As Forec and the boy approached, Sepherance stood and greeted him with a nod. Forec nodded back and took his place by the fire. Sepherance sat, and the boy stood behind.
“We will be arriving at the pass by early afternoon,” the High Leader said. “Are there any preparations you need us to make?”
“No,” Forec said. “Is there anything you need from us?”
“Just to save our lives,” he said. “Avalyn help us.”
“Very well,” Forec said. “We’ll get to sleep, then.”
A horn blared from somewhere within the camp. There was a short clamor of activity and then a low hum of words that mixed. Squad leaders told their soldiers that the march would soon end. For many of the soldiers, it would be the first time that what they were there for would set in. It was time to prepare for war.
The night held very little sleep for the soldiers, the mages included. Forec kept his eyes shut, but never quite settled. The sun rose what felt like only moments after he had fallen asleep, but some sleep was better than none. At least, that was what he told himself.
The march began before they had even a chance to wake, but soon it was clear why. Mountains that once seemed to be forever in the distance were now all around them. Shadows overtook them altogether, even though the sun hadn’t fully risen. There would be plenty of time to eat once they reached the pass.
Forec pushed himself to the front of the march to experience the view. What he found disappointed him. It was merely a canyon that narrowed. Eventually, it thinned to the point where only ten or so men would be able to stand across. It would still be some time before they arrived—half an hour at least—and he had decided that his patience had run out.
He opened a rift for himself. The other opened at the start of the narrow part. Where the wide section ended—wide enough for over a hundred men to walk side by side—cliffs began. He stepped through and closed it behind him before any could follow. Convenient enough, he decided. The mages and talents would wait atop the cliffs and attack from there. The soldiers could clog the pass long enough for the mages to thin the elves numbers.
A girl sat atop the cliffs. Her feet dangled over the edge and gently kicked in the air.
“Vyra, did you enjoy yourself?” he shouted.
“A little too much,” she said. She ran a finger across her neck.
At least she was pointed at the same enemies as him, Forec thought. The dreadful thought of her sided with the elves hit him. It wouldn’t kill him to be more agreeable to the girl, he thought. It might if he didn’t, though.
Vyra found the meetings that the squad leaders had were dull as could be, though easy enough to listen in on. The ones the High Leader held were much more exciting, both in the content and the challenge to listen to them. They huddled together, surrounded by observant guards. Not quite observant enough, though. The conversations were about who was expendable and why. They chalked up lives and their value, so nonchalantly it was almost as if it reasonable. She found herself in agreement for the most part. But she thought they overvalued some men because of their loyalty. And because of personal grievances, they undervalued some talented squads. It made sense, though, each of the men played a game. Some men had favors owed favors, and this was how they meant to pay them back.
The longer she listened in, the more her interest waned. The conversations turned from practical things—who would be stationed where—to impossible theoreticals. She had little care for the imagination of men who had never been in battle. Never mind the blood-soaked dreams of a man who groaned if there was dirt on their uniforms.
She found she was just as bored by the mages. Most of their conversations focused on proper retreat for when the battle inevitably ended in disaster. At least they were realistic. Their talents talked as well. Even though their conversations were dull, she was fascinated by them. They aired out their fears and imagined the disaster that they faced. Many of them felt relief to have been found by the mages. They would be evacuated when it all went to shit. They weren’t wrong to imagine those as worst case scenarios, but the reality was worse than they could have ever guessed.
Freedic seemed to still be on a high from his position as leader of the squad of mages. He was back to the overly-confident, chest puffed, and head held high posture he had when Vyra first saw him. It was better he do that than brood and whine, she thought. Though, as he approached Forec, he seemed to deflate entirely. She approached carefully, Forec could see through her veil still.
“Those the ones?” Forec asked.
“Yeah,” Freedic said. “Seems he’s using my recommendations over whatever shit his men told him.”
“Probably for the best,” Forec said. “He chose someone without any attachments. Doesn’t owe anyone.”
“Still a damned hard thing to do,” Freedic said. “I practically signed the death warrants of those men.”
“Better them than those who stand a fighting chance,” Forec said. “Someone had to die. Why waste your best chance on an enemy at full strength.”
“I suppose,”
“It’s not like there is a better option,” Forec said. “Unless you’ve got one.”
Freedic shook his head.
She turned her attention to the pass below as hundreds of men began to file into the narrow portion. Each had a spear and shield in hand, with nine men across. Thousands of them poured in until they reached halfway through the mile long pass. It was strange to see after the conversations she had listened in on. Those men weren’t sent there to fight, not truly. They were a distraction, at best they might be able to delay the elves. At worst, their deaths would trigger a panic in the rest of the soldiers.
Did they know what their fate would be, she wondered, or did they not even know why they were out in that pass? Maybe they thought they would be heroes in the battle against the invaders. No, of course, they didn’t. They couldn’t be that daft. They had no particular attention given to them. But they had seen others trained by Freedic. Others who weren’t stood shoulder to shoulder with them.
She would watch those men die, she realized. She had even watched as their final fate was sealed. Packed into the pass with no escape. Elves would soon charge from the front, and at the back were thousands of more soldiers who pushed forward to fill the pass. They were barely anything more than a feature of the terrain, she thought. Hopefully a bit more useful in battle than rocks, but she didn’t hold her hopes high.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Chapter 20
Days passed, and Forec saw no sign of movement at the far side of the pass. So little happened in the distance that Forec began to wonder if the elves had circumvented the pass. Each day seemed to last longer than the next until they started to blend.
Sepherance began to send scouts to the front to search for some clue about the elves position. Vyra had assured them of their progress forward, but couldn’t place them precisely. She said she had seen them up to the edge of the mountains, but after that, she made her way straight for the pass. Forec trusted her but still wondered if they had done something she hadn’t predicted. Or maybe they waited for the rest of their force.
The men in the pass itself barely bothered to prepare anymore. They didn’t even dress in their armor. Not that he could blame them, but he did wish they would have behaved something like soldiers. The talents continued to train while they could, though they too had succumbed to some laziness.
Ruephen’s group of weaponmasters had settled somewhere among the squads on the outside of the pass. No use for them atop the cliff, Ruephen had the right idea. Much to Forec’s surprise, Freedic stayed on top of the cliffs and lounged. Every day he would look down at the men in the pass for hours. Then, after hours of that, he would go back to sleep.
The sun began to fall on another day that seemed to meander past its welcome. From the shadows in the distance, Forec saw a person turn the corner of the pass and continue to sprint down it. The soldiers within parted and allowed him through. He disappeared o
ut of sight, but Forec understood what his arrival meant, and felt a chill in his spine.
Under the light of the moon, the elves came into view. There was no sleep that night.
The sun rose and began to shine light into the pass. As the morning went on, the first rays of light reached the camp of the elves. They stood at the far side of the pass and waited with perfect stillness in their ranks. In the pass below, the men shifted anxiously and began to dress in their armor and prepare their weapons. A little late to start to play soldier, but better than never.
The formation of armored figures began to step forward in unison.
“Hold until I give a signal,” Forec said. “No one so much as flinches until I tell you to do so.”
Mauvia and Ausa repeated the instructions to each of their groups of talents. Helien did as well, but with his unique twist.
The elves' approach was slow but served a purpose. Their lockstep sounded like a clap of thunder with each step they took. Forec watched as the talents shook. The mage boy rocked from his toes to heels and forward with his eyes frozen wide open.
“Hold,”
They still hadn’t yet reached the thinned section of the pass and wouldn’t reach it for some time at their pace. It gave plenty of time for fear to overcome some men, but they had nowhere to run. He questioned how and why the elves had found the pass but pushed the thoughts to the back of his head. It was worth his attention, but it was not the time.
The soldiers below couldn’t run, nor could the talents trapped atop the cliffs. But he saw in their eyes how badly they wanted to. He would want to run too if he was that powerless. Even as a mage, part of him wanted to escape right there.
The elves were close. Nearly to the narrow point, but they had stopped. Silence took over. He could hear his breath, but not much else.
The mage boy took a sharp breath. A thin line of fire shot from his hand and toward the elves.
It hit. One elf collapsed to the ground.
They charged.
“Dammit boy,” Forec said. “Attack!”
As the soldiers finished their last moments of preparation, the mages and talents unleashed a barrage of magic. Fire and earth flew through the air. All were pushed forward by wind from talents behind.
Ausa’s talents focused on the men below. Influencers, Forec thought. They were there to quench the soldiers’ fear and inspire confidence. But a display from the mages would do the same.
Forec closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Balls of fire appeared over both his hands. He exhaled and opened his eyes. Two spears of white flame hurtled through the air.
Magics bombarded the elves as Freedic watched on helplessly. Fire, stone, and orbs of darkness rained down onto the army of elves. The men in the pass were as prepared as they could be, though the soldiers behind—those he’d trained personally—scurried to prepare. They rushed to the sides of the pass and began to dress in their armor.
Freedic knew there was no use for him atop the cliff. He could only stand idle and watch. But perhaps there was a role to be filled in the chaos behind. They were only a few hundred feet away, and it was clear they needed help. Some groups tried to bring order to the madness, but they too were swept up in the chaos.
Freedic began to bark orders to anyone who would listen. He struggled to get the attention of any squad leader who could help. The more he shouted, the more he found he only added to the chaos of the situation. He didn’t even know what caused it in the first place.
When he began to listen, he found the source of the chaos. A rift had opened in the pass. A rift that glowed green. Orcs. He ran toward the source of the confusion, forced to push through the crowd of men who shifted anxiously. He heard men growl and shout at him, but they weren’t worth his attention.
The High Leader’s guards stood in a circle, presumably around him. In the background, the mountains glowed emerald green, and orcs began to fill the widest part of the pass. There was no chance Sepherance could deal with this appropriately, Freedic thought. But he balked at the idea of doing something himself. He walked forwards, toward the portal regardless.
The guards offered little resistance as he pushed by them. They practically stepped out of his way. Sepherance stood at the center of his guards with Kura’Gasa. He held his head high, and chest puffed. Freedic recognized his body language. The High Leader was terrified.
“We sent them to this pass just as High Mage Insmith instructed us, and now you block our battle?” Kura’Gasa asked. “Human, I doubt you know what it is you’re preventing.”
“There isn’t time,” Sepherance said. “Their attack has begun.”
“And you delay us further!” she shouted. “Move your men, or more will die.”
“Are you threatening my men?”
“Foolish human, the elves threaten your men,” she said. “I merely state truths.”
“By threatening to kill my men!” he said, his hands clenched into a fist.
“Sepherance,” Freedic said. “You’re not helping.”
“You dare-”
“Yes, I do,” he said. “Kura’Gasa, there is no time to pull the men back.”
“Then they will die,”
“We know that,” Freedic said calmly. “We were forced to accept that the moment we decided to send them in.”
“Such a waste,” she said. “They will do so little.”
“We will still need you,” Freedic said.
“Clearly,”
“Will you go along with what we have organized?” he asked.
“It seems we have little other choices,”
“Sepherance, inform her of the plan and allow her to position the orcs where ever she damn well wishes,” he said. “I’ll inform the mages of their arrival.”
Forec’s forehead beaded with sweat. His hands clenched into fists. Fire poured down from the sky like droplets of rain and stone-like hail. The elven charge had slowed to a crawl across the half-mile long death trap. Their numbers ground down moment by moment from the bombardment of magic. But they made progress forward still.
He floated balls of stone into the sky and melted them as they rocketed toward the ground. Any elf who was unlucky to be under the molten rock it had their armor melted away. Any unfortunate enough to step in it was trapped and trampled to death not long after.
Helien shot balls of brilliant white flames, twice the size of himself. Anything they touched burned away to ash. Even the stone itself burned to nothing as the flames collided with the ground below. He cackled harder with each moment that passed, either at the death or the fire. Probably the fire, Forec thought.
Mauvia sat back and did nothing. She was content to watch her talents float balls of pure darkness into the crowd of elves. He could tell how pleased she was, her mouth curled into a self-satisfied smile. But there were still issues at hand. She should have known better. Forec sent a gust of air to get her attention, enough of a signal for her to begin her attack again.
Ausa continued to do whatever it was she did. He could never read her. The difference between her stared off into the distance and her focused on whatever magic she did was more or less unobservable. Or, she was always lazy. Influential magic like that was difficult to quantify.
Though their barrage of magic continued to wear down the elves below, it seemed to have little effect after the initial slow. They moved steadily forward, despite their comrades' bodies. They walked over the corpses and crushed them below their feet as if they were nothing. There was nothing else that could be done, though, so Forec continued to attack with his melted stones.
“Forec,” Freedic said from behind him, “there are orcs at the pass.”
“Wonderful,” Forec said.
“Do you have any suggestions?” Freedic asked.
“Hope they manage to save our asses,” he said. “Tell Ruephen to do whatever he can to assist them.”
“Anything for me?” Freedic asked. “Stay with Ruephen and help the orcs?”
“
Get back as quickly as possible,” he said. “We need someone who can bail us out if the elves make it up here.”
“Of course,”
Magic continued to rain down at the elves below, and they continued to move forward without pause. Even their whittled numbers seemed utterly insurmountable. He shouted for the mages and talents to continue the attack. Even as more of the elves fell, the size of their march never seemed to change.
In the distance, a faint blur of movement began. A black shape, still far from the pass. Forec couldn’t quite identify it, but it set his nerves on edge. He continued to attack with the molten rocks. The black shape continued to grow. The realization struck. The second group of elves turned the corner and began to sprint down the pass.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Chapter 21
Vyra wondered why Forec had stopped his attack. The look on his face was one of terror and hopelessness, strange. She thought when she considered how well the offense had gone so far. Until she looked in the same direction, he stared at. She had wondered where the rest of the elves were. It appeared the first five thousand or so had charged after one of the mages had attacked.
It was difficult to tell from the distance, but the blur of black armor was only that. No colors. It was just the group of elves that had been at the river the in days before. The soldiers were elsewhere. That didn’t bode well for Auverance. But for the men who would fight the elves today, it was as close to good news as they would get.
The second group of elves began to pour into the wide part of the pass on the far side. More mages and talents began to notice the attacks slowed to a stop. The elves
At the far end of the pass, horns began to yell. The elves in the pass below stopped completely. There was a brief period of silence, and then a roar boomed through the mountains.
The elves charged once again.
Homecoming (Homecoming Chonicles Book 1) Page 15
