The rest of the week passed in a blur of so many activities, it was hard for Pax to keep track of them all. The war games had turned into a wonderful way to blow off steam and get better at coordinating with his teammates. They’d lost the King of the Hill scenario on Wednesday, being assigned to join another four squads in defending a small fort at the top of a hill.
It made it clear that, just like the Ambush scenario, coordinating with multiple squads and their leaders to defend a target was much more difficult than attacking from all directions.
The Capture the Flag exercise they’d just finished today had turned out much better. Their Beast Sentinel Squad had shone using their stealthy, hit-and-run skills to capture the enemy’s flag and get it back to theirs first.
Now, Captain Stoneheart had summoned all of them for a final briefing for the week. While the last student straggled in, Pax did a quick check of his war game points.
***
War Game Points: 31 (+13)
***
With the five points from their Wednesday loss and another thirteen for their victory today, they were adding up nicely. Too bad they still had nothing to spend them on yet.
“This has been an important week.” Captain Stoneheart’s voice boomed out, silencing the chatting still going on. “I’m sure all of us have learned many critical things about effective strategies to coordinate and achieve victory.”
Looking around, Pax decided the crowd looked significantly different from the start of the week. They stood in squads, paying much better attention to those around them. The Purge had hardened them as individual fighters and small teams facing off against beasts. But now, the war games had quickly taught them they needed different strategies if they wanted to face off against fellow fighters.
“Vitur willing, the war will be over soon, and we won’t need these skills we are teaching you. However, that there is a rebellion at all shows that it’s more likely we will.”
The crowd, already quiet, turned somber. If they were like Pax, they were all wondering what had happened to the company sent out to take care of the Quarrybrook problem. That there hadn’t been a system message announcing the empire retaking control had put the entire capital on edge.
Pax was sure there were plenty of higher ups who knew the details, but he hadn’t managed to pry any information out of the Steelshades, Mistress Windhelm or even Incedis. His mentor has insisted that, for purposes of maintaining his cover of being loyal to the empire, Pax should only know when the rest of the public did. He mentioned something about having genuine reactions when the news came out.
“Now, let me tell you what’s going to happen next week.” The captain looked down at his clipboard before clearing his voice and looking back at the students. “If you don’t have ten members in your squad, you have until lights out tomorrow to turn in your new additions with their signatures of agreement. Then, before Monday’s training, we’ll shuffle those left to form the best squads we can. If you’re a partial squad, that might mean breaking you up, so get things sorted by tomorrow.”
That news prompted an undercurrent of worried whispers. Pax glanced at his friends, and they nodded back. They’d expected something like this and had decided there was only one reasonable choice since the rest of Team Tribal had already solidified into their own squads. Still, part of him couldn’t believe they planned to invite Kurt and two of his friends to join their squad.
He’d hashed it out with the rest of his friends, going through the various choices, including letting the leaders choose for them. But Kurt was the safest choice. Not only did he know the most about them and some of their secrets, but he had also tied his own fortunes to theirs. He had a vested interest in their success.
“As you know,” the captain continued. “We have been scrutinizing you over this week and taking notes on your strengths and weaknesses. Starting Monday, we will organize you into platoons of four or five squads. We will base our choices on who we think will work well together, as well as making sure each platoon has a reasonable spread of abilities. Finally, we will appoint a single leader for each platoon. We will give them the temporary rank of student lieutenant. They will have authority over the squads beneath them. Each squad will continue to have their individual leaders who will be given the rank of student sergeants. Is that clear?”
His question rang out on a stunned audience. Not a single person answered or asked for an explanation.
He let out an abrupt laugh. “We did say that we’re training you to help our military in the future. Did you think they’d let you run around in your squads doing whatever you think is best? The way the military works is a lot different from your typical wall duty or rooting out nests in the Wilds.” He held up a stern finger and his voice grew progressively louder. “We are fighting against people who are worse than beasts, traitors who want to destroy our empire. We will train you to work together as units, obey orders and take down anyone who thinks they can defy the empire. Do you understand? Can you do that?”
This time, the students yelled out their agreement. Pax made sure to join in with even more enthusiasm than his neighbors.
Captain Stoneheart nodded his approval before holding his hands to quiet the crowd. “Your response and dedication to our training does me proud. Now get to work. Dismissed!”
The students scattered, still hyped up and moving with new energy despite the rigor of the earlier exercises.
Pax and his friends took their time, letting the bulk of the crowd move ahead and scatter to the various academies.
“Want to eat lunch at our mess hall today?” Bryn asked. “It doesn’t add much to the trip to the Steelshades’ building for our shift afterward.”
“Yes! I’ve always wanted to see what the warriors’ academy is like.” Amil gave Bryn an excited grin. “That’s fine with the rest of you, isn’t it?”
As they nodded, Bryn gave them a sheepish shrug. “Honestly, it’s a lot of the same. I’m pretty sure they hired the same builders back in the day for the academies. Even the merchant one looks like the others.”
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“But what about the food?” Tyrodon asked, making the others look to Bryn for her answer.
“Good food is the foundation of a powerful warrior.” Tasar was the one who answered.
“Now that’s a philosophy I can get behind,” Amil said with a happy nod toward Tasar. “Lead the way.”
As they walked toward the warriors’ mess hall, Pax waited until there weren’t many others around to engage his pendent. “Can we check in on how everyone is doing after this week, starting with the Taming?”
“I’m about three-quarters of the way to level 2,” Rin said, glancing up to where Eris circled them lazily. “I should hit it with another week of work, now that Turgan has the team’s Taming business moving along. And then I’m getting a companion for Eris.”
“Another flying pet?” Amil asked. “Sure you don’t want to get something stealthy or tanky that can help you fight?”
Rin shrugged. “If they can tell me everything that is happening around me, then I can snipe my enemies before any of them can get close enough to hurt me.”
“True.” Amil looked thoughtful. “Unless you end up fighting underground or in confined quarters. I’ve been checking out the baby beasts to get ideas for my next pet.”
Rin tipped her head in acknowledgement. “I’m banking on our future fighting being out in the Wilds or on walls for the duration of the war. Besides, I’ve got all of you to help protect me in close spaces.”
“I’m getting close, too.” Pride flickered in Dahni’s expression. “I’m not sure what type of beast I’d like next. Maybe something that can help protect me and Neptid when we’re buffing.”
“Oh, sorry for not telling you sooner.” Pax winced and hurried to share the news before they could get mad at him. “Turgan just let me know that he’s making progress on getting young adult beasts for us. Our teammates have built a hidden den to keep them until we’re ready. Well, and the rebels that Incedis is organizing when they’re ready to leave the capital.”
“No lightning beasts, by chance?” Amil asked, his expression showing what answer he expected.
“I wish.” Pax shook his head with regret. “I’m betting Taming the correct element might do a lot to increase both my and your understanding of them. But if Fenix’s idea about more beast types showing up is correct, it might not be as impossible as we think now.”
Amil’s eyes brightened along with Rin’s and Dahni’s at the possibility.
“But for now, I’ll need to slip out to help departing rebels Tame adult companions. I’m having a hard time pushing that last bit to level 4 just Taming babies over and over.”
“Ohh,” Dahni drew out the word with an edge of sarcasm. “Such a hardship you have getting a level 4 skill while the rest of us are barely getting it to level 2.”
Pax flushed even though he knew he was teasing.
“At least you aren’t at the very start of level 1,” Bryn said, aiming an enigmatic look at Dahni.
There was a pause as her words sank in.
Pax stopped and grabbed her arm. “Are you saying what I think you are?”
She smiled, happier and wider than he’d seen before. “You’re looking at the first warrior with the Taming skill. I just unlocked it last night during the shift I spent helping with the team business.”
The others cheered, clapping her on the back and shoulders in congratulation. Their antics attracted attention from other students nearby. Pax realized it must have looked odd to have them obviously celebrating with no sound emerging from his field. Thankfully, using sound suppressants had become more common with the increasing presence of Inquisitors, so the bystanders quickly lost interest and moved on.
“That’s as good as my news,” Pax said. “I’ve been working with our team crafters and warriors and despite a lot of failures with the warriors, I’ve managed to help both of our crafters and one warrior tame their own companions.”
“A better success rate with the crafters than warriors?” The smug look on Tyrodon’s face made the others laugh.
“Yeah.” Pax gave him a nod of acknowledgement. “Turns out Mana Sight and Manipulation aren’t at the top of a warrior’s list, while the crafters use it a lot while working with powered and enchanted items.”
“So, when do we go public with this?” Rin asked.
“Turgan and Incedis were wanting to have another few successes, but once we let them know about Bryn, I think that will be plenty to make us look valuable to the empire’s leaders.”
While the others nodded, Rin looked pensive again. “Too bad we aren’t making as much progress with our other goals.” She looked around and then switched over to Echoes to continue. We still don’t know where they keep the Awakening artifacts and Incedis hasn’t found out either. Planting the Ghostsong Crystal at the Crimson Ventures run by Ravus Amberborn didn’t pan out when we collected it. We need a new place to stash it, since we’re no closer to gaining critical war information. For Vitur’s sake, we can’t even figure out how the battle for Quarrybrook is going.
At least we’ve been able to give Incedis some names to target for recruiting. Pax sent. I even included Tansa and Kurt in the list of other students I know had issues with the empire back when people could still say things like that.
Well, it’ll be good to find out Kurt’s leanings before he joins our squad. Amil still sounded grumpy about the idea. And if he’s willing, then ask Incedis to vet his two friends.
“Time to eat,” Bryn said, as they approached a large building with double doors propped open and a steady stream of warrior students moving inside.
Pax quickly turned his pendant off and followed as their friends introduced them to their mess hall. Seeing the new place was just the distraction he needed, so he wouldn’t worry about the meeting he had with the people in the Student Compliance and Enforcement office tomorrow. Incedis had said he had a plan, but wouldn’t share any details with Pax. Hopefully, Pax could tease out something from him before they went in the morning. He was tired of facing vindictive councils and leaders out to cause trouble for him.
The mess hall was at least four times larger than the mage students’ dining hall, with multiple food lines along three different walls. Pax had known that it was more common to awaken as a warrior than a mage, but this made it even more clear. And that didn’t even take into account that all mages came to the capital, while most warriors stayed in their home cities for training.
By the time they filled their plates and sat down, Pax was ready to agree with Tasar that the food was good. His mouth was watering, and he couldn’t wait to try all the different dishes he’d taken samples of. He even had a small plate on the side with a steaming piece of dark cake that smelled like cinnamon, with an oozing cream frosting dripping off the sides.
Everyone quickly placed down plates for their pets before diving into their own food as soon as they found a table with enough room for all of them. Their pets drew a lot more attention than they had on the mage’s campus, given no one knew warriors could Tame pets yet. Pax wondered how everyone would take the news when Turgan and Incedis released it.
The incredible burst of flavors drove other thoughts from his mind, and Pax devoted himself wholly to the experience, unable to stifle the occasional moan of enjoyment. He had just slowed down as his stomach filled up when he noticed a slight disturbance on the far side of the hall where it looked like instructors were eating.
Instead of quieting down, it seemed to spread. A concerned hum rose from that area as students turned to others, sharing some news that Pax couldn’t make out. The meal suddenly felt heavy in his stomach. Based on the changing expressions, the news wasn’t good.
Around him, his friends had noticed and had stopped eating, watching it spread like a wildfire through the mess hall. When Bryn leaned in to listen to the hushed conversation of the group next to her, Pax did his best to be patient.
She turned to them, eyes full of anger and outrage. For a moment, Pax’s worry spiked. Then he remembered their commitment to always behave as extremely loyal empire supporters. Which meant—
“The traitors at Quarrybrook have killed and destroyed the company sent to retake the city.” Her words came out hard and angry, matching the mood of the mess hall as the rest of the students found out what had happened.
Pax tapped into his Charisma to create a flare of anger himself. Inside, he tamped down on the spark of happiness to celebrate later. The rebels had won the first conflict of the war. The empire was learning that snuffing out the rebellion wouldn’t be as straightforward as they expected.