Wild Wastes Omnibus

by Randi Darren

  It contained the entire expanse of western North America. From the West all the way to Kansas and a smidgen beyond.

  This map was significantly different though than all the ones he’d seen previously. This was a new map. A map drawn and inked by hand.

  It had all the cities and towns written in that he knew of, and a massive number he didn’t.

  Yosemite was of course listed, the trenches and battle lines of the civil war in the west, Verix, Vegas, Wooden Heart, everything.

  Small token figurines were littered around and amongst the locations and landmarks. Vince could only surmise that they represented things that could change.

  Ownership, population, supplies, armies. Things of that nature.

  “Admiring my handiwork, my liege?” Elysia asked, coming up beside him. One hand rested on her stomach as if she were already well into her pregnancy, even if she didn’t look it.

  “I am indeed. It’s rather impressive. I can’t imagine this as anything other than a laborious project,” Vince said with a gesture to the map.

  Elysia sighed and nodded her head. “It definitely was that.”

  Felicity leaned out from beside Elysia.

  “We had scouts and cartographers running everywhere. Since before you left for Verix even,” Felicity explained.

  “Oh, that’s… beyond impressive then,” Vince said. Looking over the map again he couldn’t help but feel awed. This wasn’t something that was easily accomplished.

  “Why did we decide now was the time to break it out? Your message said to be here, so I assume something has gone awry,” Vince said, directing his attention to the two Elves.

  “You’re quite right, my liege. We received this month’s shipments from everyone, except Vegas,” Elysia said, a finger leveled towards what appeared to be a wooden figurine of a mule and cart. It was placed between Vegas and Yosemite.

  “Ok. They’re sometimes late, aren’t they?” Vince asked.

  “They can be, but this one is not. Survivors of the caravan started to arrive this morning. This was a planned attack. The attackers were all High Elves.” Elysia’s face twisted as she stated the race.

  “They used magic in their assault. My liege, there is no doubt as to who is responsible for this. There can be no question about it.”

  “Agreed,” Vince said without amusement.

  Verix and Yosemite were not on friendly terms. That relationship had only grown more strained when Yosemite’s scouts returned after having encountered a number of deep patrols from Verix. These patrols were well within what someone would consider as the territory of Yosemite.

  Especially since there were forts and outlying military encampments beyond even that point.

  “In short, Verix is raiding our supplies. Is there any way to send them a missive without risking someone?” Vince asked. Lifting his left hand he rubbed at his jaw and chin.

  Elysia frowned as she thought on that.

  Ten seconds later and she shook her head. “Not directly, my liege. I have an idea of how to get a missive to them without risk though. I’ll take care of it. What is it you would have it say?”

  “Phrase it politely, but just tell them this is the only chance they’ll be given. Further transgressions will be met head on. After you’ve sent it, marshal the army. Leave only the Yosemite garrison and Wooden Heart garrison.

  “Get our people outfitted, geared, and mobilized. Once that’s done, send them all to the east. Preferably this would all be done in secret, but that may not be possible.

  “We all know what Verix’s response will be to this. Let’s not pretend with our heads in the sand,” Vince said with a shake of his head. “I’ll not start this, but I’ll end it.”

  Elysia had turned her head to Felicity as Vince talked. Indicating something in Felicity’s ledger, she gave her attention back to Vince. “Consider it done, my liege. When would you like to hold your first General’s meeting?”

  “General’s meeting?” Vince asked.

  “You’ll be leading the troops, my liege. You’ll need to address your captains and lay out the strategy,” Elysia said. Her eyebrows were twitching in what he guessed was an effort to prevent them from rising off her face.

  “No, I won’t. I’m no general. Petra will lead them. In addition to the missive to Verix, I need two other letters. The first is to be sent to Heint in Vegas. It needs to only say one thing. And that’s, ‘coming early.’

  “The second letter will need to be sent over to Mila. Have it sent by the fastest courier we have. Please let her know that I’ll be paying my respects to her soon, and would ask for a meeting to be arranged with her. When you address her in the letter, do so as Duchess of Wooden Heart.

  “Finally, summon Petra for me. We’ll get this moving as soon as possible. I’ll wait here,” Vince said, staring at the map. “Thank you, Elysia. Felicity. I appreciate you deeply.”

  He was no commander. No leader of the military. He could utilize small unit tactics, conduct guerrilla warfare, train others, and fight. Lead an army though? Far beyond his limited abilities.

  Felicity and Elysia both left, presumably to handle his orders.

  When Petra did arrive, she was alone.

  Looking up from the map, Vince smiled at his soldier-ant.

  “Petra, you look lovely as ever,” he said.

  Smiling, Petra’s face started to turn a pale red.

  “This one appreciates her master’s compliment. She wonders if she’ll ever get used to receiving them though,” Petra said, her eyes flicking to the map and then back to him.

  Gesturing to the table, Vince sighed.

  “Well, on to something that you’ll handle better than compliments. And handle it better than I could, that’s for sure. I’m thinking we’re going to end up in a campaign against Verix. They’ve been sending scouts across our border, and they attacked one of our supply caravans,” Vince said simply.

  “This one would agree, this sounds like a preamble to war,” Petra said, her eyes scanning the map now. “What is the current situation?”

  “I’ve asked Elysia to get the army up and running, then send them east. At the same time, we’re sending Verix a note to knock it the hell off. I’m betting they’ll ignore it and continue. Beyond that, I don’t have an idea on how to win this. I’m no general, and I’ve never fought in a war. But you, my beautiful little soldier, have. I need your help.”

  Petra’s lips narrowed but she nodded her head. “This one wasn’t an officer, but she knows what tactics worked and what didn’t. She will win this war for her husband.”

  “Great. You pull this off and you can consider me in your debt for quite a while,” Vince said with a soft sigh. He felt better already. He believed in Petra. “I do have a few needs of you though.”

  Petra nodded her head again, still studying the layout.

  “I need you to capture Verix intact. Preferably without a siege and wasting their supplies. I doubt it needs to be said, but I’d like to avoid casualties as much as possible. For both sides.”

  “This one… understands. It’ll complicate matters for her severely, but she believes she can do this. This one would ask her master, does he ask this so he can take Verix for his own?” Petra asked, her head finally angling back his way.

  “Yeah, that’s pretty much it. They’re going to fall in line. I’d rather preserve as much of them as I can as this goes down. Less to build back up afterward. On top of that, we need to launch a secondary attack,” Vince said. With his maimed left hand he indicated Vegas.

  “As you know, I have a deal with Vegas. Heint, really. We’re going to take over the entire city, and he’s going to swear his allegiance to me. On top of winning a war with Verix, I need you to put together an assault task force that can sweep Vegas clear of opposition. That being the city guard, really.”

  Petra’s frown turned into a scowl.

  “Master, this… this is going to be… this one wants to succeed, if only to please you. But she is afr
aid this cannot be done,” Petra said.

  “Alright. What if I put out a call to hire mercenaries? You tell me the number you need to make it happen, and we’ll hire that number. We might get lucky and get both mercs from both the west and the Wastes. Would that work?” Vince asked.

  Petra bobbed her head from side to side as she considered. “Yes. This one could make that work. She would need at least a thousand mercenaries, more if possible.”

  “Great, I’ll get that taken care of. Alright, I’ll leave you to it, Petra. I love you, and thank you. This isn’t something I could do, and I can only admit ignorance,” Vince said with a smile.

  Petra snorted at that and then leaned in swiftly, kissing him. “This one will collect a forward on your debt. Right now. Her night is not for a few days yet.”

  The soldier-ant grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him easily with her front two ant legs. Vince didn’t fight at all as he was carried out of the library.

  “Sweetling,” Meliae said from Vince’s side.

  “Mm?”

  “What do you plan on doing with our Dryad children? They can’t remain… and based on the treaty with mother, they can’t really go to Wooden Heart either,” Meliae continued.

  Vince gazed out on the plains to the east of Yosemite. Covering the entirety of it was his army, the support teams, and all manner of equipment.

  “Actually, the answer to that is rather simple. What makes Yosemite unique?” Vince asked, watching as a company of Orcs and Dwarves checked each other’s equipment.

  Deskil was on hand as his work was being loaded and sorted.

  Meliae made a questioning noise. Several seconds later she shook her head. “I’m not sure, honestly. I know there are cities up in the northwest where there are no racial divides, so it’s not that.”

  “No. It’s not that. It’s our Dryads,” Vince said. Grinning he looked to his lovely Dryad wife. “The Dryads of Yosemite make it unique. Name any other city that actually has a thriving Dryad population. My understanding is they tend to destabilize. A grove doesn’t want to be part of a city, and cities don’t spring up around Dryads. We did.”

  Meliae chewed at her lower lip prettily, her eyes boring into his own. “Dryads?”

  “Your mother holds the gates. All Dryads must enter and pass through her. Their offspring will pass to me, which I’ll keep hold of, and add to Yosemite. The Dryads born from our grove will begin groves of their own, in all the major cities of our kingdom. The size of the city dictating how many Dryads they receive.”

  Meliae’s brows pressed into each other for another second before she laughed softly.

  “You would have your daughters acting as the glue that holds everyone to the kingdom. And as sisters, they’re all family to one another. They would all share the same father, the lord of Yosemite. Binding them back to the ruling line,” Meliae said with a hint of amusement.

  Vince nodded his head and smiled. “As I said. Kinda simple. It’ll work out I think though. It’ll become a validation. If your city is large enough to be sent a Dryad of the royal line,” Vince said. “The problem doesn’t end with that though. What happens when I die? Who holds the crown of the kingdom of Yosemite?”

  Meliae laughed at that and pressed a warm hand to Vince’s back. “Well, we’ll just have to make sure to keep you out of harm’s way since you’re immortal at this point. And should the worst happen… I would say the best course of action would be to have a clear line of succession. Both for the royal line, and the Dryad line.”

  “A wise idea. You should listen, my liege,” Elysia said, flipping her ledger closed. “As far as I can tell, everything is prepared to the best of my ability. I regret I’ll not be going with you. My sisters feel the same.”

  “Don’t complain to me, I’m not the grove mother,” Vince said with a snicker. “Blue, Green, Daphne, Karya and the grove mother herself will be here as well, so it’s not like you’ll be alone.”

  Meliae’s pout at the use of her title, and the reminder that she’d be remaining here, were the herald of complaints.

  The pounding of boots on stone echoed dully from behind. Looking over his shoulder, Vince saw a messenger in a military uniform heading his way.

  “I don’t think we’re expecting any correspondence today. Only thing on my own agenda is to get ready to head over to Wooden Heart tomorrow,” Vince murmured to himself. “Elysia?”

  “Nothing expected, my liege.”

  Frowning, Vince could only wait.

  “Dispatch from Wooden Heart, Lord,” said the helmeted soldier.

  Taking the letter with a raised brow, Vince thumbed it open and began to read.

  Dear Son-in-law,

  I accept the title, and swear allegiance to my Lord in Yosemite. I do this unconditionally and trust in your leadership to do what is best for our new nation.

  Best of luck in the coming days, son-in-law. Come back safely.

  Duchess of Wooden Heart

  P.S. Send someone over with my grandchildren!

  Snickering to himself, Vince held the letter out to Meliae. “It would seem I have my first noble vassal. Get a trip together to go visit your mother with the children, Meliae. And it sounds like you’ll need to get to work on heraldry and a charter for the kingdom, Elysia.”

  “Already long since done, my liege. I’ll have it prepared for your return. I’ll need to let Felicity know since she’ll be going with you,” Elysia said, opening her ledger again.

  “I’m going to go get a status report from my captains and general. After that, I think it’ll be time to go,” Vince said. “I’ll see you both at dinner tonight.”

  Vince ducked his head to the women and set off at a quick pace for the camp.

  With Mila and the Wooden Heart grove being settled, his timetable would need to move up a few days. Which was perfectly fine with him.

  Entering the temporary military camp, Vince headed for the center.

  Petra had taken charge immediately and set up a military doctrine and expectation of the soldiers. The change was visible overnight. Everyone had been well ordered and working for the cause previously, but now it was a machine.

  A hungry machine of lean efficiency and terrible resolve.

  Petra was standing in front of a table that had been set down. Her fingers were following something across what he could only assume was a smaller version of the map they’d left in Yosemite.

  “Ho there, general,” Vince said with a bit of volume. He wanted everyone to be reminded that Petra was not only a general in name, but in truth.

  Petra’s head snapped to one side, her eyes locking on him. Then a smile lit her face in the same way a flower would open its petals and bloom.

  “Fes, Master is here,” Petra called, standing up straight.

  From around a corner of the central tent came a grunt.

  Seconds later, Fes, Red, Leila, and Ramona came into view.

  Petra had wasted no time in waiting though. She’d closed the distance on Vince and smothered in him a rough hug and several quick kisses.

  Fes laughed at the sight and eased Petra back to claim her own hug from Vince.

  “I wanted to come and let you all know there’s been a change,” Vince said, stealing a kiss from Fes. “Wooden Heart has agreed to become our vassal unconditionally. We’ll be free to depart whenever you feel the army is ready to go. Admittedly we haven’t heard from Verix, but I don’t think we will.”

  Fes grunted at that and slid an arm around Vince’s waist and drew him up against her side. “I agree, husband. They’ll not respond. Their response will be when they strike the next caravan. We’ll be ready though. My second has already set up a plan for it.”

  Vince was surprised at that. “Oh?”

  Petra nodded her head confidently. “Based on their previous disposition, tactics, and chosen location, as well as the route our caravan will take, this one believes she’s narrowed it down to two locations.”

  Leaning over to the table sh
e indicated two small stone markers.

  “They’ll hit here, where it bends, or this portion of the road where there is no cover. Both these locations occur after the point that they attacked last time. Both of these attacks will more than likely occur just before dark falls.

  “This is what this one would do, so she believes that’s what they’ll do. Worst case scenario, the army will be in the field and no one to fight.”

  Vince could only shrug his shoulders. “I’ll trust in you, Petra. I really don’t have any idea about tactics on this scale. I’ll be relying on you completely.”

  Red came in close to him, getting his attention. “Red acquired a volunteer Dryad to take Green’s place for this trip. Red will bring her around tonight to introduce you to her. She will be collecting Red’s meals. If she does well, Red will consider using her as a secondary. Red will go back to Green one when we return though. She worked hard for Red.”

  Vince could only blink several times and hope that someone would change the subject relatively soon.

  Hopefully.

  Chapter 28

  As a whole, the army of Yosemite moved swiftly. The lead elements screened and scouted, finding several Verix patrols. Utilizing Ratkin and Fairies, not a single scout or patrol of Verix’s was missed. And for each one they encountered, they were all captured or killed.

  Those captured were processed in the field, and sent under guard to the Dryad minders who had come with Vince to get anything else out of them that they knew.

  Yosemite’s soldiers were fearless and without equal. To them, soldiery was a profession, and they’d been drilling, training, and living as soldiers since joining.

  Life was being a soldier to them.

  Utilizing every racial aspect of their diverse army to their advantage, Yosemite swept eastward without anyone being the wiser.