Amelia silently crept along the ridge just above a line of Edorian soldiers. Prian was in the lead with half of his scouts, the other half were moving farther up the ridge to protect their flank. The first part of the plan went off seamlessly, storming the exit tunnel and killing all resistance before any alarms were raised. Wolf company was positioning themselves for an all out attack on the enemy encampment from multiple angles.

The attack was timed to occur just as the sun rose. That was typically before watches were rotated and the night watch would be tired and complacent. Sunrise in the mountains came with a heavy fog that littered the dozen or so ridges running through the valley the enemy was camped in. Amelia carefully placed her feet to avoid shuffling rock off the side and alerting the foe.

Amelia snapped off a quick set of hand signals to the soldiers trailing behind her.

Half split off. Ready for combat. On my lead.

One out of every two soldiers stepped off to the side and crouched to let the troops behind them pass. Once out of line, each soldier pulled out their weapon of choice and prepared to leap down the ten-foot ridge and fall on the Edorian sentries. Amelia continued down to get to the far side of the ridge, which would position her above the highest concentration of forces.

Ten infantrymen and Nelson were behind her, alongside forty of the Thoiri warriors. The Speaker claimed this camp would have between five hundred and eighty hundred soldiers, depending on how many were out for patrol. They would be fighting outnumbered two or three to one and yet Amelia felt confident.

The training of the past three days had resulted in a highly improved and cohesive unit of Thoiri. Wolf company was outfitted with incredible armor and weapons. She and the rest of her company were eager to prove themselves worthy of the equipment and worthy of the captain. He was resting near the exit tunnel, reserving his strength and healed body for the Edorian elites that may be in the camp.

When her column made it to the end of the ridge, Amelia turned to check on the rest of the group. A quick flash of hand signals down the line confirmed everyone was in position. Amelia drew her sword and said a quick prayer to everyone and anyone listening. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, locking eyes with Nelson. He gave her a quick grin and nod, the slight gesture enough to belay her confidence and make her heart quiver.

The sun began to peek over the horizon, and the aggressors were rewarded with a thick fog. Each set of armor on her side had a small wolf inscribed into the front and back, a gift from the Thoiri. The wolf would glow in manasight and allow them to tell friend from foe. Thick fog would hide their approach and muffle the sound of combat. Every second mattered when outnumbered this severely.

Amelia waited another few breaths and signaled. The signal was passed down the line and Wolf company exhaled a collective breath and began traversing down the small rocky ridge. Amelia’s boots met the bottom and she leap off towards the closest sentry. He turned his head to investigate the noise and died with her blade in his throat.

Without waiting, she pressed on and killed three more sentries down the line. She spared a quick glance to both sides to see her forces moving forward into the fog. Amelia activated her manasight and sighed in relief at the glowing wolf sigils moving through the fog. She entered the thick fog, ears straining for any sounds, sword gripped tightly in her hand.

The camp revealed itself through the fog, tent by tent. Soldiers walked through the camp preparing morning duties and died where they stood. Still no alarms were raised and Amelia pressed forward with haste. Two of her own and a few Thoiri grouped up, and they checked each tent as they progressed. Amelia felt ruthless cutting down sleeping soldiers, but the thought of Rico lying dead helped her squash the complicated emotions.

They were finishing their fourth tent and moving to a fifth when a soldier stumbled out half dressed. He was too quick with a shout before an arrow took him in his side. He grabbed a small stone out of his pocket and Amelia saw it brighten in her manasight. The Edorian continued to shout and shouts rose in answer from the spread out camp before them.

“Tighten up! Form ranks! Abandon stealth and stick to your training!” Amelia shouted out.

She heard her command repeat to her left and right. The two infantry with her locked shields and advanced as one. Amelia took her place as a blade and followed closely behind the two. The Thoiri trailed behind as a rear guard, both excellent shots with the short but powerful bows of their people. Clashes were visible in the fog now between her forces and the Edorians.

Their first contact came soon after, three enemy soldiers who barely had time to grasp the reality of the situation before two spears lashed out at them. Amelia circulated and waited for them to attack before dipping around the infantry and delivering two quick strikes. The tried-and-true Agorran strike style suited low visibility environments well.

The enemy began to fight back in earnest. A ferocity was born in the realization that retreat was not an option due to the geography of the valley. If they lost the central area of flat ground, they would be scattered and hunted down by the Thoiri. Amelia and her small team fought soldiers in groups of three to five as they moved farther into the camp.

An unlucky arrow took one of her shields by surprise and pierced the side of his neck. It wasn’t a fatal blow, but it would take him out of the fight. She poured a health potion down his throat, supplied by the Thoiri herbmothers, and tasked the other to pull him back to the staging grounds where Lews would have a field hospital.

Amelia was about to continue on and find another group to fight with when the fog began to clear rapidly. A massive amount of mana flared in her manasight, and she had to shield her eyes in temporary blindness. When she blinked them back open, the fog was swirling up and leaving the clearing. Amelia only had a few seconds to respond.

“Form up when the fog lifts. Form up! Shields up, make a line! Blades and bows, you know your place! Form up!” She shouted at the top of her lungs.

She again heard the call being repeated all around her, despite not being able to see most of her allies. As the fog lifted, the two forces were revealed. They were at the base of the ridges and in the clearing that housed the main part of the camp. A line of Edorians two deep stood facing her from a hundred feet away. War horns were being blown to bring the rest of the enemy together.

Her company rallied the Thoiri and formed their own shield wall. The Thoiri progressed greatly, fighting in co-ordination, but a shield wall was far from their strongest form of combat. Amelia’s thoughts raced about how to best handle the battle when the decision was taken from her. The Edorian line charged their position, leaving no time to plan.

“Hold the line! Hold! We trained for this! Hold!” Amelia shouted in her most commanding voice.

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Miser and Prian were visible now, repeating her commands to her right and left. Their line stretched eighty some feet across the clearing. The Edorians had the numbers to wrap around and flanked them on both sides. This would be a fight of annihilation for one side or the other.

“Arrows! Arrows! Fire at will!”

“Spears up! Short spears throw when in range! Spears up!”

“Hold!”

The battlefield was awash with chaos in the precious seconds before the lines met. The two armies met in a cacophony of steel clashing against steel. Arrows rained down from the Thoiri scouts, spears were thrown from both sides. Spears met armored chests as they charged through and shields deflected swords. The symphony of combat drowned out all the noise outside of a small radius around her.

Both sides became tangled in the oldest dance known to history. Amelia plugged a hole in the line that formed close to her and her sword whipped through the air, leaving a trail of devastation. The infused weapon gave off a soft glow as she circulated in full to maximize her combat strength. She pressed forward to relieve the line, cleaving deep into the enemy.

She moved quicker than a shadow, her blade finding gaps in armor and resolve alike. The soldiers around her rallied and fought with a valor deserving of campfire songs. Each blow was a testament to their courage and honor. Amelia lost herself to the flow of combat, surging when she needed the upper hand and drawing deeply from the reservoir in her sword.

Her new armor rang like a bell from repeated strikes, but she felt no pain. She didn’t have time to check its mana reserves and put her faith in the mountain smiths. Slowly, through sheer grit and determination, her cluster of soldiers fought through and collapsed the Edorian line. She shouted out for half to turn and work towards the right and led the charge on the left personally.

As the battle raged, the sun climbed higher and cast the world in an eerie orange haze. The violence of the engagement was on full display. Amelia stepped over corpses and splashed through puddles of blood and viscera. This clearing, once a beautiful testament to nature, was now a scene of horror that would last years.

She heard a roar of sound from the other side of the clearing, and her heart lifted. Alton had joined the fray. Her captain would be leading the fight from the opposite side. Amelia drew more from her core and pushed herself. Every second mattered against the tolls of death. Her ferocity was matched by the group around her and they cleaved through the Edorian defenses.

After what felt like an eternity to those on the field of battle, the Edorian resolve crumbled. It started with a swordless man running from Amelia. He was taken in the back by an arrow and collapsed into the legs of two men desperately fending off blows. The three tumbled down and the rest of the line broke. Edorian soldiers began to run and once the trickle started, it turned to a flood.

Wolf company stood victorious in the clearing. The Thoiri cheered and fired away at the running soldiers. The younger and more energetic warriors chased them through the ridges and ravines with a savage battle lust. Amelia breathed heavily and stumbled through the clearing to find the others. Putting enemies out of their misery as she walked.

---

Alton watched with tense emotions as the battle plan of his young but fierce sergeant was put to reality. It had taken a convincing back-and-forth argument with her for him to sit out the initial attack. She had pretended it was to watch for the Edorian elites, but he knew she feared for him. His side was barely healed and would split open again with any real combat.

Watching his young company put themselves at risk while he waited in the wings tore at his nerves. The sun began to rise and a thick fog enveloped the battlefield. It perfectly hid their approach. He watched as the company relayed signals to advance and attacked down the ridges. It was done with excellent precision, each group moving in sync and preventing any alarm.

He almost caved and ran down when he lost sight of the majority in the fog. Sounds of combat could be heard from his vantage and he used manasight to track the few in range. Minutes felt like hours while he waited. Lews was preparing his field hospital down below, but Alton couldn’t bring himself to leave his perch.

Wounded soldiers stumbled back from the fog and each time Alton felt his heart throb. None of his original team were among the first injured. He felt no relief at that, imaging them struck down in the fog. Damn Gorgorath for hitting his already injured side. His new armor wrapped around him in comfortable drake scales, he was yet to test its durability.

The wind picked up with a wicked burst, and Alton watched the fog drift away. Five sources of mana were glowing brightly in his vision across the clearing. The Edorians were trying to erase the visibility advantage with power of some kind. Alton decided this qualified as elites and jogged down the ridge that would take him closest.

Lews shouted after him, but Alton just jogged faster. He was in charge of this company, after all. His core was full and rippled with anticipation as he drew on it to circulate. His footsteps became light and silent, taking him closer to the mages with every enhanced step. He followed the ridge as far as he could when it dead ended.

He jumped down and landed softly on his impeccably crafted boots. Four Edorians appeared out of the thinning fog and Alton cut them down in quick succession. He freed both blades and infused them with the minimal amount of mana. This would maintain some element of stealth but provide the cutting power to slice through armor.

Moving forward cautiously, he advanced on the mage’s position from the far side, opposite of the rest of the fighting. He only met a few Edorians on this side of the camp. None presented much challenge, only just realizing they were under attack as they died. He felt nothing but disgust now, knowing that these were only the dregs of small villages. How dare they attack his home?

Anger rippled through him, and he was relieved when the fog lifted. No need to hide any longer. He flared both blades and walked forward. A menacing smile danced on his lips when he found his next set of foes. Three Edorians wielding spears tried to surround him. He waited for them to attack and then cut through all three spears.

He launched a gob of spit at the closest one and followed it up with two quick slashes that bisected the soldier. The other two turned and ran, Alton let them. The mages were between three tents in a small clearing with ten Edorians guarding them. Alton could see the effects of mana drain on them, standing and moving as if in terrible pain.

Alton closed the distance and attacked the Edorian guards. His blades became extensions of his arms, dancing to a rhythm only a warrior would understand. He ducked, dodged and counter-attacked, whittling down the group. When only two remained, he felt the mages focus on him and begin chanting.

Not wanting to take any risks, he surged and closed the distance with incredible speed. The last two guards and all five mages fell before his surge ended, no match for his superhuman strength and speed. Alton turned and roared at the sky. His roar was taken up by dozens of his soldiers around the camp.

The battle ended shortly after. Alton engaged the enemy line a few times, but it crumpled within minutes. He stood and watched the cowards flee into the ridges and valleys. The Thoiri gave chase and he let them. This was their natural hunting ground. He felt blood running from his side again and cursed Gorgorath a final time before walking back toward the field hospital.

---

Amelia found Captain Alton in the field hospital. His side was bleeding again, but his color showed that he was faring far better this time. Lews was fussing over him and trying to convince him to drink a health potion, which he was refusing. Thoiri herbmothers were helping tend the wounded with Lews.

“Captain.” She said in greeting.

“Sergeant Amelia. Well done. Your battle plan was executed to perfection. You routed a force three times the size of your own and did a fair number of it yourself, I would wager.” Alton said with a smile.

Amelia glowed in response to his praise. “Thank you, sir.”

“Help gather any more wounded and bring them back here. Have Prian rally the scouts and find out what we can about the situation at Kitsu. Thuklu is skulking around here somewhere. He should know the way.” Alton said.

“Yes, sir.” Amelia saluted and walked off to give his orders.

She passed dozens of dead Thoiri, being moved nearer the mountain tunnels by their kin. Her heart ached for them, most younger than she was. They showed incredible courage to fight out of their element. To her utter surprise, not a single member of Wolf Company was among the dead. The armor had proved its value ten times over. A few major injuries, but every soldier would return to fighting shape.

She found Prian helping move Thoiri and relayed the captain’s orders. He hesitated at the work unfinished, but she promised to take over for him. He snapped a quick salute and jogged off to gather his team and Thuklu. She stayed true to her word and tapped her mana reserves to lift the bodies and bring them back near the mountain.