189 Turn of the Tide (2/2)

”Ah, the chosen one, huh,” Al mused. ”Wish he'd joined my unit instead… He might as well be a squad of tanks.”

I wasn't taken aback by Al's comparison because I knew he'd lived part of his life on Mudgard.

”I actually think Tiberius is more of a destroyer-class ship,” I revealed.

”What are you two fools talking about?” Edo asked.

Both Al and I looked over to him and together, we said, ”Modern warfare.”

It was a while later when the Mage Hand squad finally arrived on our sand gliders. At this point, the line was once again getting closer and closer to the top, and Azuma had switched out for Edo and Thom.

”You climbed up here pretty fast,” I noted.

”Thanks to the footholds your engineers placed on the southern slope,” Aura explained. ”I assume it'll be just as easy to climb down later.”

”It better be,” I chuckled. ”We're going to need to make a quick getaway when the time comes.”

I looked over at Ty who was panting behind Varda as he walked and waved him over.

”You up for some landscaping?” I asked.

”Um, it looks like you've done a lot of landscaping already,” he replied.

Ty was obviously referring to the craters that peppered the lower half of the northern slope.

”Oh, did you use Operation Valkyrie already, Commander?” Varda asked. ”Mudcrap, I would have loved to have seen it for myself…”

”Qwipps and his men did a good job,” I answered, my brow furrowing as I remembered pixies falling from the sky in a lifeless heap. ”Why don't you go check on them… they're by the west side of the watering hole.”

Varda gave me the salute before trailing off to see her old friend.

I turned my focus back on Ty. ”I'm going to need you to make the sand dune smooth again, dude…”

Ty sighed. ”I'd hit our own men if I used that…”

”Not if you go closer,” I suggested.

Ty's eyes widened in alarm. ”You want me to wade into that?”

”Ash,” I called.

Ashley had been standing wordlessly beside Aura and acting the part of her bodyguard. But now the shieldmaiden turned her gaze on me, and then on Ty.

”You want my squad guarding the chosen one while he does his thing?” she guessed.

”Can we please stop calling me that,” Ty pleaded, blushing as he did. ”It's really embarrassing…”

”Yup, why don't you take the chosen one down there,” I answered Ashley while ignoring Ty's plea. I loved teasing him with that name. ”Good luck, chosen one.”

”Fine,” Ashley said. ”Let's go, chosen one…”

”Seriously, stop calling me that, please,” Ty whined.

Ashley ordered her squad to follow, and after a nod to Aura and me, she push past our wooden barriers and led the way down to the battle.

”This is new,” Aura said in a curious tone.

”What is?” I asked a little distractedly.

”You're not covered in blood,” she answered.

”What?” I turned my head toward her in confusion.

”You haven't joined the frontlines like you usually do,” she explained. ”Are you finally conscious of your position?”

”I… I just haven't found a reason to go down there,” I admitted. ”Everyone's doing their best already…”

”It's not criticism, Dean,” she said, patting me on the shoulder. ”I actually prefer you leading us from on high rather than where the fighting is fiercest.”

Whatever rational I was about to give to counter her argument for me playing it safe instead of standing by the men was lost to the sound of Ty's voice echoing around us like Gandalf shouting out a spell on the mountain top.

”Freezing wind, scatter your breath across the sands and turn all you see into frozen lands,” Ty chanted in a voice brimming with power. ”Ice Age!”

Ashley had put Ty right at the fore of our defensive line, squeezed between her shield squad and the enemy soldiers who'd been momentarily dumbfounded by the appearance of an unarmed human.

Their mistake was giving Ty the chance to place his hands on the sand, and after he'd cast his spell, the ground in front of him turned to ice along with many of the enemy's vanguard.

Suddenly, what was once a sandy slope was now a frozen hillside peppered here and there with unfortunate souls that had been turned into living ice sculptures.

”Yup… Ty's definitely a destroyer,” I whispered. ”Maybe even a battleship.”

”Dean… I don't think Ty's power is enough for this,” Aura said in a worried tone.

I couldn't blame her. We may have just turned the battle in our favor with Ty's stunt, but the thousands of soldiers below us on the desert floor was about to be reinforced by another ten thousand.

”I think we've done enough and bought enough time for Garm's forces to take control of the battlefield,” I said.

Aura nodded wordlessly.

”It's time to go,” I finished.