If I was a cynical murderer, better to let the enemy through for a fast and clean death, and maybe those asshole officers would get caught flat-footed and die too.
My mind went in circles. Was there something we could do to give them hope, and if there was, should we? Well, it was the choice of the Western, Elven, and Dwarven Kingdoms to make the deal, so I threw out the second half of the equation, and just focused on a way to give them a real chance to escape when the retreat was called.
It didn’t take long to figure something out, and I started talking even as my mind churned to develop the idea into a solid plan with a chance of success.
“We need to do something about morale, or we’re going to be rolled over in the first charge. Even the other undying have lost the swagger in their step.”
I could see the looks of agreement on Gwen’s, Steve’s, and Lara’s faces. Anlyth and Lyre grudgingly nodded as well, and I knew they were just as concerned with their own safety. More and more this was looking like a suicide mission, although I didn’t see any hesitation in their eyes about doing their duty to protect their people, even if it did mean their deaths.
Steve asked, “What did you have in mind?”
I sighed, “Well, we have our own escape plan, we need to share it. Having a chance at escape should booster morale. It’ll also take a bit more planning to pull off, since we don’t know who’ll be left at the end. Anlyth, come with me? The rest of you spread the word to gather in the mess hall in one hour from now. The people on the wall will have to be told separately by the others.”
Gwen kissed me, lingeringly, in a way that reminded me of last night, and made me wish we could go back to bed. But… we had work to do. We shared a grin before we separated.
Anlyth and I headed toward the supply building, while the others split up to spread the word, we needed some equipment.
“Thanks for coming.”
I looked around the room. About half the people in the tent just looked bored and resigned to death, some looked a little curious, and a handful even had hope in their eyes but also looked loath to believe it. I wondered what the others had told them to get them here, but the important thing was that they were here.
“Alright, I was a little surprised when I got here and found out there was a plan for defense, but none for retreat. We were basically told to come up with what we could, but even then, I saw my death in their eyes. The enemy will come, surround the fort, and eventually overwhelm our defenses. I expect the walls will be charged by an uncounted horde to keep us busy, while the generals and masters chip away at the grand enchantment that has been set. Once that’s down, I expect the walls will be ripped apart in short order, and the enemy will swarm over them, and possibly come through tunnels below at the same time. We’ll be surrounded, with no lines of retreat, and ground up and spit out if we try to go through them.”
A voice rang up, “So, you’re here to cheer us up?”
I snickered, “Yes. I took our illustrious Colonel’s suggestion to come up with a retreat plan, and then ran with it. From what I was able to determine, when the officer’s retreat in their ships, the cursed collars that prevent you from running or betraying us, will at that point be removable. You will have lived up to your end of the bargain.”
I let that sink in.
“It is quite probable that fifty to sixty percent of you will be dead at that time, but with escape being possible it is worth taking the chance, and in fighting to the best of your ability. My escape plan is simple, but at the same time rather complicated in execution. Reason being, we don’t know who will be left alive at that point.”
I picked up a simple metal rod with smooth holes in it, and five ropes. The ropes were about ten feet long, and ended in a loop of sorts, the other end was threaded through the holes and tied off. It was simple, and crude, but we only had so much time before the enemy arrived and it would have to do.
“Obviously, the only possible escape is to fly away, much like the officers’ plan to do in the scout craft. Just as obviously, we don’t have the time to build enough ships to evacuate around a thousand of you, along with fifty or so of us undying. Those numbers assume a fifty percent loss. Even if we could build the ships, we’d never have time for all the enchantments required, not to mention the gems.
“This however is a simple metal bar, with ropes attached. Five of you will be on each one. Simply take the loop and put it under your arms. The complicated part is this. We don’t know who will be left alive, so we can’t make five-person escape teams until it’s time to retreat, and we have to be very fast at the same time. Here’s what I came up with, perhaps some of you will have ideas to make it more efficient.
“We’ll make a bunch of these today, we’ll need at least two hundred, three hundred of them would be better. We’ll put them in piles placed around the camp, and some in the center of camp. In front of each pile we’ll put five positions. Those of you with earth or water will line up and take the first position, the second position will be darkness, the third air if possible, and the last two for the rest of you with none of those disciplines. That will make your groups on the fly with whoever is still alive. Any extras that don’t make a full group will retreat to the center pile and meet up with other extras from the other points along the wall. That last group may have to get creative to get everyone out, but it’s a chance at life after you’ve earned it.
“The person with earth or water will control earth or water to control the rod. Lift off, and head for the forest which is about a mile away. The darkness person will cloak the rod and the five of you, while the other three act defensively if required. The air person will take care of wind resistance, so you can go faster. I estimate it would take a minute or two to go the mile to the elven forest where you can skim the tree tops to give you cover. We’ll land and split up near one of the elven cities, where the undying will go to fight, and the rest of you can go where you want from there to enjoy your freedom.”
Someone asked, “How the hell is water going to control the metal rod?”
I shrugged and cast control water. The rod was immediately covered in a sheet of ice, and then started to float next to me.
“Any other suggestions, or questions?”
“Why not more than five?”
I shrugged, “I’m assuming any more than that, whoever has darkness won’t be able to cloak you long enough. A bigger group that was visible would be picked off by the vast horde as you fly over it. Same with the person controlling air, smaller groups just work better.”
The people in the room, humans, dwarves, and elves, weren’t exactly jumping up and down in joy, but I could see a lot more interest and hope on their faces than existed when I’d started. It gave them a reason to not only fight, but to fight with everything they had to survive. Hope was a funny thing, and even the selfish will fight for their very lives if there’s a chance to live at the end of it.
“Anything else?”
Lyre said, “Elementals. We have to assume the walls will be breached when the retreat is finally called. If everyone that can, summons elementals as a screen, it will give us a few extra seconds to get in the crude rope harness and get in the sky.”
That… was a really good idea. I nodded in agreement. “Anyone else?”
There were no more questions, or suggestions.
“I suggest you all get to work making these. It shouldn’t take long if every earth wielder makes a few. The rest of you should attach ropes, distribute them in piles around the walls and in the center of the fort, and let those currently on the walls know what the plan is.”
There were some exchanged glances. A few of them headed for the door which got the rest moving a few moments later, with a purpose.
Lara said, “Good plan.”
Steve grunted, “It’s desperate, but it’s also the best chance at escape.”
Gwen giggled.
I turned and looked at her.
She shrugged, “I’m just wondering
what Faelyn will think of the plan.”
I wasn’t sure, but he might be pissed. For all we knew, he had orders to make sure the condemned died, and didn’t escape at all. It sounded bad, but why else wouldn’t they have a plan of retreat? On the other hand, I didn’t care, they’d made the deal after all, and now the captive soldiers would truly fight.
Chapter Eleven
Whatever Faelyn’s thoughts were on the matter, we never found out. We weren’t censured for our efforts, and I had to believe it was the right decision. We’d stop a lot more of the enemy with the plan in place, people would fight harder with a true chance to survive on the line, even if a slim one. Either way, I didn’t worry about it, it wasn’t my problem. Really, I didn’t like the whole concept much at all, but the blame of any fallout belonged to the kingdoms, not me.
I’d be curious to know what difference it made though, if the fort to the north didn’t have a retreat plan in place maybe I’d find out.
It was later that evening, and we were on the wall for our shift until dawn. It was still light out, the sun was setting in the west. The sky in that direction was pink, but we were on the wall facing east, and I could already see the darker blue on the horizon that heralded the coming night. We were one of two undying parties on the Eastern wall to support the condemned soldiers, the other party being Cassie, Dan, Robert, Jade, and Anthony. We’d been thrown together since we already knew each other, on the theory we’d fight better together.
I’d thought a couple of weeks ago the arrival of six hundred goblins was rather intimidating, that was nothing to how I felt when the enemy marched into view from the northeast. The numbers were estimated as over fifty thousand, which was twenty-five to one odds. I had no doubt we’d be retreating at some point, the effort there was to whittle away as much of their horde as possible before they entered the elven forest. I hated to be negative, but the chances of defeating the enemy at the fort were truly nonexistent. It was further disheartening to realize that this was only half their numbers, the horde had split, and half was on their way to engage with the fort in the north. We all assumed they’d infiltrate the elven forest from both the north and east once the forts were handled.
Even if we could handle twenty-five to one odds from behind the walls, the fact we only had one expert level person in the fort doomed us anyway. There was sure to be a few masters among the enemy, and without masters of our own to meet them I doubted even the whole fort could withstand against one master. Luckily, winning there wasn’t the plan, we just had to slow them down, give the elves more preparation time, and lessen their numbers as much as possible. Also, their masters would be engaged in taking down our fort’s grand enchantment and protections, we hoped. Once that enchantment was broken, it would be time to run.
Their march in wasn’t orderly at all. The orcs and hobgoblins led the way, and they looked more like a mob than a military. Still, they were more than intimidating enough even without precision. The groups of them immediately began to fan out in both directions, presumably to enclose the fort inside their military power. They seemed to never end, and they had us fully surrounded before the next groups came in sight.
The dark elves and gray dwarves were a little more regimented, though hardly walking in lock step. They fanned out in both directions as well. They weren’t as numerous as the orcs or hobgoblins, and there were breaks between the groups as they joined the circle around the fort, behind the orcs and hobgoblins, their groups equidistant apart. There were less of them, but they were more intimidating, and I knew from experience far more cunning.
Scattered among them were giants, ogres, and trolls. Those three races were much smaller in number, but they were definitely the heavy artillery of the evil races. There were also a pack or two of ice wolves, and other twisted monsters under the control of our enemy.
I wish I could say it didn’t bother me, but truthfully it was intimidating as hell. Even knowing if I died I’d come back, it was a stifling feeling. Even more so when I thought of the others dying, and in Lyre’s and Anlyth’s cases, they wouldn’t come back at all. My heart raced as we waited for a sign of them making camp. Everyone on the walls was probably wondering the same thing, would they attack immediately, or rest after a long march all day and come in the morning?
Part of me, a large part, wished they would attack. Besides being weaker right at the moment without rest, if they waited until dawn I’d miss the first part of the battle. Our parties would be relieved at dawn, for us to get some hot breakfast and a few hours’ sleep if possible.
They were in range for me, and the few other journeyman level people on the walls, including my whole party. But, they were out of range for most. An initiate’s or apprentice’s spell would break down before making it to the enemy. They were definitely out of arrow range without journeyman magical assistance, and most likely out of range for the mini-ballistae. I wasn’t sure what they were really called, but they weren’t huge things, more the size of a harpoon gun on a whaling ship, than something that could launch a small tree sized spear. Too big and heavy for one person to wield, but easy enough to use for even one person when bolted to the top of the wall. It fired bolts the size of small spears, or perhaps javelins would be a better description.
I wondered if we could goad them into a precipitous attack if all the journeyman started strafing the enemy position with spells, but we were under orders not to fire the first shot so to speak.
Steve scoffed, “Is that all of them? I thought this would be hard.”
Everyone in range to hear him, chuckled, including myself. It also seemed to help, the vice around my heart seemed to lessen. No, we wouldn’t win, but I’d be taking a hell of a lot of them out before we retreated. A small part of me was even looking forward to the challenge of it. A small part of me wanted to get it done already, because I was curious about the elven kingdom, and their cities. A silly reason perhaps to want to get on with things, but that was just a small part of it.
It would be a long battle, perhaps days, but at least several hours, and mana management would be important. Still, I was regening just over ninety-five mana a second now, and I had over forty-seven hundred mana in my pool. I figured every five seconds I could cast an area wide fire blast that did twelve hundred damage given the three times damage, and still keep my mana at a very high level almost constantly.
I also had a few other ideas, less damaging but useful for crowd control. I could also rain down ice shards instead for an area attack, if too many of the enemy proved resistant to fire.
Gwen said, “Looks like they’re waiting.”
I scanned the enemy, or at least the one to the east, and saw they were breaking out rations. Many of them were staring back intently, but I thought she might be right.
“Yes, but for what. Dawn tomorrow, or for darkness?”
Lara smirked, “That won’t help them, I can light up the sky.”
I nodded. I figured the orcs and hobgoblins would charge, possibly with a few giants, ogres, and trolls mixed in. The question was what the sneaky dark elves and gray dwarves would be doing, while the rest of the horde distracted us with a straight forward attack. I figured tunneling may be involved, but we were fairly safe from sappers until the grand enchantment protections were defeated, they wouldn’t be able to tunnel under the walls. Even if they went deep enough to do so, they couldn’t tunnel up beneath us until those protections were stripped.
Well, we’d find out, hopefully before we got a black eye from it.
I frowned as something occurred to me, and I scanned the enemy again.
“Does it bother anyone else how many dark elves there are?”
Gwen frowned, “What do you mean?”
I shrugged, “There’s twice as many gray dwarves, I figured there’d be more.”
Anlyth cursed, and then said, “Lara, dispel magic, as far our as you can do it.”
It was a good idea, and I’d done well noticing the discrepancy. It just wasn’t soon enoug
h. Lara didn’t have a chance to cast her spell. I’d say the timing was suspect, except they’d probably heard the order which triggered their attack a bit early, which probably hadn’t been quite ready to go yet.
My heart jumped as several death screams rang out along the walls, as several hundred dark elves cancelled their cloak and slaughtered all those surrounding and manning the mini-ballistae. Then they moved together swiftly to a defensive posture to guard our own siege engines. Long battle? The bastards already had a foothold on our walls, and the battle hadn’t started.
It only took a second for me to realize the ruse, while we’d been focusing on the display of being surrounded, hundreds of cloaked dark elves had approached at a run and scaled the high walls. My mind was still fumbling with getting a spell off, as I heard the sounds of fighting start in the command tent, dark elf assassins no doubt after the command staff, only to be drowned out a split second later by a deafening roar from all the evil races surrounding us, as about two thirds of them charged the walls.
Crap, I was an idiot, how did we not see that coming?
Chapter Twelve
I focused my mind on the eastern wall, which was our responsibility. I couldn’t afford to get distracted by the other walls, or what was going on in the command tent. The thousand condemned soldiers and eight undying parties on down time could deal with that, and hopefully rally to help us with the walls. If we couldn’t win back our walls quickly, the battle would be over before it even started.
There were six mini-ballistae on the eastern wall, each one had twenty or so dark elves surrounding them. We’d had two parties and two hundred fifty condemned soldiers on the eastern wall. We still had the two parties, but we’d already lost close to sixty soldiers, a smidge over twenty five percent of our forces in the opening seconds of battle.
My mind went over that in a couple of seconds, even as I built up a spell.
White light exploded around Lara and bathed us as well as a lot of the troops close to us. All our stats were raised by three, for five minutes. I supposed that was a good thing, there was no point for a dispel magic now.
Island Kingdoms' War Page 6