Elnor left the General and made her way back to her office. She found her squire sleeping with a hand inside his right pocket. He had a frown, and his head turned side to side. She could tell he was having a nightmare, quite common for those who just went through their first battle in a war. She placed a hand gently on his left shoulder. The moment her fingers touched him, his left hand snapped up and gripped her forearm. His eyes were wide, and he breathed heavily with a cold sweat.
“Ishan, it’s me,” Elnor said softly to him.
Nevan’s eyes stared at his Commander, blinking the nightmare away. “Oh, Commander!” he pulled his hand away as soon as he recognized her. “Sorry.”
“No worries. I have seen others with worse nightmares who had gone through what you just had.”
Nevan breathed deeply, trying to slow down his rapidly thumping heart. “Did you had nightmares too?” he asked her.
“No,” she shook her head, taking a seat behind her desk. “Not after my first battle, but it comes and goes,” she corrected herself. She looked out the window behind her at the dying sun, “The General has given us a mission.”
“What’s the mission?”
“We’re going to steal Akar’s scroll that contains instructions on how to build their cannons.”
“Cannons?”
“Those massive weapons we saw this morning. They somehow had managed to build weapons that can transmute tenaga.”
“They were terrifying,” Nevan said, recalling the explosive force that had left his ears ringing.
“They are. And they are most likely still in the early stages. Who knows what other weapons they could build given enough time.”
“Where’s the scroll?”
“At their base camp. They should be retreating right now. We’re leaving at midnight once they make camp for the night, and most of their knights are resting.”
“Anything we need to prepare?”
“Don’t know yet. Commander Yenel should be on her way here with the full scout report. We’ll discuss our plan with her when she arrives. She’ll be coming with us.” Elnor poured hot water into her cup and took a sip.
Nevan whistled, “Two master sorcerers and a master of the war hammers. How important is it for us to obtain this scroll?”
“Very,” she replied. “Right now, we are on the defensive. With weapons like those cannons, we might be able to fight back.”
A knock sounded on the door. “Come in,” Elnor said.
Commander Yenel entered with a file in her hand. “Commander Elnor. Ishan.” She nodded to them both.
“Commander Yenel,” Nevan stood up and saluted, while Elnor just nodded.
“Come have a seat,” Elnor said, pointing to the chair next to her squire. Nevan waited for Commander Yenel to sit before he sat back down.
“These are the scouts’ reports. There is not too much information, sadly,” Yenel said, handing the file to Elnor.
Elnor pulled a piece of paper from the file and read through it. “At least we got an illustration of their camp’s layout.”
“It’s subject to change,” Yenel added. “We won’t know if they’ll use the same layout, but our target will be in the only tent with a shining green crystal on its central pole.”
“Do we know how the scroll is stored?” Elnor asked.
“No,” Yenel answered. “The scout who went in to steal it never made it out. Guards immediately surrounded the tent and killed him inside when the alarm was triggered. So I suggest we prepare to fight our way out.”
“Should I prepare us horses then?” Nevan asked.
“Yeah, we will go on horseback towards their camp,” Elnor nodded. “But we’ll have to leave them when we get close. They’re too noisy. And I can run faster with you both on my back than the horses can if necessary.”
“I’ll link our minds so we could communicate silently and prevent any visioners from detecting us,” Yenel said.
“Will you be able to read my thoughts? If you were to link our minds, I mean.” Nevan asked Commander Yenel.
“Common misconception of visioners,” Yenel shook her head. “We could make out your general emotion and affect your mind slightly, but not read it. Just imagine as if you were talking to me in your head, and I’ll be able to hear you. All communication will have to go through me, however. You won’t be able to talk to Commander Elnor directly.”
“I understand,” Nevan replied, looking towards Elnor.
“There’s a map of the area where we expect the enemy to camp,” Yenel pointed towards the file. “I’ve memorized it, but I suggest you both do the same just in case.”
Elnor pulled out the map from the file and studied it.
“I’ll meet you both at the gate at midnight. The scouts we just sent should have returned by then with new information on our enemy’s position.” Yenel said as she stood up and exited the office, closing the door behind her.
“Ishan,” Elnor said, handing the map she had memorized to her squire. Nevan accepted it and did his best to learn the map.
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Nevan waited by the gate with the three horses he had prepared. He had borrowed one of Elnor’s black cloaks and cleaned his war hammers. Elnor came first, wearing a similar black cloak and her two-handed sword, Peacebringer, on her belt. She did not wear her plated armor tonight, choosing the more silent leather armor instead. Nevan stared at her, unable to divert his gaze off of her as she approached.
Elnor handed her squire a file, “New reports,” she said. “Nothing crucial, but in case you want to read it.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” he replied, accepting the documents.
Commander Yenel came not long after. She wore a dark blue coat and a leather vest underneath, with several knives sheathed sideways on it. In the dark, it looked like her ribs had protruded out of her body. “Ready?” Yenel asked Nevan and Elnor.
“Ready,” Elnor replied, climbing onto one of the horses.
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“Ready,” Nevan replied after, handing one of the horses to Commander Yenel.
“Let’s go then,” Yenel replied to Nevan, and they both climbed onto their horses.
They left the fort, Yenel taking the lead and Nevan at the rear. They rode silently. Only the sound of the horseshoes stomping on the soft snow could be heard as the horses galloped. They did not stop for hours, not giving the horses any time to rest. The full moon shined in the dark night as they rode.
“We’re close,” Yenel brought her horse to a stop as she saw the light of the enemy camp in the distance. They dismounted their horses and slapped the horses’ rear, urging the animals to flee. Nevan watched the departing horses, thinking how lucky they were that they finally received freedom after being born and bred as war animals. “I’m linking our minds together. No more verbal communications,” Yenel said.
“Ishan, can you hear me?” Yenel asked, and Nevan heard her in his mind.
“Yes,” Nevan answered, imagining that he was talking to Commander Yenel.
“Good, I can hear you too,” Yenel said to him in his thoughts. “All right, let’s go.”
They ran towards the enemy camp, their leather boots keeping them silent as they moved. The camp was at the base of a hill, and they made their way to the cliff. They flattened themselves onto the snow, preventing their silhouettes from being spotted.
“How are there so many of them?” Nevan asked as he eyed the quiet enemy camp. Lit torches were placed everywhere. There were still tens of thousands of tents and horses, even after they had killed so many in the previous battle.
“That’s one of the mysteries we’re still trying to solve,” Yenel answered. “No matter how many of them we kill, they always seem to have more waiting for us.”
Elnor tapped the soft snow lightly, bringing the others’ attention towards her. Elnor pointed towards the farthest end of the enemy camp. Nevan saw the giant cannon that Akar had managed to salvage near the edge of the forest. It was clearly damaged, missing some of its parts. Besides the weapon was a small tent. He could make out a soft green light shining on the tent’s top among the orange glow of the torches.
“We’ll detour through the forest,” Yenel mentally said to the other two knights.
“Understood,” Nevan and Elnor replied.
They made their way down the cliff and around the camp into the forest. They dashed towards the tent, the soft snow cushioning their foot as they ran silently. Yenel raised a hand as they neared, and all three of them bent down.
“There are six guards outside the tent,” Yenel said. “It seems Akar is taking more precaution after our scouts’ last attempt.”
“Are they sorcerers?” Elnor asked.
“I can’t tell for sure,” Yenel answered. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Yenel transmuted tenaga, aiming for the nearest guard. “One of them is coming,” she then said.
One of the six guards, who were sitting around a fire, stood up. “I think I might have drunk too much,” he said, rubbing his belly with his hand. Another guard said something in return, and the rest laughed. The guard made his way towards the three knights of Ronan, unbuckling his belt as he walked. Elnor waited for the guard to pass her before breaking his neck from behind. She held the dead guard and placed him gently behind a tree.
Yenel repeated the process until there were only three guards left. When the next guard began to stand up, one of the other guards spoke up. “Really? Everyone needs a piss break. Or is there a party I’m not invited to?”
“Can’t help it mate. Duty calls,” the guard Yenel had affected said.
“I might as well join then,” the guard who had spoken up said, standing up from his seat.
“I’ll go as well,” said the third guard, who had a massive beard. “The General won’t be happy that we leave the tent unguarded. But fuck it, no one will notice if we leave for a minute.” The bearded guard stood up.
The last three guards made their way towards the forest to join their friends. “Ivan? Daka? Where you guys at?” the bearded guard called out as the three went deeper into the woods. Elnor emerged from behind a tree and snapped the neck of the guard on the left, the one closest to her. Nevan did the same on the opposite side. The last guard fell, clutching his neck with his hands as Yenel sent a knife through his neck.
“We have to hurry before someone comes looking for them,” said Yenel.
They ran towards the tent. Elnor and Yenel stayed outside while Nevan went in to retrieve the scroll. It was not difficult to find the scroll. The scroll, cased in a golden crystal tube, laid on a metal single-legged table in the empty tent. There was a carving of a mythical bird and a keyhole on the tube. As soon as Nevan gripped the tube, the sound of bells could be heard throughout the entire camp. He transmuted tenaga and pulled, but the scroll refused to budge.
“Ishan, what’s taking so long?” Nevan heard Yenel asked in his mind.
“I can’t move it,” Nevan replied, still struggling even to move the tube.
“Get out here. Elnor will do it.” Yenel replied.
Elnor entered the tent, and Nevan rushed out, unclipping his war hammers. Elnor gripped the tube and transmuted tenaga. ‘The tube’s heavy,’ Elnor realized. She used both arms, transmuting as much tenaga as she could, and managed to lift it off of the table. She almost dropped the tube as her hands struggled to keep hold of it. Her feet sunk into the ground as she placed the heavy scroll on her back.
“I got it,” Elnor said to Yenel in her mind.
“Let’s go,” Yenel said to both Nevan and Elnor.
Elnor emerged from the tent to find her squire and Yenel fighting against enemy knights. Around fifty dead knights lay on the ground around them, and more were approaching. Meanwhile, the alarm bells continued to ring its high pitch chime. Elnor ran ahead of the two into the forest. She ran slower than she would like, her feet sinking deep into the soft snow. Elnor struggled and focused all her energy into running forward, trusting her squire and Yenel to protect her.
Nevan crushed an oncoming knight’s skull as he fought backward. He looked towards Elnor and saw her moving with a jog. He was amazed that she could even lift the tube, let alone jog with it. Yenel sent knives towards the incoming enemies as she flew near the ground. They continued to move through the woods as fast as they were able to. They were still in the middle of the forest when Yenel heard the sound of cavalries coming their way. ‘They weren’t going to make it,” Yenel thought as she saw Elnor struggling to carry the scroll.
Nevan ran to Elnor’s side. “Commander,” he spoke to Elnor out loud. “I’ll distract them.”
“What?” Elnor asked in surprise.
“I’ll hold them off as long as I can.” Nevan met her eyes and smiled sadly.
“No!” she yelled, looking at her squire’s grey eyes. “We can make it.”
Nevan shook his head. “I’m sorry, Commander.” He readied his war hammers and prepared himself to fight the oncoming knights.
“Ishan!” she called out. “Stay alive, you hear me? I’ll come back for you! That’s an order.”
Her squire turned back to her and nodded. He smirked, “understood, Commander,” and left.
“Yenel,” Nevan said to Yenel in his mind. “Uncloak me.”
Yenel removed her protection off of the squire, allowing enemy visioners to detect him.
Nevan ran met the oncoming knights, smashing the eye of the closest one. He ducked as a knight swiped their sword at him. He shattered the knight’s kneecap before doing the same towards their jaw. More knights descended on Nevan, and he ran. He ran left, diverting the enemy knights, slamming his war hammers on the trees he passed.
“Over there!” one of the enemy knights shouted, pointing at the falling trees.
Elnor and Yenel made their way out of the forest; no enemy knights were pursuing them. Elnor asked Yenel as they exited the forest. “Can you tell me what he’s thinking right now?”
“He’s quite far from us, but I can still sense him vaguely.” Yenel dropped down to jog beside Elnor. “I feel many things from him, but I can tell he’s doing his best to protect us.”
“Instil the will to live in him,” Elnor said, breathing heavily. “Please.”
Yenel nodded. “I’ll try.”
Nevan ran as fast as he could. The further he could lead the knights away from Elnor, the better. He was thrown to the side as an enemy cavalry crashed into him. He had lifted his hammer to block, but the air in his lungs still escaped as he collided with the ground.
“We need him alive!” An enemy knight shouted.
Nevan rose, taking shallow breaths. He readied his war hammers again as knights began to converge at him from all sides. He did not wait for the enemy knights to reach him; he dashed towards them instead. Nevan slammed his war hammer on the back of an incoming knight, who had lunged too far and lost their balance, decorating the snowy ground with their brain. He used the sharp tip of one of his hammers and stabbed upwards through the jaw of another knight. He leaned to the left, dodging the spear of a knight, and dented their chest plate. The knight knelt, spitting blood, before falling to the ground.
The other knights around Nevan had stopped approaching, afraid to be the next one to die by his hands. “I’ll handle him,” a knight stepped forward and transmuted tenaga. The knight grew ten meters tall, and fur began to grow on his skin, turning him wolflike. The augmenter held a large metal war mace in each hand.
Nevan watched the augmenter, who was walking slowly towards him. Nevan swung his left hammer, deflecting a crossbow bolt that was flying towards him. More bolts and arrows were fired at him from all sides. He turned, dodged, and deflected the incoming projectiles. But there were too many, and he felt them entered his chest, shoulder, and legs. Nevan fought to remain standing. An arrow struck his left calf, and his left leg buckled. He felt something hard struck his head, and his vision darkened.