188 In Dire Straits (1/2)

”This oasis is no fortress… if we're to withstand that army below then we have to keep control of the battle,” I said in as confident a voice as I could manage given the circumstance. ”So let's hit those bastards with everything we have!”

As my speech ended, the cry of ”Foolhardies!” rang out among the men. All of them looked back at me with the steely-eyed determination that I'd seen time and time again.

”Incoming!” someone yelled.

I wasn't sure who, but we all looked up in time and watched the fireball that hurtled toward us from below.

”Donar!” I yelled. ”Take it down!”

Donar Firemonger was a salamander pyromaniac who excelled at burning things, or if needed, putting things out.

Such was the case now as he cast a Blade of Scorching Fire in the palms of both hands. He shot this fiery blade into the air toward the fireball.

When these two spells collided, they canceled each other out in a wave of smoke and heat that was akin to the shockwave of a bomb explosion.

I felt that heat graze the skin of my face, and I breathed in the hot air. This battle was far from over.

Underneath the watchful gaze of a mid-afternoon sun, the battle for the oasis was now at full swing. We were three hundred Foolhardies against two thousand soldiers from the Sunspire Dominion.

And in my head, I considered that lucky. After all, two thousand was way more manageable than the ten thousand we just barely managed to avoid — for now.

I didn't know what was happening with Al's group at Point Alpha. It was the one flaw in my plan as not even sprites could travel the distance back and forth in time to send me intel in real-time.

Instant communication — that was the next thing I'd ask Zarz to tackle once this battle was over.

”Immortals! Fortify and watch for advanced forces!” Azuma yelled to his men below on the northern slope. ”Let none of them through.”

The man I'd once thought my greatest rival had become a source of strength for my unit, and I felt nothing but gratitude that he'd joined up with us despite the past we shared.

Azuma turned his gaze on me and said, ”I should be down there and leading our defensive line, Commander.”

I nodded. We shook hands. Then I said, ”Don't die, Azuma… we have many more battles ahead of us.”

”We'll pull back the moment things become unmanageable,” he agreed.

And as Azuma and his guards moved to the other side of our wooden wall, I yelled out loud, ”Immortals!”

It was a cry that was repeated down the northern slope by the hundred or so soldiers who were now risking their lives to defend the oasis I'd bet today's victory on.

”Thom!” I called.

The drow appeared at my side like he'd been spit out of the shadows.

”You called, Commander?” he asked in that annoying tone that suggested he was still making fun of my title.

He took a second longer to respond. ”You are surprisingly sentimental when it comes to your comrades, Commander.”

”You're still surprised about that?” I joked.

”In the same way you're still annoyed whenever I call you Commander,” he joked.

I rounded on him, ”I'm not—”

But Thom had already turned his back to me and was on his way to relay my orders to the hundred Hazy Moon soldiers he'd brought with him.

”At least he's reliable,” I sighed.

As the day went on, the fighting only got harder with our forces below barely managing to hold the line against the tide of foes reaching up for their necks.

The barricades we'd set up earlier helped to funnel enemies into smaller clusters that were easier for our men to engage. Although for every foe we felled, two more took their place. Sadly, in our case, with every death, the survivors had to pick up the slack.

I watched from the murder hole of our makeshift wooden wall while my men died below, and still, I stayed where I was because Azuma insisted he would be my sword today.

And as swords went, he might as well have been a Masamune. That's how awesome my lieutenant was today.