Mistakes are the usual bridge between inexperience and wisdom. - Phyllis Theroux
The towering wall of flame roared like a thousand demons. Smoke billowed high into the sky as the fire raced through the tinder-dry forest. Even from a half-mile away, Bredin could feel the heat of the blaze.
Bredin wore a guard uniform as he shoveled dirt and hacked trees along with the guardsmen trying to make a firebreak. There was simply no point in wearing his Whites amid the dirt and soot. His primary job was to provide communication along the line through by mindspeaking Mani and Lacaral. In the heat, he would have liked to shed the jacket, but bits of burning debris and ash floated down around him; without the jacket, he would be covered with small burns.
The Heralds and their Companions spread out along the line, ready to pass urgent messages among the officers commanding the firefighters. That did not excuse either of the Heralds from swinging a shovel or an axe with the rest.
Lacaral and Caiseal wore special harnesses. At need, they could quickly move up to four men each by having the men grab handles on the harness, lifting their feet off the ground and hanging on while the Companions moved. The Companions also brought water to the men.
Bredin stayed near Colonel Teixeira as she commanded her crew. With his farsight, he could 'watch' the fire and tell her where it was moving and where it was dying down; Colonel Teixeira could direct her troopers accordingly.
"Herald Bredin! Check the other side of that ridge!" She pointed to the southeast, where the leading edge had disappeared around the corner.
Bredin put down his shovel for a moment as he scanned the area. "The wind's caught it! The fire is almost around the other side." He reported. The shape of the ridge had created a wind-funnel, blasting the fire along the treetops faster than any horse could run.
"Signal a pull-back!" The colonel ordered. The troopers at the end of the line would be trapped if the fire jumped the break at that point. Since Mani and Caiseal were north of Bredin and the colonel, a corporal picked up a signal flag and began waving it frantically towards the south end of the line.
The smoke and haze were too thick. Bredin's farsight showed that the troopers at the far end were not reacting. From the way they worked on, they were unaware of their danger. The colonel ordered the bugler to sound 'retreat'. The sound took a few breaths to cover the distance, but it had the desired effect: The men looked towards the colonel's position and, by luck, a sudden gust of wind created a break in the smoke.
Alerted to their danger, the men began running towards the colonel along the path of the break. It was too late for the two men at the very end of the line. A second gust of wind brought a massive tree crashing down across the break. Its branches were already smoldering.
::Lacaral!:: Bredin mindcalled. In another breath, his Companion was beside him. Bredin threw himself on Lacaral's back and the two raced south.
"Herald Bredin! Get back here!" The colonel shouted as Lacaral galloped down the break. Bredin kept going.
They passed the men running the other direction. Seeing the Herald and Companion coming, they parted to let them pass. Now the men could see that two of their fellows were missing. They turned back to follow Bredin.
::Bredin! Get back to your position.:: With his farsight, Bredin could see the two men trapped on the other side of the fallen tree looking desperately for a way around. He ignored Mani's mindspoken command.
They reached the fallen tree. The enormous spread of its branches made a barrier higher than Bredin's head. Bredin felt Lacaral gathering his hindquarters. ::Hang on, Chosen!::
Bredin clung tight as Lacaral took off and soared over the tangled branches. As they cleared the tree, Bredin could see the panicked faces of the two trapped guardsmen. "Look out!" He shouted. The two men leaped aside, giving Lacaral room to land. Bredin pitched forward as Lacaral's hooves hit the ground.
"How are we going to get back?" One of the troopers asked. "Can he carry all three of us?"
::Too much weight to jump that, even for me.:: Lacaral said.
"One at a time, then!" Bredin jumped down. Grabbing the nearest man, Bredin boosted him on to Lacaral's back. "Hang on!" He said.
Lacaral cantered a short distance back to get a running start, then charged the fallen tree once more. The man's face was a mask of fear as the Companion carried him over.
Once Lacaral was out of sight, Bredin took a moment to glance at the fire front, which was closing fast.
::Coming back!:: Lacaral warned.
Bredin and the remaining trooper moved clear as the Companion landed again. Bredin all but threw the second trooper onto Lacaral's back. Once again, the Companion carried the trooper over the tree. With his farsight, Bredin could see four troopers on the other side hacking at the branches, cutting them down to ease Lacaral's way.
Bits of flaming branches were now landing all around them. Two of the troopers battled the small fires, buying time for the escape.
Lacaral came back once more and Bredin jumped onto his back. Before Bredin had settled, Lacaral turned and launched himself towards the tree. Bredin sat tight. A blast of heat hit him as his Companion cleared the tree.
Once on the other side, they looked down the line of the break. For the next thousand feet, flames were already appearing along the side nearest the fire. The fire would be across the break within a few sunwidths.
::Everyone grab my harness.:: Lacaral ordered. He broadcast his thought to all of the troopers.
Startled by the Companion's mindvoice, the troopers nevertheless grabbed the handholds. Bredin stretched out his hands to grip the hands of two of them. Staggering under the weight of Bredin plus six troopers, Lacaral ran.
Flames singed them as Lacaral raced along. Twice, Lacaral shot under burning trees just as they crashed down behind him. Every yard was a searing hell.
Bredin looked ahead. Through the smoke and flames, he could see other troopers beating back the fire to keep the path open.
They broke through. The heat of the flames receded and Lacaral slowed to a walk. The troopers hanging onto his harness and Bredin's hands let go. For a moment, the men surrounded Bredin and Lacaral in a cheering mob, reaching out to touch the Companion's soot-smeared coat as a talisman.
The break was momentary; the fire was too urgent. Energized by the rescue of their comrades, the guardsmen went back to their battle against the fire. Three of the men Bredin had rescued plus two of those who had fought back towards them had bad burns, they headed for the healer's tent.
"Herald Bredin! Get over here. I need you to help me establish a new line for a firebreak." Colonel Teixeira's face was angry. Bredin jumped down off Lacaral and ran to her side.
"We will discuss this later." She said as they bent over the map.
The guardsmen pushed through the new firebreak by nightfall. By noon the next day, the fire was under control. By the second sunset, it was out. The Heralds and Companions returned to the camp with the exhausted guardsmen.
Bredin was the hero of the camp. The men he had rescued lauded him and paraded him from tent to tent. Everyone wanted to tell him their story and hear his words. Bredin noticed that Mani maintained a tight-lipped silence.
As Bredin left yet another circle of guardsmen, an orderly tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Herald Bredin. Captain Teixeira would like to see you in her tent."
Bredin followed the orderly, who held the flap of the tent open as Bredin entered. The Captain glowered at Bredin and gestured to a chair. Mani sat impassively in a chair beside the camp desk. "Leave us, corporal. And see that we are not disturbed." The orderly went out, closing the flap.
"Yesterday, you decided to play hero." Captain Teixeira said, "You left your post. You left me without a way to watch the fire or coordinate the fight. You risked your life and endangered others. If you were under my command, I would break you down to buck private and put you on punishment duty for a year. Assuming I didn't discharge you for insubordination. What in the nine hells were you thinking?"
Taken aback, Bredin said "They would have burned to death. I couldn't abandon them."
The Captain wasn't having it. "Instead, you nearly got eight people killed while you played hero."
"Eight? There were only six troopers." Bredin said.
"I believe the Captain is counting you and Lacaral." Mani said. He sounded almost as angry as the Captain.
Captain Teixeira went on. "Plus, there were another dozen troopers at risk trying to keep your escape route open. We nearly had a disaster. Five men had serious burns. Just so you could be a hero."
"I couldn't let them die." Bredin said. How could Captain Teixeira be so cold?
"Men do die fighting fires." She snapped back. "Horribly. My job is to prevent it or, if I can't, try to keep the losses to a minimum. You very nearly made a terrible situation into a catastrophe."
Bredin glanced at Mani, hoping for support. The Senior Herald's expression showed he clearly sided with the Captain.
::But it's what we do!:: Lacaral, at least, was on Bredin's side.
The Captain crushed that. "You may be thinking that being a hero is what Heralds are all about. And it is true. Leaving aside your gifts, just having you Heralds here helping does more for morale than anything else. Your presence is worth another hundred men.
"But if you get yourself killed it is absolutely devastating to morale. Men lose heart. They lose hope. That loses battles, whether against armies or fires."
"They have hope because we are willing to risk ourselves." Bredin countered. His instructors had told him that a hundred times and ways.
"Your leadership does give hope and inspiration." She agreed. "When King Sendar sacrificed himself, the army rallied to destroy the Tedrels.
"On the other hand, when the Tedrels murdered Herald Riker and Companion Styron, the blow to morale and the anger of the troops resulted in chaos on that whole front for three days.
"If you must sacrifice yourself, make that sacrifice worthwhile."
Bredin slumped in his chair. He just could not accept that he'd been wrong.
Captain Teixeira took pity. "Lad, I am delighted that Barrows and Mohan are alive. Rescuing them did wonders for morale. Just remember that it could have gone very badly. They could have died anyways. So could you and your Companion. We could have lost another dozen men trying to save you. The survivors would have been demoralized and I would have been left without a valuable tool to fight the fire. Before you act, think."
She dismissed Bredin. He left her tent with Mani at his side.
Once they were alone, Mani stopped Bredin. "I am going to add just one thing: You disobeyed her order and my order to turn back. I want you to think about what would happen in a battle if everyone followed their own wishes rather than their orders."
Bredin gulped. "Yes, Senior."
"Now for the hard part." Mani said.
Bredin took a deep breath. What else? "The hard part?" He asked.
"You've just had a strip torn off you." He gestured at the guardsmen still celebrating by their tents. "Now, you've got to go back to them and be the hero again. Let them see you, hear you, touch you. You are their touchstone. Despite what you feel, you cannot show anything except a shining smile and becoming modesty. This is for them, not for you." Mani pushed him towards the camp.
##
"Your harness is hanging on the inside of Hilde's stall." Bredin said.
Mani and the farmer looked at him sharply. Link Valen had accused his neighbor of stealing the harness. Silas Canley denied it vehemently. Link Valen insisted that it must have been stolen. Mani had not put the Truth Spell on either man. Instead, he had been questioning Link Valen as to where he had last seen it, an exercise the accuser deemed pointless.
Mani frowned, then quickly schooled his expression. "As my intern says, the harness was not stolen. It was hanging in the horse's stall."
"But I looked in her stall." The farmer protested. "It wasn't there."
"It is under a blanket." Bredin said.
A look of consternation passed over Link Valen's face. "I'll be darned. I 'member now. I took the harness off while I rubbed her down. Then I put the blanket on her. When I came back, I hung the blanket on the same hook before letting her out to graze."
Mani gave the farmer a jaundiced eye. "Maybe you should take time to put things away properly when you are done. Maybe you should search thoroughly when something is missing." Mani raised his voice. "And maybe you should think carefully before accusing your neighbors of theft."
Bredin saw expressions of smug approval on the faces of the villagers, Silas in particular.
Link Valen bowed his head and mumbled "Sorry."
"It's not me you should apologize to." Mani said sharply. "It's Silas, here."
The farmer turned to his neighbor. "Sorry I said you stole it, Silas." He said softly, holding out his hand.
Before the neighbor could shake Link's hand, Mani spoke up. "You were pretty loud when you accused him. I think everyone should hear your apology. Say it louder, so everyone can hear it."
Link Valen glared at Mani. Mani matched his glare. "Sorry I said you stole it, Silas." The farmer shouted.
Silas Canley shook his hand. "Apology accepted, Link."
Mani moved on to the next case.
That evening, Mani turned on Bredin as soon as they reached the waystation. "What was the first thing I told you when we met?"
Bredin flinched. He thought back to their meeting at Corston. "Keep quiet?" He cringed, guessing what was coming.
"Exactly. So why didn't you today?" Mani demanded.
"My farsight showed me the harness. I thought it would clear things up faster." Bredin's throat felt dry.
"Did you think that the missing harness was the only issue?"
"Uh, no…." Bredin began.
Mani cut him off. "Right. It wasn't. What else was there?"
Bredin licked his lips. "He accused his neighbor of stealing it."
"That was part of it. Go on."
Bredin thought carefully. What was Mani getting at? "Uh, he said it to everyone?"
"What did I say to Link Valen once he remembered what he'd done?" Mani asked.
Bredin recalled the moment. "You told him think carefully before making an accusation."
"What did the other villagers think of that?" Mani asked.
"They were happy you told him off." Bredin said.
"Why would that please them?"
Bredin hesitated. "He was pretty obnoxious about it. He wasn't listening when you said he might have misplaced it."
"He was." Mani agreed. "Did you notice the villagers' expressions while he was speaking?"
"No." Bredin admitted.
"In other words, you weren't paying attention. I did see their expressions." Mani said. "They were fed up with him. They didn't believe him. I suspected that he had mislaid it, so why didn't I ask you to try to find it with your farsight?"
Bredin realized his mistake. "You wanted him to figure it out on his own."
"Exactly. If he had admitted to himself he'd been a fool, he might have felt genuinely sorry. Now he just resents us for showing him up. Despite my lecture, he hasn't learned anything."
Bredin hung his head. "I'm sorry, Senior."
Mani sighed. "It's done. For now, I want you to remember my order: Keep silent unless I ask you to speak."
"Yes, Senior."