Burning Night: A Tale of the Everburning City

Chapter 14, Part 2: Adrian

Valen departed shortly after, instructing Adrian to return to his training and asking him to thank Sergeant Varnell for indulging his peculiar request.

Not gone for long, Adrian had still managed to miss Varnell's explanations and returned to his group bemused and more than a little frightened.

"Keates, get over here!" Caitlin called to him, waving frantically.

Adrian quickened his pace from a jog to a run, and stopped beside Caitlin, who was frantically trying to pry a piece of metal out of an open hatch in the gun. "Glad you're back, I can't get these clowns to make sure the shell is set before they close the hatch. Hurry up and get us whipped into shape."

"Caitlin, I just got back! I missed the instructions," Adrian argued, but he still crouched down near the gun just as the broken piece of metal was extracted.

"It's just like a Salamander. Just bigger, with fewer moving parts. Put the shell in, check the fit, close the hatch, latch it shut, angle it to where I tell you," Caitlin explained in a single breath, speaking so quickly it sound like a single word. "Now hurry up, I think Gerald's going to start calling his shots soon."

"Just like a Salamander..." Adrian murmured. "I can work with that."

"Is the barrel clean?" he asked aloud, to the recruit who had just pulled out the shattered casing of the last shot.

She shrugged in response.

Adrian paused for half a second, willing himself to consider what the people he knew would do in a moment like this. He recalled his single, horrifying meeting with Madam Ghally, and the vicious brutality she showed herself capable of.

He thought of his boss, Stenman Xavier, a quieter and kinder man, who would comfortably order fingers broken or limbs removed to even a small challenge to his authority.

His thoughts lingered on Colonel Redgrave, whose presence and tone seemed to inspire obedience. And last, to his own instructor.

"That's not an answer, gunner! Get the brush behind you and stick it in the gun," Adrian barked, pointing to the cotton mop just behind the other recruit.

To his surprise, she moved as if an actual soldier had just barked an order, nearly throwing herself at the mop and running it back to the gun.

She shoved it inside until the mop was visible through the open hatch at the end of the gun. "Rotate it clockwise!" Adrian shouted, louder than he needed to.

She complied immediately, spinning the mop and pushing pieces of metal and glass to the surface. As she turned, Adrian carefully scooped the pieces and flung them away.

"Barrel's clear, where's the next shot?" Adrian asked.

"Here. Round-shot," Caitlin said, pointing to a small stack of cylinders nearby.

The cylinders Caitlin was point to were a dozen small tubes, a little shorter than Adrian's forearm. It was a steel ball cupped in cloudy glass, with an inch-high base that glowed with an eerie, blue firelight.

Adrian picked one up, relieved to find it cool to the touch. He set it as gently as he could into the gun, careful to keep his fingers clear of the sides of the hatch.

He then slid the casing as far back into the gun as he could, until he was confident the shot was set firmly. Stepping back, one of the others set the latch closed, and Adrian called out,"gun's hot! Dremora, do we have our target?"

"Old tool-shed, eight hundred and uh..." Dremora replied, staring down the gun's sights. "Eight hundred and fourteen yards. Take us down, two degrees."