saw who sat on his bed with an outraged face. “Sarina…” he muttered.

His sister was nearly a perfect copy of his mother, save for her hair; unlike his mother’s blonde hair, she shared their father’s dark brown. Sarina’s eyes flicked to the military paper’s clenched in his hand, she quickly grabbed the papers and her eyes flicked over the information on the paper. Her mouth gaped for a moment before it was set in an angry scowl, her eyes slowly rose until meeting his own with deadly intent. “How dare you…” she started, her voice starting out dangerously loud.

“N… now Sarina, you have to understand…” Nathaniel stuttered. If her voice just rose a little higher she could easily be heard by their family.

“Understand what, Nathaniel?! How you completely disregarded the promise you made to Lerene? Or how you can so easily abandon your family, who rely on you so much for shopping for us since mom can’t even leave the house?! What is it, Nathaniel, that I don’t understand, because I swear to the lord above, if you don’t tell me the truth I will scream and shout until mom comes in here!” She hissed, her blue eyes flashing in rage.

Nathaniel was quiet for a moment, he rubbed his head as he stood up, he silently thought over what he could say to appease his younger sister. “I… I wanted to follow in dad’s footsteps, like… like Daniel did,” he muttered. He avoided his sister’s eyes as he explained.

His sister was silent, but he didn’t dare look up. Instead, he continued to stare at the gray wooden floor below. When his sister spoke again, he could hear that she was choking back tears. “Nate… what about us though? A… after Daniel left, mom was heartbroken. Do you want to do that too, hurt mom?”

“Of course not!” Nathaniel hissed angrily. It took everything Nathaniel had to disobey his mother. He loved her dearly and the very thought of abandoning her hurt him, but it was… some strange urge that made him want to go to the battlefield. “I love mom… I love all of you, but… but I have to go.” His voice cracked; it was becoming hard to speak, and tears threatened to break loose from his eyes.

His sister was silent for a moment. Nathaniel finally let himself look up and he saw tears streaming down her face, her blue eyes glistening with pain. She shakily stood up. She was dressed in her night gown. Little dark spots appeared where her tears collided with the clothing. Sarina walked up to him and grabbed onto his arm as if by grabbing him, she would restrain him there. “N… Nate…” Her voice had dropped to a near whisper. “I… if you do go…” She looked up at him desperately. “Please come home safe. I couldn’t bear the thought… of you being dead…”

Nathaniel didn’t say anything, instead he swept his little sister into his arms and hugged her tight. He said nothing as she sobbed into his chest. After letting her cry, Nathaniel let her go and smiled at her. “I will come home alive, don’t you worry Sarina. Now why don’t you go to bed?”

Sarina breathed deeply, wiping away the rogue tears from her face. “O… okay.” She wiped her face one more time, and when she looked up at him it was the determined face once more. Nathaniel knew that whoever Sarina married would have a hell of a time taming her. “I’ll expect you back then.” she said, smiling proudly as he walked from his room.

Nathaniel chuckled. “She is one hell of a girl.” He turned to his bed and pulled off his shirt, sliding into bed to get some rest before waking early in the morning.

***

The moon was like a silver coin in the sky. A lone figure sat in the high boughs of a tree. His eyes reflected the silver light, his face placid like a lake. “You enjoying the night?” a rough voice whispered to him from behind. The man had heard his ally’s approach, but hadn’t acknowledged it as he was deep in thought.

He was silent as he continued to stare at the moon, his thoughts moored in the past. “Yes,” he said simply. His mouth barely moved and the words came out soft, but the man behind him could hear his words as clear as day. The man’s face was lit up bright by the moon, his face was handsome, the moon lighting up his features, but he was marred. His right ear was gone, as if bitten off by a wild animal.

“Why not join your brothers; they hunt,” the man asked, his voice rough, yet clear at the same time. Thoughts of running through the clear night came to mind, painfully clear at that.

The man’s eyes lowered in sadness, the silver eyes losing their shimmer instead becoming black circles. “Because we’re too close to them. You know that. If I change now…”

There was a grunt of affirmation. “Yes, but even so, you know how to control yourself.”

A pained look spread over the handsome features. “I don’t know if I can control myself with them so close by. You know that.”

There was no answer for a second. “All right. Do not stay up all night. We must move in the morning, and if you stay awake as you are now you won’t be at your best in the morning.” There was the sound of claws scraping against wood as the other man departed.

Taking one more look at the bright moon, the man reached out as if to take it in his hand. “Silver…” he muttered.

***

It was early in the morning when Nathaniel slipped out of his house; the lights of the farmers’ houses yet to be lit. The moon still hung high in the sky. He silently shut his door before treading quietly towards the edge of town. At first, it was him walking alone, dirt crunching underfoot, but then another pair of footsteps echoed his own. He glanced to his side and saw Jeremiah, the farmer’s son, walking beside him. The other young man nodded solemnly to him. Nathaniel did likewise and kept a straight face as he pulled his rucksack tighter to his body.

Something about seeing Jeremiah really grounded Nathaniel, he realized that he was leaving home for war. The air was chilly early in the morning, but Nathaniel didn’t really notice the cold, he had worked in the farm as a farmhand for a few years. He knew the chill of winter, and this was nothing like it; this chill was one that cleared away any weariness.

After thirty minutes of walking, the pair saw the camp. Rows of military personal were lining up and getting ready to leave. Nathaniel and Jeremiah were the last ones as was made obvious by one of the angry looking sergeants glaring in their direction. “You two are late! Get in line, now!” The pair both ran to the end of the line, still clothed in their normal clothing.

The sergeant rubbed his forehead as he walked to the forefront of the line, another man walked through the lines asking each man for their name. After doing a check of the list, the man reported back to the sergeant. “Everyone is accounted for sir.”

The sergeant nodded and then shouted out to the line of recruits, “We shall now march to the encampment where we are staying. It will take us at least six hours to get there, more if any of you fall behind. Now, march!” He screamed the last word as he pointed in the direction that they were going to march in. Nathanial took a deep breath; he was on his way to becoming a soldier, just like his brother.

***

Hunt… food… tasty… flesh… The beast stopped. He took a deep breath. Something was familiar to him… He took another deep breath, and a name came to mind. Silver! His eyes started to glow an ominous silver in the light of the full moon. He opened his jaws and for the first time for years, spoke aloud. “I’ve found you Silver…”
 
Chapter 2: The Forest of the Lost

Dirt crunched underfoot. The line was silent as they marched through the forest. The sergeant didn’t say anything as he led the procession of new soldiers. Nathaniel glanced around the forest. The early beams of morning were starting to break through the leaves overhead; they had been marching for two hours by now. There were occasional grunts and moans from the soldiers, their shoes, not made for long treks, were starting to hurt the men’s feet.

“Halt!” The shout from the sergeant made the men jump in surprise; other than the occasional musical trill of a bird or the snapping of a branch it had been perfectly quiet. The sergeant shrugged off his backpack which thumped as it hit the ground, “We’re taking a fifteen minute break. I can hear you all whining like little children.” He then turned and walked over to some trees to go to the bathroom.

All of the men moaned in relief as they dropped to the ground and started to dig around in their sacks for their necessities, water pouches, bits of food they had brought, and smelly cigarettes. Nathaniel sighed in relief as he slumped to the ground, next to him Jeremiah leaned against a tree stump and set his bag down next to himself. The pair was silent as the others talked amongst themselves, Nathaniel shot a glance at Jeremiah. The farmer’s son had always been silent, he let his muscles do the talking for him. Jeremiah wasn’t the tallest man in the world, nor was he beefy like some of the other new recruits, but the young man had muscles that visibly rippled under his tanned skin. “So did you forge your mom’s signature?”

Nathaniel jumped in surprised, he hadn’t be expecting Jeremiah to speak. “Yeah.” He looked away partially ashamed, his knew that Jeremiah was the same age as him so he felt he was also inclined to ask. “Did you?”

Jeremiah shook his head and spat spitefully, “My dad couldn’t wait to get rid of me, he said that it would be a good learning experience.” His fist clenched hard enough that his knuckles turned white, “But I know better. He’s been around the village behind mom’s back, and he knows that I know. So how better to get the one person who knows his secret gone?”

“The army…” Nathaniel whispered, Jeremiah nodded. They went silent for a bit, with only five minutes left they could see the sergeant glancing around nervously as if they would be attacked at any moment by confederate soldiers. Nathaniel glanced over at Jeremiah once more, “What about your younger brother?”

Disgust passed over Jeremiah’s face, “He knows too, but unlike me, he said that he’d rather want another mother than our own. He says she’s too preachy.” Disgust wrenched at Nathaniel’s gut, he had known something had been going on within the family, but this…

“We’re leaving! Get your butts up and get back in line!” There was moaning and groaning, but the recruits all stood up and slung their bags over their shoulders once more and got back in line. The sergeant’s gaze traveled over the men, he snorted derisively and turned away from then and started back off once more presumably in the direction of the camp.

Falling back in step, Nathaniel dwelled on what Jeremiah had said. He never had much thought about other people’s lives in his little town, he had always been centered on his family’s safety.

Jeremiah’s face was impassive now as they traveled down the path once more. Nathaniel couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in the man’s head.

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The path to the Union camp was so untamed that all of the soldiers started to believe that the sergeant had no idea where they were going, but the sergeant’s sudden turns at times seemed to signal that he indeed did know where they were going.

Nathaniel had looked at his fellow recruits, but none of them really struck him as a man who might want to strike up a conversation with him. A lot of the soldiers were just a bit older than him, but even so there seemed to be a barrier in the few years between them. Time progressed as the trees above broke occasionally and let the sun shine brightly down on their skin breaking the spell of the timeless forest. “What was that?!” one of the soldiers ahead of him shouted in a panic.

The sergeant turned around and his face was red with anxiety. “What was it?!” he barked at the soldier who pointed into the brush.

“It… it looked like a huge wolf!” the recruit shouted, most of the other recruits calmed down and started to chuckle nervously. A wolf they could handle, but confederate soldiers were another story.

But even so, this didn’t calm the sergeant. Quite the opposite; his body had tensed up at the mention of a wolf, his eyes flicked over the brush quickly before he shouted. “Double time! These parts are dangerous!”

The soldiers were confused but didn’t question their commanding officer’s shout, they all started to run at a sprint behind the near-tireless sergeant. Some of the recruits fell behind, huffing and puffing and red faced. Somehow Nathaniel was able to continue running behind the sergeant, Jeremiah didn’t show any signs of tiring as he sprinted alongside Nathaniel.

They ran almost constantly the rest of the way, the sergeant occasionally slowing down to let some of the less aerobically inclined to catch up just to leave them behind again. Nathaniel’s heart pounded harder and harder, to the point that the man thought his heart was going to explode. Sweat drenched his clothes and dotted his forehead. Even Jeremiah was showing signs of tiring by this point.

Then they reached the camp, it was a god send to the men. Nathaniel wheezed in pain, his breathes short and shallow trying to regain his breath. Jeremiah puffed a few times; being much healthier than Nathaniel, he wasn’t as out of breath. The sergeant didn’t look tired at all, there weren’t any sweat stains on his shirt nor was he breathing heavily. He turned back to see Nathaniel and Jeremiah standing right behind him, “Where are the others?” He asked.

Nathaniel was far too winded to answer, Jeremiah did instead. “They fell behind us sir…”

The sergeant was silent for a second and turned away. “They’re dead,” he said plainly.

The two recruits froze, what was the sergeant talking about? The others had been following behind close enough, they glanced back and they realized that the other recruits were nowhere to be seen. “What in the hell?!” Jeremiah shouted in shock, his normally stoic demeanor broken up by the utter shock.

They turned back to the sergeant. “Si… sir… what… what happened to the others?!” Nathaniel puffed out heavily.

The higher ranking officer glanced back at them, his eyes dark. “You two only think the confederates are our only enemy, don’t you?”

The pair cocked their heads in confusion. “What do you mean sir? This is a battle between us and the confederacy, who else would be attacking us?”

The man was silent, his eyebrows drawn together in a thoughtful way. “I knew I should never have listened to the commander about bringing you recruits through the forest…” He said simply before turning back to business. “Good job on keeping up with me you two, come on. Let’s get you all set up for duty.” The pair had so many questions they wanted to ask, but they were whisked off behind the sergeant before they knew what was happening.

Behind the trio, shadows moved around in the forest, the heavy perfume of blood hanging in the air. A form appeared in the shadow of a tree. “Damn, missed three of them…” he muttered before slipping back into the shadows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lorane’s body shuddered as she let out horrible heart wrenching sobs, her children trying to console her on the matter. Their mother was far into her grief though, “F… first Daniel… and now Nathaniel…” Her voice cracked and more sobs wracked her body, her kids hugged her tightly.

The frail woman had been prepared to cook her family dinner for the first time in months, when the news of Nathaniel’s departure had hit her hard. It was heartbreaking to each of the siblings, they were watching their mother go through the grief that she had just recovered from again. Sarina grabbed at her mother’s hand softly. “Mommy…” she whispered, having not used the word for a long time.

Lerene pulled at her mother’s dress, doll in hand. “Mommy, you can have my doll…” She said, holding up her doll in an attempt to stop her mom’s sobs. The simple gesture was able to momentarily ebb their mother’s sobs, the grown woman let out one last sob before regaining her composure.

Sniffing loudly to clear her throat, Lerene smiled at her children. “Well, your big brother is fighting for his country, that’s admirable.” Her voice was quiet and still full of the remnants of grief, but she was more composed now. “So, I promised you all breakfast. Didn’t I?”

All of the kids, even the youngest, knew that this wasn’t the end of their mother’s grief. But she was pulling herself together for their sake, tonight they wouldn’t be surprised if she would be sobbing herself to sleep. But for her sake as well as theirs, they all put on fake smiles and nodded. The atmosphere in the house was gloomy, and for the man who was observing the house from a distance, it smelled of weakness. “Delicious…” He whispered as his eyes flashed bright amber for a moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nathaniel and Jeremiah felt sick to their stomachs. They didn’t know how to explain what had happened to their fellow recruits. A whole thirty men they had counted when they set out excluding the sergeant, now it was down to the two of them. Many questions had been shot at them and the sergeant by high ranking military soldiers, but the sergeant had whispered something to them and they all became tightlipped and dismissed the two recruits.

Jeremiah was looking at the ground, his face a slight green color. Nathaniel coughed to break the silence. “So… what do you think happened?”

The other man was silent for a moment, thoughts likely running through his head. “The soldier, he shouted that he saw a wolf. It could’ve been a large wolf pack…”

It sounded like a plausible idea but… “There were thirty of us, can wolves get that many men so quickly? And moreover, so quietly?”

But the other man had no answer, it seemed that it was taking all Jeremiah he had to keep himself from throwing up. Nathaniel bit his lip, that many men being killed in the forest had planted a seed of fear in his heart. They had to fight the confederates in woods just like these. What if this happened again?
 
Chapter 3: The Icy March

Nathaniel and Jeremiah were pushed into a strict regimen as soon as they awoke to the loud morning call of a trumpet. They wiped their bleary eyes as they stood. The sergeant walked in as they stood in their boxers. The pair’s bodies weren’t anything to scoff at; Nathaniel was well in shape - he had never slouched when he had worked as a farm hand. Jeremiah, being the farmer’s son, was also well abled. Even so, they weren’t used to waking at two in the morning.

The sergeant appraised the two for a moment, both standing sloppily at attention. “Seeing as yesterday we were rushed, I never told you my name.” The sergeant said, his voice ringing through the small hut the pair had been given. “My name is Sergeant Leavitt, I will be your commanding officer until you go out onto the field for battle. Now, where are your clothes?” He said, a small vein bulging in his forehead.

The pair looked at one another dumbfounded. Neither had received a uniform; they had been rushed into the hut and nobody had come out to talk to them. “We never received them, sir.” Nathaniel said, his voice quiet compared to the large sergeant.

Leavitt appraised them once more, “Is that so?” He asked, when the pair nodded, he turned towards the entrance. “Well, your run is going to be cold. Now isn’t it?” Both gasped in horror as they realized what their commanding officer was suggesting, they assumed that it was a joke, but when he looked back it was obvious that he was anything but joking. “What in the hell are you two doing? Get running, now! Around the camp, twenty laps!”

The two found themselves running through cold dew covered grass, often slipping and slamming their faces into the cold ground. Around and around they went, not stopping once. Leavitt spent the first five laps yelling them through it, but soon stepped back to let them do their next fifteen laps in silence. By two thirty, the pair was halfway done with the running when some soldiers stepped out to see them running in their boxers. They all approached the sergeant, “Why are they running in their undergarments, sir?” One of the soldiers questioned.

Leavitt watched in silence for a moment, judging the two before turning his gaze onto the soldier. “Why didn’t anybody grab these two their uniforms?” he questioned. The soldiers all froze and glanced away. The sergeant had told them to grab the two recruits their uniforms, but they had all shirked their duty onto one another until no one did it. Leavitt’s eyes traveled over the soldiers. “The reason those two are running in their undergarments is because none of you followed my commands and they will likely catch their deaths like this,” he said bluntly, his steely eyes catching each of the soldiers’.

“Sir… why would you make them do this then? Why didn’t you grab them uniforms?” Another one of the soldiers questioned, Leavitt turned to the running pair once more and mulled over his answer.

“I wanted to see if they would do it, or if they would give up.” He said, watching them finish their sixteeneth lap. Nathaniel stumbled, obviously in pain, but Jeremiah slowed to make sure the other could make it before continuing on. “These two, they ran for miles alongside me without stopping. They impressed me,” the sergeant said, his gaze locked onto the struggling duo.

All of the soldiers turned to watch the pair as well, and four more laps passed before the two walked back into the village. Dripping in sweat, the pair was shivering, the damn mist of the morning clinging to their skin. Their feet bleeding from stepping on rocks barefooted, their muscles aching from running in the cold, the two were the picture of misery. But even so, they stepped in front of Leavitt and shakily saluted the man, their lips parting every now and then, but taking care not to let their teeth chatter. “W… we fi… finished sir…” Jeremiah panted, his chest heaving painfully.

Leavitt gazed at them with a blank look. “Good job you two, go to my tent and warm up here. I will bring you both uniforms. Now, dismissed.” They nodded before stumbling away, clutching to one another in an attempt to not pass out in front of their fellow soldiers.

Watching them, the other soldiers started to snicker; the duo was pitiful. “Now, I’m sure you think they failed in some way,” Leavitt said as he turned to face his troop.

“Well yeah,” a rugged soldier said, his grin apparent even beneath his beard. “Did you see how pitiful they look?” A few of the other soldiers nodded with similar sneers on their faces.

Leavitt slowly nodded, he closed his eyes for a moment as he thought it over. “Well, those two are some of the best soldiers I’ve seen, and they’ve only been here for a day.” The sergeant glared at the troop, “So, as punishment for not bringing their uniforms, all of you are to strip and run around the camp as they did.” All of the soldiers shouted in disbelief and anger. “Oh, and I forgot to mention.” Leavitt turned his back to them. “You are to run around the camp two-hundred times today.” They all froze, their eyes widening in horror. “And if you decide that you might shirk the rest of your laps, I’ll make you do it again tomorrow, but instead you’ll run four-hundred.”

The soldiers started to feel mutinous as their sergeant started to walk away. They all started on him in a dangerous crowd of anger, but a gunshot stopped their movements. Held out in the sergeant’s hand was a flintlock pistol aimed in the air. “You’d better do that now,” he spoke over his shoulder before starting towards his hut again. The soldiers grumbled in anger as they started to strip down, still angry about the situation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeremiah and Nathaniel huddled over by a fire set up in the sergeant’s hut. They shivered as the warmth attempted to seep into their near-frozen skin. The pair couldn’t speak; it felt as if their lungs were balls of pain, and as if they spoke, they would cough up their lungs.

Soon the door to the hut opened up to reveal the sergeant holding two blue uniforms. He had a sympathetic look upon his face. “I apologize about making you two run like that. You two have proved that you are willing to go the distance. I couldn’t be more proud of my soldiers,” he said with a smile as he set the uniforms down on a table. “Stay here and warm up, when you’re ready, come out and we will start training.”

The pair shakily nodded as the sergeant walked out. As Nathaniel watched the man walk out, he noted a black tattoo on the side of his neck. He wanted to ask, but the man was out before he could say another word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shamus Leavitt walked out to the edge of the encampment. He had yelled at the ignorant soldiers for an hour before letting them run under the watchful gaze of his aide. The soldier looked out into the forest, his eyes slowly scanning the underbrush. The greens frosted over by a slight white cover, and the browns dulled by the white. He slowed his breath, closed his eyes, and listened. It took a moment, but he was able to shut out the sounds of the nearby running men.

The sounds of the forest were muted, the trees doing their best to keep the secrets of the forest, but even then he could pick out the scant sounds of feet thumping against the ground. When he opened up his eyes, he found himself looking upon a bloodstained man, “Demetri.” Leavitt whispered. He could tell that the other man heard him.

Demetri was an imposing sight. Even without the blood, he would easily scare a grown man; his hair hung in long black braids around his face, shadowing the manic eyes and the scared face. These alone didn’t make him too imposing; what frightened people was when they his jaw… or rather what they didn’t see.

Beneath the locks of hair, and underneath the intimidating gaze, was a tongue with no jaw underneath. It disgusted Shamus, even after knowing Demetri for a long time. But by no means were the two friends. “Shamus, you look good my friend.” A hiss escaped from the demented perversion that was a man, Shamus looked over the other man once more. He couldn’t return the compliment.

“Demetri, you took my men,” Shamus muttered, once again his words easily reaching the creature.

The other man chuckled, “But Shamus, their lives have been improved. Just imagine. You knew once how it felt to be young, and wild. You know, you can be wild again Shamus.” A throb pulsed through Shamus, the urge to join the creature.

“No Demetri, I’m finally free from the impulses. You won’t drag me back down. Leave my men alone. If I see you on the battlefield…” Shamus’s knuckles popped as he clenched his fist. “I won’t hesitate to attack you.”

Demetri was silent for a moment, blood dripping from his chin before turning towards the forest. “Shamus, before I leave.” He turned to focus his crimson gaze upon the other man, “You should know, the Diablo are on the move, they’ve been prowling the grounds as much as we have. You have better be careful, they aren’t as…” His eyes crinkled up in a grin, “Controlled, as I am.”

Shamus didn’t say anything as the creature walked away, as the man finally left his sight, his shoulders slumped in weariness. He didn’t expect that part of him to batter him so much while talking… “Sir,” a voice spoke from behind.

Turning around, the sergeant found Nathaniel and Jeremiah standing in front of him dressed in the union uniforms. Shamus was silent for a moment as he looked over the youthful faces, “Well, it appears that you two are ready for training. Come with me,” he said, putting on his military front again, as he walked away with the two recruits, he found that his mind was still back at the forest, mulling over Demetri’s words.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The training for the day was grueling and painful. Nathaniel and Jeremiah drilled using guns, their ears ringing as the shots fired off. Sergeant Leavitt called the order to fire over fifty times. Often the hours of the day blurred into the practiced monotony of aim, squeeze, fire, and reload. It continued on until someone ran into the camp, holding a paper and with a determined look upon his face.

“Sergeant Leavitt!” He shouted out, looking around for the man until his eyes settled upon the man. “Sir!” He rushed over with the paper in hand, “Orders sir!” he said as he presented the paper.

Jeremiah and Nathaniel stretched their sore arms as the older man took the paper in hand and looked it over, his face slowly drained into a pale white. “I… I need more time…” he hissed, before straightening up and looking at the messenger. “Alright, thank you. Tell the general that we will be there as soon as humanly possible.” The messenger nodded and sprinted back into the forest.

The soldiers stopped running, and drew in close as the sergeant read over the instructions once more. “What is it sir?” Nathaniel asked.

Sergeant Leavitt took a deep breath, “It appears that all of us are being moved to Rockingham Country; General Lee of the confederates is trying to force his way through the valley.” He stood as still as a statue before turning to face the soldiers, “Get dressed, we’re moving out in an hour.” The soldiers sprinted off as Nathaniel and Jeremiah stood still, lost for words. They knew they weren’t ready and sergeant Leavitt seemed to know this as well. He turned to them and silently appraised them, “If you two don’t… if you two want to get out, tell me now. I can tell them that you two aren’t ready. I can likely say that you’re mentally ill.” He seemed to be pleading.

The pair looked at one another, Nathaniel was shocked to see his own fear echoed in Jeremiah’s eyes. But as they looked at one another, they saw one another’s fear resolve into steely confidence. They slowly nodded to one another before turning towards the sergeant, “We’re ready sir.” Jeremiah spoke, his voice steady.

The sergeant’s fist clenched for a moment before he nodded. “All right, go and warm up while the others prepare. We have a long march in front of us,” Leavitt said before turning away and walking towards the forest’s edge. The pair walked towards his hut, doubt still lingering in their minds.