• General Ogoun is a great man of 50. He has over twenty years of battle experience under his belt. One of the most feared men in his country, to do battle with him is a death sentence. He is in the middle of a war with a rivaling country. He has conquered all of the battles so far and has agreed to a meeting with the opposing general. He is waiting inside of a tent for the arrival of the other general. After ten minutes of waiting, a man walks in and sits down across from him.

    “Afternoon General,” he says, “I am General Cocidus.”

    General Cocidus is a man half the age of General Ogoun. This is only his second war. Despite his inexperience, he has studied the battle tactics of some of the greatest generals in history. He holds out his hand for Ogoun to shake. Ogoun takes it and gives him a crushing hand shake.

    “So you’re the man leading my enemy?” Ogoun asks.

    “Yes, I suppose I am,” Cocidus answers.

    They sit facing each other for several minutes.

    “Why have you called me here?” Ogoun asks, sounding annoyed.

    “I’m glad you asked,” Cocidus says, “I was hoping we could come to some sort of peace agreement.”

    Ogoun stands and slams his hands on the table.

    “How dare you ask that of me!” he screams. “I have never backed down from a fight in all my life.”

    “I’m not asking you to back down, but to make peace,” explains Cocidus, now standing as well.

    “Whatever your meaning, you are asking me to concede, which will not happen,” says Ogoun.

    “I implore you, hasn’t there been enough bloodshed?” asks Cocidus.

    Ogoun turns and heads towards the exit. Just before he exits he says, “One way or another, this war is going to end, either with your surrender or your annihilation.”

    With that, he exits the tent leaving Cocidus alone with his thoughts.

    “That big-headed behemoth!” he screams in his head. “Can he not see that this war has lasted long enough?”

    He begins to think of a way to end the war. He leaves the tent and returns to his base camp.

    “How did it go General?” asks one of his soldiers.

    “He refuses to find peace,” Cocidus tells him.

    “So what are we going to do?” asks the soldier.

    “I have no idea,” Cocidus answers.

    “We already have more injured than battle ready,” the soldier says. “At this rate we’re going to lose this war.”

    “I know that!” Cocidus screams. “I’m still going through plans in my head. I’ll be in my tent.”

    Cocidus enters his tent and lies down on his cot. He twists and turns in an attempt to come up with a plan.

    After an hour and a half he sits up and snaps his fingers saying, “I’ve got it!”

    He jumps up and runs out of his tent and screams to his men, “I need a map of the area, five scouts, and a messenger!”

    The soldiers are shocked by the sudden demand, but supply him with what he asks for. In his tent, the six he asked for are dumbfounded as they wait for their general to speak. General Cocidus is looking over the map for a certain spot.

    “Ah ha,” he says pointing to a spot on the map. He calls the scouts over and tells them, “I want three of you to go to this area and give me a detailed report on it.” He points to the other two and says, “As for you two, I want you to find General Ogoun’s base camp and mark it on the map.”

    He hands them the map and the five of them leave the tent to do their duties.

    “And what of me, sir?” asks the messenger.

    “Well, I really can’t give you your assignment until I learn of Ogoun’s location, but I’ll tell you my plan,” says Cocidus.

    He explains his plan to his messenger.

    “Well, what do you think?” he asks.

    “Well, sir, though it is a decent plan, what makes you think Ogoun will react the way you say he will?” asks the messenger.

    “Are you kidding me?” Cocidus says. “That hot head will jump at the chance to win this war.”

    The messenger is still doubtful, but loyal to his General’s orders. He is about to leave when Cocidus says, “I don’t want you to tell the others of the plan just yet.”

    “Yes sir,” says the messenger.

    After ten hours all five scouts return and give their reports to Cocidus.

    “Very good,” he tells them, “now I can tell the rest of the men my plan.”

    He calls all his men to gather around his tent. He steps out when they’ve all arrived and addresses them.

    “Good evening,” he says, “I know you’re tired and miss your families. I have to thank you all for your undying loyalty throughout this war.”

    The men are confused by this sudden meeting and by his words.

    Cocidus continues, “I have thought of a plan to end this war and I know that you will all contribute to put an end to the bloodshed.”

    He explains his plan and assigns duties. After giving everyone their jobs, they all put the plan into action.

    General Ogoun is in his tent enjoying his morning coffee, when one of his cadets comes running in screaming, “General Ogoun, we’ve just captured an enemy messenger!”
    Ogoun nearly falls out his chair.

    “Bring him here immediately!” he orders.

    They bring him the messenger and show him the letter he was delivering. Ogoun reads the letter and learns that General Cocidus is moving his base camp to the Tranquility Meadow. Thinking how he could use this knowledge to his advantage, Ogoun turns to his men and says, “Men, we’re going to end this war, tonight!”

    His men are baffled, but eager.

    “I will take half of you to finish this war and then we will return home, heroes!” he screams.

    His men are in an uproar as they prepare for battle.

    Night has fallen and Ogoun, with 500 of his men, is making his way to the Tranquility Meadow. After four hours, they arrive on the out skirts of the meadow. Ogoun can see the light of several campfires in the distance.
    He turns to his men and whispers, “Alright men, get ready, when I say so, charge.”

    His men get ready to charge, when suddenly…

    “NOW!”

    In the blink of an eye Ogoun’s men are running towards the fires, screaming to catch the enemy off guard.

    The men are 30 feet away when suddenly…

    “Ahh!”

    One of Ogoun’s men suddenly disappears. One after another his men are disappearing. Ogoun can here several screams as they disappear.

    “By the gods,” Ogoun says.

    His numbers are depleting.

    He finds him self and screams, “STOP, nobody move!”

    His men come to a sudden stop, now all afraid to move an inch.

    Back at his camp, some of Ogoun’s men are around a fire.

    “Do you think the General has wiped them out yet?” asks one of them.

    Before anyone can answer, there is a crash behind them.

    “What the hell was that?” someone asks.

    One of the men runs over to where the crash sounded.

    “My god,” he says as he discovers one of his comrades with arrow through his head.
    Suddenly, a folly of arrow rains down on the camp, causing it to go into a panic.

    General Ogoun now rides back to his camp with only a handful of men left. General Cocidus’s trap did its job; Ogoun left with 500 men and now returns with a mere 200. He is completely appalled that he could be fooled so easily.

    “General look, the camp!” screams one of his men.

    Ogoun looks up to see a large light glowing at the campsite.

    “What in the world?” he says.

    His stride turns into a gallop. When he reaches the camp he stops in his tracks.

    “By the gods,” he says.

    His camp is in ruins, his men dead, and his pride as a general is slowly fading. He gets off his horse and falls to his knees.

    “How could this happen? How could a green bottomed fool outdo me?” he asks himself.

    The point of a blade suddenly appears under his neck.

    “Stand,” says an all too familiar voice.

    Ogoun looks up and sees Cocidus holding the sword.

    “General!”

    Ogoun’s men are running to his aid.

    “STOP!” he screams.

    His men stop as he commands.

    “Good call,” Cocidus tells him.

    Cocidus’s men come out of hiding, bows and arrows at the ready.

    “You’ve lost this battle, Ogoun, and with it, the war,” Cocidus tells him. “You have two choices, surrender or die.”


    Ogoun looks at his men and sees the fear in their eyes.

    “I…surrender,” he says slowly.

    And with that, Cocidus won a war which would come to be considered an impossible victory.