211 Tactics (1/2)
”Are you sure about this, Dean?” Aura asked.
”It's the only way I can see us remotely winning this battle,” I answered. ”Even with our superior numbers, we're still up against a great general. He's at least worth a thousand warriors on his own…”
A memory flashed in my mind, Darah and Spellweaver in a deathmatch that wrecked the area around them.
”Besides, we've already received word that Garm's received a thousand reinforcements from the Scarlet Moon… He now has five-thousand troops and if we drag this battle out more enemies might arrive,” I added. ”No, this is our best way to win.”
”Because for our side victory lies in the escape,” Arah agreed. ”At least, that's what we want Great General Garm to think.”
”Yeah, that'll mean he'll want to chase after us even if we make it obvious that we're heading into the gorge,” I said.
”That's where we'll take them on,” Arah added. ”It'll be a race against time to see if we can make our opponents retreat before they receive more reinforcements.”
”Well, aren't you two in sync,” Liu Xiang noted. He dropped the butt of his glaive on the oasis' sandy floor. ”Use us however you will, Commander Dapper.”
”I plan to,” I answered.
---
It was unspoken between us, but both Garm's army and ours waited until twilight before we resumed hostilities.
Of course, my side fired the first bullet, but maybe it would be more appropriate to say icicle.
After a brief reunion with Arah that left Ty flabbergasted, he eventually calmed down enough to listen to mine and Arah's plan which started with him riling up Garm's troops.
The sun had just set. It was then that Ty raised his hand, and in a manly voice that was out of character for him, he began to sing.
”Rain, make it rain! Oh, make it rain! Make it rain down, lord!” Ty sang as he gathered the magic into his hand and released it into the air.
”Someone just ripped off Ed Sheeran,” Arah whispered to me.
She, Aura, Liu Xiang, and I were all watching from the top of the cliff to the right of the gorge entrance.
”Ty's always been a fan,” I chuckled.
Ty's song summoned a swirl of dark clouds above us that was so thick it momentarily blocked Idunn's light. Then came the rain, but it was no ordinary rain. Ty had infused the clouds with his arcane signature and so what fell down on our enemies were icicles no larger than raindrops, but they might as well have been bullets.
”So… this is Ty, the chosen one,” Arah whistled. ”He's finally being useful.”
”I'd say he's about the level of a predator drone,” I compared.
”Like I said, Ty's being useful,” Arah repeated. ”Will wonders never cease…”
It was then that his heavy infantry began their march forward with several front units adopting the turtle formation.
”That'll make it difficult for our archers to penetrate them,” I guessed.
”Not our archers,” Arah insisted. ”They may be amateurs in warfare but the Pilgrimage has the best toys… all they need is someone good enough to lead them.”
”Indeed,” Liu Xiang agreed with her assessment.
My mind circled back to earlier when I'd appointed two of my squad leaders to lead the two groups of archers on both sides of the clifftop.
”Qwipps, your squad will join the archers on the left cliff,” I instructed. ”Thom, your squad will join the archers on the right cliff.”
”I suppose we'll have to follow the orders of whoever's in-charge there?” Thom asked.
I shook my head. ”I've already gotten permission from Liu Xiang. You guys are in charge, and you only follow my orders. Got it?”
”Muddamit, that's a lot of responsibility, Dean,” Qwipps sighed.
”Don't worry… I've got a plan,” I said, raising two fingers for them. ”One clip of bolts worth of volleys… that's all I need from you at the start.”
The sound of over a thousand bolts whistling through the air sent my mind back to the present.
I watched as their sheer number blocked out Idunn's light a second time, mere moments after Ty's cloud had dispersed. And I could only imagine what the enemy below us was thinking when they saw what I saw.
First were Ty's bullets. Now it was arrows launched from two thousand steel crossbows. It didn't matter how sturdy the enemy's shields were, all who were within range were peppered.
”Turtle formation… gotta love it,” I sighed. ”I remember the days when we used to employ that strategy.”
After the first volley, the enemy infantry resumed their march. But as they looked up at the sky a second time, they realized it was once again filled with bolts.
They stopped their march and braised for impact, and when the volley was over, they looked more like porcupines now than turtles.
”Those bolts are incredibly strong,” Aura noted.