| abstract | - Ascaris got off his chair which he had slept on earlier and limped towards the rickety door which was half-opened. The yells and grunts of infantry outside, training for the upcoming attack, woke Ascar up from his daydream as he leaned against the doorway, still feeling sleepy. It was three in the morning and the sky was darker than black. A soft sea breeze blew against his face which opened his eyes to their full extent. He took a deep breath of the salty sea air and went back into his post. To his surprise Ultizan was inside, sipping a cup of tea which he had prepared and reading a novel titled 'The Asgarnian Offensive', still in chapter one. He put down the book and stood up, facing Ascar who had just entered. "Ascar, are your men ready?" "No sir, they are getting prepared" "I'll give you three hours. Don't waste it. If you need any assistance, Astaroth won't be having any plans for the rest of the morning" "Yes sir" Ultizan walked pass Ascaris, appearing to be five inches taller than he was, and walked out through the door which wasn't closed since Ascaris entered. Ascaris noticed that he had left his cup of tea and the novel on the table. He walked towards it and picked up the tattered novel. As he turned towards the bookmarked page, a knock on his door turned his head. A messenger, dressed in shining steel armour, came through the door. "General Ascaris, a message from General Delgarath" "Put it on the table" The messenger placed the letter on the table and turned around straight for the exit. As the messenger left the post, Ascaris, eyeballing the letter laying on the edge of the mahogany table, put down the novel still opened to the bookmarked page and picked up the letter. The letter was slightly wet from the morning drizzle a few hours ago. He opened the letter and began reading the rather long message. Ascaris' frown turned into a slight grin once he had finished the letter. He rolled it up and put it on his bunk and without picking up where he had left off in the novel Ultizan left on his table, he grabbed his ragged cloak and headed off to get his men prepared. As a slight sea breeze blew through the open window and extinguished the lit candle, and light gives way to darkness.
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