“Thank every saint around we sent have bloodfire, this is a lot of Lowlife soldiers,” Karl said as he stepped over a shriveled corpse in a pristine Lowrian uniform. “It does freak me out that it almost seems to repair things that don’t have blood, I mean, look at this. It’s almost factory fresh.” He picked up the corpse’s trench knife. It was a wicked thing with a spiked knuckle duster, and it gleamed in the sparse light of the trench.

  “No, almost about it. Bloodfire repairs in organic material that is in contact with its blood flames.” Milo said as he took the corpse’s powder and ammo pouches. “No idea how it works, but it does.”

  Jaeger didn’t say anything; his focus was on their surroundings. Things had been too quiet after the group had moved from the bloody body, and while they had come across victims of the bombardment like this. They’d yet to find evidence of their comrades’ passage.

  “Jaeger, any signs of the others?” Milo asked as he moved next to him.

  “No, and that bothers me.”

  Karl found a place for the trench knife on his belt and rejoined the duo.

  “Not that I don’t want to find the others fast, but what’s the problem with not seeing passage? If everyone died in the bloodfire, why would we see anything? It’s not like we left any sign of passage.”

  Jaeger side-eyed Karl and nodded to the corpse.

  “How many of them have we passed?”

  Karl shrugged. “Fifteen, maybe twenty. I didn’t count them.”

  “How many were still geared up?”

  “All of them. It’s crazy.”

  “When have you known Dyno to leave powder or shot untouched?”

  “Never. Bastard always turns the corpses for loot faster than me.”

  “Milo, how much powder and shot have you looted?”

  Milo reached into his trapper’s sack and ran his hand over something. “Somewhere between ten and fifteen pouches each.”

  Karl looked at him, confused.

  “That doesn’t make sense. Dyno or even the Captain would’ve taken it. We’re always running low!”

  Jaeger grunted.

  “Exactly. So if none of them took it, they either didn’t come this way or had bigger issues.”

  Karl looked back the way they came.

  “This is the only way forward, even if they’d popped outta the trench, they’d have just come down further down.”

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  “But they wouldn’t have done that, not with plague marines nearby taking shots at anything that moves.”

  Karl’s stance and attitude changed in an instant; gone was the semi-relaxed state of someone safely on patrol, and out came the paranoia of someone behind enemy lines. Jaeger nodded at that.

  “Good, you understand the situation now. Keep close and call out if anything looks odd.”

  With that renewed sense of awareness, they moved forward. The number of corpses started to grow as they moved deeper into the trench, until they came across someone living.

  “Down!” Jaeger yelled before diving backwards, knocking over whoever was behind him. As he did, a whooshing sound went off over him, and a blade shot by.

  “Die Beserian dogs!”

  Scrambling, Jaeger rolled over and kept moving, hurrying behind the paltry cover of a cracked crate. Joining him was Karl, and Milo was just behind them, having been walking the rear.

  “Blade dancer!” Milo called out before a wide blade struck his position, forcing him back.

  Jaeger gripped his rifle and dropped low, leaning slightly out to try and get a look. About forty feet away sat a red and steaming figure. He wore a clean Lowrian uniform and was manipulating a series of metal discs. As he got one, he would send it hurtling towards the trio. Somehow, this man hadn’t immediately died to the bloodfire, but judging from his state, it was still affecting him.

  “DIE!”

  The crate he was using as cover was splintering and wouldn’t last another hit. He had to act fast.

  “Karl, when I jump out, be ready to move.”

  Not waiting for his reply, Jaeger checked his rifle, readied it, stood up, and stepped out. His sudden movement had drawn the blade dancer’s attention, who immediately whipped two discs at him. Taking a deep breath, Jaeger felt his body heat up as time seemed to slow around him. Raising his rifle, he centered on the soldier and fired, the crack of the shot signaling time to catch back up. As it did, he barely managed to turn his rifle, its body blocking the discs but cracking under the impact and sending him sprawling to the muddy ground.

  “Shit, Jaeger!” A pair of hands grabbed him and dragged him from where he fell.

  “Dancer’s dead, no need for that,” Milo called out.

  Jaeger blinked his eyes to reveal a concerned Karl leaning over him, while a distant Milo stood over the blade dancer’s body. Karl’s face broke into a smile as he saw Jaeger’s eyes open. He stood up and helped him to his feet.

  “Crazy shot, always living up to your title of Graben Hunter.”

  “He’s not wrong. Blade dancers have enhanced reflexes; your average soldier would have lost 10 out of 10 times in a showdown like you just had.” Milo said, eyeing Jaeger. “The man even shot first, and yet here you stand good as new.”

  Jaeger bent down and picked up his rifle. It was done; two large, sharp guillotine-sized blades stuck out of it.

  “Not good as new.”

  Karl groaned at the sight, and Milo nodded.

  “Better the rifle than you.”

  Jaeger sighed and set the rifle down; without it, he’d be down to just pistols and his knife. Drawing both, he checked his pistol’s powder and the edge of his knife.

  “That’s all you’ve got?” Karl asked, surprised.

  “Yes,” Jaeger said as he moved up to join Milo over the dancer’s body. “Anything?”

  Milo turned the man over and revealed a stab mark on his back.

  “I think one of ours might have stabbed this man.” The shape of the wound closely matched one of the knives they all carried, but it raised an important question.

  “How’s he alive then?”

  “Could be that the puncture siphoned enough burning blood to save the man’s life. One of the company passes the man, sees him not fully dead, gives him a good coup de grace, and moves on. The guy sits up and sees us. Not the craziest thing to happen.”

  It sounds crazy to Jaeger, but this war made the craziest things seem normal and mundane.

  “He’s also missing his powder and magic blades.”

  That caught his attention.

  “You’re sure?”

  Milo nodded and nodded at the pile of blades the man was using.

  “Those are the basic trench blades; they fling those things like bullets at us. His magic blades, though, we wouldn’t be talking if he still had those.”

  Karl seemed excited at this news.

  “So we’re catching up to the rest of the Wilde Jagd?”

  Jaeger nodded.

  “Most likely.”