Covert Operations
> “I had no idea...” ~Kristel Irista
Even with the lush forest obscuring the Flat Lands, the exuberant brightness of Frill’s Diferenfra pierced through Mount Rindea where the Princess and her companions raced south.
Kristel gave specific orders to Frill before the battle began to use the Meiyal Art only when the enemy managed to breach the first wall. Not only was the Art powerful enough to burn its targets to ashes with a force strong enough to sweep a grown man off their feet, it also allowed Frill the choice who to disintegrate and who to leave unharmed.
Because of the complexity and power of Diferenfra, Frill could only Draw them sparingly. It was the perfect Art for delivering impact while subtly sending a message from those far away without relying on M.O.B.I.L.E. communications.
Lor and Flimeth were immediate to adapt as soon as Kristel increased her speed.
“How far left?” Flimeth asked. She knew almost nothing with regards to the southern borders of their nation given that she had spent most of her entire life studying and training in the High Palace.
“We’re almost there, just one more mountain,” Lor responded.
The whole operation was going too well. With just the three of them, they had sneaked up on three other squads trying to flank them from the mountainside. But unlike the first squad, they didn’t escort with them any mysterious cargo.
Something felt off. Something about the wind brought a subtle warning. As soon as the suspicion crept in, the atmosphere constricted in a suffocating motion, willing the three into a full stop.
“Who’s there?” Flimeth snapped around, her feline ears in high alert. Kristel focused her attention ahead while Lor covered another side. The three momentarily stood in silence, backs facing each other, ready to face…
Nothing.
There was absolutely nothing but trees and dirt. Not even the sound of animals.
The atmosphere warped, suffocating, burning like rotten flesh. A feeling so strange yet familiar to Kristel.
The Nightmare Lands.
Is it spilling out? An Invasion?
Kristel’s mind raced like no other. A Nightmare Invasion at this time, during a war between two nations, could only spell the worst for both factions involved. Casualties upon casualties, death and decay piling higher than the Vanguard—
The warped air vanished.
“It’s gone?” Flimeth was just as confused as everyone else. “Where did it go?”
The chaotic harmony of war returned to Kristel’s ears, reminding her of the urgency of her mission.
“What now?” the Guard Knight asked.
As much as Kristel wanted to investigate, the manner at which the atmosphere had come and gone like a bursting bubble left nothing to lead on. No traces, no signature, as if the whole thing never happened.
“We have no time for this. Our soldiers’ lives are on the line.” Much to her reluctance, there was no other choice but to press on.
They resumed their pace, but the Princess couldn’t remove the curiosity building up from the abrupt appearance and disappearance of something they couldn’t even define as smoke, yet worse than a smog.
After speeding through the last mountain, they slowed down again. Kristel perched at the highest stable branch from a group of trees near the border of the mountain forest.
“Over there.”
The forest gave way to the plains of South Valley, connecting the Flat Lands and the desert dunes of the Desolate Lands.
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Her eyes widened at the number of armed units marching through the valley. Footmen mixed with breaching war-contraptions carried by giants while accompanied by various foul creatures—the Princess didn’t have the privilege nor the time to identify—marched endlessly.
“Looks like our goal is still way out there,” Flimeth concluded.
“Seems like it,” Kristel affirmed with worry. She turned her gaze towards the direction of the Desolate Lands and found more of the same filing in.
How could—
“How could a nation so close to collapsing afford to come up with an army like this?” Lor finished the thought for her.
Kristel had mulled over the question the first time she confirmed the reports and could only come up with a single answer.
“When the Monarch’s Law speaks, even those without ears will listen,” was a mantra her father repeated on their occasional encounters. If nothing else, they served as a memory that Monarch Denis was indeed her father.
“Even so, this is just ridiculous,” Flimeth said, crossing her arms and leaning dangerously over the trunk of a nearby tree. She could be as light as a cat, but that much torque threatened the branch she stood on to snap.
“Come on, we need to move,” said the Princess, turning around and moving back into the forest.
In order to traverse the Desolate Lands without being noticed by the Vyndival army, they backtracked and hid behind high dunes away from the army’s rally point.
Behind enemy lines, they finally saw some glimpse of their destination. They froze on their tracks at the sight of the horrid magnificence of the enemy’s moving stronghold.
“Isn’t that—?” Flimeth couldn’t finish.
It was a small portion of a castle pulled by a gigantic dragon. The Jaws Lurking in the Forest, strapped with chains and forced to pull the entire building all on its own.
“Well, it’s at least a lot bigger than I imagined.” Flimeth had a hint of sarcasm that she obviously forced out of nervousness. “I’m really convinced it’s not a dragon.”
Kristel tried to control her own nerves. “It’s just a lesser dragon.”
“Yep.” The Guard Knight bobbed her head faster than she probably should. “That’s the only good part in this situation right now."
“Now that’s a sight.” Lor had a smile as genuine as it could possibly be.
The enormous lesser monster, crawled on four muscular limbs. Its third pair of limbs were webbed wings occasionally opening for balance rather than flight. It roared on every pull, its snout opening sideways and displaying layers of talon-like teeth dripping with acidic venom. Black scales frilled open and vibrated with every piercing scream.
Soldiers and other troops kept a good distance away from it, careful of its acid while they escorted the beast.
It didn’t change the fact that Kristel’s objective may well be hiding behind the monster.
“So how do we deal with that?” Lor asked.
“Infiltrating silently seems to be out of the question,” Flimeth said. She poked her head high, trying to spot for signs of the other covert group. “Looks like there’s just three of us.”
“I guess we could risk this for a few minutes.” Kristel opened her M.O.B.I.L.E. “Uncle Kento, can you hear me?”
“Sorry, my dear,” Kento replied, much to Kristel’s relief. “The Guard Knights are on a stalemate with their enemies on Mount Rindea. Their enemies called for reinforcements. They won’t make it in time.”
“How’s the rest of the battle holding up?”
“Chaotic as expected.” Kento’s tone sounded calm and calculating, a good sign. “We’ve lost a few advantages. Our enemies are too many and they attack from different directions, but we’ll make sure the Vanguard will hold. You need not worry about us.”
“Good, send a message to the other Guard Knights to report back once they’re done, order them as you see fit. We’ll handle things here. We’re turning off our M.O.B.I.L.E.s again just to make sure. We’ll report back in two hours.”
“Very well, Princess. Good hunting.”
“Looks like we don’t have a choice,” Kristel switched off her device and returned her attention to the colossal monstrosity before them. “I’d really like to avoid more killing.”
The previous skirmishes had left a bitter taste in her mouth. Killing barely trained folk conscripted into a desperate war wasn’t exactly a glorious or honorable prospect to revel for the future.
Playing things out in her head gave Kristel a grim sense of irony. With the repertoire she commanded, keeping multiple people incapacitated while unharmed didn’t bode well for her meiyal capacity. Keeping them alive also added an unpredictable factor in the long run, in case this war turned into a full-blown siege.
She turned to Lor. “What do you think?”
“Try to avoid their vitals at the very least, Princess.” Lor was busy adjusting his battle gear—a leather armor affixed for light and explosive movement—and checking his materialized meiyal bow, but he spared her a quick glance. “It won’t be pretty, and it’s not a guarantee, but you can only spare your enemies too many compromises before you’re practically friends.
“Whether they’re under the influence of the Monarch’s Law or not shouldn’t be your concern.”
Kristel agreed, but before she could give out the order, Flimeth made an exasperated, audible, attention-grabbing sigh.
“See, this is exactly the reason why I kept suggesting for you two to learn nonlethal Meiyal Arts.” She finished adjusting her battle gear, a standard issue Irista Nation half-plate armor slightly modified to be lighter and allow a space for her tail. Her Cross Irista epaulet cape flowed neatly behind her. “What do you have on Display?”
“Nothing,” Lor said. “You take my materials every time.”
Flimeth eyed him judgingly. “Why, thank you. You, Princess?”
“Kaimera, and some Irista Styles.”
“Like?”
“Judgment. I can only use it once, but I don’t think it’s enough for the Forest Jaws.”
The Guard Knight froze in the middle of fixing a materialized bracer, her jaw dropping in astonishment. “Are you two for real? We’re talking about nonlethal Meiyal Arts.” She sighed one more time, more genuine and deeper this time. “Fine, I’ll take point. You two take care of the monsters.”
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