158 The Sand Dune (2/2)

Despite his statement, the troll was grinning from ear to ear, and I'd seen it enough times to know that it wasn't because he'd found treasure but because he liked spoils even if it was junk. To Shanks, loot was loot.

I shook my head. \”Best wrap it up then. We're on the clock.\”

Shanks grunted an affirmative and went back to his work.

I glanced up at the sky.

Idunn was partially clouded by clouds which was ideal for our particular stealth mission.

\”Luca, tell everyone to get ready,\” I ordered. \”I'm going to check on Aura's progress.\”

I decided it was time to pull out my winning card, and so I knelt on the sand and closed my eyes. My hands tapped onto the coarse sand beneath me. I breathed in the chilly desert air. After a few deep breaths, I reached deep inside me and called forth the power of my fairy gift.

It appeared in my mind's eye like it always did, that floating tarot card wrapped in the silver light of fairy glimmer—the Fool's card.

\”Oh, great fool, let me see the unseen that I might know the unknowable,\” I whispered.

Heat concentrated on the surface of my eyes like I'd rubbed them all over with chilly powder. Seconds of painful stinging passed into the familiar warm sensation that enveloped my sense of sight. And when I opened my eyes, it was like I was soaring just below the clouds with a clear view of the battlefield below.

As was the case with all locations that held a mana pool, not even my Fool's Insight could pierce through the veil of power hidden there. But the rest of the sand dune was a high definition map to my sight.

The northern side of the massive sand dune was sloped gentler than its southern half which is why there were scarce patrols to watch over it. The enemy probably thought no one would be foolhardy enough to scale that steep slope. Well, they were wrong. But that also meant that the northern side was well defended by two thousand highly-trained fairy soldiers.

Still, our two independent units were doing fairly well despite the disadvantage in numbers and terrain.

Back in the old days, my first unit used to struggle to get up a hillside, but now that they were under Aura's command, they gained ground after ground up the ripples of sand and took advantage of the chinks in the armor of the defenders.

Aura, breathtaking in her elven armor, stood at the head of our frontline formation. Her Hearthstone staff burned a bright crimson each time she launched a firebolt at her targets.

Beside her, acting like a force field that kept all enemies at bay, Azuma swatted away enemies who were foolish enough to try and attack Aura. And behind them, the power of the chosen one reached out to turn the sands above into a field of ice.

Ty was certainly pulling his weight, although I still thought he looked like a spaz in his flowing blue magician's robe. His Gandalf-like attire notwithstanding, Ty was basically a Sherman tank firing liberally at the defenders who just couldn't defend themselves from his power.

I was happy to see that they were following my recommended tactic in climbing up the sand dune. They formed a triangle formation with our heaviest hitters at the front to pierce through any enemy line.

It was working. I could see that clearly. Sadly, their tactics weren't working fast enough. At least not fast enough to get ahead of Al Sheridan's forces.

I turned my gaze on the Millenium Hawks and watched as they used several turtle formations to bulldoze their way up the dune's slopes.

The defenders arrows and javelins were no match against the hardened scutum shields—the large rectangular shields that were curved inward at the edges—employed by the Hawks' turtle formation.

\”Damn, Al's going to beat Aura to the top at this rate,\” I realized. Then I noticed something else. \”He's not there…\”

A bead of sweat dripped down my face as a worrying thought passed through my mind.

\”What is it?\” Luca asked, his voice seemingly echoing around me.

\”Al's not with his unit…\” I said.

There was a growing suspicion in me that I needed to confirm.

My vision zoomed toward the southern slope where I could see our sixty soldiers in a loose circle formation around me and Luca. I'd only just noticed that we were positioned more to the southwest.

Above us, the few scouts employed by the enemy on this side of the sand dune still couldn't see us. This was partly due to the chaos happening on the other side as all attention was focused there.

Then I saw movement on the southeastern side of the massive sand dune which was just far enough from our location that we wouldn't be able to see them either.

It was a group of similar size to mine but with one big difference. These were mounted soldiers on swiftharts that could—and I couldn't believe it myself—traverse the steep incline as if they were mountain goats.

\”Shit!\” I hissed as I realized that I was about to lose the bet. \”We need to move… now!\”