Eastern Expansion

by Randi Darren

  “This one is curious to see if the plan will work. She has no better ideas at this time either, so she’s willing to try for her master’s sake,” Petra said.

  Her demeanor didn’t match her words though, she was clearly ill at ease with the plan.

  “It’ll be fine. I mean, we go up there, the mages use a really big spell to blow a hole in the wall, then we retreat. I’m only there to provide a recharge if they don’t think what they have is enough. And Kitch and her people will be there. Do you really think Kitch would let anything happen to me?” Vince asked.

  “No. She wouldn’t,” Fes grumbled.

  “There we go then. Now, I’m going to take my squad over there and get situated.” Vince saluted Petra crisply and went off.

  He could feel Petra’s and Fes’ eyes burning holes in his back as he left.

  Red sauntered up beside him and slammed her hip into his.

  “They fear for you,” Red said.

  “Yeah, I know. Kinda goes with the territory,” Vince said, taking a second to reach down and scratch Red’s tail.

  “Red doesn’t understand it. Red… Red had memories of before she was Red,” said the Cursed One slowly. “Recently, Red has flashes of memory. Of before. Before she was Red. They’re very few but… they’re there.”

  Vince felt his eyebrows crawl upwards at the admission.

  Leila had told him that Red hadn’t started out as a Cursed One. She’d become a Cursed One at some point because she died while under the effects of a curse. Given her body and looks, Vince wasn’t quite sure who would put a curse on her.

  Then again, he’d never met anyone from her race before.

  “I see. Does that bother you?” Vince asked, stopping and giving Red his full attention.

  “Red doesn’t think so. The memories come more often when Red eats more frequently. Would… would you be willing to feed Red more than once a day? Red would like to see her memories. If it’s easier, Red would be willing to be fed like she used to be. If you don’t want to use Green or Mouth.”

  Vince smirked at that and laid his hand atop Red’s head and began to carefully rub the base of her ears.

  “I don’t mind at all. I don’t think it’d be too hard to feed you for breakfast and sometime before dinner,” Vince said.

  Red nodded her head against his hand. Tilting her neck downward she forced his hand onto the crown of her head. Rolling her head this way and that, she got his fingers into the spots she wanted them to be.

  “Your evenings are busy with your… your mates. Red understands. Red has never had a mate.”

  Vince didn’t disagree with that statement. His nights had been an everlasting chain since the first challenge night a long time ago.

  Speaking of, they don’t even have a challenge night anymore. I wonder what happened there. I’ll have to ask Meliae. She’ll tell me what happened. Maybe Petra finally gave up and was happy to be the second in command?

  “Red wonders if you’ll be selecting Felicity, Ramona, and Leila as mates as well?”

  The sudden question broke through his thoughts. Vince couldn’t help but freeze.

  “I think I have enough mates, don’t you?” he asked, flicking the top of her head gently.

  “Red can smell their desire. They would not say no,” said the Cursed One. “Red would not say no.”

  With that bombshell of a statement, Vince immediately turned and began walking back towards Kitch.

  Not touching that one right now. Not even going to think about it.

  Red caught up to him in a heartbeat and smashed her hip into his side again. Then she curled her tail up around his waist.

  Up ahead, Kitch and her people stood at attention. Ramona, Leila, and Mouth all loitered to one side. In front of Kitch and her Heavies were thirty Elven mages.

  “Everything is ready,” Leila said, seated on her floating disc. “We can begin as soon as you like.”

  “Let’s get rolling then. Kitch, you’re in charge of our defenses. Leila, you’re running the magical aspect. I’m here to assist if necessary, but hopefully this’ll be an in-and-out job,” Vince said.

  Kitch’s face tightened up at the orders. She saluted, then barked orders out.

  Ogres and Trolls in heavy plate mail turned to the right, then began to march in a column formation. As they passed Vince and the Elves, the interior of the column opened up as the Heavies filtered themselves through their line to make room.

  Moving into that space, the Elves filed in behind their large defenders. Vince and his squad took up the position directly behind the Elves.

  In no time at all, the column made its way out of the camp, and into the field in front of Verix.

  “Up!” bellowed Kitch.

  As one, the Heavies in the front lifted their shields up. Every rank after that lifted their shields above their heads. Those on the sides shifted their shields around to cover the flanks.

  The rattle and thud of arrows impacting the shields could be heard. Arrows fell through the cracks after having spent their force on the shields, causing no harm at all.

  “Rather sturdy,” Leila said, peering up at the ceiling of shields above them.

  “I would say that’s an understatement. The overlap on those things is considerable, and to them, the weight is nothing. If I had three hundred of them, I could probably take over the continent,” Vince said.

  Hearing his words, the Heavies perked up. It was obvious to everyone that even the simplest praise from their King, who treated them as his bodyguards and elite forces, did much for their morale.

  Then a boom sounded from the front, and orange light washed over everything

  “Magic!” Kitch called out.

  Several mages near the front pushed their way up between the Heavies. No further spells detonated on the shields. The mages who’d gone forward were actively working to cancel each and every spell lobbed their way.

  After a minute or so of such work, the mages came to the back of the column, while replacements moved up.

  Vince immediately took hold of each mage and began charging them back up. There was no reason not to spend some energy to make sure they could remain in the fight.

  Inexorably, the Heavies stomped towards their goal.

  “Positions!” Kitch yelled.

  The Heavies changed their stance and practically took a knee in a low squat. Their shields formed a wall and there was almost no gap between.

  “I suppose that’s it then. You’re up, Leila,” Vince said, looking up from the mage he was re-energizing.

  Leila frowned and stared at him for a moment, her huge eyes glittering in the shaded light. Without a word, she ducked between the mages and went to work.

  “Red,” Vince said.

  “Red will go,” said the Cursed One, not even having to be asked. Slinking away from him, Red followed after Leila.

  The mages began laying a hand on the Elf in front of them. It chained all the way back to the mage Vince was charging up.

  Letting his hand drop, he watched as the Elves stood there, unmoving.

  He knew they were more than likely channeling energy, but he couldn’t feel it. Couldn’t see it.

  But he knew they were. They all had looks of intense concentration to their faces.

  His hair started to crackle, and stand up on end as if he’d gotten a huge static charge.

  Ramona grumbled and rubbed her arms with her hands, clearly feeling the same strange current in the air.

  Is this an actual manifestation of what they’re powering up? Is it a giant fireball or a—

  A boom cracked the air. The world flashed white as what could only be a gigantic lightning bolt was let loose upon the wall of Verix.

  There was a crash followed by a rumble.

  Moving out from around the column, Vince couldn’t help himself. He had to see what had happened.

  Peering out from behind an Ogre, he laid eyes on the wall of Verix.

  And was shocked.

  Li
ghtning danced and crackled up and down the wall as if it were alive.

  There, however, between two towers, was an enormous gap. The wall hadn’t just been breached, it’d been annihilated.

  Nearby a thump that rattled his teeth got his attention. Looking over he found it was a block of stone.

  Stone from the wall.

  Falling from the sky due to the explosion.

  Scurrying back under the shields, Vince gave Ramona a lopsided smile.

  “It worked. Now we just have to get out of here. Kitch! Double us back out before they make a move,” Vince called up to the front of the line.

  To her credit, Kitch was ready.

  “Positions! Disengage!” the Troll ordered.

  As one, the Heavies stood up, then began slowly walking back the way they came in the same formation they’d arrived in. The Elves were staggering, but mobile.

  The clatter and ping of stones smashing into the shields was ominous, but none actually broke through or struck anyone.

  Red rejoined him, carrying Leila. Upon catching up to him, she handed the Gnome off to Vince.

  “Red wants you to hold her, she can defend,” said the Cursed One.

  Leila stared up at Vince from his shoulder.

  “Seems like I’m carrying you everywhere lately,” Vince muttered, holding tightly to Leila.

  “Sorry. Guided it. Took the recoil,” Leila said into his shoulder.

  “That’s fine. Just… rest, we’ll be back in camp soon enough,” Vince said.

  Success. Now… do we have to do it again, or do they find themselves willing to compromise?

  No messenger came, no request for a meeting or talks.

  Verix moved the rubble to create a berm, and then pretended as if nothing had changed.

  Petra gave them an entire twenty-four hours before coming to see him. She waltzed right into his tent as if she belonged there. Moving straight to the work table he was sitting at, she didn’t waste any time.

  “This one must proceed. They are not willing to surrender yet,” Petra said.

  “Yeah, does seem that way,” Vince agreed. Laying his left hand flat on the table, he ran his index finger along the missing part of his hand. “You’d think having part of their wall literally blown up would give them an idea of what’s coming.

  “But if I had to guess. They’ll wait for us to try it again. If they can stop us from doing it then, that means they’re right in believing that they don’t have to surrender. If they can’t… maybe that’d be the turning point for them.”

  Petra clasped one hand in the other and looked at the ground. Her height dipped as she lowered herself closer to the ground.

  It was a habit of hers he’d noticed that she did when she was in deep thought.

  Letting her think, Vince toyed with the report in front of him.

  He’d sent Ratkin and Fairies into the city of Verix. He’d wanted intelligence, scouting, and a determination of what was going on inside those walls.

  What he’d gotten back was a bleak tale indeed. The citizens were being forced to give up their pantries. All of their food and drink.

  Anything that could be considered edible, really.

  Everything was being stored by the military, and rationed back out. Much of the poor or those in the lower strata of society were being overlooked already.

  Didn’t take long for martial law to be enacted. It’s not that their tactics are wrong either… it’s just… going to make it so much the worse for those at the bottom.

  And that was only what was visible from the streets. What his Ratkin discovered was that certain unsavory individuals were selling food back to the very people it was stolen from.

  Except at quadruple the price that it would have cost to buy the item at market.

  The council did little in the way of keeping the military from abusing the citizenry as well. Things were getting ugly.

  Very ugly.

  So much so that the Ratkin had interceded at one point to stop an attempted rape. They’d killed the soldier and dragged the body away, begging for the woman’s silence.

  Those particular Ratkin had brought themselves to Vince for punishment, who immediately dispensed justice.

  An extra token for when they returned to Yosemite, and a stern warning that they could very well have given their presence in the city away.

  The city was in the process of tearing itself apart.

  And there was nothing Vince could do to stop it, other than sacrificing his own soldiers.

  Yet if we do nothing, it really will become a city of the dead rather quickly.

  “This one will seek Leila’s council. She wonders if we can conduct the same operation from much further away. Limiting our risk,” Petra said.

  “Oh? Alright. I think she was examining Red last I saw,” Vince said, staring at the report still. His mind was full of all the horrible things that were going on in Verix by his hand. “I’ll go with you. It’d be good to stretch the legs. Get the mind off that report.”

  Petra shook her head grimly.

  “When the soldiers start treating the citizens as they are, no one wins. The city will be awash with blood one way or the other, unless this ends soon. This one only hopes that they listen to reason,” Petra said. Standing up, she backed up out of the tent.

  Getting up, Vince joined her as they set off to find Leila.

  Fortunately it wasn’t hard to do so. She was in her tent and working with what looked like a purple oval that surrounded Red.

  Looking up from her work on the Cursed One, Leila blinked her large eyes owlishly.

  “General? Vince?” Leila asked.

  “This one wishes to get your opinion on magical matters,” Petra said, dropping herself all the way to the ground so that she didn’t tower over the Gnome.

  Red smiled at Vince from the table, her red eyes flashing.

  “Red sees you, Bringer,” said the Beastkin.

  “I see you, too, Red. Any news from our local magical expert?” he asked.

  Red shook her head and frowned. “No. Red doesn’t care though. Red is happy.”

  “Oh? In what field exactly?” Leila asked. Letting her hands drop to her sides, the purple field faded from around Red.

  “This one wanted to ask if you could repeat yesterday’s attack, but from much further away,” Petra stated, diving straight into the conversation.

  “Uhhh?” Leila frowned and lifted a hand to her mouth. “The reason we got in so close is that lightning is… not a very accurate weapon. It could end up shooting off in an entirely unwanted direction. We could try using boulders or water, but it wouldn’t have the same explosive power.”

  “Is it possible to make it work, if you used more mages?” Petra asked.

  She seemed rather determined to get this worked out from a much further distance than previously.

  “Yes, but the problem is that it leaves few mages able to defend us from magical attacks of the enemy. That’s the whole reason we did it the way we did,” explained the Gnome.

  Petra crossed her arms and looked off to one side, her antennae bobbing slowly.

  “This one feels that attempting to utilize the same attack again will only bring down the might of Verix on you. She will write up the orders for all mages to be present to discharge a bolt of lightning from the back of the camp,” Petra said confidently. Standing up straight, she saluted Vince, nodded her head to Leila and Red, and left.

  “Red smells the anxiety on her. Even if she acts confident, she is not,” Red said, laying her head back down on the bed and closing her bright eyes.

  If someone says they’re not anxious about a plan, then they’re lying.

  Chapter 36

  Every Elf in the camp had been called to help with the attack.

  As had a number of soldiers.

  Kitch and her people formed a line out in front, backed up by their less armored companions from Frit’s command.

  Behind that was every Elf who could push magic.


  It was a massive undertaking, and Vince was at the rear of it all. One hand on each mage in front of him and ready to dump whatever power he could into the system they were creating.

  At the forefront was Leila, who was working with another High Elf to shape and guide the bolt of lightning.

  Unfortunately, the High Elves of Verix, while prideful, were not blind. They saw the goings on in the field. They probably had a fair of idea of what was going to happen as well.

  Though to Vince it was a shock when they came charging out of Verix. Out of the very hole that had been blown open in their wall.

  Moving at a jog, they held their shields, and managed to keep a loose formation.

  There were a number of calls from the front lines as they shifted. Vince moved his position as everyone adjusted to meet the incoming attack with a straight line.

  “Power up the spell!” Leila called out.

  Every Elf he could see bowed their heads, and seemed locked in concentration.

  Vince opened up his grove and began dumping power into the two Elves in front of him.

  A soft whump could be heard as a ball of lightning no bigger than two inches came to life.

  Through sheer luck, Vince was on a slight incline and could actually see the front line as it engaged the Elves. Swords and shields crashed as people began dying.

  The Elves hadn’t been ready for this fight, and had come without magic or ranged abilities. The two lines of warriors quickly turning into a slaughter as the Elves fought to stop the attack, and Yosemite’s soldiers fought to protect it.

  Kitch and her people held the center as if they were a bulwark of immovable steel. Any who came to her part of the line were repelled or killed.

  Suddenly the magic flowing out of Vince doubled as something began actively pulling on it.

  Looking up at Leila, he felt concern grow in his heart.

  Leila and the Elf were visibly losing control over the ball of lightning. It had grown to be nearly two feet in size.

  The amount of power it held was frightening now, and it clearly was struggling to break free and blast out.