Getting the Morning’s Shade to leave the Grove in an orderly manner was akin to herding cats. Luckily, Zalia had plenty of experience in that regard and with the help of Hildebrandt, had them up and moving in short order.
Ember, Aylie and Lumin all came with Zalia and Ro as they trailed the Morning’s Shade on the way to the camp.
When they arrived at the front of the army camp, it was to a scene of somehow orderly chaos.
The departure of the soldiers was done orderly and neat, lines and units forming up. Carts hooked up to beasts of labour were slowly trundling into one single line leading towards the capital. Units of soldiers were slowly splitting off and flanking carts that were moving away from the camp.
Faian had only vaguely explained the plan to her, the way the troops would be ordered and managed. They would take a small town about halfway to the capital to use as a midpoint for their supply train. Some soldiers would need to be left behind to guard it, as well as a small contingent to guard the carts that would go back and forth.
All in all it sounded like a managerial nightmare, but from the looks of it the generals had it well under control. She was once again surprised at the pure competency of not only Faian but the other generals and the soldiers under their command as well.
The chaos in the scene came from the desperate refugees and civilians who were outside the walls of the camp. Seeing that so much room was being vacated, quite a few people had decided it was time for them to move in and were pushing to be let into the camp. This created a nightmare for the gate guards as they had to let out soldiers and make sure to filter the refugees at the same time.
Hildebrandt slowly led the Morning’s Shade into the chaos, quickly being intercepted by an advisor to one of the other generals. Luckily, the members of the organisation decided grouping closely together was better than being split up, though many of the civilians kept their distance from the well-armed and armoured group.
Prior to the invasion, the Morning’s Shade was a well-known organisation that not much was known about. People often feared them a little, simply due to the mystery surrounding their members and the not-so-truthful stories that tended to pop up around them.
A lot of that was forgotten now, it seemed. Many of the refugees didn’t give them a second glance other than to keep out of their way, simply wanting to get within the enchanted walls of the camp.
Zalia was a little surprised at the speed with which things were advancing, but recalled Faian saying that the only thing they were waiting on was a solution to the possible ascendant being in the capital. They had evidently been preparing for this attack since the camp was set up, the soldiers aware of what they needed to do and supplies already stockpiled for the event.
The Morning’s Shade was led to one side to wait for the last of the soldiers, Zalia and her group standing near them. It would be time to say goodbye soon.
Zalia watched Aylie, looking for any hint of what she was thinking.
“Aylie, you, Ember and Lumin won’t be coming with me and Ro to the capital. I want you to stay here and be safe in the Grove.”
Fear and concern reared its head from within Aylie, her face dropping and her arms wrapping around herself.
“Why? You told me that I had power now, that I would be able to fight back. I can come with you! Didn’t you see how strong my ability is? I can help!”
Her voice was quiet as usual, yet grew louder. And she wasn’t entirely wrong. Zalia had said those things.
“I know, but this is not like Ostoss. This is going to be a much bigger, longer and more dangerous fight. It wouldn’t be fair to take you into that. You have power now, but not on the level of the things we’re going to be encountering there.”
Her reply was only a whisper.
“If it is so dangerous, why are you going there?”
Zalia had been thinking about the same thing a bit recently. When she had first come to Endaria she might well have not gone. Hell, even a few months earlier when she was Iron rank, they had decided to only pass off some information to Hidey and then leave the conflict for good, letting the army deal with it.
She was a changed woman to who she had been then though.
“All of these people here,” she started, gesturing widely around them, “need someone to stand up for them, to take back their home. Sure, I’m not as powerful as quite a few others here. I definitely don’t have the kind of logistical or tactical skills that the generals have. What I do have is powers almost built to fight these things and knowledge of our enemy that the generals might need. You have those kinds of powers too, but now isn’t the time for you to fight. When you are older, we can talk about you joining in on this kind of fight but for now, you just need to stay safe. Alright?”
Aylie opened her arms wide and Zalia took her into a deep hug.
“Boreal will be with me and we’ll take care of each other. I want you to do something for me though okay? I’ll only sleep every few days, but I want you to try to send me dreams. Talk to me through them, alright? You’ll know I’m safe that way, and I’ll know you’re safe too.”
She felt Aylie nod vigorously, and only hoped that she would be able to send the dreams over that distance.
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They hadn’t experimented much with the dreamweaving, Zalia sleeping too little to really make good use of it. It was something that Zalia definitely wanted to get into once this was all over though. Its potential for long-distance communication or even information gathering was quite unique. After all, who expected someone to try divine your secrets by manipulating your dreams?
“Be strong for me. I’ll come back.”
“Please be careful mum, I don’t want to lose you too.”
She squeezed Aylie even tighter, tears in her eyes. Her voice sounded so small.
“Don’t worry darling, I will come back.”
She pulled away and used a little ritual magic using Water Lily Petals to clean up Aylie’s face while she neatened up her hair.
“Take care of Lumin as well, alright? The little one will need your guidance while I’m away.”
Aylie nodded and tried to put on a strong face, a good effort despite the few new tears and slight wobble in her lips.
Boreal came up to pepper Aylie with soft body checks and hugs in her own manner while Zalia stood and hugged Ember.
“Keep her safe, keep yourself safe.”
“Don’t worry about us, you just keep yourselves safe. I want both of you to return safe and sound.”
Then Ember pulled away and turned to Ro.
“I don’t know if you’re some kind of god or what, but you damn well better bring them both back to me okay? You hear me?”
Zalia restrained a laugh at the very confused-looking Ro. She doubted he had people talk to him that way very often, if ever.
“I will try my best… Ember of the flames.”
Zalia made a choking, coughing sound, holding back the laugh and Ember looked at her quizzically.
“Just… breathed in too much.”
The members of the Morning’s Shade started to walk off, following behind the final unit of soldiers on the way to the capital. Time to go.
Ember took her hands one last time, holding them tight.
“Come back.”
Zalia nodded.
“I will.”
Ember gave her a long, deep kiss, then pulled away. Zalia reluctantly let go of her hands and turned away, following the Morning’s Shade.
Each step away was harder than the last, her body telling her that she should turn back and stay with them. The strength of emotions bouncing between her and Ember’s bond made it all the worse, the urge to change their plans almost overwhelming.
A minute of walking later, it slowly became easier. The decision was made, to war she went.
Another half an hour later, Advisor Ryn came to get her. Faian wanted her closer to the centre of the column, so that her aura could stretch out across the entire army. She didn’t bother to mention that it would either way, following the man and allowing her aura to finally flow back out again now that they were far enough from the city.
At the centre of the column was the army's food stock. Mostly cured and salted meats as well as various dried fruits and nuts. She even spotted the chef whom she hadn’t seen since the original war camp further north, surprised that he would be coming with them.
At the very, very front were the army scouts, a few staying close while others roamed far ahead of the column. To the fore of the column actual stood Hildebrandt. She wasn’t a part of the army but being a tanky class and arguably the highest ranked member amongst them, she would be invaluable if attacked from there.
Behind her were a few squads of heavily armoured soldiers, followed by a squad of earth mages who flattened out the terrain for the armies passing. All of the generals and their advisors, clerks and other logistical team were seated just behind the vanguard, the most protected part of the column. The bulk of the army came after that, dozens of squads of lighter armoured soldiers, armed with spears, bows or nothing at all.
The largest organised force she had seen was the two clashing squads all the way back in the first weeks she had entered Endaria, when it had seemed like a simple rebellion fighting the kingdom.
This was something on an entirely different scale. A proper army, thousands of people strong.
The sheer power flowing through the air made her skin tingle and her vision through Aura Perception was a confusing mess of thousands of overlapping auras and powers.
Her other forms of sight weren’t much better either. Both her vision of heat and vibration were overwhelmed by the mass of sound and bodies that was the army column. It was hard to feel anything other than confident in their chances of victory with so much strength gathered in one place.
Her own aura spread out over the whole group, further adding the organised chaos.
Both Boreal and Ro were still with her, the latter disguised as a cloaked figure. She wasn’t sure what the soldiers had been told about him, though suspected it was close to, if not, nothing.
Once more Advisor Ryn came to collect her and bring her slightly forwards in the column to where General Faian and General Ballast were. She passed a squad of cavalry on the way, admiring the varied mounts they had. Most were horses, though a few rode on other similarly shaped creatures that were not. She guessed that they had to be at least the same size as to fit together as a unit.
She was brought into the protected spot between the vanguard and soldiers where a flurry of movement signalled their location. As usual, there were various ministerial types making notes and writing things down, using mobile desks they had tied around their middle.
After a few moments, she was brought up to the generals.
“Yes? What did you need?”
Ballast looked over at her.
“Ah! Zalia, welcome. Boreal, good to see you. And this must be our guest! Wonderful to have you with us.”
He followed up the welcome with a heavy but friendly thump to the back, which seemed to confuse Ro even further. Poor thing, he was not used to people.
Faian took over before Ballast confused him even more.
“We need to know if there is anything more. You have told us about the high likelihood that the population of the capital is now undead, along with details on the ascendant being. Please, any and all information might be helpful, even if you don’t believe so.”
Zalia collated her thoughts, ordering what she knew about every demon and the Astar, then began talking.