Man at War – Excerpt No. 44

24 October 2025

He wanted a man of reason who was also cool under pressure. Marc needed someone trustworthy to look after his men and lead them to victory. There are things out there that I can’t explain, even after four centuries.

“I’m glad, Sergeant,” Marc began. “Let me ask you a question. What did you see that night?”

Those eyes opened wide and he blinked several times. Murphy must have expected Marc to fill in the blanks instead of a debrief. Even my presence is suspect.

“I don’t know, Sir,” Murphy began. “I don’t think they were men.”

a cinematic photograph of two or three translucent ghosts of soldiers wandering through a desolate no man's land at night with thick fog hanging in the air, their tattered and worn World War I uniforms clinging to their ethereal bodies, the barbed wire and cratered terrain of the battlefield shrouded in darkness, the only light coming from a faint moon hidden behind the fog, casting an eerie glow on the scene, the ghosts' facial features barely visible, their skin a pale, ghostly gray, their eyes black voids, their presence haunting and mournful, the photography style dramatic and eerie, with deep shadows and muted colors, the overall mood somber and melancholic.

Disclaimer: This novel is an work in progress and readers may encounter grammatical errors and inconsistencies. Please view this a draft and not a published work.