Chapter 325 - Bait

Reivyn stared out at the landscape before him. His vantage atop the mountain allowed him to see far beyond. He could see the entire frontline of the invasion. Up until now, he had only been focused on triangulating the teleportation circle, so he had only looked for the supply lines. He hadn’t paid much attention to the actual frontlines of the enemy and allied forces.

Now he turned his gaze toward where the two powers faced off against each other. The terrain below the cliff was mostly wooded, but there were pockets of empty meadows and some cleared areas of abandoned farmland. He could see other areas where the trees were shorter, less robust, and he guessed those were areas where lumberjacks had previously harvested lumber.

That was just the closest areas directly below the mountain fort. The scale of the frontline was huge. There were many such places all up and down the line.d

There was a river below the cliff face, snaking along the ridge with no room for anyone to setup camp on this side. It would have been a great natural barrier, but its location didn’t allow it to be easily exploited. There were bridges spanning the river where the cliffs dipped down to more level ground, and there were a couple of spots where ramps had been carved into the ground to allow access to the other side.

Those bridges would be deadly funnels for both sides if the allies had to retreat across them. Now that they had started the conflict off with destroying the enemy reinforcement point, though, maybe they would avoid a similar scenario as Vairo.

The allied forces had multiple forts constructed up and down the lowlands, built from wood and stone harvested from the local environment. The enemy forces only had easy access to wood from the forest, though, so their encampments were almost entirely wooden palisades. That was a small advantage to the allied forces, but it would only come into play now that their endless hordes had been cut off from the enemy.

Reivyn swept his gaze up and down the lowlands, taking in the various allied and enemy camps. It appeared that the invaders were copying the allied forces with their camps. For every allied camp, there was an opposing invading one. That was only true for the actual frontline, though. Further back, outside of the forested area, there were still dozens of huge enemy forts. The terrain was more rocky and hilly further away from the forests, so they were able to construct more defensible locations.

There were only a few small hills in the forested area directly below the mountain fortress, but the enemy had setup their rear forts atop the most defensible positions. The overall commander wasn’t being sloppy in their setup, even if they used the same human-wave tactic Reivyn had previously experienced in multiple expeditions.

Reivyn could see the soldiers like little dots, ants, crawling around on the ground throughout the entire area. He couldn’t see straight through the forest canopy, but wherever there were enough breaks, he could spot movement all along the lines on either side, up and down. Each side had their soldiers out patrolling the surrounding areas as well as pushing little probes at each other every now and then.

The amount of activity was far more on the enemy side, but they were the invading force. From some of Reivyn’s Dreams of the Past, he knew that conventional wisdom placed invading forces needing three-to-one soldiers to successfully assault and conquer an enemy position. From what he could glean from what he could see, he would only place the enemy forces at just over double what there was to defend against them.

It made sense that the enemy forces hadn’t made a large push, yet, as they were probably still waiting to fill out their numbers. With their human-wave tactics, they would need far more than three-to-one odds to defeat the allies, but Reivyn also knew that they had powerful Classers to go along with their grunts.

Reivyn examined the dots of enemy soldiers still making their way toward the frontline between the rear forts and the frontline camps. He sifted through the available targets until he found one more isolated than the others.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road,” Reivyn clapped his hands, rubbing them together enthusiastically. He pointed toward the other side of a small hill next to where the group of soldiers, about two platoon’s worth, were marching. “Kefira, if you could open a teleport portal right there, if you would?”

Kefira nodded and started gathering her Mana. Reivyn turned to his Special Unit as she prepared her Spell.

“Remember, these first few missions are possibly going to be the most dangerous,” he addressed the mercenaries. “We don’t know what they’ve discovered about our previous strike, but I would bet they knew Space Mana was involved. We don’t know if they have any Mages with a Space Affinity with them, but we should assume they do.

“They’ll likely be looking out for any ripples in the Space ambient Mana. I would be. You can expect them to track your location and launch a counterattack, so you need to get in and get out quickly. The name of the game is speed. We’re not here to fight the war for them. We’re only here to make it more interesting.

“Sprint through the tunnel, hit the enemy platoon hard and fast, and then get back through the tunnel right away.”

“Yes, sir!” The Special Unit members chorused.

Kefira was prepared with her Spell before Reivyn was done repeating the mission and intent to the mercenaries. She waited for them to finish before Casting her Spell, and the mercenaries didn’t wait for the order to go. The completion of the Spell was the order. The readied their weapons and sprinted through.

Reivyn turned his attention back to the lowlands below, casting his gaze toward where Kefira had just deposited his Special Unit. He observed as they quickly oriented themselves toward the enemy. They split into three groups. The main group headed straight up and over the small hill concealing their portal while two smaller groups sprinted around the sides to flank the enemy troops.

The Special Unit moved swiftly and silently, catching the enemy soldiers completely off guard. They didn’t bellow any war cries or announce their presence before they slammed into the side of the moving soldiers. The forest canopy was less dense where Reivyn had selected the strike, but it still blocked some of his view, so he could only see a majority of the action as it happened.

The enemy soldiers reacted fairly quickly, turning to face the unexpected attack, but Reivyn was pleased to see that they were unable to put up an effective resistance as they were hit on the flanks almost immediately.

The Special Unit carved through the unprepared soldiers, pushing into their ranks and wreaking havoc. True to their orders, though, before the enemy could regain their balance and respond, the Special Unit mercenaries disengaged, sprinted back over the hill, and into the portal.

The mercenaries were bent over, panting from the exertion safely atop the mountain, the portal closed and dismissed, before the enemy soldiers even made it to the top of the hill in pursuit. Reivyn watched as they slowed to a stop, looking around for an enemy that had apparently disappeared into thin air.

Teilon took command of the Mercenary Unit as Reivyn concentrated on the location of the strike. He bore down with all of his available Perception that could reach that far. He activated his Eagle Eyes and strained his Magic Prodigy. He stared at the location, nearly unblinking for several minutes.

The enemy soldiers milled about for a while, likely checking for tracks that they would discover literally disappeared into thin air like they suspected, before someone finally made the decision to move on. He only slightly paid attention to them as they formed ranks once more, carrying their dead and wounded soldiers along, as they marched off at a much slower, cautious pace.

Reivyn continued to stare at the target location. Kefira accompanied him throughout, also paying attention to the ambient Mana that she could sense with her Affinity, though she didn’t concentrate as hard as Reivyn. She didn’t have an equivalent to his Eagle Eyes Skill, so it was a bit more difficult for her, but she did what she could.

The minutes ticked passed, but the expected probe of Space Mana to inspect the strike location never came. A robed man did appear in a whirlwind of movement at one point, but he only looked around the combat area a bit before dashing off once more. The speed the man moved indicated he was much more powerful than the one Reivyn had faced off against in the enemy teleport camp, but Reivyn wouldn’t have put him as necessarily more powerful than the group that had chased them in the capital of Vairo.

Next time, Reivyn thought. Next time we’ll do two strikes back to back. If there’s a Space Mage capable of monitoring the local ambient Space Mana, they’ll be more alert to our activities at that time.

—

“That was a neat trick you pulled,” the Commanding General commented as the two men shared some wine in the general’s office. It had become routine to unwind from the day with a glass of wine and some conversation between the two military officers.

Reivyn immediately understood where the general was going to take the conversation. Reivyn leveled his gaze at the other man, holding it until the commanding general fidgeted ever so slightly. Only his Divine Sense caught the subtle quivering of the man’s muscles.

“First off, Princess Kefira is not my subordinate,” Reivyn shook his head, breaking eye contact with the older man. “She’s not someone we can exploit at will. She’s willing to offer her abilities to me because she’s my fiance.

“Second, we’re currently probing the enemy to see if they have anyone that can trace and/or counter her. We have to complete that mission before she can truly unleash her Skills on the enemy.

“Third, keeping her capabilities a secret for as long as possible will create the greatest benefit when it’s most needed. If we start deploying entire companies behind the enemy forces, the cat’s out of the bag at that point, and who determines which company gets sent where and when? Everyone is going to want to use her.”

Reivyn let the older man contemplate his words for several moments before continuing.

“However, all that being said, it is absolutely the plan to have her participate in the wider conflict. We’ve discussed this, and that’s one of the reasons she’s here. We just have to make sure her Skills and Spells are used at the appropriate time.”

“And let me guess: You’ll determine whether it’s the appropriate time or not?” The general quirked an eyebrow.

Reivyn chuckled.

“I’m not going to lie or give you false modesty. I trust my own judgment above anyone else’s, other than my father’s. That doesn’t mean I’m going to unilaterally decide this issue, though. I’m not even really here in command. Teilon is technically commanding the Special Unit, the Captain is commanding the company, and Kefira and I are just facilitators, trainers.

“I’m not going to say I’m going to be the one and only to decide when it’s right to use Kefira in the overall conflict, but it does need to be near the climax. It needs to be a decisive strike when the iron’s hot. That’s definitely not now. We’re still in the earliest stages of the conflict, and we’ve already knocked out their biggest asset.”

“I see,” the general mulled over his wine for a moment. “It’s disappointing to see such a strategic asset and not be able to use it at will, but I understand that she’s a person, a princess even, so it’s not exactly the same thing. It’s also a relief to hear that she is willing to offer her services when the time is right.

“Just do me a favor,” the general gave Reivyn a sly smirk, “when the time comes, put in a good word for my men to be used.”

Reivyn returned the sly smile.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It only makes perfect sense for a reserve unit not being pressured directly on the frontline to be the ones to spearhead the attack when the time comes.”

The two men chuckled as they clinked their glasses together.

—

Brinaeth took deep, slow breaths. She concentrated on keeping her lungs from expanding too fast or large as she laid motionless beneath a pile of leaves. An enemy patrol was was making their way toward her squad’s location as they remained hidden along their path.

Major Reivyn had made the decision to send out two strikes this time, but the plan had them stagger their action. Lady Kefira had deposited Brinaeth’s squad well ahead of the path of the enemy patrol before closing the portal and sending the second team to attack another company moving toward the frontline.

There weren’t as many opportunities to strike at such large targets, and Major Reivyn wasn’t ready to target anything else before he determined whether or not there was an enemy counter-Mage. He was completely upfront about his motives each time he sent them on a mission, calling it his “Commander’s Intent.”

These first missions on the enemy rear were to probe their capability to defend and counter against such strikes. They were potentially the most dangerous missions they would go on, considering the unknown of whether or not someone powerful would suddenly drop in on them.

Brinaeth controlled her breathing and emotions as she patiently waited for her prey to fall into their trap. The enemy patrolling soldiers weren’t very subtle in their approach. They weren’t trying to remain hidden, though they didn’t speak with each other. Breinaeth could hear them stomping about in the underbrush of the forest, snapping twigs and kicking up leaves with each step.

It’s like they’re trying to make as much noise as possible, Brinaeth thought. Even just walking around normally, I wouldn’t cause this much commotion. They must be bored.

It made sense to her that they were bored. They were patrolling behind their own lines. There was virtually zero chance they were going to see anything, much less have to engage with their enemy.

That possibility had changed the moment Major Reivyn assigned Brinaeth and her squad the mission.

A footfall landed within inches of Brinaeth’s face. She didn’t flinch, her training and experiences preventing her from panicking. Even if she had been stepped on, she wouldn’t have reacted. They had dug themselves into the ground enough that they were even with the ground, so stepping on them wouldn’t necessarily give their position away just from that. If someone stepped on them, they might just think they had stepped on a particularly soft spot of soil. As long as whoever was stepped on remained still and silent, that is.

A muffled grunt caused Brinaeth to roll her eyes before she leaped up into action. It seemed like someone hadn’t fully internalized their training, or they didn’t have as dire life experiences as she did before joining the mercenaries. Someone had actually been stepped on, and they gave their position away with their foolish reaction.

Brinaeth rolled up out of her shallow divet in the ground, slashing her already drawn short sword across the man’s hamstring that had just walked past her. The man cried out in surprise and pain, collapsing to the ground. A quick slash across his throat, a spray of blood following the blade, and the man went limp and quiet.

All around her, Brinaeth’s squad members ambushed the patrol. The enemy patrol only had a dozen members, but that was still double the size of Brinaeth’s squad. Brinaeth wasted no time, identifying her next target and leaping up and over to viciously attack him with her bloody sword.

Cries of agony, quickly cut short with ruthless efficiency, echoed all around Brinaeth as the enemy soldier attempted to fend her off. The speed the ambushers moved prevented the man from fully drawing his weapon before she was upon him. He still managed a decent parry with his half-drawn sword, but it was too little, too late.

She quickly bypassed his defenses and stabbed him in the stomach. The man bent over at the pain in his abdomen, and Brinaeth was given the perfect target. A quick downward slash had the man’s head rolling away from his crumpling body.

Panting, she looked up and around at her squadmates. All the enemy patrolling soldiers were dead in less than ten seconds. She bent down and used the enemy’s uniform to wipe the blood from her sword before resheathing it. Each of the mercenaries carried out a similar action before huddling down together a little ways out of the way.

A portal sprung up in existence a few feet away from them, and Brinaeth motioned for the others to head through. She watched the surroundings for any surprises as the others made their way into the portal to safety, back on top of the mountain she could see in the distance.

It was a surreal experience to view the landscape like it was a map, suddenly be in that landscape looking back up at the mountain she had just been on, and then back on that mountain a few moments later. Teleporting about the battlefield could revolutionize warfare if more people could master the Space Affinity.

Natural Mages were already rare among the populace, though, and having Space Affinity was apparently one in a million even among them.

The last mercenary passed through the portal, and Brinaeth finally made her way to the exit. As she stepped through, she felt something brush her awareness on the periphery of her Perception. It was hard to explain. She didn’t see it. It was behind her, after all, but she could still tell it was there. There was some sort of shimmer in the air.

She turned her head, her body half-way through the portal, to see what it was, and she nearly screamed as a sword was piercing straight for her eye. It was only a fraction of an inch away when another sword brushed past her head from the other side, batting the thrust away.

Brinaeth tripped over her own feet and tumbled backward through the portal, losing sight of the forest canopy below, replaced with the ceiling of the gazebo. She briefly made not of Major Reivyn disappearing through the portal in the opposite direction.