30 Blood Spor (1/2)

The plan this time might have been more foolhardy than usual, but I did have a back up in case it failed. Now, the linchpin of our strategy was the item I created with Varda and Zarz, and as long as it functioned the way we intended it to then our victory was all but assured.

Ashley passed me the metal canister she was carrying. ”Are you sure this will work?”

The skepticism showing clear on Ashley's face was emphasized by a raised eyebrow that reminded me so much of Arah's smoldering gaze that it made me miss my two friends. They wouldn't have doubted me. I think.

”It'll work if we did everything right,” I held the canister in my hand. ”But just in case... tell Donar to get ready, Varda.”

Varda, who stood beside Ashley, glanced behind to our troops positioned in the rear. ”Commander wants you to get ready for when the experiment fails, Donar Firemonger.”

I sighed after hearing Varda's words, but I shrugged off her pessimism and transferred my focus over to Luca's battle in the arena below.

He was doing pretty well. At least, it looked as if he and the young leader of the fallen drow clan were evenly matched as they traded sword blows and parried each other's shadowblades.

”Why don't you just use your fairy gift to paralyze your brother's opponent so he'd win easily?” Ashley asked.

I had considered it but there was a simple reason why 'Basilisk's Eye' couldn't be my first option. Although it didn't mess with my vision afterward like regular Fool's Insight did, using the skill meant I would be unable to call on Fool's Insight for the rest of the night like that time right before Aura and I were ambushed. If I did, I might have been able to notice our enemies before the bad stuff happened.

Of course, I couldn't admit this weakness to Ashley so I came up with a different excuse. ”The target's too far away...”

I glanced down at the item in my hands and inspected it one final time.

The metal canister was the size of a soda can and made of a thin aluminum sheet capped on both ends by wax that could melt quickly in hot temperatures. There were round holes on the metal surface's upper half that allowed for a sneak peek at what we'd crammed inside it, a brown sack carrying a portion of the light-emitting gemstone as well as the mixture of aluminum and magnesium shavings we'd filled the sack with.

”Is it time to set this place ablaze, Commander?” said a husky male voice in a humorous tone.

I glanced over to Donar Firemonger who had arrived to stand beside Vada.

Although they weren't related, the male salamander was similar to Kallista in many ways. Even in his red magician's robe, I could tell that they shared a similar toned build. He also possessed the same fiery scale marks under violet reptilian eyes, as well as the hair that seemed to burn at the tips.

Donar sent me a toothy smile that revealed the two sharp fangs in his teeth.

”Almost,” I answered. ”Get ready to fire on my command.”

I closed my eyes and read the words floating in my mind's eye, ”Oh great fool, let me see the unseen that I might know the unknowable,” and the fairy gift inside me awakened.

With Fool's Insight activated, I would be prepared for anything. It was time.

”We charge down into that arena after we hear the boom,” I instructed my men. ”Circular formation around the two fighters. Ashley and Edo will assist Luca in subduing the enemy leader. Don't kill him. We need information on where to find Aura.”

I glanced over at Edo who nodded back to me in an affirmative way.

”The rest of us will keep the formation and block any drow that comes to the commander's aid,” I finished.

I pulled at the wick that was out of the sack inside the cannister and lit it by pressing it onto the tips of Donar's hair. He was a convenient alternative to a matchstick.

The wick lit up like a fireworks' fuse because I'd coated it earlier in niter from the gemstone and aluminum dust ground from our aluminum shavings.

”We go as soon as we hear the boom,” I tossed the canister out our opening. ”Oh, and close your eyes, everyone!”

I glanced down below.

”Close your eyes, Luca!” I yelled at the top of my lungs right before I followed my own advice.

There was a loud clang as the metal landed on the rocky ground, and then—nothing.

I counted to five but still hadn't heard the intensely loud bang that should have come from the explosion of my makeshift flashbang. All I could hear was the startled cries of the onlooking drow who were no doubt surprised to find that their home was under attack.

”Shit,” I cursed before yelling at Donar, ”Use your Flashfire!”

But then I heard Luca's voice loud and clear against the rising clamor of the panicking drow, ”Dean, stop! Don't do anything!”

Despite my mind telling me to keep going less we lose the initiative, my hand instinctively stopped Donar from turning the fireball he'd conjured over his sharp-nailed hand into a shower of blindingly bright sparks.

I wondered why Luca had asked me to stop, and I glanced down at my brother who was looking up at me despite the danger he was in.

”Don't do anything else... there are innocent women and children here!” he called.

Of course, that's what Luca was worried about. Nevermind the murderous glare of the drow leader or the bows that were now targeting my position, the innocents were first on Luca's mind.

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I slapped my forehead with the palm of my right hand. ”Luca...”

”Well, this is hilarious,” Ashley said, and she really sounded like she found the current situation comical.

”Aw, shucks, Commander... it didn't go boom,” Varda added like our failed experiment was the more pressing concern. ”Maybe that wick didn't make it inside the sack?”

”I told you!” I heard Zarz yell from the backline of my thirty-five man troop who all looked as sheepish as I felt. ”We need a better trigger mechanism to make it explode properly!”

I sighed. Things were certainly not going as planned.

It was a minute later—after I'd deactivated Fool's Insight and given instructions to Varda to keep the recruits in our corridor ready for an all-out battle—when I jumped down into the arena with Edo and Ashley as my backup.

The warrior drow surrounding us from above kept their bows trained on our moving forms but didn't attack, and I assumed it was because their leader hadn't given them the order yet.

Luca walked over to us and I slapped him a high-five before I asked him why he'd stopped me from taking the initiative in this battle.

”Did you know why the drow were running away from the guards?” he asked instead of answering my question.

I did, and Luca could read the truth in my face.