213 The Strategis (2/2)
Arah nodded right before pointing to the middle route and glancing over to me.
”Yeah, I'll take this route,” I answered.
”You'll have two thousand soldiers worth of heavy infantry, light infantry, archers, and the remainder of the cavalry units,” Arah explained.
”I'll need them… I expect Garm to come at me himself,” I answered. ”As Edo said, Garm's a strength-type so tactics and instinct be damned. He'll be gunning for me because he knows taking me down is the fastest way to end this battle.”
”How will he know where you are though?” Ashley asked.
”We're going to plant a giant flag right where he can see it,” I said chuckling.
”Yup, he thinks you're arrogant enough to do just that,” Aura added.
”I concur,” Varda added.
There was a round of agreements after Varda that made me want to smack them all in the head for playing light of such a tense situation.
”Qwipps, you'll act as Edo's second,” I answered. Varda will go with Ashley, Xanthor with Liu Xiang, and Thor with Thom.”
”I assume I'm with you?” Aura asked a question she probably already knew the answer to.
”Yup,” I nodded. ”Azuma will join us in the reserves…”
I glanced over at Arah and pointed to the back of my central path where all routes merged into one once more.
”You and the command post will hang back here on this hill,” I said.
”I know,” she answered. ”It's got a clear vantage point of all five routes… and you guys will be able to see the flags too.”
”You memorized our commands already?” Ashley asked.
”Of course,” Arah answered. ”I need to prove my worth as a strategist tonight… or you guys won't be satisfied having me around.”
Everyone was looking at her with something close to apprehension but Arah didn't flinch.
”I know that the burden a strategist carries is heavy,” she admitted. ”But I won't back down from it… after all,” she glanced over to me, ”this is the only way I can fight alongside my friends.”
There was a brief moment of awkward silence that was quickly beaten back by several grins, and Ashley asking, ”You've got some good friends, Dapper.”
Before we left for our posts, I took Arah aside and said, ”Are you sure about this? You talked about burdens but the weight of lives is no joke… Decisions you make will most certainly lead to someone's death… ours and theirs. ”I looked concernedly at her. ”So, I'll ask again, are you sure you want to be a part of this?”
Arah nodded wordlessly, and I knew that was all the answer I was going to get because if she was anything like me, right about now, there would be too many butterflies in her stomach.
”Stay safe,” I said.
---
”Well, he took the bait,” Aura said.
”Yup,” I answered.
”How many soldiers do we have again?” she asked.
”Two thousand,” I answered.
”Why doesn't that seem like we have enough?” she asked.
”Because the bastard's brought the bulk of his forces down this central path…” I reasoned.
Just looking at the three thousand soldiers gathering at the mouth of the central path was giving me a migraine.
”He had a little over five thousand soldiers after the twilight which means he only sent around five-hundred men each to the other routes along the canyon,” I realized. ”He's outplayed us…”
It was a strange thing to say considering Garm wasn't a strategic-type of general. Something was definitely wrong with this scenario.
”Won't that make it easier for our other units to overwhelm the enemy?” Aura asked.
I glanced over at her and notice she was biting her lip again. It seemed to be a habit she'd formed after she'd met Garm earlier.
”I don't know… it'll depend who Garm sent to lead those other units and how fast our guys can beat them, if ever,” I reasoned. ”One thing's for sure… whether or not we win this battle will depend on time now…”