Suma’s POV
Some conversations are difficult to have, to process, and to end. I had a conversation like that with Jake yesterday. He has not been the same since the attack, or rather, since he became trapped in Atmosia. The morning after our conversation, we needed to go and join the planning meeting for our mock battle.
“Jake?” I asked, flying to the meeting site in the nearby forest alongside Rou, Odens, and Nine. It may have been morning, but it was abnormally hot, so we were flying through the steam drifting upwards from the forest’s dew evaporating, making it difficult to see.
“Yeah?” Jake asked.
“Did you sleep?”
“A little bit.”
“Was it enough?”
“About five hours.” He said, not directly answering my question.
“I am almost to the meeting site.” I said, spotting it and tilting downwards.
“I’m ready, don’t worry.” He said, as I landed after spotting both Lieutenant Datahu and Captain Gigoales waiting for us on the ground.
“I summon you, Sentinel!” I said, summoning Jake beside me. The others summoned their familiars as well. Jake appeared, already wearing his metal garments; his armor as he calls them.
“Now that everyone is here, we can begin planning. Remember, we only have one hour before the mock battle begins.” Captain Gigoales said. The planning session began, but I closely monitored Jake as everyone talked. He still seemed tired. Normally, summoning a familiar refreshes them, even heals their injuries to a small extent, but lately it has not worked as well for Jake. Listening to the team talk about our strategy, I saw Jake shifting his armor as it sagged on him. It did not do that before, but Jake had gotten smaller over the last few weeks. Not by much, but it was beginning to become noticeable if you looked for it.
“Sentinel,” Lieutenant Datahu said, “I think it would be best if you stayed near the Captain and myself. Your ability to contact Private Suma over distance will be invaluable.”
“You, Private Suma, will splinter off with Privates Rou and Odens to scout, then report to Sentinel what you find, and he will report it to us.” Captain Gigoales said.
“Yes sir.” Jake answered. “However, if the goal of the battle is to eliminate targets, shouldn’t I-”
The Captain cut him off, “No. In normal combat, that would be a valid strategy. However, your spells are far too lethal to use during this exercise. Please refrain from using any attack spells, for the sake of our fellow Drake members.”
“Yes sir.” Jake answered, nodding his head. “But what should I do if I’m cornered?”
“If our sparing sessions have taught me anything Sentinel, it is that unless one of the enemy team’s officers battle you, then you will be fine simply relying on your defensive abilities.” The Lieutenant answered. Over the last few months that Jake has been here, he and the Lieutenant have sparred several times; maybe even more than a dozen. While he has not won any of their bouts, he has lasted longer each time; despite the numerous injuries he would sustain.
I remembered their last bout not because of how close Jake came to winning, but because of how many injuries he had afterwards. There were holes the size of Gimlin seeds all across his body, always between the gaps of his armor. At times, I even wondered if he would lose his appendages, but he always made a full recovery. I asked him why he did not give up the match once, and all he said was that he ‘needed to get used to it.’
“Remember your training team, use the RARR tactics we taught you to disorientate the enemy, do as much damage and quickly as possible, and then retreat.”
“And always stay below the treetops. It is hard to kill you, if they cannot see you.” The Lieutenant added.
“Perhaps a distraction could draw out the other team? That would make scouting far simpler.” I suggested.
“What kind of distraction?” Rou asked.
“Maybe a trap?” Jake said.
“A trap?” The Captain asked.
“I could use magic to make myself an obvious target, and you and the Lieutenant could take them down as they approached.”
“An interesting idea.” Lieutenant Datahu said. “What kind of magic?”
“I don’t know, but it would have to be big.” Jake said.
“What about a display? But a really big one.” Odens said.
Rou hit him with the back of her wing in his chest; making Odens nearly fall over. “Do not be so crass, this is serious.”
“Ow! I was being serious! Jake, have you ever played display dominance?” Odens asked. Nine shook his head, and continued to listen quietly as Odens explained what he meant. We all knew Odens loved the game, and played it with other teams after training was over; mostly because none of us enjoyed it.
“Uh, I think Suma told me about this one, but I don’t-” Jake started to asked, but the Captain interrupted.
“What does this have to do with the distraction, Private Odens?”
“Sorry sir. I just bet he could make a really big display. That would probably draw in someone.” Odens said, then quickly explained what a display was.
“Oh, I’ve done that before actually. I got attacked by a wyvern once, and that happened to me during it. I don’t know how to make it happen on purpose though. Last time, it was an accident.”
“Are we really planning to have him create a display?” Nine asked. He sounded as put off at the thought as the rest of us were, excluding Odens.
“Are there any other suggestions?” Captain Gigoales asked.
“Maybe he could cast a spell that could get their attention? Like a lightning bolt spell.” Rou said. Jake flinched, and declined the offer. Likely remembering his injuries from his first, and last, attempt to use lightning.
“Alright then, any other ideas?” The Captain asked, and was met with no replies. There was a collective feeling of disappointment and shame in the group, excluding Jake, who was confused, and Odens, who was practically singing with joy.
The rest of the hour was spent teaching Jake how to produce a display, a task Odens happily took upon himself, and planning for any possible counterattacks from the other team. We knew the hour was expended when a large bolt of blue magic streaked across the orange sky and pink clouds, then exploded with a sound like thunder.
“Alright scouts, get moving.” Captain Gigoales said. Just as planned, myself, Odens, and Rou all took flight in formation, and began searching the forest from below the canopy.
The canopy above us rushed past as we flew. Half an hour had passed since we split from the rest of the team. As we went, I gave regular updates to Jake, who gave them to the Captain. Odens was far to my left, and Rou was flying ahead of us and to the right. Our search was slow, but thorough.
“We have not found any signs of the other team yet.” I said to Jake over our private connection.
“Alright, it’s been long enough; we’re going to start the display now.” He said.
“Jake is going to start his display now.” I said to the others. They needed to know so that they would not think it was from the other team. A moment later, we all felt a sudden burst of magic coming from the north of us.
“Wow,” Rou said surprised, looking towards the direction of the mana, “that’s all from one familiar?”
“You know, I have noticed this before, but it is quite obvious now; Jake’s mana feels… strange.” Odens said. “I can’t tell with all of them, but I always notice it when he casts his ‘Railgun’ spell during drills.”
“Odens!” Rou snapped.
“I am not trying to be rude. I just-” Odens started, but I interrupted him.
“I understand. Jake’s mana does feel… different that most. I noticed it myself years ago. Over time, I have simply grown… accustomed to it.”
“Look, I think you can see the edge of his display over the canopy in the distance.” Rou said.
“We need to focus. Has anyone seen anything yet?” I asked, shifting the conversation. Displays are not easy, and producing one requires giving into an assortment of uncomfortable emotions. So the thought of Jake do so, especially with everything he has gone through recently, was an unpleasant thought.
“Nothing yet.”
“Nothing here either.” They both reported. Minutes later, the sounds of fighting rang out in the distance.
“It sounds like the trap worked.” Rou said.
“And we still have not yet found any signs of the other team.” I sighed, worrying about Jake.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Should we spread out? It would make the search faster.” Odens suggested.
“No, it would defeat the purpose of having me here. We need to have instant communication between the groups.” I said.
After a short time, the fighting stopped, and the overwhelming feeling of Jake’s mana faded away. “Did the trap work?” I asked Jake through our connection, and our group stopped flying for a moment and landed among the tree branches to rest.
“Yes and no.” He answered.
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Jake’s POV
“We have not found any signs of the other team yet.” Suma said.
“Still nothing.” I told to the Captain.
“Then we will begin your display.” Captain Gigoales said.
“Alright, it’s been long enough; we’re going to start the display now.” I told Suma, and ended the connection. According to Odens, a display is strongest when you’re angry, so after he taught me to keep one stable, he said I needed to keep myself upset. (Easy.) I thought. With everything that’s happened lately, I knew exactly what to think about to get myself angry. (The only hard part would be choosing which one from the obscenely long list: getting stuck in this world, my mum, the stupid dragon, Zachariah nearly blowing up my head, getting body-snatched, those arrogant nobles, the-)
Before I could finish my thoughts, Lieutenant Datahu’s voice snapped me out of it. “Well, that’s an unpleasant feeling.” I opened my eyes and realized the display had already started, and we were standing in a massive cloud of blue and purple fog, just like when Suma and I were attacked by those nobles and his wyvern.
“Quite.” The Captain agreed. Both were perched nearby, inside the fog. They seemed uncomfortable, and the natural sparkle the Captain had even seemed duller. Of course, the Lieutenant barley sparkled, so that was nothing new. I looked for Nine, but his feathers were basically the same color as the fog, so it took me a minute to spot him, especially since he was the only Neame I knew that didn’t possess that sparkle. After a moment, I found him off to the side, looking very uneasy.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Do not worry about us, Sentinel. We will be fine. Focus on keeping the display up, and we will hide.” The Lieutenant said, and flew away into the trees. I lost Nine quickly, but saw the Captain hide under an outcropping of tree roots before disappearing. They’d been warned beforehand about the inversion effect, so they knew what to expect, but I didn’t think they’d get sick from it.
With them gone, I just focused on maintaining the display, which meant focusing on staying angry. It was weird, after all these months, I thought I’d just gone numb to it, but laying it all out in my mind, one after the other, I was furious all over again. Like it had just happened yesterday.
Without knowing how much time had passed, but it somehow still felt like an instant, and an eternity, I heard a voice I didn’t recognize yell, “by the dragons!” Whoever it was, they sounded pretty surprised. Looking around to find them, I realized the fog had gotten so thick that you couldn’t see more than a meter away, let alone find a voice in it. A sudden bright flash above me erupted, and I heard a scream, followed quickly by the thump of something hitting the ground.
“It’s an ambush!”
“Just like the Captain said!” Two more voices yelled. All of this was followed up with more flashes. “THEY”RE NOT GOING DOWN!” A sudden crack of thunder echoed out, and another thump fell behind me. I looked around, and saw a Neame laying in the blue grass. After confirming he was still alive, just knocked unconscious, I refocused on maintaining the display. But it became a lot harder to do with the sounds of battle all around you.
“There you are!” A voice above me said. I looked up and saw a Neame dive-bombing straight for me. Just before I had the chance to cast a spell, one of the roots of a nearby tree shot out of the ground, and slammed into him. He hit the ground with a thud. Without warning, Nine flew past me, checked the Neame, then disappeared back into the fog.
“We are clear!” The Captain’s voice yelled. “You can stop your display.”
“Is everyone alright?” I yelled, finally letting myself calm down.
“Cold,” Nine said. “They kept using fire magic.”
“Good to know lightning cannot be inverted.” Lieutenant Datahu said, just as the fog started to fade. They all landed beside me, each on different perches made from twisted vines and roots. “Though I am surprised we did not encounter more resistance.”
“They would have known-” the Captain said, then stopped without warning, and looked off in the distance. Just as I looked, I felt a surge of pain, and fell down.
“AHHH!” I yelped, and my body seized up. With that, I blacked out.
I don’t know how long it was before I woke up again, but when I did, Nine was sitting on my chest. “You’re out.” He said, then motioned with a wing to a nearby tree. “You can go sit with the others if you want.”
“What happened?” I asked, confused.
“The other team’s Captain hit you with a bolt of lightning, then flew off. Captain Gigoales chased after him, but he has not come back yet.” I looked over to the tree that Nine had pointed at, and saw several Neame perched on the branches. Some were just watching, others were receiving medical attention from healers.
“Did we win?” I asked, not yet wanting to move.
“We took out most of their team with our trap. All that is left is their Captain, and one private.”
“Oh. Did we lose anyone?”
“Just you.”
“I guess that’s good.”
“Are you not going to get up?” Nine asked.
“In a minute.” I groaned. After about five minutes of working the stiffness out of my body, I finally got up. Just in time to see the Captain fly overhead and land next to Lieutenant Datahu. I walked over to the tree, and one of the Neame cast a healing spell on me. A moment later, the Captain flew over and landed in front of me.
“How are you feeling?” He asked.
“Better. Did you get the last of them?”
“No. I was defeated. While fighting their Captain, the private landed a hit on me. It is up to the others now.” Captain Gigoales said.
“Did the trap work?” Suma’s voice suddenly asked over our connection.
“Yes and no.” I answered.
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Suma’s POV
Jake’s news caught us all off guard. “Our two best weapons were both taken out by the enemy team’s Captain?” Rou asked.
“It would appear so. The Lieutenant asked us to return, and to be on the lookout; just to be safe.” I told her.
“I don’t understand why she is nervous.” Odens said. “There are five of us, and only two of them. If we work together, I’m sure we can win.”
“I do not know,” I said, and spread my wings, “but we only need to follow orders for now.” We all flew straight for the area that Lieutenant Datahu and Nine were, being careful to not run into the remaining members of the other team as we did by staying in the higher tree-branches. Hidden by the leaves, and moving slowly, we arrived safely.
“Ah, good, everyone made it.” The Lieutenant said, seeing us as we perched. Nine and her were beside one another, but facing away, to keep watch on both sides.
“Is everything okay, Lieutenant?” Rou asked.
“Without the Captain, this became much harder.” She said.
“Ma’am, there are five of us. Surely, we can-” Oden said, but was cut off.
“The five of us may not be enough to stop a squad Captain. Without our Captain, our fighting strength has been cut into one-third of what it was when we began.”
“Was the Captain truly that strong?” I wondered.
“While he may not have been as physically impressive as Sentinel in terms of life force density and mana reserves, our Captain still had decades of experience in combat.” She answered.
“But you were a court mage!” Rou said.
“And he was a royal mage, much like our opponent.” The Lieutenant said. “Do not be confused, though our numbers may be greater, that is currently our only advantage. I would estimate that our team is currently out matched.”
“So… it will be hard?” Odens asked.
“Yes, but our numbers can help us.”
“What can we do?” I asked.
“Attack from all sides, and hope to catch him by surprise.” The Lieutenant said. “But first, we need to take out the private that is assisting him.”
“Why?” Rou asked.
“We will need every advantage we can get. Leaving him without a partner could prove to be what allows us to succeed.”
“What’s the plan?” Nine asked, speaking up for the first time.
“We draw out the private, separating him from the Captain, and take him down. After that, we might be able to use the private as bait to lure the Captain into an ambush.”
“What do we use as bait? One of our familiars?” Rou asked.
“That wouldn’t be enough. It has to be one of us. Private Suma, you are the fastest member of our team besides myself, you will do it.” The Lieutenant said.
“Me?” I asked surprised.
“We will set up an ambush, and we will spring the trap as soon as the two of you are in position. You need to lure him in as quickly as possible. If you do not, then the Captain could show up, and that will be our defeat.”
“Y-yes, ma’am.” I said, accepting my role.
Our team spent a few more minutes scouting out the best area for an ambush, and going over details on how best to capture the private. Once we were all ready, I set out in the direction that the Lieutenant saw the Captain come from and retreat to during our team’s original confrontation. Less than half an hour later, I spotted, or rather was spotted, and the plan was put into motion. Casting a spell to enhance my speed, and I flew away as quickly as I could and hoped the Neame who spotted me would follow.
Behind and below me, I sensed a build up of mana; a spell was being cast. I adjusted my course, and barely avoided a fire spell that detonated merely a wingspan and a half from me. With a deafening explosion, the force of the spell stunned me for a moment, and the bright flash blinded me. I felt my wings brushed past branches and leaves rapidly until I regained my sight, just in time to quickly close my wings and dive so as to not fly beak first into a branch. Looking over my shoulder, I could not find the private who had been chasing me, nor did I sense any more spells being cast. However, I did not slow down. Reapplying the enhancement spell, I resumed course for the rest of my group, and the ambush location.
(Nearly there). I thought, but sensed a massive buildup of mana below me. Without looking down, I gained as much altitude as I could, and veered to the left; rolling over in the process to try and see where the attack might come from. I flew into the densest part of trees so that the leaves could provide me with some cover, but just as I thought I was safe, another explosion went off beside me, burning my right side, and destroying a large section of the foliage around me. My cover was gone, my right wing was numb, and I was falling!
Panicking, I tucked my wings again, and dove, then flared them and corrected myself. Casting a healing spell while flying was not easy, but doing so while being chased was impossible. So instead, I simply kept flying; straight for the team. My heart was racing, my wings ached, and to make things worse, I sensed another, larger, buildup of magic. Without warning, I heard an explosion, but this time I did not feel it. In fact, it came from behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw my team all attacking the private!
“Land and heal, Suma!” Odens shouted. “We got him!” One by one they cast spells, most of which the private was able to evade. He even managed to cast anther of those exploding spells, which Nine was caught in.
“AHH!” Nine yelled, and fell to the ground. Once I finished healing my own wing enough, I flew over and healed Nine. He was unconscious, and therefore out of the exercise. In the end, the private was taken down by a spell from the Lieutenant, and I treated his wounds as well.
“You did well, team.” The Lieutenant congratulated us. She turned to the private, who I was casting a healing spell on, “and so did you, soldier. Do you have a name?”
“Lika-Pac.” He answered.
“Pac?” I wondered. “Do you know a Von-Pac?”
“Yes, he is my cousin.” He looked at my wing, which was still numb from his earlier spells. “Is your wing okay?”
I looked down it; it was singed from the flamed, and sore, “I am fine.”
“Then I guess I need more practice.”
(He is certainly Von-Pac’s family.) I thought.
“You did well, Lika-Pac. Even when outnumbered and being attacked from all sides, you still managed to take out a member of the opposing force while avoiding their spells. You have been trained quite well.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant.” He answered. “I will take leave of the field now.”
“Not yet. You are our hostage now.” She looked to Nine, who had just woken up. “Off the field Private. Go fill in everyone on what’s happening.”
Nine was rattled and disappointed at being outed from the exercise, but he was well enough to fly. Once he was gone, Rou tied up Lika-Pac with a spell to manipulate the surrounding roots and branches of the trees. Now secured, Odens portion of the mission was to begin.
“Roar of thunder, and the wingbeats of flame, gather before me and cry unto the heavens!” He said, chanting a spell. A ball of red lightning formed in front of him. For a moment, the lightning pulsated with a high-pitched ring, and then shot into the air. It gave off a noise like a screeching borog beast, before exploding like thunder. Just as I thought the spell was over, several smaller bolts shot out from it, each crackling like a snapping branch as they fell from the sky and faded away.