AO 6 Ch 28

"What do you think your son's up to?" Kelly asked, they were all sitting in a carriage while the troops marched forward.

Gwen Aldis turned to Kelly, the other mage next to her, ignoring the massive problem before her.

The Royals had called for this push. It was dangerous, reckless, a pit filled with snare traps.

Gwen would have to hop her way through it with perfect precision to come out the other side. Unfortunately, she didn't do much hopping with her wheelchair. She wasn't about to do much here. The king had forced them into this, and she refused to let this push be House Aldis's grave. 

They had slowed down for that very reason. Gwen was marching forward with her father, constantly present as if to announce to the Garrish forces, ‘If you do strike us, you're striking two elder mages. It'll go about as well as kicking an iron board.’ Now, whether or not the Garrish forces would back off was yet to be seen. Everyone was bracing for that not to be the case. 

Those that were House Aldis's staunchest allies were crossing their fingers and sending multiple missives a day, trying to support them under the guise of getting the latest updates for their forces. Yet the truth was everyone was watching and waiting, practically holding their ears out to House Aldis, waiting for a move to be made. 

"I think my son would love the attention. I also think that his anchors likely give him too much adoration. If I didn't know better, by the time he returns from Garrish, I suppose he'll be spoiled rotten by them." Gwen grumbled.

"Is that jealousy I hear?" Kelly teased. 

"What? That I never got a chance to spoil my son rotten? You damn bet it is," Gwen shot back. "But what you're mostly hearing is that I'm pissed off. And the first Garrish forces that give me an excuse are going to get blown all the way back across their country in unrecognizable little bits."

Kelly raised an eyebrow at her.

"Too much?" Gwen asked. 

"It was a bit. No one blames you for being upset, especially when you're being pushed into the maws of a beast. Everyone expects you to be kicking and screaming the whole way." Kelly reported.

"I don't know if that does anyone any good." Gwen glanced back at her surroundings, reminding herself to remain vigilant despite the banter. She had no idea how her son managed to banter so much. His mouth never stopped moving, yet he managed to keep his head on his shoulders. 

The column of soldiers ahead scrambled in what was becoming a familiar exercise. Gwen threw her hands out as two chunks of ice ripped down the side of the column, threatening to crush anyone that got caught in between. The soldiers, of course, snapped back into formation, but the Garrish gorillas didn't know the drill. And so when her ice rolled them over, she had no pity for the soldiers. 

Kelly clicked her tongue. "Remind me, when was your birthday again?" She asked. 

"I appreciate the concern, you already missed it." Gwen glanced over her shoulder and smirked. "Can I expect a really big makeup gift this time?"

"Wasn't introducing you to Harry a big enough gift before? I'm sure I can still call on that one to save me some trouble now." Kelly replied.

Gwen winced at the mention of her dead husband.

"Shit, sorry," Kelly waved a hand. "Forget I said anything."

"It's fine. It's been years." Gwen eked the words out. It was hard to admit just how long it had been since she had lost Harry.

Time was supposed to heal all wounds, but for so much of that time Harry was gone, Gwen had been locked in her body, unable to truly process what was happening in the world.

Her main light in her life drawing her forward was that she had gotten Arden back. That counted for something, even if she missed all of the cute years and was stuck with an eternal smartass.

Gwen sat in the carriage with complete confidence, knowing the troops around her were rattled, but knew she needed to give them courage when they lacked it.

Holding her fist high, she shouted above all the other noise. "Lift your heads and march forward. There's no other direction to look. House Aldis mages will ensure you don't have to worry about your sides," she shouted over any of the conversation that was going on within their ranks. 

There was an immediate response. The soldiers all faced forward, and the marching fell from a discordant ruffle into something that actually sounded like a march, slowly becoming a steady beat as they surged forward. 

"Nicely done," Kelly commented, peeking out the windows.

Gwen lifted an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware you were here to judge."

"Oh, I always judge. Isn't that what friends are for?" Kelly said. 

Gwen couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head. "Why are we even friends in the first place again?"

"Because you were the heir apparent to the Aldis family, and you liked someone that was going to tell you how it was, rather than more sycophants trying to suck at your toes or whatever kink it is you enjoy." Kelly laughed.

Gwen stared at her friend. "I think maybe you should run up and down the line if you have enough energy to spout nonsense."

Kelly chuckled and twirled her hand out the carriage window, only for her two big anchors to fall in on her as she stepped out a moment later.

Gwen couldn't help but compare her two new anchors to Kelly's.

They weren't quite as comparable in the looks category, but she liked to think they made up for it in being actually competent at their ability to fight.

Gwen could never trust a man that was too handsome. They often got by on their looks and had failings in other qualities. It was important that she had the best. She was never one to compromise, especially now. Somehow her son had gotten himself involved with a goddess. And it didn’t help that he was prone to stirring up trouble.

She shook her head. The short time that Hecate had served her had cleared up some of the goddess's priorities. For whatever reason, the woman was attached to her son. Gwen's jaw tensed at the thought, a motherly rage welling up at the mere idea of someone else laying their paws on her child. If that woman pushed herself on her son, goddess or not, she would be sorry.

Before that could go far, she took a deep breath, realizing she was letting her thoughts get away from her. She wouldn't go down that route. He was fine. There were people in the village that helped raise him. He wouldn't go after a bunch of mature women as pseudo-replacements for mothers.

Gwen nearly missed it when one of her anchors held up a fist in warning from where he watched out the window. A message passed down the line, "Hank?" Gwen asked, turning to her anchor. 

"I'm just relaying the message. The messenger will be here shortly. But we knew this whole time that this was unlikely to go smoothly," Hank said. 

Gwen let out a heavy sigh. "Run up and down. Have people stop to rest their feet. We'll continue in half an hour. And whatever scout gave the report better be willing to put his head on the line and explain to me why I'm stopping this entire army." 

It was everything Gwen could do not to growl out those orders. It was not Hank’s fault, but she was still angry. She had known this message was coming and been dreading it the entire time. 

"Of course," Hank bowed and darted away. No one liked to stand next to an angry mage. 

Gwen sighed, staring down the column, wondering who or what was going to cause problems this time. And she also wondered when she would cross paths with one of the chancellors that had everybody on edge.

While she was waiting for the scouts to return, the horses among the caravan began to neigh and shift about. They pawed at the ground and pulled at their leads.

Gwen's eyes flicked to the side in concern. With a gesture, a piece of ice opened the carriage door, while two more embedded in her chair lifted it. 

"I could have done that," Hank said, jumping out beside her. 

She ignored him and lifted herself higher still, looming over the carriage and the rest of the caravan.

Horses were smart creatures. Her son's strange fixation on them aside, they were smarter than most understood. So when they were getting nervous, it was worth her time to take her own look. And she was glad she did. 

Far in the distance, a shadow swept across the land in a way that was unnatural for a shadow of a cloud. It was the oncoming march of the enemy. 

"This deep?," Gwen spoke aloud, "they are still half a day's ride. From the foothills, they were supposed to take hold in. Most of the combat that had been seen was directly around those hills. I didn't think they'd come this far forward, not with a force this size." 

Their previous attempts were merely delays and scouting parties. Small groups with torches and hammers to break wagon wheels. What was coming was going to set the stage for an actual battle.

In her hand a horn made of ice rapidly coalesced, and she held it to her lips.

A bugle rang out, washing over the crowd. Soldiers' heads snapped to her. The younger faces were filled with confusion, but those who had more wrinkles quickly fell into line. They shouted orders at the others, before hemming the new recruits into the ranks and file. 

Gwen clenched her jaw and took a deep breath, ready to bellow through the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that today the Garrish forces have decided to tread upon your farmland and the farmland of your countrymen. There isn't a question of who owns this land. It is ours, and it is our great pleasure to remind those Garrish fools that they cannot come and take our livelihoods, they will be paying for this mistake with rivers of their own blood!" 

The soldiers in front of her roared at her words, swords and armor rattling in response. Her words echoed up and down the line as her officers did their job, rallying the troops with their own words of encouragement, promises of loot, and quite honestly, whatever it took to get the green soldiers to not drop their weapons and flee back to their warm, cozy homes.

Kelly came marching back, her eyes shifting from anger to a curious glance upwards as she saw Gwen floating. "Why'd you send me away if you were just going to call the troops? I'm pretty sure my job is to guard you," she said. 

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Maybe you should come up here and take a look. We've got a lot of friends coming over the hill."

Kelly wrinkled her face. "I'll take your word for it, boss." Kelly turned to her anchors, adding, "You heard her. Get ready for some action. Gather the officers. We'll pull them in back before we start so they all get the same message." She glanced over at Gwen. "I assume that's okay?"

"Perfect, actually. While you're at it, can you snag any scout? As worthless as they are, for not pointing these troops out sooner. I'd at least like to understand what landscape we're running into."

Kelly slapped a far too formal salute before she turned and, in a tone that Gwen couldn't make out, began barking orders at the nearby anchors and really anyone nearby that was within range.

***

Gwen stood in the command center amongst nobles and mages, all of them gathering quickly around a hastily drawn battle map, while a scribe worked in each of their companies. It wasn't perfect. There was quite a bit of jostling about. The last time she had done anything to this scale was a long, distant memory. Not to mention she wasn’t in the position she was now.

"What do you think?" An eager aide turned to Gwen.

"They know the hills, they're familiar with them. We're going to lose momentum at the bottom. But if we chase them in, they're liable to make our life a living hell. Stick with the plan; it's tried and true. We'll let them get the momentum, and then do our best to use it against them. Earth mages will gather and create a ditch before they will choose to clash with us." Gwen stated.

She showed confidence she did not entirely feel. She hoped the ditch would halt the momentum of any charge and provide her people with space to brace themselves. 

Battles were won and lost by momentum. More accurately, a mage didn't win by simply killing a few soldiers; they won by creating enough momentum to shift the tide. A man fighting while stepping forward always struck with far more force. In every fight that Gwen had participated in, this adage had proven true time and time again. There was no reason to assume that this time would be any different.

"Any sign of enemy mages?" she asked, turning to officers who were far too busy panicking for her liking. They had ripped many Aldis House members from cushy jobs for this, they weren’t hardened veterans.

"None. If they're there, we can't find them." One aide reported.

Gwen snorted. "Oh, they're there. So, in that case, I am certain the problem is that you cannot find them."

The aide swallowed audibly as she chastised him in front of everyone. But he had been foolish enough to speak up.

"I will do another check," he said, performing a quick about-face and rushing from the room.

Several people leveled judging gazes at Gwen, which she completely ignored, not interested in their opinions.

Mages would normally be show offs. It was a way to flex, to destroy enemy morale. The only reason to hide mages was if the force was so strong there was concern they would retreat before moving forward.

Gwen was confident in her house, but she was not going to ignore a risk. "Anything?" she asked, stepping away from the quick conversation they had just had.

"Nothing. I wish I could give you something more affirmative.” He reported.

“Nothing is, in of itself, something. It is safe to assume that they have at least one chancellor behind their forces," Gwen spoke loud enough for everyone in the tent to be part of the conversation.

"A chancellor?" Men stiffened throughout the tent.

"Yes. Is that going to bother any of you?" Gwen asked, her eyes raking over the impromptu camp.

"No, of course not," the younger member of House Aldis hurried to answer, waving his hands in front of him to ward off her anger. "It's just, how do you feel about a chancellor?" he asked, and every eye and ear in the room tuned to Gwen's next words.

"I think it would make a nice merit for House Aldis to bring home a chancellor's head. And I don't expect any of you lot to be the ones to do it. Anadonis is nearby. He's kept his presence well hidden. And the second the chancellor appears, he will engage with the effort of pushing him back."

There was a sigh of relief, even though Gwen was half a step from fully assuming the matriarch position of the house. Everyone had long looked up to her father, and would continue to, likely well past her taking the seat formally.

"To your stations," she ordered, casting a hard look at everyone. These people wouldn't be part of the battle. They would be in the very back lines, overseeing their soldiers and sending messengers between each other and the officers amongst the army. So, it was no surprise when their stations were often just outside the tent, holding spyglasses and staring into the distance. 

"They've crested the last hill," one of the officers reported, looking around at everyone else to see if there was a reaction.

They had known the enemy was coming.

An older member of House Aldis had his arms crossed in front of him, as if he were patiently waiting for his pastry at the local bakery. His level gaze calmed many of the younger men who knowingly or not started to mimic his stoic stance and stopped being quite so excitable.

The sound of the enemy charge echoed all the way back to the officers' camp as Garrish forces swelled over the hill, rushing down full of rattle and cheer as they came to kill or be killed. That was the reality of war. 

Gwen could feel magic in the air as a dozen mages scooped out pits at the bottom of the hill to break their charge. Meanwhile, the army split in two, pouring down to the flanks before a second force crested the top of the hill, fanning out into a line of archers. 

One of the officers screamed, and a dozen messengers shot off into the army. Gwen raised a hand.

Ice was the typical element of favor for House Aldis, but having the fox sphere and not using it to its fullest would be an absolute shame. She curled her fingers into a fist, she was determined to make some of these old men cheer for her presence in the battle rather than her father's. 

Bolts of fire danced out from her fist before she opened it, and flame scattering like petals. The motes of fire blanketed the space above both armies. As the archers volleyed their arrows, the arrows flew high only for those small, weak motes of fire to catch the fletching of each arrow, ruining their flight and dropping them early onto the clash of the two armies, sparing neither friend nor foe. But at the very least, it prevented a clean shot straight into all her forces. 

"Well done, Lady," the nearest noble gave her a short bow.

Gwen nodded cooly, not letting it show that the spell had taxed her.

None of the motes of fire would have been able to do appreciable damage to a person, but the effect of sending hundreds of arrows into their own forces' backs was a certain kind of morale stopper. The kind that could crush charging momentum.

"Thank you. It is my responsibility to protect my forces. It's only a shame that I wasn't able to do more," she replied, reclining in her chair. She was thankful at the moment that she didn't need to pretend to have the strength to stand. She had covered a large area with that spell and her magic felt dim. She would need to keep her sphere completely open so that she would have enough magic for the next time her magic was needed in the battle. Now wasn’t the time to hold back. 

Hank put a hand on her shoulder, an offer to discharge any remaining energy, but she waved him off, wanting to continue to look strong.

She was still ready for the next round.