24 Hours

New Lieutenant

As I got back to camp, I was stopped by a messenger who stood at attention before addressing me, “The Lieutenant General is waiting for you at the meetings tent along with the Colonel. They are requesting your presence immediately.”

I let out a huff, “I guess tending my wounds will have to wait till after this meeting. Thank you, you may go now.” The messenger stood where he was until I passed by. 

I didn’t want to go to a meeting right now. My leg wound got reopened and it hurt to walk. My shoulder needed to be looked at as well. I didn’t know how I was still walking, but I didn’t want to seem weak to the soldiers. Shadow stayed close to me as we walked to the tent. She was walking by my injured leg and supporting it whenever I stepped on it. My leg almost gave out as we approached the tent, so I stumbled a little, but Shadow was there to catch me. 

“Why are we holding this meeting now?” I demand this as I enter the tent.

“Because General, we need to discuss the poison,” Lieutenant General Johnson sighed after he told me this. He said it like he was speaking to a child.

I bang my hands on the table, “Watch your tone, Lieutenant. You may have worked with my father but that does not make you my superior. I can replace you at any moment.”

The Lieutenant paled and opened his mouth to say something when Colonel Smith spoke, “General Mercia, please sit down and let me look at your leg. It looks like it will give out at any moment.”

I take her offered seat but waved her away when she tried to look at my injuries. “They aren’t so severe that I can’t sit through this meeting without having them checked out. I will wait until after this meeting finishes to get them looked at.” Shadow growled at the Colonel and sat down so her head rested on my lap.

“Now speak Lieutenant. You called this meeting, so speak,” Colonel Smith glared at the Lieutenant.

Lieutenant Johnson cleared his throat before speaking, “The vampire’s numbers are growing. The battle today showed that they have much larger numbers then we had originally assumed.”

“I heard you called for a retreat today. Was that because of their numbers?” The Colonel did not seem happy.

“Repeat that, please?” I was shocked. Only I had the power to call a retreat.

“Your reaction shows that it wasn’t sanctioned by you then,” Colonel Smith shook her head, “Lieutenant General Johnson called for a retreat back to camp near the end of the battle. Some soldiers listened, but most knew you would never put innocent lives in danger by going back to camp.”

I glare at the Lieutenant, “If it was as bad as you thought then I would’ve called for a retreat, and you would have some sort of injury right now.”

“He didn’t fight,” Colonel Smith had her fists clenched.

I was beyond angry at this point. I started yelling at him, “You mean to tell me that while I fought countless lowlife vampires as well as the vampire king, you just sat on your ass Lieutenant?”

“I wasn’t sitting! I was ordering the soldiers-”

“You were ordering the soldiers to retreat!” I interrupt him in a rage, “Did you even draw your sword at all during the battle?”

The Lieutenant-General looked down in shame. He tried to get up and walk out of the tent, but Shadow stopped him by biting onto his leg and digging her claws into him.

“Do not walk away from me, Lieutenant,” I say this in an alarmingly calm voice, “Do you think you can get away with not fighting during the battle today and undermining my authority?”

“Get this rodent off of me!” The Lieutenant growled this out and hit Shadow.

I saw red. Not only did he call Shadow a rodent, but he hit her. I walked up to the Lieutenant and grabbed him by his throat. Even though he was significantly taller than me, I easily brought him to the ground.

“Your punishment will be worse now that you hit Shadow. I was planning on just sending you back to Home City for the rest of your career because your experience is valuable to the military, but I won’t do that anymore. You of all people should know better than to mess with my animal. You are hereby expelled from the army and all cities. You are stripped of your rank and are to leave camp within the hour. You can leave by then, right? I mean, it’s not like you have any injuries from the battle. Colonel get a holographic message sent to every city and tell them he is not allowed entry. Tell them it’s on my orders.” With that, I let him go and stand up. 

I allowed the ex Lieutenant to stand up. I glared at him as he exited the tent with his head bowed in shame. Shadow growled at him and snapped at his heels as he left. I felt a growing sense of joy because I hated him. He worked with my father so he thought he was superior to me. Now, look at him, walking away from the military in shame and not allowed to enter any city.

I laugh out loud after a moment and turn towards the Colonel, “Colonel Hannah Smith, I now promote you to Lieutenant General. Congratulations. I’m leaving you the task of finding a new captain because Ishimura Yuriko is getting a promotion. Make sure I approve of who you choose.”

“I won’t let you down, Ma’am.” The new Lieutenant General Smith stood at attention and bowed slightly to me, “I wave also sent the hologram to each city. I wrote that you were expecting the response sent to you personally and not the general’s home.”

“Good. I’ll make an official announcement in the morning about the change.” I sat back down and motioned for Hannah to do the same, “I want you to find someone to kill Johnson. He knows too much, and I can’t risk that information getting in the hands of the vampires.”

“Of course, ma’am. I will get our elite team of assassins to kill him.” Hannah looked happy about this, but I didn’t comment on her joy. She clapped her hands and the tent was suddenly crowded with bodies.

“You called General?”

“I called you on her orders,” The new Lieutenant stood up, “Hunt down ex Lieutenant General Johnson and kill him. We can’t risk the information he has getting in the hands of the vampires.”

“Right away, Colonel,” Just as suddenly as they appeared, the bodies disappeared. Hannah sighed and sat back down.

“Now, this meeting was about the poison, so let’s talk about the poison.” I start petting Shadow’s head that was back on my lap, “It worked splendidly, but it didn’t seem to work on the King. I need you to set up a meeting tomorrow that includes you, the head scientist, and the new Colonel. We need to find something that will kill the King. If we kill the King, the war will be pretty much over.”

“Of course, ma’am. I will set up the meeting so it happens after the official announcement. Do you know why the ashes were blue instead of grey? Will they be harmful to leave on the battlefield?”

“I have no idea. There is no way for us to clean the whole battlefield so we will just have to wait and see. The head scientist should know more about the side effects. You released the poison, was there any negative consequences from when you released it?” I lean towards Hannah.

She shook her head no, “When I released it, all that I thought came out of the canisters was air. I thought that the poison wasn’t actually in there and that we were screwed. It took twenty minutes for the poison to take effect on the vampires. That may have been due to the slow spread of the poison or for the fact that the vampire’s body is immune to human poison.”

“Ok, thank you. You are dismissed. If there is anyone out there waiting to make a report, please send them in.” I lean back in my chair. I was careful not to lean too heavily on my injured shoulder.

“Ma’am,” Hannah bowed and left. Three people entered after a few moments.

The tallest stepped forward first, “Ma’am, I’m representing the Dead Rose company. We lost 50 soldiers today. They have all been sent back to the city for their families to watch them burn in honor.”

“It’s good that we only lost 50, especially with the enemy numbers. Thank you, you may leave now.”

The next person stepped forward as the tall man left, “I’m representing the Sun Leaf company, ma’am. She is the representative of the Sun Flower company.” The female steps forward, and I nod at her.

“How many injured people were there?” 

“There were 150 people that required immediate treatment on the field and around 200 people that could walk back to camp and wait to be treated. Twenty fatally wound soldiers may not make it through the night,” The female answered before clenching her fists at her side to control her feelings.

“Go find the Dead Rose company and have them watch over those who are fatally wounded. Tell the captain that if they die, they are to be sent back to the city to have their burning rights.”

“Ma’am” They both stood at attention and bowed before leaving again.

I was exhausted, so I leaned back in my chair and shut my eyes, trying to rest them before more people came in. I knew Shadow would protect me if I were in any actual danger and before long darkness consumed me.

Author's Note:

I give a big thanks to everyone who reads 24 Hours. This is my first time writing a story so I apologize if I don't update it regularly. I'm trying to write a story that I am proud of and a story that you guys might enjoy reading. I will try to update every chance I get.

Thank you for all your support and please continue to enjoy reading 24 Hours!