Captain Schwarzkopf was back in his commander's tent, catching up on the somewhat more mundane tasks which befell a captain in the Holy Prussian Empire. Bookkeeping mostly, and counting up what was left in the battalion treasury. Twenty three pfennigs. That's all that they had, to get through to the first of the month, when another payroll would be dispatched to the front.

  Lieutenant Hartmann walked through the front flap of the canvas military tent. His leg cast had been completely removed and he was doing much better, getting himself around the base camp. Erich still needed a wooden cane to support himself, but he was getting more mobile every day.

  "Sir, I am sorry to interrupt your work, but a representative of the Countess of the Pripet Marshes is here to see you. May I send him in?"

  "Of course Lieutenant Hartmann, I always have time for the Countess," replied Captain Schwarzkopf. He recognised Deputy Hess, as he entered the tent.

  "Good day, Captain! My lady, the Countess of the Pripet Marshes sends her congratulations to you, sir! Lady Fedorina wishes to invite you to a celebration of the destruction of Horzog, planned for this Saturday night, at her Pripet Castle home. You are to be the guest of honour! May I report to the Countess that she can expect your attendance? All of the guests you might wish to accompany yourself, are also welcome.

  "What a wonderful invitation, Lieutenant Hess. Please send my regards to the Countess and express my gratitude for her fine invitation. Of course! I would be honoured to attend the celebration. I believe that you can tell the Lady to expect a party of eight individuals. Could you please be so kind as to confirm all of the details of the engagement with Lieutenant Hartmann?"

  "I will indeed, sir," and with that Lieutenant Hartman and the Deputy exited the tent.

  ____________________________________________________________________________

  The Pripet Castle stood on the very site of the Countess's great grandfathers victory over the Varangian armies in 3664, 111 years ago. Grand Duke Archibald II built the castle on the site of the battlefield, since it was the largest piece of dry land within a hundred kilometres.

  The sun was setting as Captain Schwarzkopf and his entourage arrived in two coaches. Schwarzkopf was accompanied by Lieutenant Meyer, Lieutenant Hartmann, Horse Artillery Lieutenant Breitbart, Wolf Knight Lieutenant Jaeger, Brunswick Lieutenant Bohrmeyer, Thuringian Lieutenant Michael and Stalsburg Lieutenant Beban .

  The Countess greeted the men with live folk music played by the indigenous Khanty people who populated her territory. Everyone was in a joyful mood and the food and conversations were a pleasure, compared to the usual social interactions the men were used to. There were at least a hundred attendees, including representatives from all of the walks of life present in the region of the Stone Mountains, and the Pripet Marshes. It occurred to the Captain that perhaps someone within this group of influential people could be interested in paying for private military services. Schwarzkopf had been trying to wrap his head around exactly how he might connect with the private sources of funding mentioned by General Ludendorf.

  "Captain Schwarzkopf, I can't begin to thank you for dealing with that brute, Horzog. The local people were outright terrorised by that Orc monster," explained the grateful Countess Fedorina. Raising her voice, the Countess continued, "I would like to propose a toast! To the Victor of the Battle of the Pripet Flats! Maximilian Schwarzkopf!"

  "Maximilian Schwarzkopf!" repeated the party goers, in unison, and then they broke out into applause and cheers.

  "You are too kind, Countess. My only wish is to ease the challenges posed by the Orcs in this region. Surely, producing the Empire's food and mining the ores required to manufacture the Empire's armaments is difficult enough without having to fear the raids of the Orc tribes. If we have made your lives safer and simpler, we are pleased." Schwarzkopf was genuinely satisfied. He had won an important battle, and it had made a difference in these people's lives.

  The Countess returned to her normal voice volume, in fact she leaned in towards the Captain and spoke just loudly enough for him to hear her words, "I've been meaning to speak with you about that, Max. Your victory was wonderful and all, but a strange thing has been happening on our estates. The problems we had with nighttime raids, theft, vandalism of our equipment and the deaths of our farm animals have only gotten worse since you won your battle. Have you any idea why that would be?"

  "Why Countess, I am so glad that you have brought this to my attention. How serious a problem have these raids been?"

  "Very serious indeed. We lost 12 head of cattle, just last night. Something bad seems to happen every night, and my groundskeepers are afraid to go out in the dark." The happy and confident Countess had been replaced by a concerned and frightened one.

  Captain Schwarzkopf decided to act immediately, "Countess Fedorina, it is my judgement that it may not be Orcs that are terrorising your holdings. Orcs prefer raiding during the day, and my scouts tell me that the Orc tribesmen have withdrawn behind the River Oder. While it is possible that a few Orcs remain locally to inflict on you theft and destruction, I think that we should consider all of the options. There are many terrible dangers present in our world ma'am."

  "Men of the Flying Eagles Battalion!" bellowed out the Captain. "I know it is late, but we have some work to do! An enemy is afoot that has been plaguing the Countess these past evenings! We must investigate the origin of these assaults! Join with me now and we will inspect the castle grounds." All seven officers sprang into action forming up at the exit door. The carriage drivers prepared several kerosene lanterns to light their way into the cattle fields. A half moon provided some assistance with vision.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The Countess herself accompanied the men, along with two of her body-guards. The large group made their way towards the south field, which the Countess explained was the most troubled by the nighttime banditry.

  Squeals erupted from the far end of the field. "Oh dear ," commented the Countess. "They are at it again."

  Several pairs of eyes became visible in the light of the kerosene lamps, blinking slowly. Widely spaced triangular eyes which reflected a deep orange colour. Three dead and dismembered cows lay at the feet of the scaled creatures. Presently the beasts turned and made their way to the edge of the field, which ended in a quagmire of marsh reeds. Loud splashes and gurgling could be heard as the creatures made their escape.

  "Swamp trolls," commented Lieutenant Jaeger.

  "Definitely," agreed Lieutenant Bohrmeyer. "Swamp trolls are a bad lot. And when there's one there's a bunch of them. No easy foe."

  "We won't be able to do anything about these trolls tonight, Countess, so we had better just return to the house and make a plan of action." said Captain Schwarzkopf. That is what they did.

  This really was new ground for the Captain. Truth be told, he had almost never been invited to a battle victory celebration, since he never previously won a battle as a Captain. Countesses and their like usually shunned a loser. Also, before the talk with Ludendorf he had never thought to offer the services of his battalion up for hire. Yet, here we were.

  The Countess begged for assistance and offered to pay. Pay handsomely, truth be told. The officers of the 427th battalion headed for home in their coaches, only to meet the next morning to come up with a troll extermination plan.

  All eight met at sunrise to discuss their ideas. (The Hanoverian Lieutenant was still away on business). Half-way through the exercise, Nicholas Meyer was dispatched to negotiate the necessary magical support for the operation. By now, the battalion had come to realise that Nicholas had a special relationship with the secretive Wolverine man.

  "What do you think about dealing with an infestation of swamp trolls, Eagleclaw? The Countess has them visiting her grounds every night and Schwarzkopf aims to get rid of them for her. Can we count you in?" Nicholas had finally tracked down the elusive wizard by walking off into the forest, alone, and calling out his name.

  "Swamp trolls is nasty business. I'm in, but y'all need more ammo than I kin provide. Swamp trolls needs ta be burned ta kill 'em. Otherwise the parts ya chop off jus grow back agin," explained Mage Wolverine. "What you need is a Fire mage. I know just the mage. Won't even cost you much. Jus knows one spell, but its the one ya need."

  "The Captain hates Fire mages," responded Nicholas, remembering the debacle story from some previous battle in a forest setting.

  "Wall, he's gonna have ta start warmin up ta them, if he's gonna take up fightin with swamp trolls. Thars no doubt about that. No doubt whatsoever."

  _____________________________________________________________________________

  "Sir, I have someone who I would like you to meet," offered Nicholas Meyer, as he poked his head in through the canvas entry flap to Captain Schwarzkopf's command tent.

  "Lieutenant Meyer! I have been looking around for you. Is this about something that can help us deal with the troll problem at the Fedorina estate?"

  "I believe it is, sir," replied Nicholas.

  "Then bring him right in! We can use all of the help we can get."

  Nicholas stepped back and muttered a, "The Captain will see you now," before returning back into the tent accompanied by a young woman with tousled red hair, dressed in robes, with a short staff sporting an active flame in her right hand. "She is a she, sir. May I present, Mage Warm Hearth Flamebringer."

  "What in blazes is going on here?!" replied Schwarzkopf, memories of the last time he met a Fire wizard flowing through his mind. "Get that flame out of here! And what the hell's a woman doing in my command tent?! She shouldn't even be on the base! You know that, Meyer!"

  "Sir, respectfully, I would only have brought her here if the situation absolutely demanded it. Which it does. Please, hear me out."

  The Captain tried to recover his composure for a moment, then crafted his reply, "Meyer, if it wasn't for the fact that you singlehandedly turned around the fortunes of this battalion, I would be chasing you both out the door, right now. As it is, I will give you a brief chance to explain yourself. Go ahead, I'm listening."

  "I will come directly to the point , sir. Mage Wolverine is willing to accompany us to the Countess's estate. Tonight, if you wish. He offered one piece of sage advice. In fact, he was quite insistent on the point. We need flames to accompany our attacks. Swamp trolls can regenerate from conventional wounds faster than we can inflict them." The Captain hadn't interrupted him yet so Meyer kept talking. "Let me introduce the solution to that problem. Meet Mage Warm Hearth Flamebringer, first level Fire wizard."

  "Pleased to meet you sir," offered Warm Hearth respectfully.

  "What exactly can you do, young lady? To say I am sceptical, understates the point."

  "Sir, my speciality is the ability to add flames to the blades of close combat attack weapons. I am considered to be very good at this, sir," explained the Fire wizard.

  "She comes highly recommended by Eagleclaw Wolverine himself. He is a friend of her family," added Nicholas Meyer.

  "Are you going to be setting the Countess's estate on fire with your blasted spells, Warm Hearth? That name's going to take some serious getting used to." Schwarzkopf couldn't believe that he was considering the possibility of actually going through with this idea.

  "No sir! It is a point of pride that I retain control over the flames I command. That is why I carry a live flame with me at all times. Mental discipline is my strongest tool."

  "You seem a serious young woman. But are you sure that you want to spend time with a battalion of gnarly soldiers who usually go weeks without ever seeing a woman? The battlefield is no place for the fainthearted. Some of these men will consider you to be a talisman of ill fortune. Are you tough enough to tolerate us?"

  "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't, sir," replied the confident spell caster.

  "Here's what I can offer you, young woman." Captain Schwarzkopf stooped down and turned the combination lock several times, then opened the door of the safe. "Twenty three pfennigs for one bout of troll eradication. If you work out, I'll offer you a monthly position. Take it or leave it. I'm turning over the entire treasury of the 427th brigade to you."

  "I will be pleased to accept your offer, Captain Schwarzkopf," replied Warm Hearth.

  He handed her the coins.

  "Meyer, I assign you to watch over this lady. Don't let her out of your sight! We depart at 5:00pm tonight!"

  Fire Wizard: Warm Hearth Flamebringer

  Wizard level: 1 spell known

  Leadership ability: 5

  Fighting ability: 2

  Attacks: 1

  Quickness: 3

  Power: 2

  Defence: 3

  Speed: 4

  Armour save: none

  Magical save: 6+

  Wounds: 1

  Weapons: Flaming short staff (inflicts flaming attacks)

  Special abilities: Infra-red vision

  Experience points: 6000

  Mount: none