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I curse under my breath as movement just behind me to my right startles me. I turn my head slightly to hone in on the sound of the movement behind me, trying not to lose sight of the silhouette in front of me. Unfortunately, somewhere in the split second where I started, the figure vanished. Grumbling a little to myself, upset that I lost the intruder, I turn to whomever is behind me, lowering my rifle with a long, dissatisfied sigh.

It's Em. She stands in a long, flowing robe, loosely fastened and starting to come open in the early morning breeze. The curvature of her face in the moonlight is like a shadowy portrait painted on the most delicate of canvas. The outline of her body seems to glow in the pale blue light, and I can see the space between her bare breasts, and an opening between the lapels of her robe that stretches down her front, stopping just below her navel. It appears she didn't wear anything, or little to nothing to bed to night, possibly because of the stifling, muggy heat of the afternoon and evening.

"Is everything okay?" she asks, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"Situation is as normal as it can be," I reply, almost militantly, forgetting that I need not adhere to my usual military bearing with her.
"You looked like you were tracking something."
"Well..." I mull over my next words carefully. I can tell the truth and possibly scare her, or lie, and ultimately risk having the truth come back to bite me later, such as if that figure comes back sometime and actually attacks. In a short moment of consideration, that more felt like an eternity, I decide that the truth is the best option, for many reasons that I won't waste time in my mind justifying.
"I did see something, just over there," I answer, with a nod of my head in the direction of the figure, "It looked like it could have been human. However, I lost sight of it." I didn't want to include that my losing sight was associated with her startling me, it just didn't seem right to make it sound like it was her fault, whether it actually was or not, or if I thought that.
"Like it 'could have been?'" Em repeated, sounding a bit nervous.
I curse myself in my mind. Of course, a response like that was bound to make her feel uneasy, even in the midst of a squad of soldiers. There wasn't any way to take back those words, to un-ring that bell, so I continue to tell the truth.
"It walked and was shaped like a human, however, its breathing sounded odd...raspy... Also, its eyes...its like they glowed..."
None of this seemed to do anything other than make Em appear even more scared. She clutched the edges of her robe just under her chin and visibly shivered. I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around her and held her to me, 'for warmth,' I told myself, even though in the darkness is was quite warm, and already starting to get warmer.
"It's not anything that is worth worrying about," I assure her, "for whatever it is, it would be ill-advised to try anything suspicious around me and my men. Now...." I pull back just enough to look into her soft eyes and feel something leap within my chest. I clear my throat, feeling the insatiable urge to kiss her, "go to bed. Get some rest. We will continue our travels in the morning."
She says nothing, but nods her head in agreement and submission. Before she turns, I grasp her shoulders and gently kiss her on the forehead. I don't know why, but I do. Em doesn't say anything, and scarcely even reacts, but simply lets out a tired sigh and returns to her sleeping quarters.