The Summoner's Handbook by Taran Matharu

Author:Taran Matharu
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Published: 2018-09-11T16:00:00+00:00

“He’s not your friend, James!”

Too late to back out now. I was sad to be leaving Vocans, strange though that was. Despite my loneliness, I had found joy in the discovery of new knowledge, and finding that inner strength I did not know I had. And Sir Caulder, Dame Fairhaven, even Lord Cavendish, had all treated me well enough. I shall miss them, I think.

So now the carriage rumbles down south, toward the front lines. It seems Lord Etherington kept his promise. There was a new uniform waiting for me in the carriage, and I wear it as I write this. An officer’s uniform. I am a second lieutenant.

• • •

The carriage driver led me to my quarters, a tent identical to a hundred others drawn up along the edge of the trenches. Then he left me, hurrying back to his carriage in the hopes of returning to Corcillum before it gets too late. Already the sun is setting—our journey was a long one, and we left in the late afternoon.

This is a strange place. The ground has been churned raw by the tramp of thousands of feet, and campfires extend to the east and west as far as the eye can see. This is where civilization ends and the wilds begin.

Men play music on harmonicas or violins, and drinking seems to be rife here. Soldiers sleep where they fall in drunken stupors, while others laugh, sing and fight.

There is no note for me inside my tent, where the ground is no more than trodden straw and my bed is a wooden bunk. The only other furniture is a rotting trunk and a rickety desk and chair.

Some thoughtful soul has left me a hand mirror, but it is more likely so I can shave and look presentable, as an officer should. How were they to know I have barely begun to whisker?

I clutch Sable to my chest, warming her beneath my shirt, and try not to let my thoughts drift to home. In truth, I have given my mother and father as little thought as possible over the past few months. It is too painful.

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