“So it could belong to Rowe.” Trev’nor scratched at the back of his head. “Well, that’s not confusing. So do you know anything about the warlords here?”
“Not really, no. I do know that every warlord basically has a non-aggression treaty in place with its neighboring country. Rowe has one with Sol, Riyu and Von have one with Libendorf. They mostly suffer from internal conflict.”
“What you’re saying is, we don’t actually know which warlord’s city we conquered, and it doesn’t matter to either Sol or Libendorf that we did so, as long as we don’t take the war to them?” Becca blew out a long stream of air. “That’s good and bad news.”
“At least we don’t have to worry about one of those countries sending aid,” Trev’nor observed. “Although I think we should be careful moving forward so that they don’t get nervous and think we’re going to conquer them next.”
“That is a very good thought,” Nolan seconded firmly. “Please, please let’s not do that. For one thing, I don’t want to explain it to either Da or Granda. Or the Trasdee Evondit Orra, come to think of it.”
“Or Guin,” Trev’nor grimaced. “Or Shad. Or Garth. Especially not Chatta or Xiaolang.”
“There’s a whole list of people we don’t want to explain that to, so I agree, let’s make sure we don’t land in that pitfall.” Becca tapped Rurick’s symbol on the map. “We took this place by surprise, so we won easily. But I think we should practice fighting with the dragons, get used to coming at a city directly. I think we should start off by taking another, smaller city first.”
She did have a point. Trev’nor admitted to himself that the way they’d taken Rurick was more than haphazard, and it likely wouldn’t work to just charge blindly in on the next city. They’d probably have the element of surprise on their side for the next city but not after that. So if they were going to practice fighting together, a smaller city would be a good way to do it. “In that case, Tiergan.”
Both of them looked at the map, seeing the city he named, and went ‘Ahhh’ in immediate understanding. Trev’nor hadn’t expected any other reaction. A student of Shad’s would instantly see the logic behind his choice. Tiergan was in a unique strategic position. It was next to Q’atal, nearly on the coast of Saira Channel, and so was protected on two sides from attack. It was also located near Rurick, almost dead west of it. If their plans went seriously wrong, then they had two places to retreat to, both of them with protective wards up: Q’atal and Rurick. It was the perfect choice for testing their mettle. “No objections?”
“None,” Nolan agreed. “Although it does beg the question of what to hit after. Sagar? Trexler?”
“Sagar would be nice simply because it’s smaller and doesn’t have the defenses of Trexler.” Becca circled an idle finger around both cities as she spoke. “But I’m not sure if it’s viable. I mean, we have to go around Trexler to get to Sagar.”
“Surely the Trexler Warlord will retaliate after we take Tiergan?” Nolan followed up his own question by shaking his head. “I don’t think we have enough information to make a decision on this right now. We don’t know the strengths or the personalities of the warlords involved. Let’s take Tiergan first. If we succeed, then we get more information and only after that point do we sit down and figure out what to tackle next.”
That sounded reasonable to Trev’nor, and frankly, he was ready to be horizontal for a while. “Let’s wash up dishes and go to bed. We can’t continue this discussion any further without the dragons being involved, and they’re still hunting, I think.”
Nolan’s eyes went blind as he checked. “About half of them are, I think.”
“So let’s continue this in the morning,” Trev’nor concluded.
“Sounds good to me.” Becca stretched her arms above her head and even from across the table, Trev’nor could hear vertebra pop. “I’m bagged out. I chose the first bedroom in the hallway, so choose somewhere else to sleep.”
Trev’nor couldn’t see how assigned bedrooms would matter, considering they’d be here at most two days, but girls were fussy about things like that. “Alright. Good night.”
For whatever reason, Nolan was always the first to rise. It might have been sheer habit by now, as the royal family had to get up early in order to see to all of their duties. The only times that Trev’nor had seen his friend sleep in was if he had either been up all night or was dog sick. This morning was no exception to the rule, as Trev’nor found his friend sitting at the table, a cup of something hot and steaming sitting at his elbow, a studious expression on his face as he stared at the map.
“Morning,” he offered as he came in.
“Morning,” Nolan returned, glancing up. “There’s hot porridge and tea on the stove.”
He knew he was friends with Nol for a reason. Happy to have breakfast already cooked, he dished out a large bowl, filled up a mug, and joined the other at the table.
“Becca still sleeping?” Nolan asked, sitting back a little to take a leisurely sip at his mug.
“She is, and no, I will not wake her up. I’m pretty sure that the only thing that can safely wake up Becca is a dragon.”
Nolan snickered. “Why, because they’re fire-proof?”
“Exactly. Well, Tail manages it somehow, but I’m pretty sure he’s lost a few lives in the process. Despite cat reflexes.”
“It’s funny, she doesn’t exactly sleep late, it’s just she’s really stubborn if some outside influence tries to wake her up. Except for when she barely sleeps at all.” Nolan pondered this for a brief second before shrugging and dismissing it. “Changing topics, I’m not sure what to think of that city named Von.”
Trev’nor paused, spoon hovering in the air, to gauge his friend’s reaction. “You realize that if there’s a place called ‘Rheben’ and it was built by an Earth Mage, then….”
“Von would mean that someone from my family built that city, yes. That’s highly probable. For that matter, I find Sha to be very suspicious as well. That’s a family name for a magical line too. How much of Khobunter was built by Chahiran magicians?”
“Apparently at least some of it. How that history was so easily lost, that’s the next question. Have they deliberately altered the history books?”
“They must have.” Nolan shook his head sadly. “Abuse of power always brings such sorrow.”
Unfortunately true. And to think, all of it started because the magical council in Chahir had gotten it in their heads to limit the power of a mage. If they hadn’t been afraid of their own mages, the world wouldn’t have turned upside down and taken so many lives in the process.
“Well, I’ve slept on it. I still feel like Tiergan is our best bet. You?”
“I haven’t changed my mind. I spoke briefly to our dragons this morning and they assured me that the four who are going to stay here in Rurick have already been decided.”
Trev’nor did appreciate how the dragons were divvying themselves up without making their human mages decide. It made his life much easier.
Becca wandered out of her room, a hand up to cover a yawn, bed hair going in every direction. “Do I smell breakfast?”
“On the stove,” Nolan answered.
“Bless you.” She shuffled that direction, humming soundlessly in a happy note. Apparently she was glad not to need to cook breakfast either.
Trev’nor turned sideways in his chair and gave her a quick study. “You’re oddly tired this morning.”
“It’s the fatigue of traveling, I think,” she answered as she ladled porridge into a bowl. “I’m not used to it like you are. Nolan, this smells wonderful. Are those figs?”
“They are. I found them stored in the pantry here.”
“Perfect, I was craving fruit.” Becca settled at the table with her breakfast, coming a bit more alive with every bite. “So what are we talking about?”
“Battle plans.” A sudden thought struck Trev’nor and he slowed down so he could talk. “You know, Becca, I think I’ve only seen you ac
tually fight with your magic twice.”
“Here in Rurick, you mean?”
“Yup, just then. I mean, I saw you practice sometimes, but never actually fight.”
Nolan glanced between them. “Come to think of it, Trev and I have fought together multiple times but never once with you. Before we go talk to the dragons we’d better get it straight first on what we can use to fight with that isn’t going to clash with someone else’s magic.”
That was an amazingly good idea and Trev’nor whole-heartedly approved of it. He did not want to be accidentally zapped by lightning.
“I think, for the first several battles at least, that I need to fight in dragon-mode,” Nolan stated. “That way it’s easier for me to communicate with our dragons and show them where they need to go. Since that’s the case, it’s really a matter of knowing what you two will plan.”
Trev’nor tapped the symbol of Tiergan with a forefinger. “From what I can feel from here, this is basically all flat land, with a few ravines and some sloping toward the coastline. Lots of loose ground to work with, I think. I can box people in with quick walls, bury them up to their necks, block off entrances and exits, sink buildings, throw rocks at troops, and of course lob large boulders to destroy buildings. If you want rock armor, I can do it, but that takes more time as it takes control.”
Becca took a large swallow of tea before asking, “How many can you bury at a time?”
“Basically what I can see, so about twenty. And before you ask, I can do very large quick walls at a time, but only if I have the vantage to see exactly what I’m doing.”
“Which you will on a dragon’s back.” Nolan quirked a brow. “That isn’t all you can do, though.”
“For group tactics like this, that’s my main strengths. The rest of it comes down to individual fighting.”
Nolan’s open palm conceded the point. “And you, Becca?”
“You’ve seen my lightning strikes, right? I can also do mini-tornadoes, although those are more destructive and harder to control, so I’d rather not do it on a populated city. I can use very strong winds as well, to force people different directions. I can also do misdirection, with blinding rain, or mists, to confuse the enemy with.” She popped a bite into her mouth, chewing as she thought. “For group tactics, that’s about it. Theoretically, I can also heat the air to the boiling point, but that’s hard to keep to a certain location, and I risk hitting allies as well as enemies, so I’d rather not use it. There’s a few other things that I can do that can cover whole areas, but I don’t see how it would help to fight with, not really.”
“What it sounds like to me is that Becca should focus on strategic strikes and pushing soldiers into the same area. Once she’s herded them together, then Trev’nor can box them in and keep them from attacking.” Nolan stared blindly forward. “The dragons can be used as guards to keep them from trying anything, but also as a scare tactic to keep them from forming up any ranks or utilizing their defenses properly.”
“That will be not only the best way to use them, but the safest,” Trev’nor agreed. He felt privately relieved about this as they had promised the dragon chief that they wouldn’t put his dragons into dangerous situations if they could help it. “Becca, I think this is a pretty good plan. It’s rough, so I think we should form up and do a few practice runs at Rurick today until we have a feeling for it.”
“Practice runs only work if someone’s defending,” she pointed out. “Should we take turns being the enemy?”
“Why not? I’ll go first if you want me to.” Trev’nor wanted to do this for the simple reason that it would give him a chance to really study the city’s defenses, which was information he would need to know later to attack them properly. Hopefully Tiergan’s defenses were similar. That would be extremely helpful if they were. “Nol, if you want to explain to the dragons?”
“Sure. Meet you outside in an hour.”
They spent a full day doing dry runs at Rurick. Becca was fervently grateful for the boys’ insight on this, because it was apparent on the first try that the dragons had a limited grasp on what they needed to do. It took three runs before they were all in the right places at the right time, and five before they stopped flying into each other.
Becca also learned, really learned, how Trev’nor and Nolan thought as they battled. She’d fought along with them as sparring partners, so when it came to non-magical fighting, she knew how to predict them. But on an open ground with large group tactics, they didn’t necessarily fight the same way, and she’d lost three mock battles in a row before learning that lesson.
Really, they could stand more practice. That day had done them a great deal of good, but no army can form itself up in a day, even when formed at the core with three childhood friends. They just didn’t feel like they had time to keep sitting around practicing. It was a miracle that no one had come to bother Rurick again, in Becca’s opinion.
They left the next morning on dragon-back, more equipped than when they had started out. The three had gone scavenging for the supplies they needed and now had proper goggles and leather helms to keep hair out of their faces. Becca had thrown out basically every skirt she’d brought with her and now solely wore pants. Wearing a skirt on dragon-back was completely impractical.
In terms of flight time, Tiergan was very close, barely four hours away. They did not issue a warning to the city, or declare anything to them, just flew in fast and hard. Becca called in a storm as she rode, and it hovered over them in a rolling mass of dark clouds. It was surely an odd sight to the inhabitants of the city. They saw storms coming in off the ocean, certainly, but never from the east before.
Nolan and Llona veered sharply left, coming in and around the city. Trev’nor and Garth dropped further toward the ground, probably to give Trev’nor the best vantage possible. Becca’s task was to take out the government buildings as quickly as possible, leaving the garrisons up to the boys. Her targets were clearly defined by the large banners hanging off the sides of the buildings. They were the same color and design as the ones in Rurick, so the map that they had been looking at was accurate—Rurick was part of Trexler. Did that mean that with this city, they would halve Trexler’s fighting force?
Part of Becca felt that was a little optimistic.
She had to be very, very careful in how she struck. In Rurick, Becca had been mad enough that if a few buildings aside from her target went up in flames, she hadn’t cared. But here, they couldn’t afford that kind of carelessness. Part of the reason why she had a storm raging above her head, rearing to be released, was to put out the flames after she started them.
From here, she couldn’t hear much of anything, but she could see people frantically running around. They were about the size of ants from this distance, but it didn’t take seeing their expressions to know they were terrified. This area of the country hadn’t seen a dragon in living memory, after all. Even Kaya was likely nothing more than rumor mill to them.
Becca urged her dragon to fly in tight circles so that she could not only strike her key targets, but monitor them afterwards. With a flick of the wrist, she hit three main buildings with lightning and watched with a sort of macabre satisfaction as they sizzled and burst into flame. People launched themselves out of the building left and right, using windows if they couldn’t get to a door. Seeing people flee for their lives actually relieved her. It would be fewer bodies to count for her.
Spying two other buildings, she urged her dragon up and around toward them, then struck them with the same precision. They weren’t nearly of the same size, so rather than burn, the lightning nearly demolished them in one strike. She was quick to encourage rain in that area, to douse the flames before they could spread to the whole city.
Coming back around, she found that her attention had lingered a little too long on her secondary targets, and the flames had hopped the street onto another building that didn’t look like it had anything to do with the government. Oops. Well, Trev’nor would help he
r fix it later. Becca called on the rain here, too, dousing the fire.
Anywhere else? She couldn’t see any more banners, at least. Soaked to the skin, she guided her dragon to fly out of that area of the city and toward where the boys were fighting. Or where they had been fighting, at least. When she went back toward the front gates, she found almost the entirety of Tiergan’s guard locked up in an impromptu rock jail made by Trev’nor, with several dragons perched on top of the wall and looking at the guards as if they were contemplating a mid-day meal.
Becca knew very well that dragons did not eat people. Was she going to stop and explain that to any of the guards? Well, perhaps later. Much later.
Without her direction, Becca’s dragon back flapped hard and came in to land next to Garth. The elder dragon had draped himself along the wall, next to Trev’nor side, and toyed with the guards by idling poking at them with the tip of his tail. The guards were white and shaking, trying to dodge, but there wasn’t enough room for them to maneuver more than two feet in any direction.
“How is it going?” Becca asked Trev’nor.
The Earth Mage looked up with a shrug. “I think we have most of them. How many guardsmen did you see inside the city?”
“They ran to the front defenses pretty quickly. I didn’t see anyone lingering.”
“Then we basically have only the ones left on the top of the wall.” Trev’nor frowned in that direction. “This city looks an awful lot like Rurick, did you notice?”
She had, actually. “The layout’s a little different, but the center of the city was almost an exact replica. Are all of the cities like this?”
“Surely not. Maybe it’s because they’re all of the same warlord’s territory?”
That could be it. “Where’s Nolan?”
“He went dragon at some point and is flying around to make sure that we got everything. He’s communicating with me via Garth.”
Warlords Rising Page 17