She awoke as she did every day, shivering. A deep cold inside her bones, making her joints ache. The accompanying dreams were worse: Endless snowstorms, snarling wolves, and the slow advance of the frozen dead. Waking was a relief, and she tried to sleep as little as she could. Claudia knew there would be a price to pay for using The Sentinel Never Sleeps. It was a skill that, if used too much, could lead to a deep coma afterwards as the debt was paid, and there were even stories of soldiers at their posts so long that they fell dead when finally relieved of duty. Death couldn't happen to her in that manner; her lands wouldn't allow it, but her lands were cold now as Winter advanced, and so was she. The protections she and her husband enjoyed were slipping away, day by day.

The small knock on a tent post had brought her awake, instantly, and she surged from the chair she had been dozing in, fully armored. She'd learned the knack of sleeping in a full set of chain and plate on her first campaign. It had been a point of pride then, proving she could do anything that any of the noble-born knights could do, and a damned bit more. Now it was essential. Exhausted scouts came into camp on lathered horses at any time of the day or night, updating her on the advancing Winter forces. Plans were made on the fly, and the Couriers sent back out after only a few hours' sleep, and a good meal for man and mount. The constant riding and danger were taking their toll on her scouts. Some never returned, while others fell off their horses, half dead, suffering from wolf bites and arrow wounds.

The exception, of course, was House Franklin. They suffered the same exhaustion and wounds, but somehow always rode off into the night again, excited and with a gleam in their eye as they went looking for trouble. They were the lynchpins of her scouting force, finding the information she needed, no matter what the cost. That House had always been driven by something. In times of peace, they were a pain in the ass and constant trouble. But they excelled in times of war and danger, and right now, she was thankful to have them out there. She needed every advantage she could get. Winter had the advantage, and she only had enough troops to slow them down. If she were forced to fight a huge battle, it could be disastrous. She only had soldiers, while Winter had brought true monsters.

While she cleared the cobwebs from her thoughts, the soldier watched from the doorway. There was something on his face that made her curious. It wasn't fear, but something had concerned him enough to wake her. "What are we dealing with tonight, Bevarus?"

"Something far above my pay grade, ma'am. You have a warning about shooting ducks, and we've taken it seriously and got used to them showing up with a message for you in their beaks. But this is different. There are a lot of them, and they have geese with them."

"Geese?"

"Yes, ma'am, geese, and they....

HONK!

The soldier jumped forward, and the intruding goose flapped his wings once, honked again, then grabbed a tent post and ran off with it, partially collapsing the tent. Claudia ran after it, into a camp full of perplexed soldiers trying to keep the geese away from the tent poles and yet obey orders not to strike at them. For the last week, ducks had been landing in the camp and bringing her reports from the Couriers scattered about the land, keeping track of the Winter Army's movements. One man had obviously ignored the order and was being treated by a medic for his multiple small injuries and bruises.

One recruit came running up with an armload of firewood and dumped it near the ducks. "Trade you, and there's a lot more. Follow me." The ducks did, and a few seconds later, the half-dozen geese in the camp ran to the firewood and started redistributing it in an open area next to the camp, into three piles spaced fifty feet apart, forming an equilateral triangle. When the logs were gone, the geese began heading to the tents again.

Claudia yelled at her men, "Get more firewood! On the run. Bring loads until the ducks are satisfied with....whatever they are up to. And when this settles down, someone make a note to order more firewood. She turned to the ducks. "We'll trade firewood for tent poles. It's cold, and the men need the shelter." She was never sure later why she tried talking to them, but it worked. Several ducks ran to the camp, quacking loudly at the Geese. The geese reluctantly quit their games and ran to the wood piles scattered about the camp, aided by the soldiers. When the three piles forming the triangle were big enough, the ducks lined up in formation like soldiers standing for review. A goose produced a Fire Stave stolen from one of the tents and used it to cast Fireball at each pile. Then it looked at the tents with an evil gleam in its eye and started running for the camp. Claudia stepped forward and grabbed the end of the stave, resulting in a dispute over who owned the item. The two glared at each other for a moment, and the goose blinked first, releasing the stave. Then it honked once, flapped its wings, and got in formation with the other troublemakers. Claudia noted that a dozen ducks moved to form a cordon around the geese. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The fires blaze up, illuminating what Claudia realized was a landing zone for something big. She'd seen the same done for a dwarven Skycraft when the Iron Brigade came to fight against an incursion of Rock Trolls in the Western Reaches. She looked to the skies and saw that something was blocking out the stars and coming down fast. A feeling of dread filled the hearts of the soldiers looking up. Whatever nameless terror was arriving, they prayed they didn't have to fight it. The Duchess looked around and decided that she damned well didn't either, suspecting who was coming.

"I want a guard of fifty men from Bravo Company; the rest of you drop back and repair those tents. Weapons sheathed, and no one pops off unless I give the order."

Whatever it was dropping down out of the night sky grew closer, and the feeling of dread increased. It washed over Claudia, and she noted it, but it didn't affect her. Not so the soldiers. And then...it was gone, both the shadow against the sky, and the feeling of dread. What dropped lightly to the ground was a small man in warm peasant garb holding a wooden staff. He'd been kept from falling by the small fairy holding his collar, her wings fluttering fast with a high-pitched hum. Everyone relaxed a little, and Claudia walked forward.

"Well met, Princess and Shepherd." She gestured around her. "Good to see you, but what is all this about?"

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"Training. We may have to drop in hot some day, and I don't want people mistaking us for the bad guys." He turned and saluted the ducks. "Awesome job, guys. We'll debrief each other later. Now hit the skies, I want scouting reports by dawn." With much quacking and a few honks, they took to the skies, one goose with a second Fire Staff in her beak.

Rolly pulled out a sheaf of papers, "I've got reports of where the Winter forces were current up until a couple of hours ago, and some important news. We need to talk privately, and I could do with a couple of sandwiches. Are you hungry, Squirmie?"

<Squirmie is still full from eating those big horses. You talk, Squirmie needs a nap. Good for the digestion.>

She hopped into the baby sling on his chest, and he wrapped her up like a baby, then followed Duchess Claudia to her command tent. He put out his reports on the table. She saw some were from House Franklin Couriers, and others were aerial maps with drawings and estimates of forces, and the directions they were traveling.

"How the hell do you get all of this?"

"Not hard. We travel fast, and I don't forget much. Ben gave me some of the secret family code words, and the Couriers are getting used to us. I've been feeding him information; he coordinates it, and this is the result, plus some last-minute scouting. My little princess can move very fast when she wants to."

"What about Winter's owls? Any problem with those?"

Rolly grinned, "A lack of owls. They grill up nicely, and they're one of our favorites. They give the ducks trouble, so we seek them out, along with any Beastmasters we can find. But let's talk about your big problem. Winter is going for the big win. Pennypincher has something in his hoard called the Casket of Stolen Summers. General Glacia took her mounted knights and is moving fast to grab the artifact in exchange for Pennypincher joining Winter and getting some special treatment. Know anything about it? They talked like it was a long-lost treasure that almost helped them conquer the Empire the last go around."

The cold Claudia felt intensified, and fear started to work on her heart. It was only with a supreme effort of will that she held her voice steady. "I do, and if it is as potent as the history books tell us, it will change this war from a slow loss to a disaster. The Arctic cold will advance as far south as Wolfsburg, and we'll lose the entire north. Dammit! We've been worried about that miser in Northguard, and trying to send relief, and all this time his family has kept that artifact in his treasure vault instead of giving it to us to keep safe. He and his whole line are traitors, and I will name them so before the Emperor's throne! But I have to live through this to do that. And to do that, we need to keep that artifact out of their hands. You flew here, can you get me there?"

Rolly shrugged and spread his hands. "Maybe. It would be tricky packing two of us. But Glacia has the Winter Council with her, and a small army of Rime Knights. What you and I could do isn't enough. Wrong skill sets for a clever snatch and grab. Too many Ice Mages with nasty spells that slow you down or freeze you solid. Ben and I talked it over, and he sent me south to give you the information so you weren't caught flat-footed if he fails. But don't worry, he's got a plan."

Claudia stared at the Shepherd with a sleeping fairy princess on his chest as he stuffed food in his mouth, unworried about the end of the world as they knew it. "Ben? Benjamin Franklin the Seventh, the latest heroic troublemaker from House Franklin, has a plan. Let's hear it, please."

Rolly finished his sandwich and thought for a moment, "Well, it wasn't more than half a plan when I left, I'm sure he's figuring out the details."

"Half a plan?"

"Well, truthfully, just sort of an idea. It's tricky. The people he's working with have to think it's their idea. They work best that way. An unconventional, but highly effective group of guerrilla fighters who can live off the land, aren't bothered by the cold, and are highly motivated to take Winter off the board. They've been harassing the Winter army this last month and were the cause of the chaos in the camp that ruined a big chunk of their supplies. And they've cut the Winter supplies lines in half. Not much is getting through. General Glacia and her council are also having travel difficulties. I've had my ducks helping Ben out with troop movements and information."

"I see. And who are these mysterious guerrilla fighters that seem to have materialized out of nowhere?"

"You know, Ben said you'd ask that question. He said to keep things mysterious since it would give you deniability about what he's doing. Better for the Duchess of the North and for him. You can claim he was another Franklin going rogue, rather than saying you signed off on his crazy half-plan to steal the Casket. Besides, you can't leave to play last-minute hero. You have to consolidate your forces and fall back to keep from being cut off. There's a new guy in charge, and he's a lot smarter than Glacia. Falling back prevents him from cutting off your route if Ben blows it and Glacia gets the casket. If we get the casket, she'll waste time chasing him, and she'll lose even more time and soldiers."

She looked at the troop movements and reports. It was obvious what would happen. The new general was using his fast troops to cut off supplies and play havoc in her backfield. Meanwhile, the rest of Winter was massing for a fast advance and forcing her to a battle she couldn't win. She needed to move. If they got the casket, she'd be running for Wolfsburg. If they didn't, much of Winter's forces would be forced into the warmer weather she would move into.

"You're right. It's the correct move, but I hate leaving it up to chance." She spotted something on one of the maps and pointed to it. "How long ago was this? Those mounted raiders are heading toward a supply train."

Rolly looked at her and nodded. "They sure are, and there is this set of wagons carrying wounded soldiers in the same area. Which is why my little bug and I are taking off to lend a hand. It would be a shame to instigate a good fight and then not show up to help your friends win it. And that supply train has a few surprises in store for whoever decides to attack it." Before she knew it, he was out the door. She raced after him only to see the fairy lift him off the ground and fly swiftly towards the south.

"Damn, but I hate it when I only get half the story." She stalked off to gather her officers and get her army organized and moving.