The Foolhardies 150 Battle Oasis

After stage one of our journey was finally over, stage two started out fairly unremarkable.

We left the cavern that hid the shaft leading into the Undercroft an hour after midnight and stepped into the cold night air of the Westersand desert.

Idunn, the golden moon of the Fayne was nowhere in sight. Although that was expected as it was still the Night of Samhain or what we Mudgardians would call Halloween.

But we didn't need it. We had our torches and Aura's Hearthwood staff to light the way.

As we trekked across sand dunes, I began to wish we had taken our swiftharts along because this journey promised to be a very long walk.

After Ty complained of being thirsty, Luca reached into his bag of holding and pulled out a water flask which he tossed to Ty.

He popped the flask into his mouth and took a long swig of water. When he was done, he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand and asked, "Do you have everything in there?"

"Almost everything," Luca patted the bag appreciatively.

"Dude, that is so cool," Ty said admiringly.

"Wish it could fit a wagon," Qwipps complained.

"Who would pull it?" Varda asked as she walked alongside him. "Elkins wouldn't survive inside a bag of holding. No living thing can…"

"How about you conjure up some golems to pull it?" Qwipps asked.

"Wouldn't work… they wouldn't last for the whole journey," Varda pointed out.

"Then maybe Aura can have her efreet pull it?" Qwipps added in a tone that suggested he thought it was some smart, out-of-the-box thinking.

To which Varda replied with, "That's dumb, Qwipps. A fire spirit would burn anything it touches."

"Muddamit, you're right," he said, his shoulders slumping.

"I always am," Varda replied satisfied.

That exchange was about all the entertainment we'd get for the rest of the journey.

We traveled in a southeast direction through the desert while hoping to make the rally point I'd set for the meet up with other friendly forces on this same night as I didn't want to leave my party shorthanded while they waited out the day for my and Ty's return.

It took four hours of walking but we did manage to reach the designated meet-up location. It was a little-known Oasis that travelers rarely visited due to being out of the way from the Eastern Road commonly taken to get to the Undercroft.

"There's no one here," Luca pointed out the obvious.

"We must be early," I said. "Don't worry, they'll be here."

I walked ahead of Luca and made my way over to the single small pool of freshwater surrounded by spa.r.s.e bushes and trees native to the region.

"If you guys need to refill your water then now—"

I almost missed it, the unnatural redness at the far edge of the pool, almost like it had been splashed with dark red paint.

Then I sniffed that familiar metallic scent that I'd gotten used to smelling in a battlefield.

A dozen scenarios played across my mind's eye ranging from my reinforcements arriving early and getting killed to an enemy ambush that had somehow been foiled. One thing was sure though, a battle occurred here not too long ago. And if my deductions were right then we were in deep trouble.

I turned around and caught Aura's eye. "The water's a little too hot…"

Aura's eyes lit up with understanding. The others stiffened too. It was a good reaction as I had just given them the prearranged warning signal for an ambush.

According to our drills, in an ambush against unknown a.s.sailants with little chance of escape and limited options, an outward-facing circle formation, was our go-to strategy. This would keep our backs protected from outside attacks while providing a three-hundred-sixty degree view of our surroundings.

Of course, there were issues at hand. One, this formation worked best when used in tandem with Ashley's s.h.i.+eld squad. Second, Ty, Zephyra, and Shanks weren't aware of the maneuver.

Despite of this, the rest of my team performed admirably. They got themselves into position without any panic. Luca, Aura, Qwipps, Varda, Pike, and Enna formed their circle around Zephyra and Ty.

Shanks, who noticed the formation, opted to join the line.

It would have been perfect if I wasn't ten feet away from everyone. But I opted to stay by the pool of water while they got into formation so my backing away wouldn't draw attention.

I would just have to move quickly when the ambushers came out, and that didn't take very long. In fact, we'd barely managed the formation when they came out of their hiding places underneath the sand.

What I thought was simply the closest sand dune on the other side of the oasis was in fact a camouflage of sand created by a fairy magician who wore a robe dyed in the blood-red colors of the Scarlet Moon Clan.

It was an impressive bit of magic that I would have applauded if it wasn't the fact that we were now faced with at least a hundred soldiers under the command of my rival, Ardeen Spellweaver.

The one good thing about that big reveal was that he wasn't accompanied by his more frightening companion, General Morrigan — not that Spellweaver wasn't intimidating enough on his own mind you.

My party had already drawn their shadowblades, but I knew this was a force we couldn't beat with just ten of us.

"What gave us away?" Ardeen asked in a curious tone.

I nodded toward the pool at the same time as I drew my falchion from its sheath and pushed its shadowblade into waking.

"You didn't clean up after yourself," I said.

"Ah, my mistake," he said, glancing around to his men. "I've yet to drill my new soldiers into my style of tactics."

He urged his swifthart forward, and following his lead, his men moved to spread out in a loose semi-circle. This served to cover our entire front.

My eyebrow arched when I saw two familiar twins among the soldiers closest to Spellweaver. But while Connor did his very best to pretend like he didn't know me, his brother, Collin, sent me an almost imperceptible nod.

It was a sure sign that he, at least, was still on our side.

I watched his mouth form words I couldn't hear, but I was pretty adept at reading lips. He said, "Stall for time."

Now, I didn't quite trust Connor McCord, but his brother Collin had shown me he was dependable. So I decided to follow his lead for now.

I took slow deliberate steps backward.

"So… how'd you figure out our route?" I directed this question toward Ardeen.

"I asked myself," he raised a finger in my direction, "what would Dean Dapper do?"

Ardeen's swifthart had brought him to the opposite side of the pool of water now.

"There was really only one safe route out of that city, but I wondered if you would use a more perilous path to escape." Ardeen drew his saber out of its sheath and laid its shadowblade over his right shoulder. "Based on your previous tactics, I deduced you would indeed try the more dangerous way. After all, you have shown a tendency for recklessness."

He flashed me pearly white elven teeth.

I continued to back away and was now close enough to my party's encirclement to feel less like a solo target.

"I wonder what you found guarding that secret path?" he asked, his face showing off mild curiosity.

"Spiders," I answered. "Big ones."

"Ah, I see," he responded feigned politeness.

I pointed the tip of my falchion toward the watering hole. "Who does the blood belong to?"

Ardeen raised a hand, and after a quick moment, the McCord brothers came forward while carrying something between them. They dropped the dead body of a  fairy I recognized as one of Kairon's underlings who I saw with at the auction earlier this night.

"I don't suppose you dealt with our Chancellor of the Moon the same way?" I asked hopefully.

I mean, if someone else offed him, I wouldn't cry tears about it. Sadly, Ardeen Spellweaver shook his head.

"He was not among his soldiers, although they had deduced the same thing I did and were lying in wait here for you," Ardeen explained.

Aura and I shared a glance. Looks like we were right in thinking Kairon had plans of his own. This information needed to get back to the council somehow. It was another reason to stay alive.  

"Pity," I replied. "But I guess I should thank you for dealing with them."

"It was my pleasure," he said smiling. "Well, I supposed you've seen enough danger tonight. I would appreciate it if this did not have to be a fight."

At his words, I c.o.c.ked my head to the side. "Why not?"

It took him a few seconds to answer, but when he did, he said something that I didn't expect.

"I enjoy matching wits with you, Dean Dapper," he answered truthfully. "I would see us do so again on a much larger battlefield."

"But you want Ty," I answered quickly. "And I won't give him to you."

"Dean," Ty called from behind. "If this is the—"

I stopped him with a shake of my head. Then I glanced back at Ardeen Spellweaver and his men, but I really wanted to see was what Collin was doing.

The brown-haired teen was facing north and staring off into the near distance.

At a guess, I a.s.sumed he was looking toward the north because that was where the Eastern Road lay.

I followed his line of sight to a spot on the horizon that seemed to be some kind of growing dust cloud. It took me a long moment to realize that the dust cloud wasn't created naturally. Something was kicking up a storm over there, and if I had to guess, whatever it was on its way to us.

"I think you've got more problems besides me and my crew, Ardeen," I said knowingly.

I pointed toward the north.

"Get ready, guys. Our chance to escape is coming," I whispered. "Because it looks like we've got more company."