(Ivan)

A day later, just before nightfall, a division of soldiers departed the city of Scar. Ivan rode near the front of the group. He shifted in his padded leather armor and adjusted his woolen cloak. His gear was bulky but comfortable. The rabbit fur gloves kept his hands warm and toasty.

As the shadows lengthened, the icy embrace of late winter descended upon them. Ivan reached up to tighten his fur collar. He always felt more comfortable when his neck and hands were well protected from the cold. His aunt knew this, and she had always spoiled him. She had stitched extra lengths of fur onto his winter hoods.

He smiled. The thought warmed him.

He passed an ancient hemlock that stood alone amidst a field of white. The tree creaked and groaned as it swayed, rocked by the icy gusts of wind. The hemlock bowed but remained unbroken as it danced with its deadly partner.

The howling winds subsided as they cleared the mountainside. The last glimpse of moonlight retreated as they entered the forest. They were plunged into darkness under the canopy of the evergreens.

Ivan reached into his saddlebag and pulled out his night spectacles, a marvelous gadget that transformed the inky curtain of darkness into diaphanous shades of gray. They allowed him to see much further at night.

Ivan glanced up. He knew that Rose was keeping an eye from above, looking for enemy scouts. Some of the other shifters patrolled the perimeter. William was the only caster that was sleeping tonight. His brother was in the back of the convoy and dozed in one of the supply carts. He needed to recuperate from all the digging.

Ivan turned and looked over his shoulder. The line of soldiers and wagons stretched as far as he could see.

“It’ll take us a few days of riding before we leave the snow behind,” said Rob. He had just rejoined the frontline.

“Do you think the enemy knows that we’re on the move?” asked Ivan.

“They’ve certainly seen the movements of some of our smaller scouting parties,” Rob replied. “Rose has been eliminating enemy watchers at a prodigious rate, but she’s just one person. We’ll know more soon enough. We did capture a few enemy scouts that were lucky enough not to encounter Rose. We’ll interrogate them with the new Zen Golding method.”

“Uhh, what’s the new Zen Golding method?” Ivan cocked his head. “Did he create a truth potion?”

“Well, not exactly.” Rob chuckled. “I wish we had truth potions, but we don’t. Still, Zen came up with a unique idea.” Rob paused and laughed again. “You see, he created a modified love potion. With that brew and our new enhanced interrogators, the prisoners were eager to spill all their secrets. Zen has been itching for some payback. He said that being enslaved was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. He calls his new potion the PLEB, which stands for – Payback Love Enslavement Brew.”

“That’s brilliant!” Ivan chuckled.

They rode in silence for some time before Ivan spoke again, “I keep second-guessing the underground approach, especially since that places my brother at the frontline.”

“Don’t worry,” Rob reassured him. “Keeping your brother underground, with Rose watching his back, is the safest place for him during the offensive.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

He had been thinking about William’s safety ever since they left Scar. When he had put together the plan, he had assumed that someone experienced, like Rose, would be at the frontline. He had inadvertently placed his brother in a difficult situation as the fulcrum of the entire offensive.

I hope that he stays safe… And I hope that he doesn’t do something foolish.

#

(Rose) - 13 days later

A raven flew down and perched on a gnarled branch of a craggy black cedar tree. The nearby nesting bluebill martins screeched with agitation.

Kree! Kree!

Rose, in her raven shift, ignored their squawking and peered toward the city of Pike to the east. The morning sun painted the distant clouds in scarlet and orange hues. The city below was already awake and bustling with activity.

She watched as the front gate opened and a group of people surrounded by soldiers lumbered out of Pike. Feet shackled, heads bowed, they trudged through the open field. The soldiers cracked their whips and shouted orders. Some of the chained workers picked up pieces of timber and fastened them together. Others sharpened wooden logs to create spikes for the barricades. Rose noticed that one of the shackled laborers was pregnant. She spread her wings and hopped agitatedly on the branch.

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I hate slavers! The only thing they’re good for is oiling my dagger with their blood.

She composed herself. It would not help anyone if she got herself killed while tipping their presence to the enemy.

(William)

The plan was simple. William was going to dig a tunnel toward the central well, and Rose was going to be his lookout. She would also Levitate and hide any of the excess dirt.

They had been looking for a good place to start digging for a while and had finally found the perfect spot. The low overhanging branches of the massive cedar provided excellent cover for the tunnel entrance. Additionally, the area around the cedar was covered with a thicket of evergreens.

Caw! Caw!

The raven’s call caught William’s attention. He grinned. It was the signal from Rose that he had been waiting for.

Finally, he thought and stretched his paws. That was the signal to start tunneling.

He carefully aligned himself with the Bell Towers by following the arrow that Rose had pecked into the ground. Back in Scar, they had determined how deep he needed to go so that the vibrations from Shatter Touch would not be detected from above ground. After much practice, they had concluded that a few extra feet would suffice.

While traveling to Pike, he had trained vigorously, juggling multiple spells at the same time. Maintaining a badger shift and rotating between Levitation and Shatter Touch came almost naturally to him now. After all, he had been practicing for almost two weeks.

William snuffled the ground and gouged the earth. Once he burrowed to the right depth, he leveled his tunneling and aimed straight in the direction that Rose had provided.

Back in Scar, the oppressive darkness underground had motivated him to practice Body Glow. It was taxing to maintain the spell for so long, so Ivan had suggested a simpler solution.

William slid the leather cover from the moonstone that was fastened by a string around his neck. The tunnel was illuminated by a soft glow. Though he kept his eyelids closed most of the time to protect them while digging, he could still see the light passing through the membrane of his eyelids. With his heightened senses, he did not need the light, but he found it reassuring.

Several hours of digging and a few booster bars later, William reached a stone barrier.

Drat!

He dug deeper and his suspicion that he had reached Pike’s perimeter wall was confirmed.

This wall better not go all the way down to the bedrock.

He tried to remember what Ivan had told him about wall construction and some of the barriers that he might encounter. He wished that he had paid closer attention at the time. He finally cleared an opening under the wall and then resumed his worry-free Shatter Touch rotation with frequent snacks. He had borrowed an enchanted pouch from Lin, which was strapped to a belt around his furry waist. It was the perfect place to store his grub.

A few hours later, he figured that he had covered at least half of the distance to Pike’s city center and the well. He was making good progress. Digging under the city made him a bit more cautious. His heightened sense of hearing allowed him to catch snippets of conversations. He heard a woman giving instructions on how to make Flossy’s famous cherryberry pie. He was tempted to stop tunneling, so he could learn the famous secret recipe.

The sacrifices that I make for my kingdom. He sighed heavily and moved on.

William continued to dig. He promised himself that once the city was liberated, he would visit Flossy’s and order the largest pie on the menu.

The discussions he heard from above were more than just a diversion. He gathered some useful information about the enemy. He paid close attention to any signs that he might have been detected. He must have been under one of the guardhouses when he heard a heated discussion and briefly stopped.

“They moved the main army toward Tip, leaving us exposed for the rebel scum of Scar to attack us,” grumbled one of the soldiers.

“Let them come,” another replied. “Our flame barrel catapults will torch those braided beards to a crisp. We have enough men to repel any attack that they could muster.”

“Yeah,” said someone else. “Let those smelly pit dwellers come and taste our fire.” A cheer erupted.

“Yesterday’s victors are today's vanquished,” William recalled an old proverb. He cringed. “There must be something wrong with me. I’m starting to sound like Ivan.”

He kept digging and soon heard the clanging of metal being pounded. He realized that he had reached the blacksmith. He knew the Barrel and Blade smithy very well. His brother had purchased his first sword there. The shop was located not far from the city well.

Scraps, I’m getting close, he thought and doubled his efforts.

Finally, William reached the well! He heard the clanking sounds of the pulley system and the sloshing of water.

He stopped and took a deep breath. He needed to be very careful from this point on.

He cleared a larger swath of dirt around the wall and put away his moonstone. He then began the painstaking process of scraping the mortar away from one of the bricks with his claws. Once the mortar was gone, he gingerly pulled the brick out and placed it to the side. The smell of fresh water made his whiskers twitch and reminded him that he was rather thirsty.

He listened carefully to ensure that there was no one lurking above. Satisfied, he removed the flask that had been secured around his neck. He attempted to remove the lid from the small bottle. The cap stubbornly resisted his attempts to dislodge it. He clutched tighter and pulled harder. It still did not budge.

Rot and ruin, stupid cap!

After several more failures, his patience wore thin. He decided to use his teeth. He pulled on the cap with a bit too much force and it popped open. Some of the Fairy Bee concentrate splashed right into his mouth. His eyes widened. He blew the cap out of his mouth and spat furiously.

Ptuh! Ptooey!

A surge of drowsiness hit him. He spat more frantically. His limbs felt heavy. He used his paw to wipe his tongue. He struggled to keep his eyes open.

I gotta get this stuff into the well.

Using the last of his strength, he dragged himself to the edge of the well. His paw was barely holding the vial. He nudged the little bottle to the very edge, but it did not drop. With a last-ditch effort, he extended his claw and the bottle started to wobble.

Darkness embraced him.