9 Courage Under Fire (1/2)
”Couldn't find him, huh?” I asked, without feeling surprised.
The pixie I sent to fetch our commander from the rear responded with a shake of his head.
”He wasn't inside the circle of stones...” the pixie said, almost laughing. ”Just like you said.”
”His three stooges are gone, too,” said the dwarf standing next to the pixie. ”Probably high-tailed it along with our glorious commander, the slimy little turd.”
The dwarf who was happily disrespecting our superior officer was Varda Coldstone. Like most dwarven females, she kept her curly brown hair tied in a tight bun. This made her chiseled face stand out more which was exactly what she preferred. Varda had emerald green eyes underneath thick eyebrows. she had a small button nose and a thin mouth whose smile could light up a room. Only four feet and ten inches tall but she was all heart with broad shoulders that didn't hesitate to pull her own weight and then some. She was also one of only two pure magicians left in our unit as many of them had died trying to climb up the hill thanks to Roselle's useless command.
”Muds! I'm embarrassed the commander and I share a species,” the pixie said with a shake of his head.
”Not your fault, Qwipps. There's a black sheep in every breed,” I noted, jokingly.
”I'm supposed to be the black sheep. Broke enough pixie hearts to prove it,” Qwipps joked back.
Unlike the stout Varda beside him, Qwipps Daggerby had a willowy frame that made his sex difficult to determine. However, all one had to do was listen to his potty mouth and they'd know immediately that he was male. Qwipps' brushed-back hair was a much lighter shade of brown than his tanned skin. His face was angular, with high cheekbones and a straight sharp nose. With his slanted eyes, Qwipps looked almost Asian, except his left iris was an electric blue while his right iris was apple red. Like the two gossamer wings hidden on his back, two-color eyes was a defining trait among pixies.
”You expected this?” Aura asked.
She stood alongside me as we hung at the very front of our defensive line, about ten yards above the halfway mark of the barren hillside. Around us, a small group of our unit's elites gathered. This included Luca and Edo, Aura's half-ogre bodyguard.
”You would come to the same conclusion if you just thought about it,” I responded. ”What's the one thing our commander is good at?”
”Running away,” Luca and Qwipps answered at the same time.
”Not quite,” I laughed. ”He knows exactly when he's fighting a losing battle and when to cut his losses.”
I pointed a finger at the enemy below. Their forces gathered on the southern side of the hill were more than three times our size, with trolls who had thick skins at the front and hobgoblins who were quick climbers right behind them, ready to charge at a moment's notice. Behind these fairies were row upon row of human viseres and slave soldiers, and in the rear guard, a small unit of hooded figures wielding magician staffs.
”He left us to die,” Aura whispered angrily.
I nodded. ”I doubt he ever intended to win the hill last night. No less defend it from this horde.”
”So, we kind of ruined it for him,” Luca said thoughtfully as if the idea of cramping Roselle's style amused him.
”Which is why we've become expendable. The whole lot of us,” I said. Although I was still smiling, I was all serious inside my head. My mind was looking for a way to survive this encounter.
”We can handle the trolls and the hobs... the real concern is Azuma and his elites,” said the hulking figure standing behind Aura.
At seven feet tall, Edo was the largest member of our hundred-man-unit. Two short, curved horns protruded out of the forehead of this silver-skinned, physically robust humanoid. Above his aquiline nose, he had deep-set violet eyes underneath thin eyebrows. His long black hair was pulled back and tied in a single braid behind his head.
”Yeah,” I agreed. ”We'll deal with him, too.”
I didn't see the need to mention that I hadn't figured that part out yet. After all, how do you plan to defeat someone who reportedly could charge an army by himself and win single-handedly?
”You have a plan, Dean?” Varda asked. Her voice was soft and very lady-like.
I looked up at the sky.
Forks of lightning streaked across the dark clouds. Raindrops were falling on our hill. Visibility was already low and would only get lower once the rain poured harder.
I glanced down.
The hillside between our defensive formations and the enemy army was about a hundred and twenty yards in a low slope. It was the color of dark chocolate and as barren as an elf's backside. The fog had appeared in the northern and eastern hillsides. Thankfully, this meant that the enemy couldn't climb these areas any more than we could defend them.
”How many spells can you use tonight, Varda?” I asked as I glanced at her.
Varda, who was watching me with mild curiosity, raised three fingers.
I looked to Aura next. She was the only other pure magic caster we still had.
”I have two spells ready,” Aura answered.
”Can either of you make the earth shake?” I asked.
”I can cause a mudslide as long as the ground gets wetter,” Varda answered.
”Good,” I replied. ”It's going to rain hard tonight. Wait for my signal. Then wake the earth up.”
I turned to Luca and Edo next.
”The two of you are our heaviest hitters. I want you to pick five more guys out of the remaining seventy-two who can perform well with hit-and-run tactics in slippery slopes,” I said.
”Qwipps,” I started, but then I noticed them all looking at me intently and I suddenly realized I'd taken command without asking their opinions. By rights, Varda or Qwipps should lead as they ranked higher than me. This caused me to blush. ”Sorry... you mind if I take the helm?”
After a moment, Varda nodded thoughtfully. ”The way I see it, Dean, you've put a plan together faster than I could. Probably better than anything Qwipps could come up with, too.”
”Yep. We'd probably get you all killed if either Varda or I took charge,” Qwipps added in. ”But you'll need more than wit and a plucky attitude to convince our soldiers to fall in line.”
I glanced past the officers with me to the soldiers manning the wooden fences nearest us. They were all looking at me, and it was obvious from their doubtful faces that they didn't share the confidence Varda and Qwipps placed in me. Some of them looked so dejected at the prospect that lay before us that we were in danger of losing before the battle began.
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I expected their mistrust. After all, I was the unit newbie and everyone knew I attained my position as a strategist only because the clan's princess recommended me. And although I may have won us the hill, many were of a mind that Luca deserved credit for this as I wasn't a warrior in their eyes. This meant that I would have to figure out a way to impress them and boost their morale at the same time.
Nervous anxiety began to build up in me, and it would have frozen me in indecision if Aura hadn't squeezed my shoulder in a gesture of encouragement. Yeah, she had that effect on me.
I turned around and faced the hilltop to survey our defenses.
The nearest manned wooden fence was a quarter of the way up the hill and maybe thirty yards from the ring of white stones above. Each fence was four feet in height, built in a series of x-shape formations joined by coils of rope with their sharpened tips facing outward to discourage enemies from breaking through them. We placed the fences at intervals along the hill with little gaps between that allowed enemies passage through. These were subtle traps that would funnel enemy soldiers right into the waiting shadowblade spears of our defenders. Furthermore, nearly all of our surviving soldiers received bows and a quiver of arrows.
Among our seventy-two defenders, Luca and I included, around half comprised pixies and elves, which meant low accuracy wouldn't be much of a concern. It was important that the enemy see the hail of arrows raining down on them. It might even sap their drive to climb the hill.
”We're lacking shields,” Luca noted.