183 The Night Before (2/2)
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Later, after I'd given instructions to the three sprites to send messages to Darah, Al Sheridan, and Kallista, I went out of my tent in search of Luca.
I found my brother with his men trading stories and telling jokes while most of them were gathered around a large bonfire.
Luca's Ravagers was the oldest squad in the unit, many of them survivors of our very first campaign against Azuma. They were veterans of one major war and several battles despite being deployed almost always at the front. A gathering of humans, elves, pixies, and dwarves also made them the most diverse squad in all the Foolhardies. They were also a pretty tight-knit crew.
The Ravagers saw me approached and welcomed me over with mugs of rock beer. Luca scooted over and made room for me on the log he'd been sitting in. And it was only then that I noticed Pike, who wasn't part of the unit, sitting on his other side.
I rolled my eyes at the pair of them, which many of the men noticed, prompting them to tease their squad leader about fraternizing with another unit.
It was very fun to watch Luca and Pike squirm under the gazes and jokes of his men, and I found the mug of rock beer in my hand was extra tasty because of it.
”Are you two even a couple yet?” I whispered into Luca's ear.
The word couple made my brother's eyes widen in obvious embarrassment, and it was a while before he was able to stutter, ”W-we're just friends, Dean… Jeez…”
Seeing the scowl appear on Pike's face, I was almost certain that she didn't think that was the case. Luca was such a clueless kid. Not that I was any different.
A while later, Aura came and picked me up as Varda had asked her to make sure I complete my rounds and not get stuck with just one group for the whole night.
We had tea with Aura's Mage Hand squad. And it was the first time I got to really chat with most of it members. Apart from Donar, Varda, and Ty, I didn't really know much about the rest.
Strangely enough, Ty wasn't actually with his squad, and when I asked Aura about it, she said, ”He must be with Azuma right about now.”
”Azuma and Ty together?” I asked as it was a very weird combination.
”Tiberius asked Azuma to train him because he wanted to do more than just be a magician… he wanted to be able to fight too.... I believe his term was Eldritch Knight?” Aura said with a shrug.
It was just like Ty to use such a gamer reference. An Eldritch Knight was a Dungeons and Dragons class that was a mixture of fighter and wizard. As it stood, Ty was already overpowered. I wasn't sure I wanted him to become even more imbalanced than he already was.
”I've got to see this,” I said smiling.
Aura and I made our way to Azuma's Immortals, all of whom were viseres who'd worked for Azuma when he was our enemy. But although there was still a little friction between their squad and the rest of the unit, we'd learned to trust them to watch our backs. They were that capable.
Azuma's second-in-command, a guy named Leeroy Junkines, informed me that his boss had gone a ways out of camp to train the chosen one.
”How far away?” I asked.
”Far enough that your friend going berserk won't endanger the camp, Commander,” Leeroy explained.
With Ty and Azuma out of the picture, I spent a few more minutes toasting the Immortals good health and fortune in the upcoming war. It was the least I could do.
Aura and I spent the rest of that night checking on the rest of the squads, and it seemed they were all in high spirits.
In fact, many of the Talons were already drunk when we dropped by. It got me worried about how they were all acting more and more like Qwipps especially whenever Pike wasn't around.
Qwipps offered me another drink which I couldn't very well refuse, and after another toast with their squad, we moved on to Ashley's Shield Squad.
Like Luca's troops, Ashley's squad was a diverse group of elves, humans, and satyrs. They were also the most tight-knit group in the entire unit. They had to be. After all, a single member in the unit who couldn't sync with the rest meant a weak link in Ashley's shield wall, which I relied on heavily in battles.
I toasted their good health as well, and at this point, I was starting to feel a little tipsy myself. That feeling would escalate rather quickly after I toasted Xanthor's squad, Thom's squad, Thor's squad, and finally, Edo's squad.
At that point, I was on my way to passing out and having a really good dream, but could you blame me? At sixteen, I'd only recently started to drink and fairy spirits were not for the faint of heart.
You might be wondering why the unit was even drinking while it was marching on to a new war, but that had a simple answer. Now was the only time we could drink. Tomorrow night, we would be entering Garm's territory and would need to be on our guard despite still being in Trickster land.
I gave my unit one last night off so that they could bond, drink, and be merry one more time before we got to the serious business of warmongering. I just didn't expect I'd get drunk to the point that Edo, under Aura's recommendation, had to carry me back to the command tent.
Just remembering it the very next day was embarrassing. Even more embarrassing was the fact that aunt Lena caught me in bed while I was nursing a hangover. To say that she was furious was an understatement.
It didn't help that Ty arrived a few minutes later to pick me up for school looking battered and bruised.
Aunt Lena sat us down and lectured the two of us on sneaking out of the house, getting drunk, and into fights in the middle of the night. If only she knew the truth. Perhaps then she'd have grounded me for life. Thankfully, she decided a month of chores and staying home was punishment enough.
And while she stomped off to the living room to call Ty's parents and inform them of our apparent misdemeanors, Ty and I grinned at each other like nothing was wrong.
”Um, being grounded on Mudgard doesn't actually prevent us from getting spirited away to the Fayne, right?” he asked.
”Duh,” I replied, smacking him on the shoulder for good measure. ”We've got a war to win.”