A crossbow twanged and a scream echoed through the woods behind them. Leodin stood from his kneeling position and jogged to catch up, handing his weapon to Edwin. As they both hurried after their bannermates, Edwin slowed just long enough to make sure his grip on the crossbow was secure. It was meant to be drawn by placing it on the ground, keeping it in place with one foot and pulling the string with both arms. Doing so after every shot would slow them down however, so Edwin had offered to help out. He flexed the muscles in his upper body, grunting as the metal bow bent backwards. Speeding back up, he handed the weapon back to Leodin.
“You’re nuts, you know that?” Leodin said between breaths, loading a bolt and turning to send it toward their pursuers.
Ever since 5th division’s hasty departure from the battlefield over half an hour ago, Marradi soldiers had been snapping at their heels. Thankfully, the adventurers had ended up in the rearguard for the simple reason that they had been furthest from the camp, making them the last to arrive at the train. The enemies were trying to get the retreating division to turn around and face them, Bordan had explained, stopping the Harvand retreat and allowing their main forces to arrive, ultimately forcing another battle while the Marradi were in a better position. Together with a cohort of archers and a group of scouts, ninth auxiliary was making sure that that didn’t happen.
It wasn’t actually all that hard. Ninth battalion’s first real engagement in this war was teaching the Marradi a painful lesson: The open field might belong to the soldiers, but the woods were the adventurers’ realm – and they didn’t take kindly to interlopers. A constant stream of highly accurate marksman fire was taking a heavy toll, forcing the pursuers to concentrate on covering themselves with their shields instead of advancing quickly. The few times they made it into melee range they were unable to fight with any kind of organized formation, instead meeting the adventurers in small groups or duels, where they quickly fell to the experienced warriors. After being forced to watch not one but two battles go completely sideways, Edwin’s guildmates were more than ready to take out their frustration on someone, and the Marradi were at the very top of that list.
“I think they’ve had enough,” Bordan said, peering from behind a tree, his bow ready. “Yep, they’re retreating.”
Edwin huffed. At his edge of their defensive line, the enemy had never gotten close enough to fight in melee. He was in a war, gods damn it, and he still hadn’t gotten close enough to an enemy to even think about swinging his glaive.
“Aww,” Leodin echoed his sentiment, a vicious smile on his face. “They should’ve kept trying for a little longer, surely they would’ve gotten through eventually.”
“Down, both of you,” Bordan said without any heat. “It’s fine to get fired up, but don’t go and underestimate the enemy. Come on, we need to gather the others and see if everyone’s alright.”
--- ----- ---
“It was bad, but it could have been a lot worse.”
The mood in the command tent was subdued. General Asher was leaning on the table, studying the papers before him instead of meeting the eyes of his officers – not that they were looking at him, instead stealing glances at Master Gregory who was standing off to the side, face impassive.
“The loss of our fortifications is my greatest worry right now. The position was almost ideal for our purposes, and we will not get another one as favorable between here and the Aste. For now, we are falling back to Giant’s Head. Sadly, we lack the understanding of the tactical style of Lindvar division’s leadership that we have for the older ones, but so far, they have been content to fight us for use of the road instead of trying to go around and add days to their journey. If they do the same again, the siege ballistae at Giant’s Head will be a considerable advantage in our favor, despite the terrain being suboptimal.”
Asher paused, tapping his fingers on the wooden tabletop before he continued.
“Clearing our earthworks and restoring the road has cost them time, but not as much as we had hoped. They are unable to catch up to us while we are moving, but once we stop we will have little time to prepare. Thankfully, we took minimal casualties during the last fight. A few dozen men were burned by the magical fire, but only one was fatally injured, with three more falling during the first minutes of the retreat. Due to 3-3 and 9’s excellent work guarding our rear, the final casualty tally of the battle is actually in our favor, despite our tactical defeat.”
Heads turned toward the adventurers, and one of the battalion commanders gave Gerrack a respectful nod.
“Finally, let us address the elephant in the room,” Asher said gravely, turning to Gregory. “The reason why we lost was that the enemy had magical support and we did not. Master Gregory, what is your assessment of the situation, and how do you plan to approach it?”
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The bald mage frowned.
“We had hoped that it would take them longer to learn it. As it is, our spellweavers still need a little time to catch up.”
The command tent was quiet, everyone watching the two men with bated breath. When Gregory didn’t continue, Asher leaned forward.
“That is what you said last time, but it only pertains to your own use of offensive magics. What is your answer to the enemy’s use of fireballs against us?”
Gregory didn’t move a muscle. “We are working on that as well. The ritualists are confident that they will have a solution for that soon.”
“That’s not good enough!”
It was the first time Edwin had heard Asher raised his voice, and judging from the shocked expressions around the tent, he wasn’t the only one.
“The only reason why this division wasn’t reduced to a state of combat ineffectiveness was that we got lucky. If their aim had been any better, we would be looking at a death toll in the hundreds. It is imperative that we prevent the enemy from crossing the Aste, but we cannot engage them again until you have a concrete answer to this threat. So, Master Gregory, how are you going to protect my soldiers from these spells?”
During the general’s speech, Gregory’s face and shining bald head had turned increasingly red. Edwin half expected the man to explode, but his years holding one of the highest political positions in the three duchies had apparently taught him some self-control.
“I am afraid it is not quite so easy,” Gregory said, clearly straining to keep his voice level. “Our manuscripts lack descriptions of defensive measures that would be useful against fireballs, and developing—”
“Not good enough,” Asher snapped, cutting him off. “It is clearly possible to block these spells with magic, otherwise the third one would have hit our ranks. What is preventing you from doing that again?”
“Creating a shield at distance is inefficient, and potentially harmful to the mage doing it,” Gregory answered as if he was speaking to a child. “We would have to be right at the front to even attempt it, and even then, intercepting them in a way that the spray of fire does not land on your lines would be challenging.”
“Are you telling me that you would rather let hundreds of soldiers die than get close enough to the fighting to help?” Asher said, voice dangerously quiet. “I will give you a moment to rethink that and try again.”
“We… My fellows have no training or experience to prepare them for taking part in combat!” Gregory sputtered. “It is much too dangerous for them!”
“What have you been doing for the past weeks if not training?” Asher demanded. “What does it take for a mage to prepare them to stand near a fight?”
“It is not as easy as you think!” Gregory protested. “All topics related to battle have been forbidden to us for over a hundred years! We have to develop everything from scratch, without anyone capable of teaching us—”
“Nonsense!”
Edwin only realized that he had spoken when all eyes turned to him. Cursing himself, he powered through.
“It’s not like there’s a lot to it, we don’t need your mages to do any actual fighting after all. If you’re that worried about preparing them for close combat, you could’ve asked our resident expert for help at any time. You can’t tell me that you weren’t aware Salissa was here, after all. She’s the one who got off her backside and blocked that last fireball when none of you could be bothered to even try, by the way.”
Gregory narrowed his yes, his gaze flicking to Edwin’s right where Salissa was freezing up like a deer.
“I do not expect an adventurer to understand much about matters of the arcane, but surely even a mundane understands that an apprentice would not a useful teacher to those a decade or more her seniors.”
“It’s really not a magical question though, is it?” Edwin asked, properly angry now. “You want someone to train your mages how to behave in a situation where enemies are close by? Great! Salissa was hunting monsters for months before all this started, doing exactly that. She has used magic to kill all kinds of different creatures, even fighting and winning a magical duel against a goblin shaman. She´s likely the only combat mage on this entire continent. If, despite all her experience, there is nothing you can learn from her, then I don’t understand what’s preventing you from wading into battle yourself. She is, after all.”
Gregory was fuming now, but before he had time to respond, Asher butted in.
“Perfect! The young lady’s offer of training should take care of your concerns, which means that we can expect your mages to cover our soldiers during the next fight. Is that not right, Master Gregory?”
Despite looking like he wanted to bite someone’s head off, Gregory took a few deep breaths, visibly calming himself.
“We can certainly try,” he said quietly. “I will inform my colleagues that any who are not vital to our ongoing research are to meet Apprentice Salissa for training. There should be enough to provide shielding against the next bombardment, if we spread them out. Now, if you would excuse me.”
Gregory marched out of the tent with his head held high, robe swishing behind him. A murmur went through the gathered officers, many of them stealing glances at Salissa and Edwin.
“Thank you,” Asher said, nodding at them. “I am confident that you will be able to prepare your colleagues for the task ahead, although I must caution you that you do not have much time. I meant what I told Master Gregory: If we do not have a solution for the enemy fireballs by the time we reach Giant’s Head in a few days, we will not engage them – even if that means that we might lose our last chance at preventing them from flanking General Ossick and his men.”
Salissa cleared her throat. “It should be plenty of time, General. If there are any problems, I will let you know.”
“Great,” Asher said, slapping the table. “Now, let us turn our attention to the upcoming battle! Lieutenant, the map of Giant’s Head please.”