Do not be mistaken, though. It might seem as if they were animals, or at least an unnatural combination of them, but they were not. Far from it. It is just that those abominations had a shape that my mind needed to associate with something known in a desperate effort not to go crazy. Truth is that those things were not animals. Not at all.

  I was scared in my dream, and I wanted to scream but the sounds were stuck in my throat. Those monstrosities were creeping closer, and I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed by fear.

  When they writhed by my side, my heart was beating so hard I thought it was about to explode. I knew I was fantasizing and I willed myself to wake up, but I couldn’t. I kept on repeating mentally that none of it was real, that it was just happening in my mind and that I was in no danger. I was starting to calm down when I saw it appearing behind the rocks, above the ocean.

  Oh, my beautiful Theodora, how can I even try to tell you what I witnessed?

  I know that you will never read those lines, and this is a blessing. You will not question my sanity. Even if none of it is real, I don’t want your purity and your innocence to be corrupted by this blasphemy. Nothing like this should exist on this Earth, not even in our nightmares.

  If the first abominations could be related to some distorted wild fauna with features that our restricted mind can accept, what came behind them is beyond anything a rational human can endure.

  The fog turned slowly into a giant monster, one with many heads. All of them bore a dark toothless mouth that seemed to absorb the light from the moon and the stars. Each head had several eyes, maybe eight or ten, of a different color. It didn’t have any real body, it was lost in the mist, formless. But there were limbs. Plenty of them.

  They were made of five joints, allowing them to twist in every direction. They were not tentacles; though. It was nothing as simple—and natural—, as those squids’ organs. It was something entirely different. At each articulation, the arm was splitting into more extremities, a bit like a trunk expands into branches, that forks into smaller sprigs. And at the end of all those arms, there was a hand. Not a human one, but something abominably similar. It was the hand of a horrible, deformed monkey.

  This was too much for me and I started to shout in my dream. My own screams woke me up, and I realized that my bed was drenched with sweat. I would like to tell you that it was due to the warm climate, but I can’t lie to you. I was terribly scared.

  ***

  Theodora, you are the light of my life and I desperately need you by my side in those moments of darkness. Strange things happen in this place, and this horrible nightmare affected me more than it should have.

  You know me, I am no coward and I do not fear danger. But those creatures, those abominations brought in me a feeling of hopelessness that I can’t shake.

  I am no innocent child, though. I understand this was only a dream. Maybe it has something to do with what they pour in the water. What are those enhanced capacities Lieutenant Sebastian was talking about? Is it the reason why this dream felt so real and frightening? Is it part of the torture they are putting us through? Days of longing and nights in fear, is it my punishment for loving you?

  He said that Colonel Balakov would tell me more when the time has come, and I am afraid of what I might learn. I don’t know what this place really is, and I don’t know why your father sent me here, but if he wished to scare me, he succeeded.

  I must find a way to leave this fort and take the road to Karabia. I can’t stay here, in this hellish prison where I am slowly getting crazy. I do not understand how the other soldiers withstand the situation, I can’t fathom what prevents them from escaping, but I do not want to figure out their motives. They do not have you waiting for them somewhere. I will run from here, and I will find you, wherever you are now. Once I will be with you again, all my fears will disappear. When I am with you, I dread nothing.

  I will try to go back to sleep with you in my mind.

  With all my love,

  Giorgio

  Letter 4

  Dear Theodora,

  I have just a few minutes so this letter will be short, but I had to write immediately. Some things can’t wait.

  I managed to go back to sleep yesterday, even if it was only a troubled doze that didn’t bring me much rest. I woke up this morning still unsettled by my nightmare and I decided to share it with the other officers at breakfast. I thought that telling them aloud would help me to get rid of the effect it had on me.

  I believed it would make them laugh, and their mockeries would aid to put everything behind. I was hoping they would make fun of me, convincing myself that the stress of my first days in Worldsend Garrison was taking its toll. We would all have joked about it, and things would have gone on.

  This is not what happened.

  The atmosphere was peaceful at the table. Lieutenant Sebastian and Colonel Balakov were discussing the possibility of welcoming recruits, Sergeant James and Sergeant Igor were planning the tasks for the morning and Sergeant Camillo was in a reverie by my side. He is the one I addressed when I said, in a tone that I wanted relaxed though it sounded strained even to my ears:

  “I have no clue what is in this water, but last night I had the strangest dream ever!”

  All conversations stopped at the table and they all turned towards me with a serious look on their face. I was not expecting this and couldn’t keep on talking. I didn’t know what to add, so I only stared at them without another word. Colonel Balakov broke this uneasy silence:

  “Lieutenant Giorgio, what kind of dream did you have exactly?”

  I recounted everything, still hoping that they would laugh at me when they hear what an absurd nightmare it was. Maybe Colonel Balakov would be mad at me for making them lose their time with my childish fear of the dark. This would have been better than what happened. It would have been something normal.

  I witnessed the worry grow on their face while I was telling them of the animal-like abominations coming from the mist. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but Colonel Balakov looked even more serious and glum than usual. When I reached the part about the indescribable creature with many heads and many arms, I am sure I saw fear in his eyes.

  When I finished my story, nobody said a word until the Colonel asked:

  “Do you often have nightmares like this, Lieutenant Giorgio?”

  “No, Sir. This is the first time.”

  Even if I was curious, I didn’t dare speak anything. Why did they all seem to take my ravings so seriously? I believed that telling them would help me realize that this was just a dream and shake away the unease. Initially, I had no valid reason to be unsettled by what my mind had been fantasizing during the night. But now, because of their unexpected reaction, I was more troubled than ever.

  “Colonel, should we plan a shooting exercise?” asked Lieutenant Sebastian.

  “Yes. Bring all the men with us, only those on guard should stay in the fort.”

  “Do we get the new recruits as well?”

  “Yes. Let’s see how they handle a weapon.”

  Everybody stood up, and the Colonel issued his orders.

  “Sergeant James, Sergeant Camillo, go and warn the soldiers. I want everyone in the yard in thirty minutes, ready to shoot.”

  “Lieutenant Sebastian, take a couple of men with you and head to the armory. Bring a lot of ammunition, four chain guns, and two cannons. Make it six chain guns and three canons, better safe than sorry. There is no point in not using what we have in stock.”

  Then, Colonel Balakov turned to me:

  “Lieutenant Giorgio, be in the yard in thirty minutes with the rest of the troop and when we go out you stay by my side, no matter what. Did I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  They all left the officer’s mess, and I remained alone at the breakfast’s table. I tried to understand something of all this senselessness while finishing my coffee, but didn’t manage to build any beginning of plausible explanation. Time was running and I had to get prepared. I rushed to my quarters to write to you.

  ***

  I do not understand what happened, and I don’t know why we are doing a shooting exercise on such short notice for no apparent reason. There is definitely something strange about this place. Maybe they all lost their mind. And I am also starting to lose mine, having such dreams. What do they put in the water?

  I must go now; I don’t want them to wait for me. I have to gain Colonel Balakov’s trust.

  I will tell you more when I come back.

  Yours faithfully,

  Giorgio

  Letter 5

  My dear Theodora,

  I think people indeed went totally crazy in Worldsend Garrison.

  The way things are going on here is not only strange; it is plainly weird and illogical. I doubt that your father is really aware of what is happening in this fort. This might have been a prison in the first place, but it is now run by a madman.

  And everybody’s following him.

  Do you want to know what’s worse, my sweet love? I think I am also getting crazy. I don’t have any other explanation. It must be this thing they put in the water.

  Let me tell you about this shooting exercise we had in the morning.

  ***

  We left the fort through the main door, the one facing north-east towards the road leading to Karabia across the desert and The Marsh. Discovering this track, I thought of you, my love. I couldn’t help looking at this path to freedom. I saw it getting lost among the dunes, knowing that you were there somewhere, far away from me. But I didn’t want for another prisoner to have any suspicion concerning my escape plans, so I followed quickly the rest of the soldiers.

  We turned and headed SouthWest—where the Great Ocean meets the Valkyan Sea—and we stopped behind the fort, at a good distance from the shore. The tide was low, and the water was farther than ever. It makes sense that a shooting exercise would be aimed towards the open sea, so that nobody gets hurt by a lost bullet—even though I don’t know who could get hurt in this desert—, but this felt strange that we had to halt at this exact place.

  You see, my dear love, we had stopped at the same spot where I was in my nightmare. Worldsend Garrison was right in our back, and we were facing the Great Ocean. Everything looked eerily similar to my vision: the low tide had uncovered the same rock formations I had observed, and the cliffs on both sides of the beach were identical.

  There were some differences, though. In my dream, it was freezing while in reality the sun was already strong and we were all starting to sweat. And there was no fog, only the great blue sky reaching the horizon where the waters of the ocean ended.

  At that moment, I noticed that something else was missing in the scenery. Something that should have been there, but was not.

  There was not a single bird. No seagull, no albatross, no booby, no frigate, no puffin… Nothing! Now that I think of it, I haven’t seen a single bird since my arrival at Worldsend Garrison. This is not normal. Any land by the water should be inhabited by at least some species of bird. Gulls should be feasting on the rest of our meals. I understand that no animal life can thrive in the desert, but the Great Ocean is full of fish and there should be colonies nesting in the surrounding cliffs.

  Why is this place so empty?

  I haven’t been in the garrison for long, but we haven’t eaten anything coming from the sea. This seems suspect for a fort by the ocean that needs to be supplied with fresh provision. The fishermen of Igereiger, gather tons of food from the Valkyan Sea located not even a hundred miles north-east, why would it be different here? The waters are hard to navigate, yet it would be easy to catch some fish from the shore to feed the troops. And this could be a distraction for the officers.

  This is another thing I must investigate. However, for the moment I need to focus and tell you all about our exercise.

  ***

  Once the Colonel confirmed with me that this was indeed the exact spot where I had been in my dreams, and that those were definitely the rock formations I had seen last night, he ordered the men to deploy on a line and to open fire towards the sea.

  For the next ten minutes, they all did as he requested, aiming at nothing but the waves. The cannons were roaring, the chain guns were shooting continually, the rifles of a hundred soldiers were echoing ceaselessly in our ears, and the Colonel was staring silently at the bay with a grin on his face. The smirk of a man whose mind is not working properly.

  Finally, he raised his hand and stopped the deafening mayhem. I expected that all this firepower would have totally destroyed the rock formations in the water, but they seemed intact. How could they have missed them?

  Colonel Balakov must have seen my surprise because he asked me:

  “Lieutenant Giorgio, are you a good shot?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Do you think you can aim better than my men?”

  This was a tricky question, and I didn’t know what to answer. Fortunately, I didn’t have to, as he added:

  “Take a rifle, take a hundred cartridges, and take a good look at that big rock in the middle, the one with the shape of a cross.”

  I saw the formation he was talking about. It was quite impressive, there was no way I would miss it. I took my rifle, aimed and shot twice but, to my surprise, didn’t hit the target.

  I thought I had miscalculated the wind, aimed again, shot again, and missed again. Anger and shame rising in me, I aimed and shot again and again until I had used all my cartridges.

  Not a single bullet had touched the rocks.

  The Colonel laughed—for the first time since I had come to Worldsend Garrison—and some of the men joined him. I felt ridiculous. Had they been playing a joke on me since this morning? Was it a part of my punishment?

  “You see Lieutenant Giorgio, those rocks are not big, they are huge. But they are also incredibly far. There is no way our weapons can destroy them from here. They are beyond our reach.”

  Suddenly a chilly gush of air came from the bay, killing all the laughs among the men and wiping any smile on their faces. They all gazed at the sea, where there was absolutely nothing apart from the sky, the waves and those rocks that are actually further than I thought. Colonel Balakov looked worried:

  “Lieutenant Sebastian, how much ammunition do we have left?”

  “Half of them, my Colonel.”

  “Sergeant James, do all the men carry their gun?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “How many rounds each?”

  “Fifty, Sir.”

  “This should be enough. Good. At my command, open fire and do not stop.”

  I was looking at him, then at the soldiers, then at the Great Ocean.

  What had he spotted there? Why did they all seem to be so worried by a simple shooting exercise? I was straining my eyes trying to distinguish something in the water, or on the rock formations, or on the cliffs, but there was nothing to be seen. Only dark stones, blue sky and white frost on the waves.

  It appeared to be a bit hazy above the bay. It could be that the cold wet air from the ocean had begun to condense in a fog, but it was barely noticeable, if at all.

  I was about to ask what we were looking for when the Colonel gave the order to fire.

  The deafening mayhem started again, everybody aiming towards the sea. After some minutes, some soldiers threw their rifle as they ran out of cartridges and seized their guns to keep on shooting. Pretty soon, the cannons and chain guns also got silent and only pistols were to be heard.

  Then, fighters were left with no bullets and dropped their sidearm. I noticed that Sergeant James and Lieutenant Sebastian were emptying their weapons as well. Even Colonel Balakov took his revolver and opened fire. Without understanding anything of what was happening, I drew my own piece and followed everybody.

  I am a soldier, and when all my brothers in arms are shooting, I feel compelled to do the same. Even if I don’t know what we’re targeting, even if I don’t see any enemy, I join the effort. It is this unbreakable discipline, the unquestioned faith in our comrades, that makes the Empire’s army invincible.

  So, I started to fire with my gun towards the rocks, aiming at that huge cross standing so far that no bullet or cannonball can even touch it, wondering: what kind of exercise is this?

  More and more soldiers had been dropping their weapons. Lieutenant Sebastian had also run out of ammo and I soon realized that only the Colonel and I were still shooting towards the sea. I wouldn’t be doing it much more, as I had only ten rounds left, but I kept on firing.

  I had only two more bullets when Colonel Balakov suddenly smiled and lowered his revolver. I emptied my charger as I had received no order to stop, and then dropped my pistol to look at the Colonel, seeing that he still had at least six rounds in his gun. He turned to me and said:

  “You did a good job today, Lieutenant Giorgio.”

  He then called the men, shouting that the exercise was over. It was time for all of us to return to the fort and do what we have to do.

  The soldiers seemed relieved, and I was the only one stunned by the complete inanity of all this.

  ***

  Oh, my lovely Theodora, you can’t imagine how scared I am of this place and these men.

  They are not in their right mind; nothing here is as it should be. It is clear that the Colonel has lost his reason, and I fear that he is far from being the only one. Despite their normal behavior most of the time, they all suffer from some kind of collective madness.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7