Where The Dragon Lies - Part 3

Since that day, he'd learned to blanket his worries to a degree. He would not say it aloud, but that one little glimpse from his General had filled him with a sense of trust. The man saw so much more than Torfus would think was conceivable. The other men seemed to realize that too, and others had tried, just a little harder, to be seen, and more Sergeants had been selected. The men were bigger for it, more passionate, more ambitious. It had come to the point that it was almost a bad thing.

Violently, did they compete with each other, for the sake of those ranks, simply to see them found somewhere. For a couple of days, General Patrick's eyes had seemed approving of their competing. And then, all of a sudden, when Torfus had looked, they were not.