The entire camp was buzzing. Students had the day off, and everyone was making the most of it. Most students had used the early morning to get chores out of the way. Cleaning and maintenance were finished, cooking fires were started, and equipment was checked. A few students even pulled down their tents, flattening the ground underneath before putting them up again.
Yaric and Sven were lucky with their own placement within the camp. They were on fairly flat ground, and close to the stream that ran through the middle. Lauren and Li Na were in a similar situation, but Li Na still complained about how close they were to the cliff face. Their tent apparently didn’t see the sun until the afternoon.
Games were set up just outside the wall. Some people were challenging each other to archery competitions, while others set up makeshift hoops and played highball. The bats were just pieces of wood, so the stone they used as a ball went everywhere. The chaos created was somehow more fun than a normal game, especially for those who watched. Scores were quickly forgotten as players started targeting each other instead. Bets were even made on who would get hit next, or who would be the first to end up on the floor.
Lunch was even better. They had a good supply of meat, and they all put their rations away to enjoy some fresh food instead. Even the coffee rations were brought out for the students. It wasn’t until the sun had moved entirely over the top of the cliff that people started to get together to discuss a chain of command. Everyone had different ideas.
“We should just have one person at the top, like a captain,” suggested Yusaf. “Otherwise, there will still be lots of discussions to make decisions.”
“But what would happen if the captain got injured? Or if more than one thing happened at once?” asked Susan.
“And how would the person in charge send out any instructions? If you only have one person in charge, then they have to pass down every order themselves,” added Karlo Andreas, one of the dwarvish students.
“We can do a bit of both, can’t we?” Tracy asked. “Why can’t there be one person in charge, but with another couple of people under them? That way the captain will make decisions, and the deputies can pass those on. And if something happens to the captain, the deputies can take over.”
“And they can make decisions for the captain if they are the only ones available,” Li Na said.
“But how many should there be then? And do we agree that there shouldn’t be any more layers to the leadership,” Karlo asked.
“I’m ok with just two layers.”
“Me too.”
“Two levels is more than enough.”
Virtually everyone agreed on the need for an extra rank, but the decision on how many people should have that rank was much more complicated.
“Why would we need more than two?”
“It won’t be much help if we don’t have enough deputies.”
“The captain can’t be stuck sending messages to a dozen deputies!”
“Extra hands will take the load off the captain.”
Every student had their own idea on the number of deputies that were needed, and the discussion started to get heated. More than one student was hoping that more deputies meant that they would have more of a chance of becoming one themselves. Others didn’t want to be given orders from a whole bunch of their own classmates.
“Why don’t we sort out the captain first, and let the captain decide?” Li Na asked, surprising everyone.
“Ah… ok, that could work. So how do we choose the captain?”
“Sven is the captain, moron.” And Li Na was back to being Li Na.
“No, we need to have a vote.” Surprisingly, it was Sven who voiced this opinion. “People can nominate themselves or others, and we can vote on who we want as the captain.”
Everyone agreed, and several people quickly nominated Sven. A few others nominated themselves, including Chris, Delmar and Cormac. Some people tried to nominate Lauren as well.
“Hold on,” Tracy interjected. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to have one of the scouts as the captain. They won’t even be with us most of the time. And they are often away when a fight starts.”
This was something everyone could agree on, even the scouts. The discussion quickly got back on track. For a moment…
“But more importantly, why will they be the ‘captain’? We aren’t on a boat! Shouldn’t they be something else?”
“’Captain’ is a military rank, Lina,” Lauren answered.
“Oh. Well, so what? Is it the best rank for the job. I vote that we all vote on the names for both ranks!”
Lauren just sighed in exasperation.
“Fine, let's vote on the names, but after we decide who the captain will be, ok?” Stewart suggested impatiently.
“Ok, first, it’s Sven, dumbass, and second, Sven is the yet to be determined rank that will order us around, once we’ve voted on a proper name for it,” Li Na argued, running out of breath as she finished.
Everyone ignored Li Na, and started voting for who they wanted as captain, using a simple show of hands. Li Na waved hers around when Sven’s turn came, but she needn’t have bothered. Sven won by a landslide.
“See? I told you it will be Sven, idiot…”
The discussion on the naming for the ranks was also quite intense. For all that people were ignoring Li Na’s suggestion for a vote, everyone was actually quite interested in this as well. Not that it mattered. After half an hour of discussion, everyone settled on the brand new and entirely different, ‘captain’, as Sven’s new rank. His deputies did change however, as they would now be ‘lieutenants’.
“It will get confusing if there are too many lieutenants,” Sven agreed. “If there are three, we can have one for each line in the spear wall. That’s the only formation we’ve been using during the entire expedition, so it should be enough.”
“You need at least five, what about the fighters who cover our flanks?” someone asked.
“I’ll be on one side myself, and three lieutenants can easily cover the entire line. We are only 40 spearmen wide.”
“Why don’t we make it three for now? High Mage Strenger doesn’t want changes made, but if you make it five later that’s adding, not changing. No one will have their authority challenged.”
Lauren rolled her eyes when she heard Li Na switch back to logic and reason.
“That sounds good. I agree. We will have three lieutenants under myself, and we can add more later if needed.”
Yaric realized that Sven always referred to the lieutenants as ‘our’ lieutenants, that ‘we’ will have helping ‘us’.
“Alright, let’s get the nominations for the lieutenants done, and we can have a vote for three of them.”
A lot more people put themselves forward this time. Lauren and Cormac were both nominated by others again, before being cut once again for operating as scouts. Li Na seemed to be vibrating when the nominations started, bouncing up and down where she stood, but Lauren grabbed her by her collar when she tried to hop forward and nominate herself. The choking and spluttering lasted far longer than was reasonable.
The voting also took a lot of time. A show of hands by almost 150 people took time to count, and there were a lot of candidates. It took two rounds and a full hour, but all three lieutenants were finally selected. By pure chance, they ended up with a human, an elf, and a dwarf.
Tracy, who had been making a lot of the suggestions that were agreed on during the whole process, became the first lieutenant to be selected. Oscar, a tall elf, was chosen next. And finally, Karlo, a dwarf who had also had a large impact on the decisions.
Sven left to inform the High Mage.
“So what now? We still have the rest of the day off, right?”
Yaric looked up at the sun, which was already moving visibly closer the horizon. “Well, it’s still midafternoon, there is still some time to try hunting again.”
“Really?!” asked Li Na, looking scandalized, “You have a day off and you want to work? What’s wrong with you?”
“If you don’t want fresh food, fine by me,” Yaric shrugged.
“Of course, the responsible thing to do would be to ensure that the rest of us are well fed. You wouldn’t want one of us to collapse in a fight, would you?” Li Na asked innocently, before ducking out of Lauren’s reach.
“I’ll go, but I want to wait for the sun to get a bit lower. It was early evening the last time I actually caught something. I think that anything that has managed to survive the kobolds has done so by hiding and being cautious. I want to try hunting just before it gets dark again.”
“Yeah, but last time you caught something, I had to drag you away from the gate,” Li Na grinned, moving even further from Lauren.
The rest of the afternoon was spent talking with friends. There was nothing left for them to do, so they just joked around and took it easy. Yaric restrung his bow when he saw the sun starting to dip lower and made for the gate, this time taking a second spear with him. This time he wasn’t coming back empty handed.
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Less than 2 miles from camp, something finally caught Yaric’s attention. He didn’t know what it was, but something was off. Yaric stopped, dropped his spears, and raised his bow - already drawn part way. He scanned the trees and brush slowly, looking for whatever had drawn his attention.
There was nothing at ground level, and nothing in the trees. The birds hadn’t gone silent, so it didn’t seem like there were kobolds moving nearby. In fact, nothing was moving except the birds, and everything seemed normal.
Yaric couldn’t tell what had made him react the way he had.
Then something moved from behind a tree, and Yaric swiveled instantly, bow drawn all the way.
“Don’t shoot!” a figure shouted, ducking back behind the tree.
Yaric released some of the tension in his bow and lowered it slightly, but he didn’t look away.
“Who are you? Show yourself!”
The dark figure stepped out again. He was a tall human, wearing lightweight leather armor that was covered in black metal studs. Everything he wore was in a matt green or brown, and he had a belt with a sword sheath strapped loosely over his shoulder. Other than the sword and a large dagger at his waist, he seemed to be alone and unarmed.
“I’m Corporal Mervyn Calla, with Duke Anton’s 1st Regiment. I’m a scout. We’re looking for some students from Lekton’s Academy. I take it that you’re one of them?”
Yaric lowered his bow and released the tension entirely. “Yes sir, I’m with the Academy. We are camped nearby, just down by the cliffs,” he added, pointing through the trees to the top of the rock face in the side of a nearby hill.
“Good, you can take me to whoever is in charge.”
Yaric looked down at the spears he dropped and sighed deeply. It looked like there would be no venison again.
'At least I won’t be coming back empty handed though.'
The fifth years gave Corporal Calla a warm welcome when he arrived. Everyone lined up, excited that the army would be joining them. Professional soldiers would be able to take over now, and they could finally start the trip back.
Corporal Calla met with the High Mage in his tent, and left after only a few minutes’ discussion.
“Settle down everyone! I’m sure that you’re all excited to see professional soldiers in action. But I need you to continue with your duties as you normally would. The regiment that the duke sent us will only be here tomorrow. In the meantime, you will all carry on as we usually would, including the eradication of another village tomorrow.”
The High Mage’s announcement was met with loud groaning.
“Quiet! You are students of the Academy! Behave as such! We have a duty to clear as many kobolds as we can, and as things stand right now, we still can! Tomorrow we will continue as if the army was not nearby. Once the army has arrived, we will decide on our way forward. You were all meant to be out here for another month, so this is not a delay. In fact, I am sure we will all be going back early. With a lot more kobolds under your belt than expected as well!”
The students quickly dispersed, going about their business and seeing to their guard duties, but quietly discussing the imminent arrival of the soldiers amongst themselves all the while. No one got to bed until late that night, and the last thing anyone was talking about was the soldiers and how they would soon be heading back.
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The day dawned dark and depressing, just like every morning in the shadow of their cliff. This did nothing to depress anyone’s spirits. Everyone was looking forward to the arrival of the 1st Regiment and having them take over their duties.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened on the way to the next kobold village. Kobolds attacked when they were a mile out, and the students cleared out every single one with ease. The new command structure wasn’t even that helpful, since everyone was already so well drilled in what was required of them.
The village was eradicated and burning by lunch time, and the students were already hurrying back. There wasn’t even a second attack to delay them. Lauren, scouting ahead, saw the regiment first, followed by two more scouts and then the bulk of the group.
Their jaws dropped.
No more than six hours had passed since they left their camp, empty and alone at the foot of their cliff. Now there was a virtual town right beside them. Rows of tents stood on the slope, far larger than their own. While their tents were only knee high and barely squeezed in two, these tents would easily handle a dozen men, and everyone would be able to walk around inside.
Actual roads were marked out, and the ramparts being dug looked like they were designed to stop giants. Tall towers were already under construction all along their perimeter, each able to hold at least ten men and towering over the surrounding ground.
Soldiers swarmed across the surrounding terrain, cutting down trees, trimming branches, and carrying everything in. There were at least a thousand men moving around.
Their supply train seemed even larger. A large group of men were right in the middle of the new camp, some packing and sorting bundles, while others organized their distribution or storage.
The kobolds wouldn’t stand a chance.
Everyone was in awe as they walked into their own camp, which now looked very inadequate by comparison. Quiet whispers broke out up and down the line as they quietly pointed out various features to each other.
Five soldiers were standing beside the students’ camp, waiting for them. The High Mage hurried forward, and came back smiling after a very short discussion.
“You are all to go back to your tents and put away your weapons.”
Cheers broke out up and down the line.
“You will be joining the 1st Regiment in building their camp. They will be showing you how the army does it and giving you practical experience.”
The cheers abruptly stopped.
“Come now, get a move on!”
The rest of the day was spent digging trenches and chopping wood. Each facet of the camp had additional details that they had not yet learned. Barricades had small tongue joints cut to improve stability, ramparts were built at specific angles to both make it hard to climb, yet impossible to place a ladder against. Even the trenches were dug to exacting standards, ensuring that the slope did not provide cover to any attackers.
By far the most impressive part of the camp, however, was the logistics. The soldiers just had so much more than they did. Their food was better and had far more variety, the equipment was better, and their living standards seemed to be far higher too. There were a lot of people dedicated to the logistics of the camp.
Everyone was exhausted by the time the sun set, unable to do more than silently file back into their own camp and drop down next to their fires. Those, of course, needed to be built up and relit as well, which took them a very long time to do. The guard duty was even worse. High Mage Strenger insisted that they continue to patrol the entire perimeter, including the side adjacent to the army’s new camp. Yaric and Sven went to bed hoping that this would be their last night here. Maybe they would be breaking camp tomorrow, so they could get out of the soldiers’ way.
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There was no sign of an imminent departure the next morning. The morning briefing was held as normal, and this time they received different orders.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Good morning! I’m sure all of you have noticed how much more advanced the 1st Regiment’s base camp is. Yesterday they taught you some of the finer details in building your camp, and today they will be giving you some more advanced lessons while on patrol.”
“Before you leave, however, I must ask a question of each of our mobile combatants and each of our scouts. Who of you wish to continue learning the role you have been performing during this expedition? None of you are tied into any position or role. I would like you each to think about whether or not you want some advanced instruction in these duties, or if you would prefer to move back into your normal roles within the main unit?”
“This is especially important for the scouts. The training you will receive with the scouts is very different to what you can expect in the other roles, and they will cover subjects you are not likely to be taught until at least your 12th year.”
Yaric raised his hand, immediately feeling foolish at the quiet sniggers coming from all around him.
“Yes, Prospect Yaric?”
“Sorry sir, but how long are we going to be here for?” Seeing the scowl forming on High Mage Strenger’s face, Yaric hurriedly continued, “I’m only asking to see if it would be possible to maybe do some of both? If we could spend some time with the scouts today, and maybe some time with the rest of our class on other days?”
High Mage Strenger looked mollified at that, and smiled while answering Yaric. “There is no definite time frame for our departure, but you will be here for at least two more days. If you wish to spend a day with each group, I suppose that can be arranged.”
Yaric nodded. “I would like to spend some time with the army scouts,” he said, looking at everyone around him.
“Good, move over here then so the army sergeants can identify you. Anyone else, please join Prospect Yaric.”
Yaric moved to the spot the High Mage had indicated, and was soon joined by Lauren, Cormac, Chelsea, Delmar and Rupert. Six of the nine scouts had chosen to learn their jobs from professionals. All twelve of the students who had been anchoring the flanks also chose to get more specialized training.
Sven and the other eleven fighters left in a single group with one of the army sergeants, but the scouts were each picked out one by one by small units of five scouts. They were each in their own small groups.
“I’m Corporal Ilves,” the leader of the squad introduced himself. “The rest of the men you see here are also Corporal, but as I’m the squad leader, you may refer to me as Corporal Ilves, and the rest of the idiots as just, ‘Corporal’. They’re all the same person anyway.”
Yaric noticed that the other corporals were all smiling, so he felt free to laugh along with Corporal Ilves. “Hi Corporal Ilves, I am Prospect Yaric Miller. Prospect is a rank in our Academy,” he hurriedly added.
“Don’t worry, I am aware of your ranks,” Corporal Ilves smiled. “Do you have any questions before we get too far into kobold territory?”
Nothing came to him right away, but then Yaric noted with a start that none of the scouts were carrying much in the way of weapons. They were all carrying swords with the belts over their shoulders, in the same way as Corporal Calla had two days earlier. But they weren’t carrying much else, and most importantly, none of them had a bow.
“Ah… why doesn’t anyone have a bow?” Yaric asked sheepishly.
“Why would we have bows?” Corporal Ilves asked quizzically. “We’re scouting out the kobolds, not hunting.”
“You don’t want bows for the kobolds though?”
Every corporal chuckled at that. “You haven’t tried shooting one of them yet then? They’re almost impossible to hit.”
“I have!” Yaric said defensively. “And I hit them at least half the time!”
Corporal Ilves smiled despite Yaric’s outburst. “Then this is your first lesson. If you were shooting at kobolds, you had likely already failed in one of your core missions.”
Seeing Yaric’s puzzled look, Corporal Ilves asked, “What do you think it is that we scouts do?”
“You look for the enemy and protect your friends from ambushes.” Yaric thought for a moment and added, “You also find important locations for your army, like campsites or river crossings.”
“None of that is wrong, and there is more to each of those things as well. But I think you’ve missed one of your most important jobs. You aren’t just looking for the enemy, or screening your friends from ambushes. You’re doing so undetected.”
“The last thing you want to do is find an enemy force and alert them to your own presence at the same time. Leave that to their scouts to try and do, don’t do their job for them. The same thing goes for ambushes. You’re not going to be much help if you find the ambush by triggering it yourself. They will just move your body out of the way and reset, leaving no one to warn your friends.”
“No, you need to move undetected. You need to be able to find an enemy force without them realizing that they’ve been discovered. You need to detect an ambush before they spot you, so you can get back to your friends and warn them. If you do your job really well, you can even surprise the ambushers, and turn the tables on them.”
“You will be a major asset to your enemy if you make it obvious where you intend to tell your unit to cross a river or set up a camp. There are very few situations where it would be acceptable to have your presence discovered by others. The trick to being a proper scout, is to do it invisibly. Now do you see the issue with carrying a bow?”
“You wouldn’t want to be in a situation where you need it?” Yaric asked.
“Got it in one! Even if you do get discovered, what kind of scenario would require a bow? If you get discovered, your first job is to get back to your unit as quickly as possible. We carry a sword for emergencies, but not much else. And you will find that having a sword at your hip is not very helpful when you’re moving in some kinds of terrain, especially if you don’t want to be noticed. We need to pull off these belts to get to our swords, but if we ever need to draw them any quicker, we are likely dead already. It’s much more effective to minimize the chances of being discovered in the first place.”
Yaric was quiet for a few minutes, thinking about what Corporal Ilves had taught him. It was an entirely different point of view, and Yaric had never really thought of the consequences of being discovered. His only concern regarding being detected was his own immediate safety. He had never thought of the implications before.
Corporal Ilves soon indicated for everyone to remain silent, and they started spreading out slightly and putting effort into moving more quietly. Corporal Ilves stuck with Yaric the entire time.
The training was extremely varied and very intense.
Each Corporal took a turn scouting alongside Yaric, and everyone had something useful to show him. They spent time teaching Yaric how to move more quietly, focusing on everything from how to step and shift his weight, to how to pick his way through the undergrowth. Some lessons included how to move without attracting attention, as well as how to spot those same movements when made by others.
Yaric found the lessons in detecting ambushes to be especially interesting. The initial instruction included basic techniques for identifying possible camouflage, or unnatural terrain features, but most of the lessons were actually related to setting an ambush yourself.
Ambushes were hard to detect by design, so there was no sure-fire way to detect an ambush in advance. Your enemy was likely to be highly skilled in making their ambush very difficult to detect, and as they had the time and were choosing the location, while you had to be alert at every location, they had the initiative and advantage.
The corporals all recommended learning to set up your own ambushes. If you could get proficient at identifying good locations for an ambush, you would be far more likely to detect ambushes set up by others. After all, the sites you would choose for an ambush would be the same sites an enemy is likely to choose, and for the same reasons too.
This led to extensive lessons on how to set up an ambush, the different methods an ambush could use, and how to identify the best locations. The corporals liked to test Yaric, playing games where he had to point out any likely location and rate its suitability.
Other training continued at the same time. He was taught how to keep to higher ground where possible, and how to identify the few situations where this was not advisable. They showed him how to move along the high points, but without cresting the top, so as to prevent being silhouetted against the sky.
He had lessons on using cover to move undetected, with the corporals demonstrating how even low cover could be effective when viewed from lower ground. They also demonstrated how to use cover like trees to move without being seen, indicating that this was likely how Corporal Calla had got so close to him without being detected.
They made him hide behind a tree, and then try to circle around them without being seen. Yaric practiced retreating with the tree between them, until he had moved past a second tree that overlapped the field of view of the first. Then he could move behind that tree, repeating this continually as he slowly circled the corporals, until he was also far enough back that he could move freely, with trees now covering every position. Then once he had circled all the way around, he had to reverse the technique in order to get closer. That was much harder to get used to.
Each of the corporals took a turn with instructing Yaric, while those who rotated out ranged further afield, out of sight from where Yaric stood. He was surprised to discover that they had ranged much further than he had thought.
While Yaric learned some of the finer points of scouting, the others had already located all three remaining villages. They had even moved in close enough to get estimations of the kobold population, and the ideal lines of advance. All without ever being spotted.
Yaric was startled to realize that they were even guiding him around in the same way. The route they took seemed natural, and always lined up with the lessons they were teaching him. Somehow, though, that route never led to any village, and never came anywhere near any roving kobold hordes. Yaric knew how hard they were to find from experience, and both finding and then avoiding them seemed impossible.
It was disappointing when the time came to head back, but Yaric was very happy with the lessons he had received. The corporals were good teachers, and better people. So much information had been passed on that Yaric was more worried about forgetting some of it than finding out more.
The other students had had similar experiences. Sven informed him that some of the soldiers were actual instructors, so they had actually received training on how to teach soldiers. Lauren had been taught a lot as well, although she had some slightly different lessons. She received slightly less instruction on moving undetected, but had detailed lessons on tracking. Lauren had also been taught about determining the most likely places for water sources, various food sources, shelter etc. All by studying the terrain around you.
They quickly agreed to swap information on the things they had learned.
Li Na came bouncing back into camp with the bulk of the class. Despite an entire day out in the field, she was ecstatic. One of the soldiers had spotted the shield and mace she had been carrying with her whenever she left camp. Everyone else carried a sword as a backup to their spear, so a large heater shield and mace pair strapped to her back stuck out easily.
This soldier had quickly left, returning not long after with two small, wiry looking soldiers. Li Na had been shocked to discover that these unimpressive looking men had a secondary role in their unit, as shock troops. Far from the hulking giants she had envisioned, both of these men were veterans with over a decade of experience in the role. They stayed nearby for much of the regular instruction the bulk of the students received, but pulled her out early to give her special lessons. According to Li Na, they had been very impressed. What’s more, they had both made a special request to continue her lessons the next day as well.
Her lessons did have a lot of focus on her weapons and how to use them, but they focused far more heavily on how shock troops engaged the enemy and their purpose. They both felt that Li Na excelled in the role, and insisted that she should continue to specialize.
Everyone was talking about the planned expedition for the next day. They would all be going out as one single unit, accompanied by a company from the regiment’s 1st battalion. 250 professional soldiers would be marching on the next village with them. Thoughts of going back to the academy became more distant with each story told.
Those thoughts of the academy were completely wiped out though when the company they would be joining the next morning arrived at their camp, carrying food that had been prepared by their cooks. This started a miniature celebration. It took a long time for everyone to settle down and go to sleep, and when they did, they did so thinking excitedly of what the next day would bring.
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Yaric marched along with the rest of his class, picking his way through the rough ground on the slope below Dragon’s Fang. They were heading for the highest kobold village, situated just within the tree line. The decision had been made to climb above the village first, and then to move along the side of the slope.
This would normally be a big mistake, as they could be seen from much further away. As they were hunting kobolds, however, this was not a problem but an advantage. If they were spotted, the kobolds would be certain to attack.
Running up the steep slope would tire them out, and it would guarantee that they would be fighting uphill. The army and students would also be able to see them from much further out, with no trees to obscure the kobolds movements. Part of the reason for moving along the slope as they were, was in the hope that they would be spotted.
And they were.
The entire force marched all the way across the slope at the foot of Dragon’s Fang. The cliff face was dizzying, and the black rock highlighted them perfectly. They managed to get almost to the point directly above the kobold village before the kobolds came streaming out of the tree line and up toward them.
The army ignored them for the moment and continued marching, only stopping a minute later when they were directly above the kobold village. This spot had an unusual fissure in the cliff face, extending over 50 yards up and 20 yards in. The base was almost 10 yards wide as well. A perfect point for the instructors to observe from while staying out of the way. Not to mention the advantage such a protected space gave for treating the wounded. Not that there would be any.
The kobolds took more than 5 minutes to make it up the slope. 5 minutes was a very long time when you were just standing and watching rabid lizards trying to run uphill.
The only interesting event was caused by their continued marching after the kobolds had first appeared. It seemed that the kobolds had been away from the village when the village had first come into sight. Due to this, the kobolds had needed to first run back to their village, before starting to move up the mountain slope to attack. This left the kobolds spread out, and they were now coming up the mountain in a very wide line, much wider than with any previous attack.
The army deployed their soldiers alongside the students from the Academy, more than compensating for the wider kobold attack.
Each soldier caried a shield on their left arm, and a short thrusting spear in their right. Five lines of 50 men was not only very intimidating, but complete overkill when arrayed against kobolds. Only the first line would even be able to engage properly. The second line had a work around that let them contribute, but that was the extent of their combat effectiveness.
It was more than enough.
The soldiers in front overlapped their shields, holding the spears above the shields in an overhand grip. The second line would usually copy them, but both the kobolds and spears were too short for this to be effective in their current situation. The second line couldn’t reach over the first lines shoulders to stab low enough. So, they switched to an underhand grip, thrusting below the first lines shields.
The three lines behind them kept their spears up. There would be no need to help drive the front lines forward, so they focused on using the sharp butts of their spears to stab down on any fallen kobolds that they advanced over. Their function would be to ensure that any kobolds they moved past were really dead, and to prevent accidents from happening, like what had happened to Devin a few days earlier.
The kobolds met the spear wall, and everyone advanced in sync. Yaric was in the rear line, and he didn’t get the chance to take out any kobolds at all. The kobolds all fell as the line moved downhill, crashing into the attacking kobolds until there were none left to fight.
The order to remain in formation came down the line. Everyone continued to march while maintaining their positions. It was a long way down, across rough terrain, but good practice. Keeping an unbroken line got harder as the terrain got rougher, with bumps, depressions and boulders slowing small sections down while the rest of the line continued at the normal pace.
They eventually made it all the way down, through the tree line, and into the village. Advancing from open ground and into a forest was its own challenge, and the army’s training started to really show itself.
The village was deserted, every kobold having joined in in the initial attack. Small units of soldiers systematically tore everything down and got the fires burning.
Yaric hadn’t noticed it during the fight, but this village seemed much larger than the others. Most had crude lean-to's that dozens of kobolds crammed into, huddling to conserve body heat. This village had so many lean-to’s that Yaric could see where they ended as the rows extended far down the slope. They also had a surprising amount of stone tools, far more than any other horde they had fought. Most kobolds had spears that were nothing more than large, sharpened sticks, but every one of these spears had stone spearheads.
Yaric brought this to the attention of the High Mage.
“Sir, these kobolds are different from the others.”
“How so, Prospect?”
“Well, for one thing, this village has a lot more shelters than any other village we cleared. And all of the others were about the same size, this is the first time I’ve seen any variation.”
“True, I noticed that as well, but I would guess that they had a population that was about to move out and form a new village. Remember your lessons on kobolds? And how the villages grow until the population reaches a tipping point, and then half move on to form a new village?”
“Yes sir, but this still seems to be much bigger than that. And their tools are different too. None of them are plain wood, every single tool used bone or stone.”
“Hmmm… that is different. Interesting, but nothing to be concerned about. I will keep a look out at the next village, however. If this becomes a pattern, it may be something that the army should be informed about. But don’t worry about it, this looks like an old village. That would explain the high population growth, and all of the more advanced tools. This may even be one of the first villages that the kobolds created when they settled here. I believe we are close to the infestation's epicenter.”
“Yes sir,” Yaric said, recognizing the dismissal for what it was.
Yaric joined the others in breaking up some of the structures that needed to be burnt. Clouds of smoke were soon billowing up into the air, some lighter smoke forming a low haze that wafted amongst the trees. Then screeches rent the air.
They came from higher up the mountain.
It seemed impossible that there were kobolds above them, yet the soldiers were highly professional. They immediately moved into a defensive position just outside the village, and several yards from the edge of the clearing that the village had formed. Academy students quickly followed, but hung back slightly so as not to get in the way.
Kobold after kobold soon crashed through the trees. Their momentum carried them straight into the waiting spears of the soldiers. Some kobolds managed to leap high, aiming to clear the shields positioned in front, but every single one was struck in midair.
This attack lasted several minutes, with the sheer numbers of at least 3 normal size hordes. The soldiers had been forced to back up several times; every time the carcasses were allowed to build up, the kobolds started to use them as launching pads. Pulling back occasionally kept the piles from forming.
The attack finally ended, and the sudden silence that Yaric had learned to expect fell over them all. Only the sound of the fires behind them broke the quiet of the battlefield.
The company’s captain seemed calm and composed, but Yaric could tell that he was livid. Likely more from the embarrassment than anything else.
“Report,” he said quietly, his voice cold as ice.
A lieutenant quickly stepped up. “Sir, the kobolds appeared out of nowhere. Our rear guard didn’t see a thing until they were already coming downhill, and we heard them ourselves before they could fall back and report.”
“And just how likely do you think it is that they truly appeared out of nowhere, lieutenant?”
“Not likely at all, sir.”
“Get some scouts and track their movements. I want to know how they approached so closely without being detected. They’re just damn kobolds! They’re stupid lizards!”
“Yes sir!”
The lieutenant turned to carry out his orders, but his captain called after him, “And take these students with you! This could be a good lesson for them!”
The lieutenant nodded in acknowledgement and waited for the students to start moving after him. Everyone had been listening to the whole exchange, so no instructions were needed.
There was nothing at all to see at the bottom of the slope, so they all started the long and arduous climb back up. Yaric made it up with his thighs burning, and Lauren’s face was flushed when they reached the foot of the cliff. Dragon’s Fang towered high above them. There was no way that the kobolds could have come down there. Or even been at the top to begin with.
Every student held back, making space for the scouts to do their work. Lauren joined them as well, hoping to put the things she had learned about tracking into good use. Li Na had snuck away meanwhile, sitting inside the small fissure they had found earlier. She sat back, leaning against the cool rockface, trying to catch her breath.
The scouts were getting frustrated.
“Sir, there is nothing here. We can’t find any sign of any kobolds ever having been up here. Besides the ones that attacked us first, that is.”
“How can there be no sign? We all saw them attacking from here.”
“Well, there are tracks sir, starting from the top here, and moving straight down. But there are no tracks marking their arrival. And it would be impossible for them to have come down Dragon’s Fang.”
“We are not leaving here until we have satisfactory answers for the captain. Keep looking. Spread your search out if you have to!”
10 minutes later, there was still nothing, and tempers were running high.
Yaric’s legs still burned slightly. He was just thinking of going to join Li Na when she suddenly sat up.
“Uh, sir?” she asked quietly, before raising her voice and calling out, “High Mage Strenger! Sir! There’s something weird here!”
The High Mage quickly made his way into the fissure, looking relieved at having something to do.
“What is it Prospect Lina? First your friend thinks he’s found something weird, and now you too? With a weird kobold attack in between?”
“Yes sir. Look at this wall.” Li Na hadn’t even moved to stand up, and she was still sitting when she replied to the High Mage. Yaric was amazed to see that High Mage Strenger didn’t seem to even notice.
'Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, Lina always behaves that way, and she always gets away with it too!'
“Yes, Prospect Lina, it’s a nice piece of rock. It looks like it’s nice and cool. What about it?”
“Look at the texture sir. The random bumps and cracks keep repeating across most of the wall on that side.”
The High Mage looked startled, but he peered more closely, and quickly saw what Li Na was talking about.
“Everyone out! Get out, now!”
Li Na was shocked at the outburst, but quickly jumped to comply. Yaric and the others waited outside. The lieutenant peeked his head in, hoping something useful had been discovered that he could report back on.
In the meantime, High Mage Strenger was holding his hands over the wall, slowly moving them back and forth. He stood there for a full minute, but eventually there was a sudden flash of light that forced everyone to shield their eyes.
Yaric blinked the spots away, and looked back into the deeper shadow formed by the small fissure. Only now, the fissure went much deeper, with what looked like a tunnel dug deep into the wall. The tunnel continued in a straight line, forming a small cavern 30 yards in.
But even more shocking was that Yaric could see the entire cavern from where he stood, because it was lit by multiple, glowing stones that lined the walls. And right in the center of the cavern was a large, raised dais.
“A transporter,” the High Mage whispered to himself. He stood staring down the tunnel for several seconds, apparently in shock, before he roused himself and turned to his students.
“Everyone get ready to head back to camp. We are moving out in two minutes. Tomorrow morning we head back to Lekton. Move!”
Yaric started moving to join the rest of his class, but he heard part of what the High Mage was saying behind him.
“I have to go back and make this report in person, but you need to get your Colonel to see me as soon as we get back. This is not going to…”
They were obviously going to be leaving as soon as they could, and Yaric had no doubt that the march back to Lekton would be done as quickly as possible. Their expedition was over.
Whatever was going on, it had left High Mage Strenger badly shaken.