Chapter 10: Before the Sunset
Nunemund, 4th day, 217th known year.
The sun had risen well into the sky by the time the four convened again. Stephanie’s back had more or less healed by now. Although an amount of muscle pain kept her from intense exercise, she could travel more or less freely. Cessa and Luke’s spirits had taken a hard hit when they found out they were about to strike into a trap.
“Thanks for the warning.” Cessa said depressedly as the four gathered around the coffee table once again.
“No problem.” Draego nodded in response. “We’re in the same boat, now. I can’t let it sink.”
“So,” Luke started with a wry smile. “What do we do now? Although we ought to have had a great chance at taking down another platoon, thanks to Draego, we lost it due to the enemy’s reinforcements. Quite timely ones too.”
“I don’t think they’re reinforcements.” Cessa spoke this time. “Given the timing with which they arrived, they were most likely dispatched long before Draego’s antics this morning.”
“Then what were they doing there?” Stephanie asked. Cessa brought a finger thoughtfully to her chin.
“Both the times the enemy faced a great loss,” Cessa started. “It was through the bridge. The enemy split the platoon there into two, making it an easier target for us. They probably sent a platoon to bandage this deficiency. By keeping a platoon at the bridge and one in the camp to the east, they can control both without creating weak points.”
“Why didn’t they just do that from the get-go?” Stephanie asked.
“Troop morale.” Luke replied. “They used to keep rotating the platoons on watch and platoons on rest at the fort. The resting platoon also renewed stocks of supplies while it rested. If they were to position a platoon permanently to block just the bridge, it would have an impact on the troop’s readiness to fight.”
“Well, they ended up doing so anyway.” Cessa concluded. “Which means we have cornered them to a point where they are forced to use means they normally wouldn’t.”
“The real fight is hereafter, though.” Draego started. All eyes turned to him as they waited for him to explain his words.
“The enemy has moved a platoon out of the fort.” Draego said. “And another was dispatched to replace the one we destroyed yesterday. There were six platoons and the commander’s personal guard present here when I arrived.”
Draego reached out to the war map spread in front of them and moved a few pieces as he spoke. He first placed two man-shaped pieces near where the fort was, and one to every direction of Gerud. Then, he knocked the one to the west of Gerud down before removing it. He then moved the two from the fort down to the bridge to the west of Gerud.
“The fort is undefended?” Cessa asked, confused and surprised. Draego shook his head.
“Lightly defended.” He replied. “It probably still has the enemy Commander’s personal guard. It should have a reasonably large number of veterans and mages. Taking them down should be far more difficult than taking down a platoon.”
“However,” Luke pitched in. “The plan to eliminate the enemy command system is now a bit more feasible.”
Draego nodded. Forget feasible, it might even be their best chance at victory. However… Draego looked at Stephanie. Stephanie gave him a smile. Although it seemed bright and confident, Draego could sense a bit of bitterness in it.
“I… I’ll do my best.” She said, a bit hesitant.
There’s no need to rush.” Cessa added. “The enemy will be tense and nervous. Their frustration will only build as time passes, in light of our recent victories. We might also find more chances to strike.”
Draego sat there impassively for a moment before nodding in agreement.
“The more we assault the west side,” Draego said. “the more they’ll focus there, giving us more chances to catch them unaware.”
However, Stephanie shook her head.
“Speed is of the essence.” She replied resolutely. “Once they find out that there are people specializing in stealth within enemy ranks, they’ll make countermeasures for it. With scouting magic in the picture, I don’t think I’ll be able to sneak in.”
Cessa, Luke and Draego were all quiet before this declaration. Things were still alright since Draego’s infiltration into the camp would not be found out until a bit later. However, once a message was sent back to the fort, they might start employing mana nets and the likes to find out the infiltrators.
“Alright.” Cessa said, after a long moment of silence. “We’ll head out at sundown. The participants will be Stephanie, Draego and my personal guard. I will join the fray as well. I’ll task Draego with clearing out the lookouts to the north, south and east to mask our departure a little before that. Dismissed.”
Stephanie and Luke rose before Draego and left after giving a bow. Since they were both of lower rank than their commanders, they couldn’t stay seated while the two stood, barring certain special circumstances. Draego rose after the two left, only to have his sleeve grabbed. He turned to see Cessa’s meaningful glance and gave a nod in response.
Draego returned to the inn where his squad stayed and had a quick lunch consisting of vegetable stew and bread. Then, he went over to Stephanie’s room. Well, the girls’ room, but also where Stephanie was. He knocked politely and waited for a response.
“Yeah?” Stephanie answered from inside.
“It’s me.” Draego replied.
“Oh,” Stephanie’s voice seemed slightly panicked. “C-commander, please come in!”
Draego entered. Stephanie was lying on her bed while the other two girls were seated next to each other on the opposite bed. Draego looked at them impassively. Impressively, they understood the meaning behind that glance and made their way out of the room. Draego pulled up a chair nearby and sat next to Stephanie’s bed.
“W-what is it, Commander?” Stephanie asked. Draego simply looked at her wordlessly. Stephanie dodged Draego’s gaze. She shifted nervously on the bed for a while.
“I know you think it’s reckless.” She said, finally. “By jumping the gun and messing it up, I might end up destroying all chances for us to succeed. I know that…”
Stephanie continued in a self-reproaching voice. Her gaze was still averted and she didn’t dare look Draego in the eye. Her voice too trembled, out of either nervousness or outright fear.
“Even so,” Stephanie said, her eyes tearing. “I am not a mage. I tried to sneak up on one mage and ended up getting slammed to the ground. And he didn’t even know I was coming! I can’t sneak past several mana nets. If I am to do something, it must be now, Commander!”
Stephanie finally raised her eyes to meet Draego’s. Her teary expression met Draego’s impassive one with determination. Almost as though in response, Draego cocked his head ever so slightly. Stephanie looked at him with confusion for a moment. Then, he reached out and placed his hand on her head. He moved his hand, rubbing her head.
“Take care.” He said.
His voice was deep and inexpressive. His face was impassive and distant. He rubbed her head for a bit longer before letting go and rising from his seat. Then, he quietly walked over to the door and opened it, revealing four eavesdropping figures. Without the slightest bit of surprise, he gave them a nod before walking on.
The other four members of Dragonhand mercenaries glanced at Stephanie inside the room, and then at Draego. Then, they all quickly remembered some odd tasks neither Stephanie nor Draego ever remembered assigning to them and scattered.
Stephanie blushed before lying back down on the mattress and covering her head with her blanket. Draego walked out of the inn and looked at his right hand. Those horns are actually quite hard. He thought to himself. I must learn to pat around them… Let’s practice on Jerory.
Draego turned his gaze towards the sky, putting his right hand into his trouser’s pocket. His thoughts turned quickly towards Jerory and Sylphia as their beautiful faces came to mind. I’ll be back soon. He sent a greeting to them in his mind. I promise.
He turned and headed towards the blacksmith, which had been converted into a combined weaponry and armory. The soldiers operating the furnace gave him a rigid salute as they saw him. He stopped in his tracks, startled by the sudden gesture, before giving them a nod. The soldiers returned to their work upon seeing him nod.
Am I famous? Draego wondered. He had made immense contributions to the war effort, and practically single handedly changed the tides of war. That was more than enough to earn him respect among the soldiers, but he didn’t think they’d be aware of his work just as of yet. After all, the one leading the troops during the attack on the platoon was Cessa.
He couldn’t even guess that the reason he was being given this respect is because he was seen talking casually with Cessa. All the soldiers took that as a symbol of his standing being even higher than hers in the demon noble society. Either that, or his relationship with Cessa was close enough for them to dismiss military courtesy.
“Excuse me.” Draego approached a soldier. The soldier elegantly put away the pliers she was holding in her hands and stood at attention with a salute.
“Sir!” She said, her right hand over the right side of her chest, and her posture erect.
“At ease,” Draego replied, after a moment. “I need armor.”
“Sir!” The soldier nodded. “What kind of armor would you like, sir?”
“Light but strong.” Draego replied. “Just enough to protect my vitals without hindering my movement, if possible.”
“Sir!” The soldier gave another nod. “W-would it be possible to know your previous armor size, sir?”
Draego wore worn out trousers and a ripped shirt. It was obvious he had been living a rather modest lifestyle, if not a downright poor one. However, it was common for the younger children of high nobles to be left unattended or even driven out of their homes. Even so, this didn’t deprive them of their noble status in the demon society. Jerory made for a decent, albeit somewhat different, example of this.
Draego shook his head and took off his shirt.
“You can measure me.” He replied briefly. “I need it urgently.”
The soldier gave another salute before going about her assigned task. Although such orders could be considered sexual harassment in most organizations, including this one, the soldier didn’t really feel like calling Draego out on it. Draego, on the other hand, had just approached the nearest soldier and given her the details she asked for.
Red-faced, the soldier measured Draego’s waist, chest, back and shoulders. She even called out the sizes to a couple of other soldiers working on adjusting various metal plates near the furnace. Eventually, one of them headed into the main building, and brought out a full set of metal plates. He put them on Draego one piece at a time.
First, a chest piece covering Draego’s heart. Then, two pieces covering his shoulders, a pair of gauntlets and boots studded with metal on the shin. Finally, a belt with a spot to place his sheath, custom made for his signature sword. The metal plates were greyish white in color, light in weight and fit him well.
Draego tested out various movements and joints and gave an elated nod. That said, his impassive expression and closed eyes gave more of the feeling of a detached lord giving a passing grade. The soldiers stealthily heaved a sigh of relief. Draego checked his gear before covering his body in a layer of mana, slowly fading from view.
The soldiers watched wide-eyed as a person slowly went invisible right in front of their eyes.
“I’m leaving now.” Draego said before leaving the place with quiet steps. Unbeknownst to him, the soldiers kept staring at the place they’d last seen him for several minutes before daring to ask if he was still there.
On the other hand, Draego made his way out of the village, and into the forest. He headed north, still invisible. Once again, no one other than the soldiers at the blacksmith even knew what he was up to. To be fair, such camouflage was a fairly costly spell to maintain, and Draego figured he could only keep it up for about twenty minutes at best.
However, twenty minutes was more than enough for him. He made his way to the North, where a dozen men were vigilantly watching the village in shifts of four. He quickly and quietly dealt with the four current lookouts, before honing in on the small clearing where the other eight were.
There was no playing, no chatting, nothing. Four of them laid down on their mattressing, taking shaky breaths during their troubled sleep. The other four nervously and tensely cupped their hands around a cup of either ale or wine or other such beverage. To Draego, such tension was perfect. He didn’t need to be quiet. It would be better if the enemy noticed and stopped keeping watch.
He drew his blade and in one massive swipe, flamboyantly beheaded two of the four who were awake. The other two stiffened in shock and fear. And one of them passed out immediately afterwards. Noticing a chance to end this stealthily, Draego immediately stabbed the other’s neck, keeping him from making any noise.
Then, he moved on to slit the throats of the remainder. Perhaps dying peacefully in their sleep could be considered a blessing. Especially considering the fear and tension their companions would have to go through.
Draego then made his way westwards, in search of the lookouts there, but failed to find anyone. A quick bout of scouting using his mana net at their camp told him that the entire platoon had been gathered up there itself. Although he pinged the enemy mages as well, they didn’t seem to want to fight just yet, and simply let the mana net be without starting a sensory battle.
Confirming the absence of any lookouts to the immediate west, Draego made his way south, only to notice the same arrangements. Did they realize lookouts were easy pickings… Or are they just being lazy? Draego wondered. It was important to find out which of those such behaviour ought to be attributed to.
If their attack on the fort tonight worked well, they’d easily break the siege, and there wouldn’t be any problems. Whatever the platoons did would be meaningless. However, if they failed, for whatever reason, the lack of lookouts might turn into a lack of viable targets for Draego. In such a case, he would no longer be able to build small advantages for the larger battles.
For now, however, his task was complete. He quietly returned back to the village from the east gate. He had spent a couple of hours moving about outside, and the sun would be setting in another hour or so. Within that time, he organized the Dragonhands, checked up on Stephanie and confirmed his duty in the battle to come before heading back to the east gate.
Draego took a deep breath and let out a sigh before glancing at the reddening sky. It’s about time. He thought to himself just as an eye-catching crimson color came into his view. It was followed by the glint of full-plate and about twenty other men. With a quick glance, Draego could tell these were all Class 8 and above Novice mages.
There were also two Amateur mages, seemingly much weaker than the one he had faced, and Luke. Luke’s aura radiated an increase in class from the last time they’d met. A breakthrough. Draego realized and gave the metal-clad figure a nod. Luke nodded back in appreciation. Cessa took a deep breath as she took her place next to Draego.
“Soldiers!” She called out to the gathering below her. She was by far the weakest mage here, being a Class 2 Novice. Yet, when she spoke, none of the mages showed discourtesy. They recognized her position as their leader, but more importantly, they recognized her as their leader.
“From here on out,” She continued with a resolute voice. “We’re going to wipe out the enemy’s command.”
A buzz went around the gathered mages upon hearing this. Wiping an enemy’s command was generally never done. Or, if it was, it was done when one had already taken down several of the enemy’s command squad members. Since command units were generally composed of mages, it made sense for them to preserve themselves as much as possible.
“Your skills will be strained.” Cessa said and the buzz died as suddenly as it had started. “And your strength as mages put to test. The task the lot of you have is simple: Keep an enemy mage in check.”
Silence reigned over the gathering. The mages could not believe their ears for a moment. Their job was not to win against their opponents, but just to buy time. They all knew what this meant. The weight of success would not be on them as a unit, but on an individual instead.
“Luke,” Cessa said, turning to her trusted second-in-command. “Your task is to keep at least two Amateur mages in check.”
“Your words are my will, milady.” Before a buzz could start, Luke knelt in front of his lady. The mages swallowed nervously as their gazes shot between Cessa and Luke. Finally, Cessa put a hand on Draego’s shoulder.
“Dragonhand Commander Draego,” Cessa said as Draego turned his head to look at her. “You more than held your own and edged out advantages against a Class 3 Amateur mage earlier. It was more than anyone could ask of you. However, I must once again ask you for more than anyone can. Please defeat our enemy for us.”
Silence once again reigned the gathering as all eyes turned to Draego. Draego turned his gaze downwards to the ground before closing his eyes gently.
“Of course.” His deep, impassive voice resonated with the tensed minds of those gathered here. Then, he raised his head to look at tonight’s protagonist. There was still one person here even weaker than Cessa. And that person would have the most important role and the greatest burden on her shoulders.
“Finally,” Cessa started as she too looked at that figure. “We’ll be counting on you to open the way for us, Stephanie.”