by Unknown
“Hmm,” Alethus mused, exchanging a look with Minna, who frowned.
“Are you certain you want to face them head-on, sir? It wouldn’t be hard to change course to go around the other side of the mountain. At least there it will uncover their flanks,” Minna asked. Behind her, Alethus could see the army continuing to move at the same pace.
Alethus chuckled and shook his head. “Yes, it would. However, it’d also add about a day to our journey, and I’d rather not give the duke or king any more time to respond if I can help it. Destroying their army and releasing the beast is better… and besides, I feel like it’d be a hollow victory if we just released the beast and ran. I need a victory to have a chance at becoming the Dark Lord. That’s why I’m going to cut my way through them and head directly for the shrine while you crush them in detail.”
“As you wish, sir,” Minna conceded, her irritation barely visible, and Alethus laughed again.
“Well, they don’t have much in the way of air support. Twelve griffins that I saw… they might have more, but I doubt it, or they’d be with the army,” Phillip said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “We’ve got three times as many, so even if they’re higher level than us, which I doubt, we should be able to take them down. Then we can bombard their lines from above pretty easily. Should distract their magi.”
“Yes, but you’d likely be taking a lot of fire as well. I don’t want to lose you or any of the others,” Alethus said, grinning at Phillip as he added, “It cost far too much to raise the wyverns and riders!”
“Your concern honors us all, sir,” Phillip replied sardonically, giving an overly exaggerated bow, then his expression sobered. “That said, I completely understand, my lord. It would be dangerous for us, but that’s what we trained for. If we’re not supposed to fight, what’s the point of us having trained at all?”
Alethus looked at the man for a moment, then slowly smiled, pleasantly surprised by the response. Then he nodded, murmuring, “Good man. I don’t disagree, but I’m also not lying about how valuable all of you are. Keep yourselves alive so you can rain death on them for many more years, you hear?”
“Sounds like a plan, sir,” Phillip agreed, grinning broadly again.
“However, the question remains, when do we wish to meet them, sir?” Minna asked, a hint of irritation in her voice as she glared at Phillip. “The majority of our army is human, but I suspect that even more of theirs is.”
“True. Which means the best time to fight them…” Alethus let his voice trail off as he considered, then shrugged. “Dusk tomorrow. That will give us plenty of time to get into position, and they’ll just find it more difficult to deal with as time goes on.”
“As you wish, sir,” Minna said, bowing deeply with a hand on her chest. Phillip followed suit, and Alethus smiled in satisfaction.
“Now, let’s go. They can’t reach us tonight, so I expect the cooks to make the best meal they can,” Alethus said, turning to follow the main column of soldiers. “If they’re going to fight, I’d rather the troops went into it well fed.”
Phillip laughed as he headed back for his wyvern, replying cheerfully. “I can get completely behind that, sir! See you at the camp!”
Alethus chuckled, listening to the dragon growl, then the air blasted against his back as the man took flight again. Alethus watched the wyvern ascend and nodded in satisfaction. Phillip would keep any flying creatures from ambushing them, of that he was certain.
“I wish he was more respectful, sir,” Minna said after a minute, her voice cool.
“Of course you do. You come from a line of knights and always keep proper manners in mind. He was an orphan and bandit and comes from a group whose highest form of respect is how casual they are with one another. You’re opposites,” Alethus replied, his pace casual, yet still fast enough to gain on the soldiers. That was an advantage of being higher level than any of them. “You’re both excellent at your jobs, which is my main concern. Thank you for organizing the army, Minna. I’ll be counting on you to command the army when I leave tomorrow.”
She didn’t reply immediately, which didn’t surprise Alethus. After a minute she spoke, the faintest hint of emotion in Minna’s voice. “I’ll do my best to live up to your expectations, sir. I just wish that you’d let me send people with you.”
Alethus laughed at that, turning to grin at his loyal assistant as he replied, amusement coursing through him. “Oh, I know you do! But you’ll need them more than me, and believe me, none of them would be able to keep up with me, and I’m not even going to teleport!”
“If you say so, milord,” Minna acquiesced, and Alethus turned back to their path.
Tonight was going to be a good night, he thought. And the next day would be even better.
Joy took a sip of her lemonade and watched the other adventurers, as well as the soldiers beyond them. Her spot on a lower branch of a tree gave her an excellent vantage point to watch from, and it allowed her to see more than just people. The army had split into dozens of encampments, but even so she could see the subtle divisions between them, divisions that most of the others didn’t seem to notice.
The army was made up of predominantly Warriors, from what Brianna had said, and the men and women in it didn’t really like the adventurers, knights, or magi. Conversely, they seemed to be very fond of the priests, who were on good terms with each of the other groups. Probably because they healed people, Joy suspected, but she wasn’t sure. The knights mostly ignored the dislike of the soldiers and stuck to themselves, though a few associated with the adventurers and priests. The magi were mostly sticking to themselves, as were the adventurers, but even among adventurers she could see divisions that seemed to be based on background, level, or experience, and Joy didn’t understand it. She couldn’t see how any army made up of people who were so divided would be able to succeed… but she also acknowledged that she didn’t know that much. She could easily be wrong.
Slightly more comprehensible to her was how different people were dealing with preparing for the next day. Joy saw an archer checking all of his arrows and several bowstrings, while a group of soldiers were playing a game involving dice and coins that kept getting passed around. Some adventurers were telling stories and boasting about what they’d do, while a Shaman had moved to the edge of the camp to watch the stars and meditate. Every one of the humans, elves, dwarves, and other species was unique in a way that Joy wasn’t… and she found she envied them.
Stella was reading the book she’d purchased, the one about Mother Moon, and Joy made a mental note to ask her more about Mother Moon the next time they were in private. After the last time when asking about the goddess had caused Brianna and Stella to get in a fight, Joy didn’t want to ask about her with Brianna around.
Brianna was checking all of her equipment, and had her belt out as she organized potions to make them more easily accessible, something which made Joy’s nose wrinkle. She couldn’t understand why anyone would drink potions, with how they’d turned her stomach. The mere memory of the flavor made Joy’s stomach lurch, and she quickly took a swallow of the lemonade, the pleasant, home-like flavor calming the roiling sensation.
Cora was the one who Joy’s gaze lingered on the most, though. The elf was carefully going over her clothing, cleaning it carefully so that the outer layer of cloth was as perfect as possible, and she showed a deft hand at mending the tears in the fabric, which hid the glowing armor beneath it. A cloth to buff the buttons to a dull shine, the way she cleaned her staff as well, making it look as though it hadn’t been through several combats since it was made… Cora had a ritual all her own, and Joy half-wished she had one of her own. Her armor, daggers, and rapier were all ready, and she didn’t feel nervous about what was coming. Instead, all she felt was… she didn’t know what it was that she felt.
The clip-clop sound told Joy that Silverhoof was approaching, but she didn’t turn to look at him, instead taking another drink, savoring the flavor and glancing up at the stars tha
t were beginning to shine even brighter, now that the sun had gone down. Joy wondered what the stars were, tilting her head… then shrugged and asked the question.
“What are stars? Or the sun, or the moon?” Joy asked, looking over at Silverhoof curiously, which prompted the centaur to blink at her.
“That sounds more like a question for a philosopher, not me,” Silverhoof rumbled in reply, approaching a little closer, his head about level with the leg she had dangling off the branch. “I know they shed light, that they form patterns in the sky, like the Cauldron, the Bow, and others… but what they are? No idea. Some of my people claim that they’re the souls of those who’ve died, looking down on us. I disagree, but only because they don’t seem to be increasing in number. Why do you ask?”
“No reason, really. I’ve just watched them a lot since becoming an apis, and I wondered,” Joy said, taking a sip of her lemonade, then looked down at the Guildmaster, thinking for a few seconds. Then she continued. “Can we win, Guildmaster? With everything I’ve heard… lots of people sound confident, but I remember things. I was one of a dozen bees that fought a wasp before I changed, and four of us died before we killed it. It was bigger and stronger than us, even if we outnumbered it… but here, they outnumber us, and no one has said we’re bigger and stronger.”
Silverhoof didn’t reply, instead reaching down to pluck a stalk of grass from below the tree. He rolled it, then stuck it in his mouth to chew it slowly. Joy didn’t rush him, waiting patiently as she watched Brianna pull out a whetstone for her dagger.
“With most people, I’d reassure them. But you don’t want that, do you?” the centaur said at last.
“Nope. I’ve been in fights where I thought I’d die before,” Joy replied, grinning down at him. “I’m just… curious. I don’t know so many things.”
“Then I’ll give it to you straight. Once we engage the invaders, our chances of winning are slim,” Silverhoof said, letting out a sigh as he shook his head. “Gods… the only reason we have a chance is the same sort of thing as when we fought the ants. If we can take out Alethus and take back the shards, we can get them away from the enemy. They don’t have the numbers to take any major city quickly, so if we could do that, it’d turn things around… but they know that as well as we do. The ants operated on instinct and didn’t realize what we were doing. This time will be different. If the apis come to our aid, that could change the entire course of the battle, though. That’s why I came over to talk to you, to see if you think they will.”
“I don’t know,” Joy said simply, shrugging and swirling her cup thoughtfully, a little surprised by how little lemonade was left in it. She hadn’t thought she’d drunk that much. “I know I would help if I were them, but I’m not. Everyone thinks that we’re all alike, us apis… but we’re not. Hives are different. The Shadebough Hive is more aggressive than the Tulip Hive, and they’re better at hiding. The Tulip Hive is better at building things than the Shadebough Hive. I wasn’t at this hive for long enough to understand them fully, but what I did see… they’re planners. They’re preparing for the future and carefully deciding what is best for them.
“I think that will convince them to help us. I don’t know, though. If they do decide to help us, it could be too late, too,” Joy said, looking at Silverhoof seriously. “Everyone is saying that we might fight the Skyfishers tomorrow. If the apis decide late, the battle could be over. So I don’t know.”
Silverhoof remained silent for a few seconds, watching her, then Joy’s friends. After a minute he sighed again and nodded. “That’s not what I wanted to hear, but at least it’s some hope. If I can catch Alethus one-on-one, or with a few people helping me… I might be able to handle him. I suppose I should just pray to the gods that we prevail.”
That caused Joy to glance at the centaur curiously, then she asked, “Does praying help?”
“Well… I think it does. If nothing else, it makes me feel a little better,” Silverhoof replied, giving her another odd look, then chuckled. “Though I suppose it might seem strange to someone who isn’t religious. I’ll leave you to your night, Joy. I hope you get enough rest, as tomorrow could be quite unpleasant.”
“You too!” Joy told him, then drank the last of the lemonade wistfully. She was running low after the gift to the new apis hive, but Joy wasn’t upset about it. She still had another jar of it left, and plenty of honey.
The sound of Silverhoof’s hooves vanished into the distance, and Joy debated for a few seconds before levering herself off the branch and dropping to the ground. With a flutter of her wings Joy landed lightly, then headed back for the tiny camp where her friends were waiting.
“Did you have a good conversation with the Guildmaster?” Stella asked idly, a finger slowly moving down the page of her book.
“I think so! He just wanted to know how likely I thought it was that the apis would come help,” Joy replied happily, plopping down next to Cora. “How’s your book?”
“Mostly the same as the ones back home, with a few minor differences so far,” Stella said, looking up and smiling wryly. “I’m mostly amused at how calm you seem to be. We could die tomorrow, you know.”
“Bearton could have been attacked by wasps and we could’ve been eaten. A wall could have fallen on us. I could have dodged the manti-thingy’s spike too slowly. There are lots of times when I could have died. That’s how we met!” Joy replied, grinning broadly at the human. “I’m not dead yet, and I want to enjoy myself! Even if being downwind of the army smells terrible.”
All three women laughed, and Brianna nodded, setting the whetstone aside as she murmured, “Entirely agreed, and if I can smell it, I don’t envy you. You have a point, though. I’m not sure if I can keep myself from worrying, but I’ll try.”
Cora nodded, propping her staff against her tent as she looked around the campfire at Joy, then at Brianna and Stella. Joy tilted her head curiously, and the blonde elf smiled back at her.
“I was just thinking… tomorrow is going to be difficult. Yes, we might die, but we’re going to do our best not to. Promise?” Cora asked, offering her hand to Brianna, who was to her left, and Joy to her right.
Joy took her hand, while Brianna laughed and did the same, extending a hand to Stella. Joy belatedly followed her example, while Stella smiled and closed her book, then took each of their hands.
“I promise,” Stella said simply, Brianna rolled her eyes in response.
“Can’t we put a little more enthusiasm into this? Let’s not just survive, but win,” the human said, sounding incredibly determined.
“Sure! Let’s kick some Skyfishers all the way back to their valley!” Joy said, grinning broadly. “Then we can get the ore and leave!”
Cora’s smile made Joy even happier, and the woman murmured, “That sounds like an excellent plan to me.”
Chapter 35
“Still no apis,” Marquess Clarion said grimly, her gaze fixed on the army that was approaching.
Sir Wilbert nodded, resisting the urge to ensure his sword was easy to draw. As unhappy as he might be, their opponents were at least an hour away from being able to attack them, and he didn’t want to make the soldiers even more nervous.
The opposing army was an imposing one; even Sir Wilbert had to admit that. Lord Alethus’s pennant was a black shield on dark blue, with a silver trident over the shield, and his army mirrored the colors, with most of them wearing black or blue armor. It was sinister-looking, and made worse by the orderly contingents of trolls, a few giants, and mingled species that made up much of his army. Even more worrying were the war beasts and three dozen wyvern riders, which would make holding their lines much more difficult.
It didn’t help to have known how outmatched they were to begin with, not with the consequences of failure looming large in the back of Wilbert’s mind. He had family in Irador, and if the apocalypse spider escaped… the thought made his skin crawl, and reinforced his determination as well. He hoped that the knights felt the same, but
unfortunately he couldn’t guarantee that.
“I’d hoped they’d come, but… it seems we’re going to have to do this on our own,” Wilbert said, trying to work out the knot he could feel in the middle of his back.
“Which is what I expected,” the marquess replied coolly. “Never rely on those you don’t know personally. You are only setting yourself up for disappointment. Besides, we already planned for this, so you’d best go. We have to draw out Alethus for Silverhoof.”
“Yes, Lady Clarion,” Wilbert acknowledged, bowing at the waist before her, then he turned to leave.
As he moved, he glanced at the makeshift earthen ramparts protecting the regular soldiers and wished they’d been able to do more than build the short pits and mounds, and to adorn them with something better than common stakes. It would help, but it wouldn’t be enough to even the odds.
No, too many of those present were going to die, Wilbert knew. Some of those wouldn’t have the good fortune to resurrect… and even if they did, if the spider was released their chances of escaping its wrath were minimal at best.
“Gods, protect us from the coming shadows,” Wilbert murmured softly, keeping quiet enough that he hoped no one else heard him.
“Looks like they did their best to set up a welcome for us,” Alethus said, a cold smile on his face as he surveyed the field ahead of them, a field which had the long shadow of the mountain slowly covering it as the sun sank from the sky.
The ground was a little rocky, but not enough that it would cause problems for the Astonian cavalry, which were flanking the modestly fortified area where the bulk of the enemy army was. About two hundred to three hundred knights were on either side of the defenses, and while Alethus couldn’t see past them to be sure, he suspected that priests and magi were behind each block of soldiers, ready to use their spells offensively or defensively.
