Resurrected Soldiers: The Tyrus Chronicle - Book Three by Joshua P. Simon

asked the most important question yet.”
    “You mean why there are armies coming in from the south at all?”
    “Yes! And how did they get there?” He slammed his fist on the table which prompted Etan to poke his head inside.
    Balak waved him off with a hand.
    Etan dipped his head back out. Balak started pacing.
    “Those blasted Geneshans made us all look like fools,” he said, voice growing tight with anger.
    A sick feeling twisted my insides. I already didn’t like the way the conversation was developing. With enemy soldiers in the south, Ava and my kids would be in greater danger than I had assumed. A part of me wanted to ask Balak for the drink I knew he had hidden somewhere. I could use something to ease my worries. But I refrained. It wouldn’t look good on me to smell like alcohol after my earlier announcement to the army. Besides, the last thing I needed was to go down the path and begin finding comfort in a bottle.
    “What do you mean?” I asked.
    “It was all a set up.”
    “What was?”
    “The artifact! They wanted us to find it.”
    “You know this for sure?”
    “No. But it makes sense. They were losing the war and they knew they had this weapon that once activated would cause a great deal of devastation. But they didn’t want to use it themselves or they might wipe out all their own forces. So, they let us win, sacrifice a few thousand to convince us of our victory. They signed a treaty they had no intention of keeping, then piqued our interest in the artifact with all their stories of immense power. So when the Council of High Mages grew worried about my approach on Hol . . . Well, you know the rest.”
    I had to admit that it did sound like something the Geneshans would do. They had shown in the past they would sacrifice their own if they thought it would mean victory later. The more I thought about it, the more I began to internally berate myself for not reaching the same conclusion.
    “You think they’re going to Hol to reclaim the artifact?”
    “That and to take Turine into their empire.”
    “Turine isn’t much of an addition anymore.”
    “Maybe, but the Geneshans will still have it.”
    “Do you think they can shut down the artifact?”
    “Why else would they be going north unless they knew for sure?”
    I rubbed my jaw. “This changes things. We can’t just kill them. We have to capture their leaders so they can turn the artifact off first. If it looks like we’re winning, they might decide to do something worse with it in order to wipe us out.”
    “I know. Which is also why I wanted to see you. You’re going to need to get a new unit ready. I’ll need to eventually send out some small groups for special missions based on this new information.”
    “Does that mean someone else will train the army while I get my group ready?”
    “No, that’s still your job too.”
    Just great.
    His face grew stern. “I know you wanted to look out for those you brought from the outpost, but you’re going to want to pick mostly veterans for this new unit, people that aren’t going to require a great deal of training to contribute immediately. People who can handle the pressure. Things are going to get dirty.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that. “How dirty?”
    “As dirty as necessary to win.”
    I was right not to like the sound of that. Once a man started to cast aside his morals, I wondered if he was much of a man anymore.
    “When will Hamath return? I’ll want to get with him about re-joining my unit.”
    “Hamath is off limits,” he said quickly while shuffling papers.
    “Why? Because he’s a scout? That didn’t matter before when you let him pull double duty.”
    He snorted. “I guess he hasn’t told you?”
    “Told me what?”
    “I already talked to him a little earlier before sending him back out. He wants to run his own squad.” He chuckled. “I guess he wants to get out of your shadow.”
    That stung on multiple levels.
    Hamath must have returned from