The fog of sleep receded, and Edwin blinked as the various minds inside his body returned to where they belonged, leaving him temporarily disoriented. The small room was dimly lit, the thin curtains covering the window only providing lackluster protection from the afternoon sun. What had woken him from his slumber wasn’t the burning orb in the sky, however, but somebody shaking his foot.
“Good, you’re up,” Bordan said.
“Are we under attack?” Edwin grunted, sitting up in his bed.
“No.”
“The prisoners are rebelling?”
“Nope.”
“Great.” With a sigh, Edwin lay back down and closed his eyes again. “Wake me when they do, or when dinner is served.”
“Come on, get up,” Bordan heckled, slapping his foot again. “There’s something you’ll want to see.”
Edwin cracked open an eye and rotated his head until he could look at his friend. The former soldier didn’t seem like he would take no for an answer, so Edwin relented with a sigh.
“Maybe you should consider sleeping at night,” Bordan suggested while Edwin was pulling on his boots. “Just a thought.”
“You’re the one who asked me to help guard the prisoners,” Edwin reminded him. “That’s what I’m doing.”
“And that’s great, but I didn’t mean every night. Even you need to sleep at some point.”
“I was sleeping right now,” Edwin grunted, following Bordan out of the room. The other man led him down a short corridor and out into the walled courtyard of their residence, where Leodin and Salissa were already waiting.
“The soldiers on guard duty are really grateful that you’re there, but you need to take care of yourself as well. You don’t have to do everything on your own.”
“I’m not,” Edwin said, taking a deep breath of fresh air. Waking up could be unpleasant, but in the time it took for him to put on his boots and leave the room, the magic in his body had already removed the drowsiness and shaken off the cobwebs, bringing him back to full readiness. “The others do the actual guarding, but I’m the only scarecrow we have.”
“Scarecrow?” Salissa asked. “What does Bordan have you doing now?”
“I suggested he help guard the Marradi soldiers,” Bordan cut in before Edwin could slander him. “They’re all really scared of him – call him ‘the demon’, I’ve heard. Seeing him stalk around reminds them that they shouldn’t try anything funny.”
“Scarecrow,” Edwin said with a shrug, then decided to change the topic. “So, what have you guys been up to? I haven’t seen you in days.”
“You would if you kept a remotely regular schedule,” Leodin chuckled. “The camp is gone. Siege camp too. We finished yesterday.”
“Nice,” Edwin said. “What did you do with all the wood and stuff?”
“Put it into storage,” Leodin answered. “Plenty of room in the warehouses here.”
The team passed through a guarded gate and left the inner ring, heading north along the main thoroughfare.
“And you, Salissa? Did you help at the wall?”
“No,” the young woman sighed. “I don’t know any of the spells or conversions they’re using to break down the rocks, and all the other mages are too busy with the repairs for training. I was guarding the Marradi mages for the first week, then I joined Leodin and the others in cleaning up the camp the last few days.”
“They joined us?”
“Yes, after a bit of cajoling by Master Gregory. Most of them don’t want to fight though, so they’ll get sent back to Harvand.”
“Huh. Well, every little bit helps I guess.”
They arrived at the main gate, and Bordan turned off the road to head to one of the stairs leading up to the wall. The view from up above was breathtaking. From their vantage point, Edwin could see all of Artelby, rows upon rows of houses in orderly lines leading up to the walled-off inner circle, with the fortress-like command center peeking out above the buildings surrounding it. In the other direction, Edwin looked out over a wide expanse of rolling plain, with the first patches of forest starting over a kilometer away. Many of the battle scars had already started healing, but the place where they’d ambushed the cavalry was still a massive patch of black marring the lush green field. If he leaned over the battlements, he could barely see the calm water of Lake Latimer glinting in the sunlight.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
In the other direction, the top of the wall suddenly stopped a distance away from them, only to reappear some two hundred meters further. Even after a week, the hole ripped open by the Wall Slicer was only starting to be repaired. Tons and tons of stone had been turned into uneven chunks, many of them with sharp edges that could slice through leather if handled without caution. It had taken days just to clear away the rubble, and now the actual rebuilding was in full swing. Bare-chested workers moved to and fro carrying rocks and buckets of gravel while robed mages swarmed the breach, using materialist spells to fuse the pieces back together.
The walls that had been opened by Gregory had been an easy fix. The master had simply shoved the cutout back into the hole and fused it into place. With the diced-up frontal wall, that wasn’t feasible, as nobody was willing to play a three-dimensional puzzle with rocks heavy enough to flatten a person. Instead, the pieces had to be broken down into a manageable size, then glued back together with magic. It wasn’t ideal, but they had nowhere enough stone to spare to repair the wall without using the rubble. The one good aspect was that it would turn the destroyed part of the wall into the most resilient one by far.
“There,” Bordan said, pulling Edwin out of his musings. Turning around, Edwin followed his teammate’s outstretched finger. At first, he didn’t know what to look for, then he spotted a splash of blue color at the faraway northern tree line. He narrowed his eyes, mana tingling as his vision sharpened. Blue cloth flapped in the breeze, and the sun glinted off helmets and spearheads.
“Soldiers,” Edwin said, surprised. “I thought 4th division was still a week out?”
“They are,” Bordan said with a grin.
“What do you mean?” Edwin wondered, but Bordan refused to elaborate. Minutes passed, and the formation of Harvand soldiers made its way out of the forest and into the open fields, slithering through the grass towards Artelby like a silver-blue snake. Their arrival was drawing a crowd, and the top of the wall was beginning to fill with onlookers, from nearby guards to the workers at the breach. The formation was halfway to the gates when Edwin spotted something.
“Wait – those banners have 5th division heraldry on them! Those guys are… ours?”
“Damn, it’s ridiculous how sharp your eyes are,” Bordan said with a chuckle. “You’re right. Meet 5th division, fourth battalion. They’ve finally finished their training.”
A horn rang out from the marching formation, and a guard atop the gate answered in kind. Commands were shouted, and the massive gate below them ponderously began to swing open. Edwin leaned against the battlements, looking down as rows upon rows of soldiers passed below him into the fortress. Then came a long train of supply wagons, and even more soldiers.
“Come on, let’s head to the command center,” Bordan said, putting a hand on Edwin’s shoulder. “General Asher wants everyone there to greet the new officers.”
They joined the mass of bodies that was heading down the stairs, now that the spectacle was mostly over, then turned back onto the main road. The tail end of the formation was still filing in, and as he walked alongside them, Edwin studied their faces. They all looked so… fresh. Not just young, though most of them were, but something else. Edwin hadn’t realized until now, but after months of intense fighting, the faces of the men and women of 5th division had changed. Their features had become harder, their eyes carrying steel even when laughing. That steel was missing from the newcomers.
I wonder if my eyes are the same, Edwin idly wondered. Did it change me too?
--- ----- ---
The first hour or so of the meeting was so boring, it almost put Edwin back to sleep. It was really just a meet and greet with the commander of fourth battalion, Major Crenlish, and his modest corps of officers. Crenlish recounted how the training went, and how the fresh battalion did on the road south, followed by a retelling of 5th division’s recent struggles, which lit stars in the eyes of the newly arrived officers, most of whom were just as young as their men. Finally, the celebrating and backslapping was done and the general got to the good part.
“Until now, guarding the prisoners and repairing the wall required almost our entire manpower. Now, with the influx of Major Crenlish’s men, we finally have some room to breathe. First, Major, I have some bad news. The combat of the past few months has left its mark on our division, and you would be hard-pressed to find a banner that is still at full strength. I believe it to be more beneficial for our newly trained men to fill those holes and learn alongside their more experienced comrades than it would be to keep their units together.”
The major nodded, looking unhappy but not overly so. He had likely expected something like this.
“Once that is done, first and fourth battalions will take over the majority of the guard duty while a maneuverable force made up of units from second and ninth battalions will march east toward Archer Hill. We have already lost too much time. For 1st division, every day we tarry could be the one that we arrive too late. The force’s task will be to stop the flow of supplies and reinforcements crossing the bridge towards the siege of Archibald’s Overlook, scout out the defenses of Archer Hill, and begin construction of a siege camp. Once 4th division arrives at Artelby and takes over its defense, the rest of the division will follow. Hopefully, by the time they arrive, we will have laid the foundation for the capture of Archer Hill and can proceed with minimal additional preparation.”
Eyes narrowed and grips tightened, and Edwin smiled as the mood in the room shifted from the calm of a grazing herd of cattle to the electrified calm before the storm. His fingers flexed, yearning for the feeling of his glaive’s unyielding roots digging into his palm. He really wasn’t built for sitting around.