Fanfic:A Lesson Taught
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The candle blew out in the study.
Caden lifted his eyes from the general's journal and saw Varcan standing in the doorway. His foster father's face was in shadow, the lines of his figure lit by the room beyond. The early spring sent winds rocking the window to the large room where he sat, books piling around the desk.
'Caden. You need sleep. We set out for Ilian tomorrow morning,' said Varcan, his deep voice resonating with the wind.
What was the time? Had he been engulfed with the Kandorian's notes this long? 'I know. I will rest,' Caden replied finally, pulling on his coat and picking up his sword. 'What is our business there'?
'I need to speak with my contacts there. You know how our great nation has always been in dispute with our neighbor to the east, someone like me need to have eyes there. I'm demanded to know what happens there so that we can counter-act swiftly. I have new instructions to deal out,' Varcan said, watching Caden approach from the darkness. The Tairen Lord held up the door for him, then turned about to walk down the corridor at his side. 'I'm glad to see you enjoy the old arts of warfare.'
Caden still squinted at the lit hallway, his foster father's mansion laid quiet as they descended the corridors. 'I'm thankful for the opportunities I'm given. Few would have access to these scripts I have been studying the past fourteen months. I have covered fields like tactics and strategy, diplomacy and even the Game of Houses. Not only that, master Hezahl is a great tutor and urges me to seek more and more knowledge each day.'
Varcan's short bark of a laugh echoed between the walls. 'Hezahl is indeed a be read man. But he knows next to nothing about real warfare. He has never been on the battlefield, heard the screams of honor and pain, or witnessed dying eyes staring at your bare soul. He knows all that is worth knowing about tactics and strategy, but you need to know the truth, along with the theory.'
Caden considered the old man, master Hezahl could never have been a soldier. He looked more like an aged scholar than anything else, eyes dim and hair white, body gaunt and small. 'But if he knows all the theory, why can't he be an aid for you in your activities'?
Varcan smiled, his chiseled features moving slightly. 'Because he does not know the greatest rule of war. This is a rule experience plants in you, like a seed spreading from your gut to your mind, growing year by year.'
Caden felt his mouth water. 'May I know what the rule is'?
'All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, you must seem unable; when using your forces, you must seem inactive; when we are near, you must make the enemy believe we are far away; and when we are distant, we must fool him that we are beyond the hill. Feign disorder, and crush him,' Varcan Saniral spoke like to the masses, gesturing with a hand while walking. 'If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is too superior in strength, you must evade. Pretend to be weak, that way he may grow arrogant. But if he is taking his ease, give him no rest. Appear where you are not expected.'
Caden contemplated the strategies, they all sound so easy to him, like common sense. But he was not sure he would think of it given the situation of leadership.
'Hear me well, Caden. The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes few calculations. It is by attention to this rule that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.' They had reached the southern halls, Varcan stopped by his last word. 'You may forget all that Hezahl tells you, if you can remember this rule.'
'I understand.' Yawning, Caden ran a hand through his hair. He needed the rest. His head felt sore after all the things he had stuffed into it.
'Vico will wake you in the morning. Be sure you have packed for a long journey.' Varcan said finally, leaving Caden to prepare.