186 Fort Courageous (2/2)

With my bird's eye view, I had a good understanding of our oasis and its nearby surroundings, which at this moment, was nearly surrounded by a great line of ants close to its northern slope. Well, they looked like ants from up high.

The Dominion soldiers cut several long lines across the stretch of desert directly north of us clueless that their enemy was already right on top of them.

Luckily, they were far enough from our oasis that we had some room to breathe in.

Still, seeing those thousands marching toward the center of the battlefield was a sight that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. We were certainly in for a rough time.

”Azuma, better hurry up… Fort Courageous is about to have company,” I explained.

I was referring to the small group of enemy soldiers that had just split off from the enemy line. They were slowly making their way south to Point Bravo's oasis. Not a significant number, perhaps a hundred or less. Still, if they caught us unprepared these enemies could signal their fellows and then we'd be in deep shit.

”Interesting name you've made up,” Azuma noted.

”I try my best,” I responded casually.

”Want us to take them out with arrows?” Azuma asked.

From what I could see, Azuma and his men were already done placing barricades near the northern edge of the oasis. Ideally, we would have more time to place barricades on the slope too.

”Better to set up the barricades on the slopes now while they're still far away,” I reasoned. ”I want the trenches dug as quickly as possible too… it won't be long before they notice us…”

I felt Azuma's hand on my shoulder. ”Don't worry. We'll get it done in time. We brought all our dwarven craftsmen for this exact purpose.”

”Hurry,” I insisted.

While Azuma and his men continued the work, I sent my sight even higher in order to cover a much wider view of the southwest battlegrounds, but even with my power evolving to new heights, Point Alpha was still out of range.

I could only hope that Al Sheridan had managed to reach it safely and was now beginning to engage the enemy.

Half an hour later, I heard the flapping of fairy wings and knew one of the sprites had arrived with a report.

”Fila?” I guessed. I'd been expecting him first, after all.

”Yes, sir!” he said excitedly. ”I've got a report from lieutenant Dapper, sir!”

”Go,” I said.

”Dean,” I heard Luca's voice come out of Fila's mouth, ”The cavalry's reached the midway point. Xanthor and I are proceeding toward the southwest from here as planned. If all goes well, we should get to you within two hours.”

”Too long…” I whispered. ”Fila!”

”Yes, sir?” he asked.

”Send this message back to Luca ASAP,” I ordered. ”Message follows — too slow! The enemy will notice us long before then. So you need to get here now… ride like the wind, Luca… Message ends.”

Five seconds later, Fila said, ”I've memorized it, Commander.”

”Good… go!” I ordered.

I heard the flapping of fairy wings and knew Fila had taken flight.

In the time it took me to hear Luca's message, the enemy unit that was on its way to Point Bravo was by the bottom of the hill now. Thankfully, Azuma and his men were well on their way to finishing fortifications on the upper half of the northern slope.

Our barricades were made of desert fir which had a similar color to the white sand of the desert. This made them incredibly difficult to see from a distance. My men were equally decked in white cloaks over their dark blue armor, making them just as difficult to spot from afar.

Still, that didn't mean the enemy wouldn't be able to see us. It just took more time for them to notice. And when they did, boy were they in a hurry to climb.

”Azuma… we've got company,” I called.