“So you eliminate anybody who accompanied you with the element of surprise,” Nathan said. “Or at least, you could have, if you hadn’t told me about your trick.”
“I haven’t exactly lost the power of my cairn,” Vera said drily.
“No, but if you wanted to blow me away, you would have done it the moment I turned around earlier.” Nathan crossed his arms. “I’m a Bastion. I have a binding stone backing me. Giving me any chance to regain the advantage is enormously risky.”
“Goddess, you’re so damn condescending,” Vera snapped. “For all you know, Seraph is waiting in the shadows and will blow a hole in your head the moment I snap my fingers.”
“Maybe. Like I said, I do plan for contingencies. There’s a reason I came by myself,” Nathan answered.
“Really?” Vera shook her head. “Fine then. Humor me. Let’s assume I don’t have cold feet. I have my cairn. I’m more powerful than you expect. Dozens of summons swarm out from the walls around you. Seraph steps out from the shadows. The doors are locked and you can’t get out.”
Vera pointed a finger at Nathan. “You are the most important Bastion in this battle. In this region, even. If you go down, both Sunstorm and Fei lose their power. Leopold will surely retreat the moment he realizes you’re dead. The Federation will sweep the battle, and then Gharrick County before the Empire can react. Torneus wins.”
Nathan grimaced. On the one hand, she was right.
On the other hand, that was only true if the Federation could win the battle after he went down.
“Not quite,” Nathan said. “You’re forgetting one thing.”
“What?”
“I’m a Bastion,” Nathan said.
When Vera scoffed, he pointed at the ground below him. Presumably, the cairn sat down there.
“I control the leylines here, through the binding stone. You may control the cairn, but I can manipulate the magic that leads to it,” Nathan said.
Vera stared at him, confused.
He continued, “The moment I realize that I’m in an unwinnable battle and cannot escape, I’ll overload the cairn. The tower, everybody in it, and within a few hundred meters, will be killed.”
“You’re kidding,” Vera said.
“It’s a fairly normal contingency plan for hopeless situations,” Nathan said. Or at least, it became one in his timeline. Cairns were simple to overload. “I may even be able to survive it, given I have a lot of power in my binding stone.”
“But if you don’t, you die,” Vera said, her voice hollow. “Your only plan if you were wrong about me was to take down everybody with you? Are you aware of how insane that sounds? You were so certain that you could stop me, or that Seraph wasn’t here, that the only backup plan you came up with was to take us with you!” Her voice echoed off the walls. Nathan suspected the soldiers outside heard her.
“Eventually, there comes a battle that can’t be won,” Nathan said. His eyes bore into Vera’s.
“Goddess, of course there is,” Vera spat back. “But there’s a difference between recklessly walking into a potential death trap and throwing every possible trick at a situation before shrugging your soldiers and blowing yourself to pieces. Imagine if that was my solution? By the time you opened the gateway to my tower to save me, this place would have been a smoking ruin.”
“If you’re my enemy, why should you care?” Nathan asked.
“Fuck you,” Vera shouted, and tried to strangle him from across the room. “Haven’t you realized it by now? I don’t care about Seraph’s plan. To hell with Torneus and being a Bastion. But you! I think you need to step back for a second and remember that there’s a long road ahead of you.”
Nathan remained silent. Something about Vera’s words clicked with him. He had a strange sense of deja vu, but realized it was for a different reason.
“This isn’t a glorious last stand,” Vera said. “You only became a Bastion months ago. If you die, you throw away years of dreams of everybody who wanted to become one. What about Fei? Sunstorm? Sen? Even the unicorn girl who stares at your ass when she thinks nobody is looking? What happens to them after you’re gone?”
Their faces flashed in his mind. So did their older faces, from Nathan’s original timeline.
In that moment, Nathan realized his error.
“You’re right,” Nathan admitted, closing his eyes.
Vera blinked. “You mean it?”
“I didn’t plan ahead enough,” Nathan said. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at the door. “I do want there to be a future for everybody. Maybe I was a little too fatalistic.”
“A little? You basically said that if you were wrong, then death was inevitable,” Vera replied. She sighed. “I’m telling you this because the others won’t. Your girls admire you to an almost unhealthy extent. You’ve earned that admiration, but I see a lot of Leopold in you. Being too competent can be a problem as well, as when you finally slip up, you fail to see a way out. I’m used to failure. But you? I get the feeling your first real setback was when your father came back, decided he didn’t like you, and disowned you.”
Leaving aside the comparison to his implanted memories, Nathan understood the comparison. He knew the sting of failure better than she thought he did, but he had risen to greatness far faster than most.
And he also understood the Leopold comparison.
Leopold Tyrim, the right-hand man of the Emperor, and potentially the most accomplished Bastion in the Anfang Empire. He had died gloriously in defense of the Empire in Nathan’s timeline. But most people disliked of him.
Now that Nathan knew him personally, he saw dimensions that nobody had ever described to him. Leopold was competent. But Nathan saw in him the mistakes that had led to the downfall of the Empire. A highly competent Bastion mired in politics, uncomfortable with his position, and dedicated to his friends, including the Emperor.
Nathan had made similar missteps. They had cost many lives. Falmir had changed drastically as a result of them. And, in the end, he had only barely escaped the consequences due to a mysterious Messenger who offered him an escape from the end of everything. Assuming that Nathan believed that this new start counted as escape.
He needed to avoid making those mistakes again. What he wanted was a future that he could enjoy with those he cared for and loved. Vera was right that he had been too hasty to risk his life like this.
He had only used his contingency plan against Kadria to detonate the binding stone after she destroyed his fortress and killed everyone. Back then, he had nothing left to lose.
But now? He had everything to lose.
With a deep sigh, Nathan got his thoughts in order. “I’ll take that on the chin. And maybe more comments after the battle. But if you have decided to fight with the Empire, and not the Federation, why don’t we end this battle?”
“I thought you would never ask,” Vera said with a bright smile. She bounced toward the stairs, and the two ascended to the top of the tower.
Chapter 39
Seraph never made an appearance during the battle. Even after Vera sent the signal to lure her out, the duogem Champion remained absent. Presumably, she knew that Vera had reneged on the deal.
How Seraph knew was another question. She had been described as a savvy operative and commander. Perhaps she smelled a trap and steered clear. Neither Vera nor Nathan found any trace of a spell that might have allowed Seraph to spy on them.
Without their commander and savior, the Federation army collapsed. Vera’s spells devastated them. The soldiers broke and fled. Many surrendered on the spot, rather than be run down by hundreds of heavily armed beastkin. The rest ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction of the battle.
Fei saw an opportunity and seized it. She cut off retreat to the east.
Leopold used the same trick, but with less swiftness. He tore the earth apart in front of those fleeing north. Soldiers tumbled into ditches and crashed into pillars of dirt. Desperately trying to scramble to safety
, many soon realized how hopeless their retreat was and gave in to the pursuing Empire warriors.
Nathan watched from the top of the tower as a Federation army of thousands dwindled into mere hundreds. Those in the enemy camp didn’t bother to flee. The Empire’s reputation for mercy prevented a desperate last stand from taking place, or any foolish moves from the Federation soldiers.
After the battle, the prisoners were segregated from the Empire’s army. The officers were split out from the common soldiers, and any would-be nobles identified. Although the nature of the Federation made it more difficult to identify who was important.
In the Federation, a noble might be a merchant who bought the land and title. His wealth makes him valuable, but he probably wasn’t important. His family would pay a handsome ransom to see him returned, but the impact he would have on any war or negotiations was effectively none. Nathan cared little about these prisoners, although he knew that the ransoms were a nice bonus for the troops and nobles involved in the battle.
But if the noble was somebody in a genuine position of influence, then they mattered a lot. Federation titles were inconsistent, due to the mishmash of countries they had absorbed. A mere lord could be one of the most important people on the battlefield.
Fortunately, Nathan had Sunstorm to help him. She knew many of the nobles involved in the Federation offensive, and the neighboring regions. Although the nobles were shocked to see her wandering around the prisoner camp and investigating them, she picked out the most important prisoners of war.
These high-ranking prisoners became the men and women that Nathan would send back with Leopold after this campaign. Their testimony would serve as proof of the Federation’s intent to invade the Empire and cover Nathan’s ass.
As for the rest, Nathan left them to Anna to handle. Her adviser, Kuda, likely knew how to handle ransoms and releasing the prisoners.
Nobody wanted to slaughter the surrendered soldiers simply because they fought for the wrong side. At the same time, releasing them back to the Federation without any penalty could be described as unwise. The enemy soldiers could simply turn back up at the next major battle.
Ransoms were an effective financial penalty, to both the combatant and the nation. The Federation would be less willing to engage in battles. The soldiers were dissuaded from fighting, knowing they might lose more money than they were being paid. And the nobles were especially dissuaded from fighting a losing battle, as their ransoms were exceedingly high.
Assuming the noble made it back at all. No doubt they noticed several of their number being carted off by Sunstorm to separate tents. When your last memory of a general of a losing battle was them being taken away by the victor, a man thought long and hard about being the general of the next battle.
War was a poor business for everyone involved. The Federation started this one for profit. It didn’t hurt to remind them that losing a war was very unprofitable.
Leopold wandered up to Nathan and clapped him on the back. “Not joining the celebrations?” he asked.
“I’ll need a clear head tomorrow,” Nathan replied.
“You’re planning to make a move tomorrow?” Leopold asked. “No time to celebrate?”
Shaking his head, Nathan said, “It’s not about making a move tomorrow it’s about being ready. I’ll let others celebrate for me.”
The two of them stared out at the soldiers before them. Tankards of ale were passed between many of the men and women. Happiness was the order of the night. Many of these soldiers had seen death for the first time, and they didn’t like it. They drank to forget. They drank to celebrate their first victory. They drank because others were drinking.
Leopold spoke up, “You and Vera were in the tower for a long time.”
“Were we?” Nathan responded blandly.
Leopold remained silent for several seconds. Eventually, he clapped Nathan on the back again and smirked. “Fine, keep your secrets,” he said. “You’ve done well. I expected things to go worse, but you’ve planned and dealt with all the eventualities. Or maybe it’s just dumb luck.”
“How kind of you,” Nathan said drily.
Chuckling, Leopold wandered off into the night. He snatched a tankard that a soldier offered and joined in the celebrations with the rest of the men and women.
True to his word, Nathan didn’t join in. Instead, he patrolled the exterior of the camp. Just in case. The night was long, especially for a sober man.
Come morning, Nathan woke up to find himself with a lap full of beastkin. Fei groaned when he woke up and pushed her off him. Her cat ears twitched, and her eyelids flickered as she began to slowly awaken.
“It’s too bright,” Fei moaned.
Clearly, she had been out late with the other beastkin. Her hair and face were a mess. Nathan took some time out of his morning to clean her up. She enjoyed the grooming session, her purring a sure sign that she wanted more, but Nathan chose to avoid anything adult.
There would be plenty of time for fun after the campaign. Right now, they had another battle to plan.
Most of Nathan’s war cabinet was present in the command tent when he arrived. Anna, Leopold, Vera, and Kuda were present. Sunstorm arrived not long after Nathan. Notably, Sen was missing.
Nathan wrote her off, as he had spotted her guzzling down far too much ale the previous night. Fei also noticed her absence, and she ducked her head. No doubt the beastkin felt at least some guilt that her drinking competition with Sen was the cause of her absence.
“Don’t worry about Sen,” Nathan said to Fei. “She’s learning a hard lesson about moderating her drinking while on campaign.”
Fei nodded but still looked guilty. Nathan debated pushing the subject further. In the end, he let it drop and started the meeting.
“Sunstorm, before I start, any sign of Federation troops nearby?” Nathan asked.
Sunstorm shook her head. That that as a sign she hadn’t noticed anything else of note, Nathan chose to get on with the show.
“I trust we’ve all had an enjoyable evening,” Nathan said.
“I have. I don’t know about you,” Leopold said with a smirk.
“We won. That made things enjoyable enough for me.” Nathan shrugged.
Anna rolled her eyes. Her face showed no signs of a long night. She must have retired relatively early, or at least avoided drinking too much with her nobles. Nathan knew that she had enjoyed more than a few glasses of wine with them. No surprise, given this was her first campaign and was a wild success so far.
By contrast, Leopold showed his age. The old man had bags under his eyes and looked as if he hadn’t slept for a few days. His voice croaked, and he sounded almost as if he’d swallowed a bag of gravel. Despite that, he seemed lively enough. If he was willing to crack jokes, then that probably meant he was fine to plan the rest of the campaign.
“We’re not taking at least one more day?” Anna asked.
“Another day is fine,” Nathan said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we need to plan ahead.”
“So this meeting is purely about planning our next move?” Anna pressed.
“It’s about ensuring that we don’t lose our momentum,” Nathan clarified. When the others looked at him in confusion, Nathan held back a sigh. Leopold understood, but everybody else was too new to warfare to understand the issue that Nathan was trying to avoid.
Nathan scratched his head and tried not to sigh. “We’ve won one victory. But our objective is to take Fort Taubrum. Many campaigns end because they let the soldiers spend too much time looting, celebrating, or doing whatever the hell they want. That’s why it’s important that we know when we’re moving on the fort.”
Anna frowned. “We just crushed the Federation army. Are we really that worried about time?” She looked around at the others.
Leopold raised an eyebrow at Nathan but said nothing. He left this entirely to Nathan. Normally, Nathan would think this is a little too much. But he wasn’t a normal Bastion, so he wa
sn’t worried.
“Our real opponent isn’t the Federation army,” Nathan said. “While it takes time to rally new troops and rebuild an army, the Federation has plenty of other Champions and Bastions. Now that we’re threatening them, we’re on the clock. Every day that we waste is a day that another Champion or a Bastion could bail out Theus and Seraph.”
Vera interjected, “Seraph should be the only one in Fort Taubrum. You’re worried about other Champions arriving in the next few days?”
“Yes.”
Murmuring met his pronouncement. Kuda whispered something in Anna’s ear. She brushed him off, but Nathan wondered if she had sent something to her nobles regarding the time between this battle and the next. Whatever the case, Nathan didn’t have the option to care.
Victory was close. If Seraph was the brains behind Theus, then capturing or killing her at Fort Taubrum would end this campaign. The Federation would surely counterattack, but the opening moves in the war would be a solid victory for the Empire. Other nations would think twice before intervening to help the Federation. And that left room for Leopold and the Emperor to work their political magic.
“Fort Taubrum will have its own garrison defending it,” Leopold said. “We’ll still need to defeat it. Besieging a fortress is not easy, especially when defended by a duogem Champion. If we’re in such a rush, how do we have the time to lay siege to a fortress?”
Nathan knew that Leopold’s question wasn’t overly serious, but sometimes he wondered if the old man knew how to be slightly less infuriating. No wonder Vera disliked him. Asking leading questions like this is the sort of thing that makes people dislike you.
“I’m not worried about taking Fort Taubrum,” Nathan replied. “The trick is engaging Seraph sooner rather than later. Once she’d tied up with our forces, then I can put my plan into action. But if she has reinforcements, or if Theus does something drastic such as abandoning Forselle Valley, then I’ll need to drastically alter my plan.”
“That sounds like you have an impressive plan.” Leopold frowned.
Heretic Spellblade Page 33
