1 The Gallant Fool (2/2)
”We should move, Dean… we're sitting ducks out here,” he nodded toward our unit. ”Should we head back and help them?”
”Would it kill you to call me big brother?” I grumbled.
”Maybe if you start acting like one,” he countered.
I sighed inwardly. It was challenging to have such a capable little brother who didn't need to rely on me at all.
”We're fine. We killed the only two guards who saw us. I doubt anyone else will notice two teens climbing up the side of the hill in all this chaos,” I reasoned.
I was mostly right. Earlier, while the two armies prepared for battle, Luca and I ignored our commander's orders and broke off from our unit to circle around the eastern slope of the chocolate-colored hill so we could climb it unobstructed by the defenders who'd focused on our main attack force. Midway up, we encountered and defeated the only two guards stationed there. As foolhardy plans went, things were going pretty well.
From our new elevated vantage point on the hillside, I now had a good view of the fort's defenses. My eyes scanned the scene before me—the battle was going just like I thought it would.
Despite our attackers' determination to climb the hill, the fairy fort's well-placed defenses repeatedly kept them at bay. Separate groups of defenders scattered across the hillside, charging the weakest points in our line which had stretched itself too thinly along the southern slope. Their shadowblade spears crashed onto our unit's shields, forcing us back a step for every two we made forward. Projectiles rained down from above—arrows with charred-tipped arrowheads, giant boulders that rolled through predetermined paths down the hill, even mid-sized fireballs from the lone mage standing near the hilltop. In the wake of this onslaught, our troops could do nothing but crumble slowly.
”Bunch of incompetent idiots,” I whispered.
”Why? What do you see?” Luca asked.
”We're stretched out too thin… the whole line is in danger of breaking,” I deduced. ”They need to reform and gather closer to the center. With more men together they might have a chance of breaking through the defenses and get higher up the hill where the enemy arrows won't be as effective.”
Luca hefted his broadsword's blade over his right shoulder. ”Wouldn't that just make them a bigger target?”
”Only if they kept up this slow pace… but one big push forward could turn this whole battle around,” I explained.
Luca glanced my way. ”Is that what your Fool's Insight is telling you?”
To be clear, Luca didn't actually call me a fool. He was referring to the gift bestowed on me by the clan leader. Lowly humans like me who didn't have a drop of fairy blood in our bodies couldn't wield the arcane powers most fairies possessed. To make us more useful in battle, fairies gifted humans with abilities that enhanced our natural talents. Mine was Fool's Insight. It was a power that enhanced my sense of sight to a disturbingly high degree, allowing me to absorb and process all the visual information around me into useful insight.
”No, I don't need it to see the mess our commander put us in,” I reasoned.
It wasn't just that I didn't need to use the power, I also didn't want to. Fairy gifts were double-edged swords that caused problems equal to the boons they provided. Overusing Fool's Insight meant I would later have to deal with temporary blurry eyesight akin to near blindness. Such a debuff would prove fatal in a battlefield like the one we were in.
”You think Commander Roselle's plan will fail?” Luca asked.
”It already has,” I answered. ”That arrogant pixie wouldn't know what strategy was even if it jumped out and bit him in the face…”
Luca sighed. ”If he survives, he'll want to kill us himself for breaking away and doing our own thing, for sure. You know how he is about rules…”
I grinned at Luca. ”Not unless we help turn this dire situation around, little brother.”
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”You have a plan?” Luca sounded skeptical.
”When have I not?” I answered.
Luca lowered his broadsword tip first and impaled it onto the soft earth where it sank a good two inches. ”It's probably another reckless idea...”
”What we're doing is called gallantry, not recklessness,” I countered.
I pointed to the top of the hill.
Around seventy to eighty yards above us, the barren hill that was the color and surface texture of chocolate brownies peaked into a low rise encircled by a ring of white stones made visible by the large golden moon that was native to this realm.
”See what I see?” I asked.
Luca gazed in the direction I pointed. After a while, he shrugged. ”You know I don't…”
”I see a path to victory,” I said, confidently.
”Uhuh, and how exactly are we supposed to win this?” Luca asked with an impassive face that seemed unconvinced by my declaration.
My grin grew wider. ”Follow me.”