by Randi Darren
It was odd to him. It didn’t make sense. They could just as easily stay pinned up in their fort and wait.
“This one doesn’t understand why they’re intent on fighting. A number of Fairies were sent to spy on Verix,” Petra said from beside him. “Their citizens aren’t completely behind this war. This one believes they’re working on a deadline. They also have a numerical advantage. If they continue to force us into combat and draw even odds, they’ll eventually win by that alone.”
“So why go out and meet them at all?” Vince asked.
“This one must report that they have greater siege capability then we do. If we stay in our fort, they begin bombarding it.
“Their own people are siege weapons given enough time. To stay in our defenses is to invite a magical duel, which we would neither win nor lose, but it would cost us,” Petra explained matter-of-factly. “Luckily they have not discovered this, though they may begin to suspect it.”
“I see. That… I had no idea they were so magically proficient. My understanding was magic was more a matter of training than a simple ability,” Vince admitted.
Fes shook her head with a growl, standing on the other side of Vince. “None of our reports even suggested it.”
Petra took in a slow breath and then let it out as her troops marched out of the fort to battle again. To throw themselves at the enemy. To keep them engaged and not bombarding them with magic.
This was a war of attrition in every way.
And they were going to lose it.
“Petra, you’re the general here, and I don’t mean to second guess you, but isn’t it time to change the conditions of the war? It seems fairly obvious that this is what they wish. That this is their goal. And that we’re paying the price for that. So… why don’t we change it?” Vince asked as carefully as he could.
The soldier ant nodded her head slowly. “In truth, this one was waiting for your return before doing anything. She… couldn’t keep her thoughts straight. This one has failed up to this point,” Petra muttered. “This one will correct those mistakes now. This will be our last battle on the field.”
Petra backed up and then slipped off the wall, disappearing into the courtyard below.
“Felicity!” called Petra from below.
Time for a change.
Chapter 34
The battle between the forts went about as Vince had expected. A slow grind that did nothing other than bleed lives for both sides. Yosemite pushed, and then Verix pushed.
Magic was fairly limited and most of the fighting was done with normal weapons.
Though this would be the last battle like this. Plans to change the victory conditions had been drawn up, and executed.
Petra had abandoned the fort almost as soon as the battle started. She had her entire force exit through the rear of her position unnoticed.
Even before the battle had been concluded, the forces of Yosemite were on the move in the field. Driving north, they began a long looping flank around the stone fortress. Utilizing the terrain as best as they could to hide numbers and movement.
It was a push towards the rear of the enemy. Moving directly towards the path to Verix. Even though the city was far away, the hope was the threat would be real in the minds of the High Elves.
Especially if they could get to where the road split through the mountains. The pass was a straight shot towards Verix and the shortest one available.
Not very many people would need to be left behind to hold the pass for a number of days. To delay and hold whatever force came second.
Vince viewed the whole thing as a gamble. A gamble that relied on understanding the enemy’s mindset. Petra wanted to draw the enemy out of their fort and clash in the fields. It was what she was betting the lives of her people on.
In those fields was where her greater mobility could be better used. That she could position the enemy and flank it repeatedly while utilizing Frit.
The enemy eventually saw the flank, and reacted. They left their defenses and streamed out into the field, seemingly desperate to catch or halt Petra’s advance.
Petra was right in her estimation of her opponent.
Being more of a bystander to the entire thing, Vince could only watch. He saw as it started to head towards the ultimate conclusion where the battle would be commenced. When everything would spiral out of control.
Frit’s command became a running screen for Petra, skirmishing repeatedly with Verix’s army and keeping the two armies separated. Acting as if all they wanted to do was to keep Verix at a distance and rush the pass.
Eventually Frit pulled his people back further than he had previously after a particularly fierce clash. It was a planned tactic, one set to draw in Verix.
Once again, Petra’s planning proved to be correct. Verix’s army pushed in, trying to bring this running fight to a standstill and force an engagement.
“Perfect. It’ll be now that we attack,” Petra said, her head tilted to one side as she watched the enemy across the field.
“What’ll be now?” Vince asked.
“Our Undead. Gerard went out with them before the army set out. He’ll remain in safe position, as he’s no combatant, but he’ll be guiding them. They’re waiting for this exact moment. They’re low to the ground on the next rise,” Petra said.
Surprised, Vince set his attention back to the enemy.
She’s planned this out rather well. Very well. And everything is going as she expected.
According to whatever pre-established scenario Petra had put together, Frit’s unit began to furiously engage rather than pull back as they’d done previously. At the same time, the High Elves were approaching the apex of a small hill on their flank.
As the battle went up in tempo, the far right edge of the army of Verix came to a dead stop. Something locked them in place even as the middle of their army kept pressing into them.
The Undead had sprung into action, launching themselves at that flank and tearing into it.
Petra turned and commanded her entire force into a single minded charge. Her mages utilized spells to dispense orders to everyone, who responded quickly.
The High Elf line shifted, magic booming out as they got the fight they’d been wanting. They were spending resources they normally held in reserve. A tired mage was an easy target.
I imagine this isn’t quite what they wanted. Fighting on two fronts already, and one of those being Undead.
Screams, shouts, and the crash of weapons were deafening even from this distance.
Vince pulled up short as Petra and her command group stopped far from the front. Apparently this was as close as she wanted to get.
That’s right, Vinny. You’re not a warrior anymore. We don’t get to fight on the front line.
We’re a king now, and as such we must rely on our people. Rely on them to do what we desire of them.
Beastmen, Ratkin, Elves, Orcs, Humans, and all the races of Yosemite were being slain as they sought to kill their foes.
Even if I can only watch them die while fulfilling my desires.
The rest of Yosemite’s forces slammed into the left flank of Verix, tearing into the High Elves who simply weren’t prepared to be fighting on both flanks and their center.
Almost as soon as they were embattled on every side, the ground fell out from beneath Yosemite’s soldiers.
Large swathes of earth simply vanishing, the men and women of Yosemite ended up in a vast pit. It stretched from the left flank all the way to the center point.
“Magic,” Leila said.
On the right flank, the Verix magicians detonated a massive amount of magical energy, the Undead over there disintegrating under the force of it.
“This one fears… that this is not a good victory. Not one we’d choose,” Petra murmured. Smoke billowed up from the position the Undead had been inhabiting only moments before.
Nothing stirred.
“That was a great deal of magical power to unleash,” Leila said in an
amazed voice. “I’d bet on that actually killing several of their mages, unless they spread it out to even the soldiers.”
So much so that they can’t even stay to utilize their advantage.
Vince couldn’t help but feel nervous when he saw his people fall in those pits. They were at the mercy of High Elves above them and would have a tough time getting back out, let alone defending themselves.
That icy fear left immediately when it became clear the Elves weren’t interested. Even though the soldiers of Yosemite were at a severe disadvantage.
The Elves must have been beyond magically spent. Their power had to be drained to the point of critical concern.
Stumbling off towards the pass, the army of Verix escaped the trap, and forsook the advantage they’d gained.
In a telling move that perhaps explained how concerned they were, they left behind several hundred High Elves on the ground.
Both those that were killed and those who were only wounded.
Frowning, Vince wasn’t sure how to count this. They’d clearly lost a staggering amount of the Undead, if not all of them.
Thousands of Undead that they couldn’t call on again.
But neither did they take many losses from the main body of Yosemite’s forces.
Fes growled and then flipped a dismissive hand at the retreating High Elves’ backs.
“Fine, we dislodged them from their pile of rocks. Now they’re in the field where they’re running, and we’ll keep hitting them at every chance. They’ll try to outrun us, and keep moving. Tiring themselves out and losing the wounded with every fight.
“When they reach the pass first, they’ll hold it. We can engage them there, or go around them through the hills in a long flank. Rather than be encircled, they’ll retreat backwards. Back towards Verix. No doubt they’ll reach it before we do. We’ll besiege them, and starve them out. They’ll be forced to surrender at the end,” Fes said angrily.
Petra hesitated, then nodded her head slowly. Yosemite’s general agreed with Fes’ assessment of the situation. Seemingly feeling like it would go more or less as stated.
Vince couldn’t deny it either.
The problem was, it was unlikely that the city would surrender, until it had no other recourse. At that point, it’d be a city of the dead and dying.
A worthless, empty city.
And if we try to take it, to simply take it by force, we bleed our own people dry.
There are no good options here.
So what do I do.
What do I do.
Sinking into his thoughts, Vince withdrew mentally and let everyone else handle the current situation.
As if Fes were prophetic, the campaign started to go exactly as she’d suggested. The only thing she hadn’t predicted was the constant rear screen the Verix army employed.
A constant trail of corpses and wounded were being bled from both sides. Though it did favor Yosemite. More so when you considered that Gerard happily took every corpse of Verix and put them into his Undead legion.
They could recover their wounded and treat them. Verix couldn’t. They didn’t have the time or luxury to treat their wounded. If they couldn’t keep up the pace with the army, they’d be left behind.
There was no other option for them.
Days passed by as this grinding, bloody chase continued. Vince could do nothing but watch as it happened. His only duties were to empower the Elves and Dryads so they could heal the wounded to the point that they could continue. Then wait.
Wait for something that the king of Yosemite could do.
For that moment to come.
Unfortunately it never did. He was still waiting when they were suddenly found themselves within sight of the gates of Verix.
“I don’t remember the walls being so tall,” Vince said, staring up at the city-state fortress of Verix.
“You had your back to it last time as you scurried away,” Ramona said with a smirk. “This time, we’ve walked up to it with the intent of claiming it for ourselves.”
“Red sees a silk swaddled messenger boy,” said the Cursed One. She sunk low to the ground, her hips waggling as she readied herself to pounce.
You know, her vocabulary keeps improving. I wonder if she’s just picking that up from conversation.
Off in the distance was an Elven man on a horse. Even from this distance, you could tell he was dressed richly and stank of overindulgence. He was riding slowly down the road towards what could only end up being Petra’s waiting hands.
Has to be an emissary or a negotiator.
“Don’t attack,” Vince said, laying his right hand on Red’s head. He scratched at her ears gently. “Let’s hear what they say. There’s no harm in it, and I doubt one High Elf is any threat to us. Sam, take a wing and let Petra know.”
He’d somehow managed to convince Petra and Fes to let him be a forward scout with his squad. If he’d been forced to remain in the camp for any longer, he probably would have lost his mind at the helplessness of it.
Being able to participate was a blessing.
“’Kay!” shouted Sam. Leaping off his shoulder she took off towards the command post for Petra.
“Leila, do you have any type of shielding you can put around him? So that if he does try something, it’ll collapse back on him?” Vince asked. Standing up he walked slowly over to the path that the rider was taking.
“No. My specialty lies in… in corruption,” Leila said, floating along beside him on her disc.
“I ever tell you how strange it is to have a lovely Gnome like yourself who specializes in murder?” Vince said with a smirk, catching her eyes with his own.
She snorted and made a face at him. “We don’t get to choose what we’re good at, only what we do with it.”
“Fair,” Ramona agreed. Her wings stretching out behind her.
“Red likes hunting and killing. Red doesn’t like war,” said the Beastkin.
Stopping in the middle of the road, Vince decided waiting right here would be fine.
His squad arranged themselves around him, looking vengeful and ready. The only one who didn’t was Mouth, she stayed in Vince’s shadow.
She was armed with a staff very similar to Meliae’s. They’d also managed to get her into a set of leather armor that would fit her.
At the same time they outfitted Mouth, Vince had changed out his gear. He finally gave up his leather armor, since it was ruined anyways, and donned a brigandine chest-piece. It was something he could move around in, wouldn’t rattle terribly, and provided more protection. It was quilted cloth with plates riveted between. For his arms and legs, he wore similar armor, though the plates were significantly smaller. Almost studs.
There was no hiding that everyone was surprised and pleased with the change. Even if Vince personally disliked it, he was glad to make them feel better.
The Elf had noticed them a while ago, and didn’t change his speed or decorum. In Vince’s point of view, the little peacock puffed himself up even more upon being noticed.
Well, aren’t you a brave fool. Don’t you fear being killed at all?
Drawing his blade from its sheath, Vince let it hang in his fingertips. He’d be ready regardless.
“He stinks of confidence,” Ramona muttered. “And cologne.”
Fighting down a grin, Vince waited.
Sam came back and settled down on his shoulder.
“The general sends her best wishes, and wishes you good luck in the negotiations,” Sam whispered in his ear.
There wasn’t any time to ask questions, as the Elf was now within earshot.
Stopping ten feet away he held tight to the reins as he stared down at Vince and company.
“Go get your general, or an emissary, or that filthy king of yours,” demanded the Elf.
Vince raised his eyebrows at that.
He’s lucky Kitch isn’t here.
“You’re looking at him. Vince of Yosemite. Now tell me why this filthy king of theirs shouldn’t p
ull your guts out and strangle you to death with them,” Vince said.
Amusingly to Vince, that had an effect on the man. He sat up straight, his hands tightening on the reins.
“You wouldn’t dare!” exclaimed the Elf.
“Leila, the horse,” Vince said.
A purple arrow shot forward with a softly spoken rhyme. It hit the front of the horse’s chest and then vanished.
Only a second later, the horse dropped. Its legs splayed out underneath it and its head hit the dirt.
“Again. Why shouldn’t I pull your guts out and strangle you with them? Or feed you to a Troll I know. She’s told me before she’s willing to eat Elves for me,” Vince said. Moving forward he closed the distance between himself and the Elf in only a few paces.
“I-I-I- that is…” the Elf sputtered, disentangling himself from the dead mount.
“You what. Thought that you could insult me and receive no punishment? Think again. You have ten seconds,” Vince said, putting the tip of his saber to the man’s throat.
“Verix is willing to negotiate peace!” shrieked the Elf. “A neutral agreement and cessation of hostilities!”
“Oh? And why would I accept that? Verix began this by attacking my caravans. You killed my people. Stole from me. Why would I ever allow that without Verix paying?” Vince asked.
I could accept this and everyone could go home. But I’d be leaving an enemy at my back. One that attacked me without warning and without declaration of war.
A nation that would wait for an opportunity to attack, and then do so.
No. We’ll not accept such a silly form of peace.
“Uh… ah, yes. Verix would be willing to pay restitution for everyone slain, as well as the costs for the caravan,” the Elf conceded quickly.
“And? What’s to prevent Verix from attacking again? Nothing. There is nothing you can offer that would grant me and my people peace of mind. So… let’s end this.
“Take off all your clothes, though you can keep your underwear, and start heading back. You can tell them what my response is,” Vince said. “And that is, ‘I will see the light fade from your eyes, as I take your head from your shoulders.’ Got it?”
