Advik took a big of the fresh morning air as he stretched.

"Mgmmm..." he moaned.

Another beautiful morning, a new day with a new ..

Thwack! 

Something slapped him right in the face. It was a long wooden staff. A lathi. He had like using them as a kid. They looked cool and simple enough to use. 

He rubbed his face, picking up the lathi.  

'Where did this..' 

"Let's go. It's time to exercise." Kevalya chirped only too enthusiastically. 

'He must have been waiting for me to come out.' Advik thought.

"Haaa...." he let out an exaggerated sigh and followed him out of the camp.

"Shouldn't I be running laps or something. Why are we sparring?" 

"Sparring is the fastest way to learn and besides, I'm sure you'll be doing plenty of running."

A chill ran down his spine.

And thwack! 

The lathi struck his left leg. Advik jumped as the avoiding the ensuing strike.

"Aiyaiyai!" He cried, " Can't you go easy on me. Its my first time.!"

"If you can joke you can fight.  Strike back at me. Come on. I know you want to!"

He did want to wipe that smug grin off of Kevalya's face, he'd admit. 

"Why did you even choose this posting if you didn't want to fight? What would you've done if the ashbeasts did attack?  I'm sure you must've had some options." 

"I just wanted to see them with my own eyes y'know? I had heard tales of them growing up and this posting was the safest way to see them. If they ever attacked I'd have just hidden in the warehouse until they were pushed back. No danger involved for me."

"You didn't know?" Kevalya asked.

"What?" Advik was confused now.

"Why nobody else wanted this posting?"

Advik poke out the lathi in a jerking motion, only to be parried and bonked on the head.

"Yes. I did wonder about that. But maybe they just don't like border towns or maybe they had wanted a job closer to home." he said.

Another poke and another dodge.

"That too. But the major reason that no one wanted this job was because of the Senapati. He doesn't let anyone hide behind locked doors during an attack. If you are a part of the regiment you must help fight the ashbeasts. That includes civil servants too." Kevalya added, throwing Advik off balance  with a  leg sweep. 

"The last logistics officer deserted his post during the attack. He was executed under military law."

 Kevalya struck Advik's flank as he tumbled to the ground in a roll.

"That has to be illegal or something. How could he do that?" Advik asked nursing his shoulder.

"It's actually completely legal. Emergency conscription laws allow for the recruitment of civilian levies in times of crisis." Kevalya answered. 

Advik dodged another strike and shoved his lathi in the captain's direction, only to be hit square in his solar plexus with a kick.

Advik wheezed as the air left his lungs, collapsing in a heap.

"Let's end it here today. It's time to get back on the road." Said Kevalya.

After being smacked about halfway to sunday, they reached the banks of the great river Sindhu. 

Advik asked a boat captain, 

"When is the next boat up the river leaving?"

"Third prahar. Why? Ya need a ride? Ma boat ere's the best in town. Anywhere up n' down the river, ya can trust my sweet ride to get ya on time. Fer a reasonable price f'course." 

"Eh ..sure. What do you charge? Like 3 Shreni per person?"

"3? Do I look like a clown? No less than 8. And that's final. I don't haggle."

"5 Shreni and you serve breakfast too."

" 8. No less. And git yer own breakfast. I ain't no nanny." He stuck to his price.

"Well, I'm sure I can find another boat around here. Your loss man!" Advik said, walking away.

"Okay 7! But no breakfast." The captain said. 

"I'll just get another boat out of here. Don't bother yourself over it." 

"6 and a half. I'll git yer breakfast. But don't be expectin' no feast." The captain yielded.

"Now you're talking!" Advik grinned from ear to ear." Get enough for 8 people. We leave at second prahar, not the third."

"Yer robbin' me blind, kid." He sighed.

Advik just smiled and left to meet Kevalya and the others in the market.

"Did you sell the horses?" He asked.

"Yes. And here." Kevalya handed him a dagger. "For self defense."

"I've arranged for a boat right in an hours time. Get Jagjit and your men ready."

"Alright. I'll meet you at the docks in a half hour." Said Kevalya. He left for the inn to get the others while Advik went towards the merchants quarter to arrange for a spice delivery in Mahishpura.

An hour later they were on the river, heading upstream, barely out of the city's canal when they noticed a blockade of small boats. Bandits.

'The government must be pretty lax if bandits are loitering this close to the city borders.' 

He called for Kevalya and Jagjit to be prepared for a fight.

Swoosh! An arrow dug into the mast, carrying a letter.

Advik opened it and read out. 

"Pay up 4 Shreni per person on board and half your merchandise or face our wrath. Now that's just unreasonable. Are they really bandits?"

He looked at the bandits again and noticed their ranks. They were disciplined. Like soldiers. 

"These aren't bandits. These are military men." Advik exclaimed, "either foreign infiltrators or traitors to the nation."

An arrow once again embedded in the mast bearing the message - Scared? Chicken?

"Not man enough to say it face to face are you?" Jagjit shouted as another arrow whizzed past his cheek, leaving a small cut.

"So that's why they're so confident. They have a master archer with them." Said Kevalya. 

Advik pondered for a minute.

"Say, Jaggu, how long can you hold your breath?" asked Advik.

Jagjit smiled, "Long enough." 

He picked up his axe and dove out the back of the boat.

Then the wait began.

Another arrow found it's way to the mast. 

It had only three words on it. Three bone chilling words. 

"I saw that."

Then, one of the small boats collapsed . Jagjit was at work. Bandit blood colored the water red.

An arrow pierced the eyes of Kevalya's men.

"Get down! Take cover!" Advik screamed. 

Another boat, another soldier. The arrow pierced through his eye again, even behind two layers of wooden planks. This wasn't a fluke, it was a message. One boat per soldier.

'Leave my soldiers alone and pay up.'

They had underestimated the archer.

The boat captain fainted out of fear, foaming at his mouth.

Then another arrow shot out, only this time it was aimed at the water. 

Splash! 

It created a disproportionately large splash as it pierced through.

The archer's boat collapsed. Seeing their leader fall, the rest of the bandits made an orderly retreat into the nearby woods. 

'Yup. Definitely soldiers.'

Waves rolled out as a battle waged below the water. An arrow flew out hitting one of the shoreside trees. 

More blood spilled out into the water.

A minute later, Jagjit surfaced behind the boat and clambered in.

He had a big gash in the side of his stomach.

'Fuck'

Advik  looked over his cover to see the archer crawling out onto the beach, his arm barely stuck to his body by bits of flesh.

At least the danger was over.

Now they just needed to get Jagjit to a healer. He slapped the boatman awake. Time was of utmost concern right now. He had to get to Mahishpura as fast as possible. 

He called one of the leftover soldiers over.

"Go back to the regiment and inform them of the bandit situation. This is our escape route. We need to keep it secure."

The soldier nodded and took one of the bandits' boats back to the city.

They had started with eight men, now there were 5 left.

This was going to be far harder than he had anticipated.