184 A Perfect Plan (1/2)
It wasn't long after we'd reached the rally point in the Westersand Desert when the horns of war began to echo throughout the region.
The two armies were gathered on opposite sides of a wide stretch of desert spanning miles apart. And although we were far away from each other, both armies could see the horizon beyond was tinged with the color of our enemies.
”So that's what a line of two hundred thousand soldiers looks like,” Luca noted.
”Yep,” I agreed. ”Don't chicken out now, Luca…”
”As if,” he countered. ”Don't go dying on us when you meet Garm, Dean.”
”As if,” I fired back at him.
We bumped fists afterward.
I left Luca and Aura in charge of the unit while Varda, myself, Jensen, and a few aides made our way to the rear of the army where a command post had been set up in the place now called Folkor Oasis.
”You have to hand it to Garm… he really knows his way around fortifying a fairy fort,” I whistled.
Varda nodded wordlessly.
I couldn't blame her because one couldn't look at the sight before us and not feel like it had just taken your breath away.
The low hill whose southern slope my team and I had once climbed all the way to the top was now a well-defended position with layers upon layers of twelve-foot walls that crisscrossed around the hillside. Each wall had a gate placed in positions that were at nearly opposite ends of the gate before them. Twenty-foot towers with mounted trebuchets rose near each gate and at other locations along the walls.
Gazing up at it from below the hill, I couldn't help but recall an image of the white city of Gondor that I'd seen in the classic Lord of the Rings trilogy.
”It's Minas Tirith,” I whispered.
”What was that, Commander?” Varda asked.
I shook my head. ”Nothing… Let's get this over with.”
We joined the line of soldiers making their way through the first gate, and it would be much, much later when we'd finally reached Garm's command tent on the hilltop. It was just outside the circle of stones that marked the entrance of the mana pool's garden.
I noticed the heavily armed guards that barred the way into the circle stones, and thought that Garm had that place locked tight. It was the right thing to do as mana pools were obvious temptations even for the most loyal of soldiers.
Guarding the outside of Garm's tent was the bearded dark-skinned satyr who'd given me attitude at the entrance to Jester's Court many months ago.
”Yo, One-Hundred-Man Commander,” I said in greeting. ”It's been a while.”
The satyr's eyes widened with recognition when he saw me. He scowled at first, but after noticing the shiny new officer's badge pinned to my chest, he begrudgingly gave me a salute.
”Apologies, Commander,” he said in a high-and-might tone that suggested he wasn't at all apologetic that he was barring my way again. ”But Lord Garm is busy with his generals at the moment. I will let him know that you dropped by.”
If the rest of Garm's officers were as pompous as this bastard, then I at least knew what to expect. It was going to be a real challenge working with these kinds of people.
”I'm here for the meeting…” I pointed a thumb at my chest. ”I've been assigned as one of the army's strategists.”
Disbelief flashed across the face of the stubborn satyr, but his eyes darted down to my officer's badge, the round bronze shield that was proof of my promotion, and sighed as if he couldn't believe my meteoric rise along the ranks.
The honest truth, I didn't quite believe it myself. Nevertheless, I stood my ground and waited for his brain to calculate the odds of denying me entry as opposed to just giving in.
It happened sooner rather than later, and it was with an obviously heavy heart when he stood aside to let me pass.
”Wait here, Varda,” I said before stepping forward. ”I'll be back.”
”Way to think positive, Commander,” Varda encouraged.
Her remark reminded me that Garm had tried to kill me once already, and without Grimthorn watching my back now, there was a chance that I wasn't coming out of that tent on my own power.
I sighed, and then pulled the tent flap open so I could walk in.
”Excuse me, Great General,” I called as I stepped into the interior of the tent and sent its inhabitants a proper salute. ”One-Thousand-Man Commander Dapper reporting for duty!”
There were three of them gathered around a wooden expedition table that was quite similar to mine. Garm was the biggest of the trio but the other two seemed cut from the same cloth.
The fairy on Garm's left was female. She was a dryad who seemed to have been cut out of an ancient redwood. She was that tall although she wasn't as thick as the other two.
The fairy on Garm's right was a friendly, and I don't mind admitting I was glad seeing him there. It was General Redbull.
Redbull was the only one who returned my salute. He welcomed me into the tent without a care for the scowl his boss had just given him.
Garm crossed his thick arms over his barrel-like chest before turning his icy stare on me.
”If it isn't Darah's little spy come to spy on us, my friends,” Garm scowled.
Despite the enormous pressure sent my way, I held my ground. I knew better than to try and run when facing off against a wild beast or three.