159 Climb to Conquer (2/2)

\”Distractions,\” she huffed.

I pointed to the western slice of the circle and grinned at Varda.

\”Mana pools only exist inside a fairy fort… So what's the most common feature of a fairy fort regardless of its terrain?\” I asked.

Varda's face lit up with sudden realization, and for a moment she'd forgotten her fatigue. \”Circle stones!\”

I nodded right before raising two fingers from my left hand. \”It's about time your golems made an appearance and I want them causing as much chaos as possible.\”

Varda rubbed her hands together like an evil villain relishing the moment. \”Roger, Commander.\”

\”What about us, Commander?\” Pike asked.

\”You'll make sure Varda gets to where she needs to go then I want you and Enna to support Edo and Shanks,\” I instructed.

I watched Pike turn to Luca with a worried look, and he reassured her with a smile I rarely see him give anyone else. I had to roll my eyes at them.

\”Luca and I can handle whatever comes our way,\” I reasoned. \”Otherwise, the last few months of training with Azuma would have been worthless…\”

\”I hope not…\” Luca said with a shake of his head. \”Or he'll crank up the training even more…\”

It was one of the few times my brother and I agreed on anything. Azuma's training was hellish enough as is. We certainly didn't want him getting even more extreme.

\”Seven of us against a hundred or more soldiers, huh,\” Shanks whistled. \”I don't like those odds, boss.\”

Edo snorted. \”Nothing new here… Dean's strategies always have us up against a much larger number than ourselves.\”

\”Yup,\” Varda nodded in agreement. \”It's our Commander's trademark tactic.\”

\”Death by a thousand cut,\” Luca added.

\”Shut up, guys,\” I frowned. Then I pointed to our immediate right where the sounds of battle were beginning to intensify. \”It won't be seven against a hundred or two, Shanks. Not for long anyway.\”

I glanced down one final time and raised a fist toward Ashley's direction. It was the sign we agreed on that signaled the attack was imminent.

Ashley raised her own fist back toward me to say she understood. Then she glanced over her shoulder at the loose gathering of shield soldiers below her, and I could almost hear her telling them to pick up the pace or in Ashley's words, it would probably be more like, \”Move it or lose it!\”

I turned my attention back on my team and eyed each of them before I gave the order to move out.

We continued on our way up a little less subtly than before in a two-line formation that allowed us to climb in pairs, all except for Varda who stayed at the rear. It was a scramble to the top now to claim the head of a two-thousand-man commander.

I half expected the enemy to notice us and sound the alarm, but our luck seemed to have held long enough for Edo—his glaive raised and poised to swing at unlucky fairy heads—to clear the summit and step into the oasis.

Shanks was close behind Edo, a black powder grenade in each hand.

And although Luca and I hadn't reached the top yet, from the lack of yelling at Edo and Shanks' presence, I assumed that the enemy hadn't discovered them yet, or more likely, that Edo had already killed the defenders within his reach. I would find out a few seconds later after Luca and I had finally climbed up to the oasis, that it was the latter.

Four bodies dyed the sands of the oasis red with blood while the smell of death lingered in the air.

I drew my falchion while my eyes took in the sight of a wall of shields faced off against Edo.

The enemies had noticed him now, and they were smart enough to know not to approach him head-on. Sadly, they didn't account for the grenades in Shanks' hands.

I saw several faces look up as the first canister sailed over their heads. And then, with a satisfying boom and an ensuing explosion kicking up a truckload of sand into the air, the shield wall that would have troubled Edo was no more.

\”Foolhardies!\” I yelled.

I charged only to find myself stumbling as I heard a different kind of war cry directly east of us.

\”Hawks to me!\” Al Sheridan yelled as he and his swifthart finally arrived at the edge of the oasis.

His glaive's shadowblade edge cut a path against the gathered enemies who seemed just as surprised as me at his arrival.

\”Not again... he's too early,\” I hissed. Panicking, I glanced behind me. \”Luca, let's go!\”

Then, without waiting for my brother's response, I raised my falchion high and renewed my charge into the fray.