The people of Alva bore the three names of those that had already fallen in their hearts. They turned into a machine, the different limbs of Alva dungeon were active, moving resources to and from Alva and Vuzgal, across all the realms they were gathering resources that would be of use to support the troops.
He saw Delilah walking through the smithy, she waved for people to get back to work as she went up to Taran.
“How are we looking?” She asked.
“We’ve got about ten of the grenade launchers completed. We should have another ten completed in the next three days, production is ramping up quickly. Our main focus is on ammunition, we can go through thousands of rounds in just a few minutes of sustained fire. Rifle round production has increased through new techniques we’ve added to the production lines. Grenade launcher ammunition is becoming faster, though like the mortar rounds it takes more time with the larger formations. Looking to perfect the casting situation,” Taran said in a deep voice.
“I heard that there was an issue with the castings not being as clean as you hoped.”
“That’s correct, the power of the rounds would be lower and it takes more time for the formation folks to work on. Want to get to the stage where we can use a machine to clean the rounds, engrave and inlay the formation. Got the Blueprint group working on it.”
“Do you need anything?”
“More hands, but that’ll be hard. We’re automating as much as possible, or at least reducing the amount of labor required. Even the Novice and Journeyman level applicants are being utilized,” Taran said.
“I would say don’t push yourself too hard, but I know that wouldn’t be possible,” Delilah said with a smile.
“I heard that there was a certain Council leader that has taken to brewing gunpowder in her office and helping with the gunpowder mill every spare minute she has,” Taran said in a sarcastic tone.
“They need us, they’re fighting for others as they fought for Alva they went up there for us,” Delilah said.
“They’re our people,” Taran finished for her.
“Yes,” Delilah nodded.
Taran looked around, he really looked at Alva, seeing the tired men and women around him, their movements like machines, even if they were tired, their minds were focused with iron-like will.
He couldn’t put what he felt into words, he felt that they couldn’t convey what he was feeling.
“We’ll get them the ammunition and weapons,” Taran said. It was a promise he made not based on production speeds or material needs. It was based on the fact he knew that they would all sacrifice their time, their blood and tears. What was a few hours of overtime when it could save one of their friends of family members lives?
***
Xue Lin sighed as another person left her carriage. The strongest forces of the Blue Lotus as well as Erik’s people had left the convoy and disappeared into the forest, no idea where they were or what their plan was.
If they had told us, it is possible that the spies in our ranks would find out what they were planning and warn the Blood Demon Sect, she assured herself. “Still, just sitting here and working to calm people’s nerves is not what I thought my job would be.”
She felt a sense of defeat as she thought about the events of the last few weeks.
She looked out of the window at the forest. The farther they went, the gloomier it became. They had people farther up the road, clearing it and then hurling debris behind them so it would make it harder for the Blood Demon Sect to follow.
“Edar Empire, one of the four main empires of this northern continent when it was at the height of power. Just how were they able to get control over it?” Tareng was a large city and it had been around for a long time indeed. It had even been there when the Edar Empire had existed. In her free time, she had been interested in the nearby location’s history.
The Edar Empire was a massive trader, with Vuzgal their capital, being the center of that strength. In the forest, there were plenty of natural resources for them to harvest. They had rich ore veins in their mountains and it had two secondary cities that blocked off the road that entered the passageway between two mountains to Vuzgal. The area inside was all controlled by them. They were one of the few places in the Fourth Realm where crops were actually grown. Though the capital only had access to one dungeon, that dungeon would be exceptional even in the upper realms.
“A set dungeon, capable of giving one a set of legendary armor or a weapon based upon one’s fighting abilities.” No one had been able to get access to the capital as there was a powerful spell that was cast on the capital that revived the undead and made them keep fighting. They killed anything that entered their range, beasts and people as well as other undead, thus ever increasing their Strength. Just how did they enter it? Xue Lin thought back to her original question.
“In the end, it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is if they can really slow down the Blood Demon Sect ‘s army.”
***
There were mages moving dirt and people using shovels as they dug underneath the road around the switchback. It looked like a construction zone as Han Wu, Erik, and the others who had spent time with explosives went around, checking the holes and then placing premade charges. They had made a few IEDs back in Alva, and Han Wu had been making them ever since Erik found out about the concoction they were made with.
He checked the command wires that were gathered together.
Olivia was looking around at all of the work, not understanding it but doing what Erik had told her to do.
Not for the first time, he felt that there was a tension between them. It might be because she was under him; it might be because he was an unknown to her. He could understand that and left her to deal with her own thoughts as he focused on the fight ahead.
Niemm rode up to Erik on his mount and jumped off it, landing next to Erik.
“How are the assigned observation posts?” Erik asked.
“We checked all of them and had spotters on the road and using a few spells. We’re looking good,” Niemm said.
“Good work.” Erik nodded. “What about the trip wires?”
“The trip wire formations that we placed show the Blood Demon Sect’s army to be about five hours away.”
Erik looked up at the sun and gauged its position. “All these different realms and suns are doing my head in,” He muttered and looked at his timepiece, thankfully it adjusted to the different day lengths of the other realms. The fourth realm’s days were three hours longer than the first realms. He took a few minutes to check his math.
“So they will either march through here as night is coming, or they’ll camp up somewhere and come through in the morning.”
“They haven’t stopped one night yet,” Niemm said.
“Neither have we. Fuckers are a goddamn pain in my ass. If they try to come through here at night, it’ll be better for us, though.”
“Pitch black, hard to see who they’re next to. Probably using night vision, throw in explosions, mess their sight up, create confusion, people wounded or dying with no sign of where the attack is coming from. Sounds like hell from a command and control perspective,” Niemm added.
“Right. Can you check with Yui and make sure that his mortar teams have illumination rounds? If it is at night, we’ll need to see where the hell they are,” Erik said.
“Sir, I’ve been thinking. Why don’t we keep our beasts stored and then when we need to bug out, we pull them out? That way, their night vision won’t be messed up and we can rely on their eyes instead of ours?” Niemm asked.
“That is a good fucking idea. See to it and pass the commands to Olivia as well as update her on the situation.”
“Yes, sir,” Niemm said, happy to be able to help.
He left and Erik watched him go.
The special teams had meshed well once combined together in training and had become a well-oiled machine in combat.
Erik looked over as a mage came closer.
> “We have buried most of the devices and your man said to say that ‘we’re burying the command wire now’.” The man made an odd expression as he said the foreign words.
“Thank you,” Erik said. The mage headed back to work as Erik looked over the switchback.
***
Yui checked over the mortars once again, moving between positions and checking that they were dialed in.Storage rings allowed them to prepare hundreds of rounds of ammunition ahead of time then just let it out of their storage ring, right down the tube.
One person worked communications, another was the gunner, and a third was the ammunition prepper and weapon loader.
They had trained with the mortars and fired them off at Vuzgal but this would be their first combat fire run, so they were ready to adjust on the fly.
They had worked out the ranges and the angles but now it was the real deal.
“How we looking?” Yui asked Strode, his second-in-command.
“Looking good. We’ve got crews manning all twenty mortars. Got five different firing sites, so even if we get marked we’ll be able to keep firing from the other positions. We have at least one secondary site for every team to move to if we’re getting targeted. We’re ready,” Platoon First Sergeant Strode said.
***
Roi walked up to Olivia, who was looking at the switchback. The holes had been covered over and the wire was just being laid down now. People were headed to their different posts around the road to get some food and hunker down for the Blood Demon army to appear.
“Commander?” Roi asked.
“Take the Wind Unit. You will separate from the ranged forces and move close to the road and lay in wait. When the first attack begins, you will lead the Wind Unit into the enemy forces to attack the Masters,” Olivia said.
Roi’s face was grim. It would be a vicious move, a deadly blow on the strongest people in the Blood Demon army. It was well known that Masters decided a battle. It could take tens of regular troops to kill just one Master.
The Blue Lotus and Crafter’s Association didn’t have the numbers to bleed and to kill some Masters. With a single strike they would impress on the Blood Demon Army the strength of the Blue Lotus and the Crafter’s association. Strike fear into their hearts as they remembered who they were attacking.
“I will carry out your orders,” Roi said.
Olivia turned to him and pulled out a dozen green and red potions. “You honor the Blue Lotus.” She handed them to him.
He took a deep breath and accepted the potions. “Please, look after my family.”
“They will forever be members of the Blue Lotus,” she promised. She didn’t want to send them out but, in her judgement, she needed to. Xue Lin had ordered her to follow Erik West. She was going against that order.
She didn’t know the man and she wanted to stack the odds in their favor as best as she knew how to.
***
The sun started to disappear. The asteroid belt around the Fourth Realm lit up the night—there were no noticeable moons around the Fourth Realm planet.
Darkness came, revealing the stars in the night sky.
Erik lay on his back, looking up at the sky, the asteroid belt, and the stars beyond.It was a sight that couldn’t be seen on Earth.
He heard noise in the distance, a low rumbling.
Erik looked away from the sky and he used his binoculars to look down the road.The asteroid belt’s faint light reflected off the Blood Demon Sect army’s armor, as their vanguard appeared on the road.
“This is Captain West. Enemy spotted on the road. Hold positions and wait for my orders.” Erik’s stomach tightened as they waited, filled with adrenaline. He moved his fingers, rubbing them against one another. He breathed and cleared away distractions, looking at the army, checking the markers that they had placed along the road.
He looked over at the formation plate and the wires that lay beside it.
Everything was in place; now all that was left was to wait. Waiting for an ambush made minutes seem like hours.
Chapter: Thunder Without Lightning
General Ulalas ordered her people forward. They had sighted the people from Tareng. A day ago, a group had disappeared—riding on ahead, according to her spies.
She had no idea of where they were but she needed to wipe out the people from Tareng. She had no idea what messages that they had sent already but she knew that she needed to stop them from talking. Nearly three days had gone since they had left Tareng. Now, her army was just a half day behind the fleeing caravan.
She ordered the army to eat on the move to keep up their pace. It would tire them out but she had numbers on her side. Tareng’s people didn’t have any defenses to hide behind while on the move, leaving them open for slaughter.
They passed through switchbacks and crossed over hills.
Another switchback appeared as they continued to march on.
***
Erik watched as the Blood Demon Sect’s army appeared. It was massive, unlike anything he had seen before. Seeing the dark snake that was moving down the road, each man and woman a warrior heading to battle, was an incredible sight.
They entered the switchback, climbing to the top of the hill. Erik got the first good look at the army. The basic soldiers had simple black and red armor. The leaders had more red in their armor, it wasn’t something that was easy to pick out but thankfully the crafter’s association had a few people that had worked on their armor in the past. There were massive carriages, with a large team of beasts pulling them up the incline. On top of them, there were posts where flying creatures could fly from or land on.
The first group of soldiers passed through the switchback, then a group of carriages moved through.
Erik got a communication from Olivia.
“What are you doing? Hit the carriages,” Olivia said.
Erik frowned before replying, “The carriages will force them to stay on the road. If we take out the carriages, then it will make it easier for them to move through the forests. On the road, they need protection, which makes it harder for the army to spread out.”
Erik scanned for signs of leadership. He saw a number of flags around a heavily armored and mounted group. Around them, there was a large unit of mounted soldiers. Erik had now found his target as the army continued to push onward.
“They contain siege weaponry and supplies for the entire army!” Olivia hissed.
“Obey your orders, soldier. I do not have time to hold your hand. If you call me again to try to get me to change my orders, I will relieve you of command,” Erik curtly responded into his communication device. He didn’t have time to deal with her second-guessing his orders.
“Understood.” Her voice was cold.
Erik gritted his teeth. He could tell that she would be a problem. He didn’t have time to deal with it now but if he had to, he would send her back to Xue Lin. I’ll deal with it later.
He watched his targets entering the switchback, riding on their lizard creatures.
“Mortar teams, ready. Ready trigger devices,” Erik said, using sound talismans to send out his orders.
He grabbed the formation and took the wires, removing their caps and putting them into the formation. He tightened the two screws, securing the wires in place.
“Mortar teams confirmed ready,” Yui replied.
“Trigger device one ready,” Han Wu said
“Trigger device two ready,” Niemm said.
“Trigger device three ready,” Erik said.
Erik pulled out his timepiece. He had cast Night Vision so the darkness of the battlefield had no effect..
He looked at the road once again. “Mortars, you are free to fire.” Erik clicked on his timepiece as it counted down.
“Mortars understands. Firing!” Yui shouted.
There was some faint noises in the distance. Erik didn’t know whether they were the mortars or the noises of the forest.
“Trigger devices, on my mark.” Erik checked his
timepiece as it ticked down. “Three, two, one—MARK!”
Erik pressed the formation device three times to blow three different mines. A spark appeared and three flashes of light went off just seconds apart from one another in the switchback.
***
General Ulalas looked out of the command carriage she was riding in.
Then as she watched the switchback disappeared; smoke, dust and debris flew up into the sky. Explosions rippled through the army.
General Ulalas wanted to yell out but the noise from the explosions and the wave of pressure blasted across the army, making it impossible to send messages or orders.
A piercing whistling could be heard from above. People looked up but didn’t see anything.
More whistles could be heard. A shiver went down even the veterans’ spines.
The first whistle ended in an explosion, killing everything within fifty meters and pushing back everything within eighty.
Explosions continued to go off among the army. Chaos took over as hundreds of packed-in soldiers were killed in each blast.
Conscripts ran for their lives but their oaths forced them back to their positions, unable to run or find cover they couldn’t retreat, only charge forward into the destruction ahead or stand still hoping they weren’t hit.
Commanders tried to get control over their soldiers but there were no spell formations in the skies or signs of where the attack had come from.
“Defensive formations!” she yelled out to all of her commanders as explosions continued to go off.
The Fourth Realm (The Ten Realms Book 4) Page 35