187 Playing with Fire (2/2)

”They'll notice us anyway once their people start dying on the slope… Might as well do it now while Al's group still has them paralyzed,” I reasoned.

We waited for the enemy to come within range, and when they did, that's when the fireworks began. It was also when the screaming started.

The screams of dying fairies reached my ears at the same time as the smell of burning meat wafted up to us from the middle of the northern slope.

I watched the fire burst out of the tips of those bronze spears like a dragon unleashing its breath of fire. It must have been extremely hot as even their shields melted at the touch of the flames.

”Geez, I'm definitely going to have nightmares of this moment…” I sighed.

I joked about it but I was honestly telling the truth. But nightmares came after sleep. For now, I would have to settle with the guilt I often felt at the death of others, especially for the ones I caused.

”Better them than us,” Azuma added.

Of the hundred enemy soldiers climbing up the sand dune, perhaps a fourth of them had just died. This quick and deadly attack was enough to instill fear in their hearts, stopping them in their tracks. Luckily, they didn't know that fire spears took some time to reload.

”Let's finish them with arrows now,” I said with zero enthusiasm for the task at hand.

”Aim!” Azuma called.

At his word, and the archers positioned to either side of us aimed their arrows at our enemies through the murder holes of our wooden walls.

”Fire!” Azuma ordered.

Twenty to thirty arrows sailed down to the enemy below, ensuring more death rattles would reach my ears.

At this point, the enemy had found the courage to press on, but they'd dallied long enough that our fire spears were ready to blast them a second time, and blast them we did.

Afterward, we launched another volley of arrows at the enemy, turning them into bloody pincushions.

By that point, more than half of them were dead with only the stragglers remaining far below. They really weren't prepared for us.

”Don't let them escape, Azuma,” I ordered. ”Precision shots… leave none alive to report our position to the enemy.”

”Not like they don't know we're here already,” Azuma reminded me, but he did what I asked anyway.

Pretty soon, we'd wiped out the hundred-man unit that had climbed up the northern slope with zero casualties on our side. Like I said, they really weren't prepared for us, and I guessed their commander had died right at the beginning.

Still, it wasn't all good. Our little display attracted the notice of the army northwest of our oasis, and at this point, Al's forces had already withdrawn back to Point Alpha.

This meant two things. Most of the enemy's long column had doubled back with the intent of reclaiming the oasis Al's group had claimed — all except for the vanguard which was now making its way southeast to us. They'd be here very soon, and from the looks of it, we were going up against at least a thousand soldiers.

”Looks like Al's distraction worked…” I reported. ”That should buy us a few more hours before ten thousand soldiers come crashing down on us…”

Azuma raised an eyebrow at me. ”This plan is really reckless, Dean… even for you.”

”It was the fastest way for Garm's army to gain the advantage in the battle,” I reasoned. ”And if it works…”

”You'll get the glory and clear one of Darah's conditions for you to keep your thousand-man command,” Azuma noted.

”We can do this, Azuma… I have faith in our ability to hold back the tide for at least a day,” I said with as much conviction as I'd hoped.

”Commander!” someone called.

I looked over my shoulder and saw that one of our lookouts on the southern slope was running toward us and he seemed excited.

”The gliders… have returned… with reinforcements… sir!” he said breathlessly as he came to a stop a foot away from slamming into the barricades. ”It's Thom's unit.”

”Hear that, Azuma?” We're going to be fine,” I chuckled.

When would I ever learn not to tempt fate for no sooner had I said that when the horns of war began to resound below us.

The midday sun was high in the sky when a thousand enemy soldiers began their climb up to us.