Provisions were split and Sol set the rally location and time for the group. The two teams affirmed the information between a final time before dividing. Beside Sol, An watched the retreating backs of the Knights tasked to plant ‘Temperamental Bettys’.
The final silhouette of the team faded into the forest clutter before An turned his attention back to the young lady. “What’s your plan?” Sol remained silent as she calculated the few elements of her plan. It only took another 5 minutes or so before Sol came back to her senses to answer. Sol kicked off from her position and ran towards the village while giving Prince Elric’s troops a wide birth.
“The Blonsall capital team did well. This Lady never expected them to destroy the market so quickly. Now that Prince Elric is forced to subside mid-march, our chances of winning this battle have dramatically increased. This Lady was considering the option to plant tainted supplies at the next village, however we simply have too little food for it to accomplish much.”
An raised an eye in curiosity. “What about the supplies in the village? We can’t make use of them?” Sol’s gaze drifted onto An as if he were an idiot. “Why would there be supplies there? This Lady has already issued evacuation and scorched earth tactics for any village within the route of the army.”
An suddenly felt sympathy for Prince Elric. What a hateful enemy he made. He was certain to vomit blood from anger after arriving at the next village and discovering its state. What’s more unfortunate was that the village actually takes Prince Elric further from the most direct marching path.
Beyond doubt, the current march will ultimately destroy the Blonsall army’s morale. An withheld his pitiable comments and pressed the matter at hand. “If the village is empty, why are we racing the army?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” She asked back. Although Sol’s gaze was focused on evading trees and shrubbery along her path, An could hear the sarcasm tinted with joy in her voice. “To rub salt in the wound and ween their numbers.” Sol then giggled to herself and increased her speed.
Her legs flexed with explosive power and shot her figure into the tree canopy. Their team only consisted of herself and An since their pace to beat Prince Elric’s march was beyond what ordinary humans could keep up with.
Trailing behind her, An heard Sol explain her plan in more detail. An’s gaze drifted towards the direction of the marching army and nearly shed a tear for them. This lass was cruel to her enemies indeed. It was likely that the men who survived this encounter would leave military service.
While An and Sol were enacting their plan, Prince Elric was recovering from his wounds inside a backup carriage. Luckily, old trails used prior to the Reviarra road projects had yet to become unusable. Many side trails intersected the paced road allowing more rural villages to have access to the roadway.
Within his carriage, a military doctor was securing the final stitch on Prince Elric’s head. The initial blast that caught his carriage succeeded in tearing a small chunk of skin from the side of his head. It didn’t take a doctor to know that the injury would become a scar.
“Your Majesty, this servant has done what’s possible at this time. Please take your medicine on time to keep any fever at bay. This servant will replace your bandages in 4 hours.” The doctor left behind his advice before excusing himself.
It was clear the stifling atmosphere was stressing the young doctor out as he soon ran far from Prince Elric’s carriage after alighting. Left alone in his carriage, Prince Elric kicked a gunny sack to vent his frustrations.
Prior to leaving, the runner left a personal letter for the Prince written by Queen Blonsall. Inside the letter was a detailed report of how the Blonsall capital was being undermined. Although there was no evidence, it didn’t take a clever mind to know Iridescent was making moves in preparation for just such a scenario.
The thought both angered and scared Prince Elric. He was scared by the foresight Sol has as well as the degree of penetration and arrangements. The fearful thought of “What if I had pushed back the date for the march” kept crossing his mind. Prince Elric knew his quick assault forced Iridescent to counter attack.
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Those fearful insights pulled out a more sinister anger that burned in his heart. ‘So this Prince was always in your way?’ ‘So this Prince was a puppet?’ Emotions welled up in his heart after misunderstanding Sol’s intent. In his mind, Sol’s plans were interpreted as an attempt to overthrow the Royal family.
It has to be said that his thoughts weren’t entirely wrong. However, Prince Elric was unable to accurately predict when Sol started her invasion under the Royal family’s eyes. One could only guess his reactions should he discover that Iridescent was only expanding their business normally. They just happened to control the market and inflate it to dangerous levels within the last few months.
While lost in his anger and thoughts, a Knight knocked on Prince Elric’s carriage. “Your Majesty, the village is in sight!” Prince Elric’s eyes lit up at that message and he slid open the door to see the village with his own eyes.
Situated at the bottom of a valley, the village was painfully in view. Small stacks of smoke leaked from chimneys while a massive bonfire was blazing at the village center. While they were too far to see any villagers, the smoke was a clear sign of inhabitants.
A sneer crept up Prince Elric’s face before he issued his orders. “This Prince orders you! March to the village! Take everything and kill!” The demoralized army finally regained a bit of morale after seeing the stacks of smoke. Their enemy was finally in sight. They soon repeated their leader’s orders with a resounding, “KILL!”
Although the village was still a 4 to 5 hour march away, the army no longer dawdled along now that they had a clear goal in mind. With a unified mindset, the army hastened their march. Meanwhile, Sol and An were on opposite sides of the valley watching the army descend.
Despite the many kilometers separating the two, their spiritual awareness remained locked onto each other. ‘We’re lucky they chose this village first. You couldn’t really implement this plan anywhere else.’ Sol’s gaze moved from the descending army onto the valley walls.
It wasn’t until she came up with her strategy that she realized how dangerous the terrain could potentially be. If she had enough ‘Temperamental Bettys’, she could easily collapse the valley on the army inside it. Sadly, she was limited by how many she could create.
Sol reached for a tube at her side and tipped it over with chagrin. From within, 6 ‘Temperamental Bettys’ fell into her palm. Those were the final 6 coins left after blasting the earlier ravine and ambushing the Prince’s entourage. Finally, she passed off another 3 tubes to the other team to pick off the retreating army.
Each tube held nearly 100 ‘Temperamental Bettys’ and represented hours of Sol’s hard work. Luckily, Sol’s efficiency grew as she practiced more. The final 6 Bettys in her hand held traces of gold in the inscriptions. These were the final 6 she attempted before heading out. It could be said they represented the pinnacle of her rune skills.
Regardless, Sol placed one of the ‘Temperamental Bettys’ onto the side of a raised wall. After walking a few tens of meters, she placed another on the same wall. Each location selected showed cracks with small streams leaking through. Her perl fingers traced the wet cracks with a sense of schadenfreude and irony.
“Who would have thought pushing back the repairs would lead to this opportunity…” Her helpless voice sounded out to no one in particular. Proceeding along the wall, Sol planted the final 3 Bettys. Everything was set. Sol’s gaze drifted back towards the army which was nearing the edge of the village. Her figure then swayed before launching into a sprint to grow distance between herself and the ‘Temperamental Bettys’.
An watched Sol through his spiritual awareness as she left the area. Upon reaching the designated point, An chucked 6 stones into the distance with his hand. The pebbles broke the sound barrier as they crossed the valley. As if warned, Prince Elric’s army ceased their march upon the sound.
The following 5 explosive noises traveling above them hinted at their situation. Prince Elric in particular was already sensitive to Sol’s ambushes and so immediately ordered his men to retreat. The echoing blasts of the traveling pebbles were drowned out by the loud shouts of retreat.
Despite the prompt order, many of the marching men came to a stop after the ground beneath them began rumbling. Within the valley, a thrashing and grinding noise slowly overwhelmed all other sounds. Prince Elric only saw mass swaths of birds taking to the sky as if to escape the encroaching danger.
The trembling grew until the surrounding land was visibly vibrating. Fear overtook the army and many abandoned their weapons to move even a little bit faster to the valley exit. The carriage Prince Elric was on took the lead with horses powering its ascent up the valley.
Since he didn’t have to manage his own escape, Prince Elric spent his time trying to grasp the oncoming threat. Eventually, his eyes widened in horror. A massive wave of torrential water slammed into the trailing units of his army.
From Prince Elric’s position, he had a clear view of the wave tackling his men and overtaking them. Cold sweats immediately leaked from him. Without hesitation, Prince Elric leaped into the coach seat of his carriage. He then leaped onto one of the twin horses pulling his carriage. Drawing his sword, Prince Elric slashed the bands restraining the horse. His legs kicked the horse’s side and he urged the beast forward. The final sight many of the army men saw was the back of their fleeing Prince.