Chapter 44
Morrigan-Feyin Lefay, Princess of the Ice Elves, and sub-commander of the frozen legion stretched luxuriously. So far her captivity had been far more enjoyable than anything she had even remotely expected. Certainly, the machine she found herself in during the days was very hot, noisy, and cramped, but these were the least of the things she had expected. In fact, during the first few days of her captivity, she’d been given a whole room to herself in a relatively cool room made of what had seemed to be stone bricks.
At night, she was placed under a rotating guard, near other very similar machines, and the human Captain, Matt Williams, went somewhere close by to sleep. When she was ready to escape, she would do it at night. She could feel how lackluster the other humans were. Even the next most powerful human was far behind this Williams. For that matter, she suspected the human captain was using some skill or ability to artificially lower his level. She’d made use of one of her many spells to obtain a partial version of his character sheet, which said he was level 12.
No way someone 13 levels lower than her radiated such limitless power. When she’d first met the human, she’d almost felt the same way as she did when she’d been called in front of her mother. The power had felt similar, at least from what she remembered. But whatever method he was using, it was obviously something low-grade or perhaps a cheap option.
As the military camp around her began to awaken, she settled herself for another day of travel in the stupid metal box. Really, the vehicle was the only slightly annoying part of her captivity. Regardless, being inside the thing did rub her the wrong way, worse than the sun and heat of the outside world.
The captain showed up, a pair of steaming cups in hand. Something about the scent caught her attention, and while the drink was obviously quite hot, it seemed enticing at its most basic. Perhaps if the beverage were turned into some kind of frozen treat, it would be worth consuming.
As she was ordered into her spot in the vehicle, and chained in, she let her mind wander over what she knew.
She wasn’t certain where she was being taken, and being locked up inside the metal box all day made the prospect of figuring that out near impossible. On the other hand, she could feel her mental connection to her sister-commander growing less strained. Soon she’d be able to reach out with her mind and set up an ambush to ruin the humans and restore her pride. Of course, she’d have to be careful to set the ambush up in such a way that she could kill her sister and assume command, or she would never receive the recognition she needed to have a chance at restoring her command.
Based on what the woman, who she’d learned later was named ‘Lieutenant Soto’, had asked her yesterday, she suspected that the local flora and fauna were starting to mutate, thanks to the system infusing itself into the local environment. That would mean the humans would start getting desperate soon. If it were her, she would slow their advance significantly, and grind those under her command through the levels until they represented a significant threat.
Fortunately, she knew the humans wouldn’t see things that way. When the captain handed her a meal of fish and one of the cups of steaming liquid, she knew today was her chance to begin manipulating him.
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She made a few leading comments, and soon the captain was handing her a local map. It didn’t take her long to figure out where they were heading. There was another ‘Army’ facility nearby, and it seemed likely that was where the company and their traveling machines were headed.
She found it unlikely that the humans would think enough in advance to send out a team to confirm whatever she was telling them, so she took a few minutes and drew up a few random patrol routes that would seem realistic to her captors. She did memorize what the routes were, in case it became important later on, but the captain seemed eager enough to believe what she gave him that he didn’t even bother to question her.
These humans really were easy to manipulate. Soon she would be back in control of the invasion in this area, collecting more slaves and earning her Mother’s favor. Several questions still nagged her, but she wouldn’t get a chance to have them answered for quite some time. Morrigan would have to settle for retaining her position with the Frozen Legion, but that would be enough, at least for now.
At the noon lunch break (who in all the frozen halls decided that lunch should happen during the day? Any sensible creature knew it should happen at midnight when the moon was highest.) she allowed herself to become lost in thoughts of fish and frozen coffee dessert.
Before she knew it, the day had passed, and she was being unchained and ordered out of the ice-blasted contraption. She walked away with a new hatred for the thing. The smell she’d come to associate with burning diesel fuel would taint her scent forever at this rate. She took solace in plotting the downfall of the human force.
*******
First Sergeant Dirk Cabral was starting to get a little paranoid. The captain was spending far too much time with the prisoner, and while he understood somewhat the necessity of that, he didn’t approve. Who knew what abilities the enemy commander possessed? She might have something that would allow her to slowly indoctrinate Captain Williams to her cause. Or maybe she had an ability that would allow her to enchant him for a short time.
Dirk had been awake for 40+ hours at this point, doing everything he could to make sure the elf didn’t get a chance to make her move. And now it seemed she hadn’t even needed to use any special abilities. The Captain had convinced himself and the other senior officers that the intel the elf presented was credible enough to send Dirk and a handful of men to verify.
His gut told him the elf would make her move the instant he was far enough from the main force, and it’d be too late to rush back. It left him in a real pickle. There was only a handful of soldiers Dirk could trust for a counter-scouting patrol, and he would have to be extra careful to make sure anyone he didn’t fully trust thought that one of the other NCOs was leading the operation if he was going to sneak back to camp with a few of his best.
On the upside, at least he didn’t have to keep eyes in the back of his head anymore. The thought made him chuckle. For what he’d been expecting, the elf had decided to be quite blunt with her actions.
As he began compiling a list of the men he wanted to take on ‘patrol’ with him, he began planning what they’d need to take, and how he could be sure to eliminate the elf prisoner once she’d played her hand. Dirk just hoped there would be enough soldiers left to continue the assault on Fort Eisenhower. Maybe after he prevented the elf from completing her plan, more of the others would trust him enough to re-think their plan.
He knew it was imperative to deny the enemy access to their technology, but a small strike force could do a lot of damage if there was a sufficient distraction to draw away enemy reinforcements.