Belgamine 

November 19th, 2098 AD.  

Eastern Europe, former Russian territory.   

The night sky shone no stars as the clouds of ash and smoke filled the air, the flashing lights of exploding shells and magical spells reflecting in blues, reds, and greens across the midland plains of Eastern Europe. The date was November 19th, 2098, and the Great Grimoire War had been raging for forty years now. Belgamine Neun, a young witch at the age of twenty and the daughter of the Lady Archmage Ein Neun, ruler of the Sovereign Witches of Archon, tried to stop her hand from shaking as she glanced over the top of the Archonian trenches on this side of the battle field. The New Eden Republic was but one of the enemies fighting in this now global conflict, and just a hundred yards away from her trench was an NER trench. So close that if the explosions would ever die down she could probably hear them talking. She swallowed hard, massaging her own hands to try and stop the shaking. She'd been fighting for four years now, and she had hoped that the fear of battle would have vanished by now. Instead, it seemed to remain with her constantly. So far as she could tell, it did not hinder her, but she did find it demoralizing and distracting.   

"The enemy has the advantage of us," she whispered under her breath. "They have more troops." She could not see the enemy, but she knew they were there. It was a familiar feeling to her, as if she could feel the enemy's presence like a living thing, something she'd learned to trust. "I don't like it, Arbiter Neun," replied one of her subordinates; in the four years that she'd served in the military as a soldier, she'd earned the rank of Arbiter. The NER equivalent was captain, she was certain. 

"Then we will make them pay for their advantage," she said. "We must hold this line." 

 Her subordinates nodded, and she saw them begin to form up into squads. Her hand drifted to her belt and she felt the comforting weight of her staff resting against her hip. "Vieral, take a detachment and go twenty yards to the southern part of our trench. Siebien, do the same twenty yards to the north. My detachment will remain with me. When I give the signal, we're assaulting the NER trench. Push hard. Fight hard." 

"Yes, Arbiter," they responded in unison.

She stood waiting for a moment, then she gave a nod. "On my mark," she said, and began to count down silently. Pointing a finger to the sky, she shot a red tinted spell straight up; a flare. It exploded, lighting the night with a bright, blazing glow. "Go!"

 She could hear the distant cries of her subordinates as they moved out, and she drew her staff in front of her. The NER, a more technologically traditional military, began firing machine guns and rifles at the charging Witches. Barrier shields went up, and spells were shot back in returning fire as they assaulted the enemy trench. Belgamine did her best to block out the screams of her comrades and subordinates who's barrier shields failed or hadn't gone up in time; a young man of about seventeen was running along side her with stoic determination on his face when a rifle bullet tore through his skull in an instant, dropping his lifeless body to the mud. She fought through the shock, forcing herself to focus on the battle. 

"Give 'em hell!" she cried as she and several of the other high level witches all leapt atop the enemy trench and began to cast a string of fire spells, erupting the entire trench into a hellfire as the soldiers within began to scream from being burned alive. 

A few of the NER soldiers managed to flee the trench, but the others were overwhelmed by the sheer number of Witches. Within moments, the NER trenches were empty save for a few charred corpses. A few had been taken prisoner, and dozens of others had retreated to their fallback position. Many of the witches began to cheer in victory...not Belgamine. She grabbed a nearby Novice, the equivalent to a corporal in the NER, and told the young woman, "Find out...how...how many we lost." 

The Novice saluted swiftly and crisply, but Belgamine saw that this girl was not looking forward to this assignment. She didn't blame her, though. They worked diligently to sabotage the trench so that it would never be reoccupied by the NER again before marching the four POWs that they had captured back to their side of No Man's Land. 

An hour passed before Belgamine saw that Novice again. "Arbiter Neun, Ma'am!" the Novice shouted with a salute; a fist across the chest. "Casualty report." Belgamine nodded solemnly.

"Tell me." The Novice's lip shook as she fought the tears, but she did not cry.

"Fif....Fifty-three witches were killed in the assault. Eighty-six NER soldiers were killed. We estimate thirty-five escaped, and we captured four." The Novice swallowed. "A...good trade, ma'am."

 Belgamine shook her head as she sat down. "One witch life is too high a cost...you are dismissed, Novice." 

"Yes, Arbiter," the girl replied, and Belgamine saw the tear tracks on her face. The young woman turned away quickly, and Belgamine sighed. 

The war had been going on for forty years now. The Witches of Archon, the NER, the United States, Japan...and so many others had been dragged into this conflict...and yet, for the life of her, Belgamine couldn't figure out who fired the first shot. Who was the "bad guy" in this conflict? Why was everyone fighting? Was Magical Science that dreadful of a discovery all those decades ago? Belgamine shook her head. There came a knock at her tent entrance. "Come!" she commanded. 

Zwolf, one of her Medians, stepped in and saluted. "Ma'am, I have a dispatch from Commandant Sechs." He handed her a scroll. 

Belgamine read over the parchment, and her eyes widened in surprise. "They've called us off." she said. 

Zwolf nodded with a raised eyebrow. "We're being recalled?" 

Belgamine raised an eyebrow. "Redeployed. To...Japan. We're fighting on the Far Eastern Front." 

Zwolf nodded. "It seems so, Ma'am."

 "Why Japan? The war there has been going on for decades now. Surely we've gotten tired of it."

 Zwolf shrugged. "The Japanese have grown quite powerful since they began to adopt Magical Science, and while they've been fighting in the war, they have never officially sided with anyone...maybe Commandant Sechs sees them as a potential threat, since they will not ally with us." 

Belgamine nodded. "I see..." She sighed. "Thank you, Zwolf. Dismissed." He saluted again, and Belgamine watched him leave. She stared at the parchment for a moment before setting it on her table. Her hands continued to shake, and she felt powerless to stop it.