The truck barreled down the bumpy dirt road. We were traveling faster than what could be considered safe through fog so thick, it was a wonder our driver could even follow the road.
The green tarp covering the back waved violently in the turbulence. The lumpy white mist swirled around our vehicle, seemingly impenetrable to our fog lights and unperturbed by the early morning sun still climbing into the sky.
If I closed my eyes, I could imagine the rocking of the old caravan. It smelled strongly of ink with undertones of wood. Maybe even the occasional nicker from Gustav. Jack would be humming some old tune in time with the steady beat of Gustav’s pacing.
“Wick. Hey, Wick you daydreaming again?” Jack asked as he snapped his fingers in my face. I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was a tall slender man with an aura that promised excitement and wonder, but now that aura had dimmed slightly. Dark circles ringed his dark blue eyes and his frame was pulled taut from lack of proper food or sleep. I suppose I may not look much different.
I gave him a slight smile, and was going to reassure him I was fine. Then, the truck came to an unseemly stop. The lot of us in the cargo bed were thrown forcibly into each other. Jack used his body to stop me from getting hit by any of the miscellaneous equipment flying around.
The six of us in the back piled out of the truck. The fog was so thick that we could barely see the trees on the other side of the road. We could also see the front cab had been dangerously close to hitting one.
A throng of curses permeated the air as our driver got out. He stormed towards us with his sizable portly frame and pushed past us to inspect the rear bed.
Apparently he failed to find what he was looking for and began to grumble vehemently. He circled the entirety of the truck.
None of us moved from where we stood or spoke as we watched him. We were a supply truck meant to deliver ammunition and clothing, none of us were actual soldiers with much training. Noris, the driver, was usually a chipper fellow who was almost always drunk when we weren’t hauling cargo. Still, he took his job seriously, as it was one of the safer ones available, and didn’t want to lose it.
We were already separated from the other trucks in the convoy and running late. A flat tire would only help to further sour his mood.
“Wick, you wait here with the others. I’ll see if I can’t help Noris with that tire.”
Jack walked off leaving me alone with the rest of the group.
“What's he gonna do? Conjure up a new tire.” One quietly jeered.
They began to prattle on as I tuned them out. Most of the other soldiers, if you could even call us that, were from either wealthy or influential families that got their sons the relatively safer jobs of supply runners; instead of frontline infantry. Jack and I were different, I had been conscripted to work as a nurse on the frontlines. Jack could have avoided the war altogether, but not only did he call in favors from some of his high end clients and old friends to transfer me to the supply unit, but also to join me in it.
Regardless, Jack wasn’t from a rich or important family, as far as I knew. He was a traveling magician and I was his apprentice.
Before I could return to my reverie of better times, I saw what appeared to be the dull flash of headlights piercing though the sullen fog. The others had noticed as well and signaled Noris back to the road. The pair of lights rounded a bend and Noris waved them down. They stopped some distance away, forcing Noris to jog to what looked to be a jeep.
He slowed down as he got closer and two silhouettes got out of the jeep.
“Run! Get Away . . .”
Then the first shots came.
At first it happened with a dream-like slowness. Noris, who was running towards us, fell forward. The look of fear and the deep red holes that appeared in his head and chest would be unforgettable. Only after he crumpled to the ground did it occur to us to move but by then it was too late.
Things began to speed up then, too fast to follow. Bullets flew both ways. Jack grabbed my arm, and pushed me ahead of him to the cover of the truck. There was another soldier sitting there already fumbling with a grenade, a very noticeable lack of coordination almost made us hesitate, but he was already moving out of the cover of the truck to throw the lethal explosive.
The hectic scene slowed down to a crawl once more. Jack shoves me and I fall hard. I turn to see the soldier with the grenade spasming as his body is riddled with bullets. The grenade falls from his hand, still stretched up to the sky as if waving hello. I see Jack's tortured face as he pushes through the pain of a bloodied leg and shoulder. And finally, I see a bright flash, and feel the heat of the blast as the grenade goes off not more than fifteen meters away from us.
I woke up. Something that managed to surprise me in my bleary state. I was lying on my back and could still hear the fighting, but it seemed so far away, as if on the other side of a waterfall. I was so tired. I won't be awake for much longer. No doubt, I wouldn’t be alive much longer either after being in the blast radius of a grenade. I could barely feel the pain, but it was there like a bunch of burning knives pressed against my body, then I heard voices . . . Jack’s voice and another I didn’t recognise.
“Your time is up Jack . . . And I see you have delivered on your promise.”
“Wait! She is only an apprentice, and one in name only. I haven’t taught her anything yet. Please I beg of you spare her. Another deal can be made.”
“And what could you offer me that you have not already given. I think I have been quite lenient with you. You . . . disappoint me, Jack.”
The air itself seemed to tense. “ . . .I offer myself! If she lives, you may have this body as your vessel. It can handle your magic and I know you don't have the time to train another!”
The other voice snorted, unamused. Were they talking about me? What was going on?
I could barely make out their words anymore. After a brief moment of silence the other voice began to speak again.
“Very well, However, I cannot restore her to her former state. I will have to remake her body, do you understand?”
“Yes, do it.”
“Then come, make haste she won’t last much longer.”
“I Jack . . .offe . . . .Chronicler . . . body . . .”
I couldn’t stay awake any longer. My head felt like it was underwater and everything felt muddled. The last thing I could remember before slipping into unconsciousness was a transparent mirror full of swirling stars. It should have reflected my battered body but instead what stared back through the reflection was a (chocolate/caramel) brown unicorn.
I couldn’t ponder it any further as I closed my eyes and the wind began to blow.