195 Courage Under Fire (1/2)

In the words of Bane from that awesome movie, The Dark Knight Rises, ”The fire rises!”

Luca's assault on the southern line of Amon's personal guard got the reaction I hoped it would create — a slow dripping nervousness that one gets after one realizes that the wolf is already inside the barn house.

Now, you might say that a ragtag group of four hundred against five-thousand highly-trained soldiers seems like suicide, but Luca and his team weren't up against five thousand. At most, they were facing off against a thousand infantry who'd been surprised by their sudden appearance and subsequent charge.

As for the other four thousand soldiers, they wouldn't come to rescue their friends either. Their job was to maintain the square formation which was their absolute defense.

Although this was the correct response, I knew it would lead to their downfall later on because, despite appearances, Luca's unit was nothing like a ragtag group of inexperienced soldiers. They were, in fact, a highly-trained force that was used to being the underdog in every battle.

I watched as my younger brother led his unit from the very front, his new weapon cutting easily through the heads of enemy fairies and humans alike.

The sight of its great shadowblade sent my mind drifting back to the night we'd left Hoodwink Tower for the war front when I called Luca over to Zarz workshop in the tower's basement.

”Why are we here, Dean?” Luca asked a little annoyed as I'd stolen him away from quality time with Pike. ”I'm not really a big fan of the death toys you and Zarz cook up, man…”

”Cool your jets, lover boy,” I teased. ”I've got something that'll make you forget that pixie's pretty face for a while.”

Luca looked like he doubted that, and his face only made me laugh harder. My little brother who'd only recently turned fifteen a month before I turned sixteen seemed more girl-crazed than I was.

”Zarz, unveil my birthday gift, will you,” I ordered.

”You're a few weeks late, Dean,” Luca complained, although there was a slight grin growing on his face at the mention of a birthday gift.

”Yeah, well, this baby took a while to forge, kiddo,” Zarz commented.

He walked over to his work table and pulled on the large piece of cloth he'd placed over it in order to reveal the object hiding underneath.

”Whoa…” Luca whispered. ”It's a sword-hilt…”

Luca brushed fingers over the metal hilt.

”The grip is made from dire wolf leather,” I began to explain. ”The jewel in the round pommel is a wind elemental aura stone which should amplify your Augmentaire. And the metal used for the base…”

I picked up the sword-hilt and offered it to him.

”That's silver-grade elf-forged steel and this cross hilt is sturdier than your previous one,” I said proudly. ”Try releasing the shadowblade.”

”This is…” Luca seemed at a loss for words.

”Yeah, It took a while but I was finally able replicate my master, Silent Mildew's, iron arcane focus like the one set in the core of Dean's falchion,” Zarz said proudly.

The shadowblade that popped out of the sword-hilt's base was a four-and-a-half-foot double-edge blade whose charred edge glowed with a faint blue hue similar to mine. The flat of Luca's new sword was wide enough that it could theoretically double as a narrow shield.

”It's a badass, vibro-sword-type claymore,” I explained. ”Belated happy birthday, bro!”

That wide grin showing on Luca's face was now a precious memory, one I carried with me into tonight's battlefield. As I gazed down at him from on high, I thought he might be showing off a similar smile now since this was technically the first time he got to whip out his claymore outside of training because Zarz' had kept it for maintenance during yesterday's battle.

”Hey, Dean,” Edo called. ”It's about time we made our move.”

By this point, Luca's cavalry while supported by Qwipps' air force managed to penetrate deep into the Amon's troops in the south of their square formation. They'd barrelled past the frontline and were now in space between them and the enemy's secondary line where an enemy commander would have been leading from.

Past this second line, however, was the interior of Amon's square formation which would be open space that was basically a direct path to Amon and the five-hundred special forces that surrounded him.

However, most of his forces in the interior were infantry, and against a well-trained cavalry charge there was a high chance of an infantry's defeat.

In order to avoid such a scenario from happening, Amon would have no choice but to have his east and west lines collapse into the southern interior to fill up the space and prevent Luca's cavalry charge from penetrating any further.

This was exactly what happened moments later, and it was just what I wanted. Man, it did seem like this well-known general was dancing in the palm of my hand, and I loved this feeling of strategic superiority.

”Yeah,” I answered Edo's earlier suggestion. ”Let's get ready to move out.”

I glanced behind me toward the men, and despite the determined look on their faces, I could sense the growing unease in them. I knew they understood that this mission would be a harrowing one. It would be four-hundred against one to two thousand, and we didn't have the luxury of mobility that Luca's cavalry had.