The Foolhardies 188 In Dire Straits

As my speech ended, the cry of "Foolhardies!" rang out among the men. All of them looked back at me with the steely-eyed determination that I'd seen time and time again.

"Incoming!" someone yelled.

I wasn't sure who, but we all looked up in time and watched the fireball that hurtled toward us from below.  

"Donar!" I yelled. "Take it down!"

Donar Firemonger was a salamander pyromaniac who excelled at burning things, or if needed, putting things out.

Such was the case now as he cast a Blade of Scorching Fire in the palms of both hands. He shot this fiery blade into the air toward the fireball.

When these two spells collided, they canceled each other out in a wave of smoke and heat that was akin to the shockwave of a bomb explosion.

I felt that heat graze the skin of my face, and I breathed in the hot air. This battle was far from over.

Underneath the watchful gaze of a mid-afternoon sun, the battle for the oasis was now at full swing. We were three hundred Foolhardies against two thousand soldiers from the Sunspire Dominion.

And in my head, I considered that lucky. After all, two thousand was way more manageable than the ten thousand we just barely managed to avoid — for now.

I didn't know what was happening with Al's group at Point Alpha. It was the one flaw in my plan as not even sprites could travel the distance back and forth in time to send me intel in real-time.

Instant communication — that was the next thing I'd ask Zarz to tackle once this battle was over.

"Immortals! Fortify and watch for advanced forces!" Azuma yelled to his men below on the northern slope. "Let none of them through."

The man I'd once thought my greatest rival had become a source of strength for my unit, and I felt nothing but grat.i.tude that he'd joined up with us despite the past we shared.

Azuma turned his gaze on me and said, "I should be down there and leading our defensive line, Commander."

I nodded. We shook hands. Then I said, "Don't die, Azuma… we have many more battles ahead of us."

"We'll pull back the moment things become unmanageable," he agreed.

And as Azuma and his guards moved to the other side of our wooden wall, I yelled out loud, "Immortals!"

It was a cry that was repeated down the northern slope by the hundred or so soldiers who were now risking their lives to defend the oasis I'd bet today's victory on.

"Thom!" I called.

The drow appeared at my side like he'd been spit out of the shadows.

"You called, Commander?" he asked in that annoying tone that suggested he was still making fun of my t.i.tle.

Not that it affected me much anymore as I'd gotten used to his condescending att.i.tude. In fact, I expected it. "I need your arrows and blades to support Azuma's Immortals… keep them alive for as long as you can, Thom…"

He took a second longer to respond. "You are surprisingly sentimental when it comes to your comrades, Commander."

"You're still surprised about that?" I joked.

"In the same way you're still annoyed whenever I call you Commander," he joked.

I rounded on him, "I'm not—"

But Thom had already turned his back to me and was on his way to relay my orders to the hundred Hazy Moon soldiers he'd brought with him.

"At least he's reliable," I sighed.

As the day went on, the fighting only got harder with our forces below barely managing to hold the line against the tide of foes reaching up for their necks.

The barricades we'd set up earlier helped to funnel enemies into smaller cl.u.s.ters that were easier for our men to engage. Although for every foe we felled, two more took their place. Sadly, in our case, with every death, the survivors had to pick up the slack.

I watched from the murder hole of our makes.h.i.+ft wooden wall while my men died below, and still, I stayed where I was because Azuma insisted he would be my sword today.

And as swords went, he might as well have been a Masamune. That's how awesome my lieutenant was today.

Much like Edo, Azuma was a killing machine. But where Edo was all brute force, Azuma was the embodiment of skill and finesse. Indeed, not a single foe he faced lasted more than a few seconds when he set his spear against them. And within an hour, I was almost sure he'd slain about a hundred foes.

If only he didn't get ga.s.sed out so quickly, maybe he'd have slain five hundred. It was his one weakness.

Azuma's cancer hadn't gone away, although in the Fayne his contract with Darah sustained him enough that he could fight as fiercely as he did tonight. However, the great warrior, Azuma, had a time limit.

But I was smart enough to take this into account. So as Azuma's fury ebbed, a host of shadows appeared on the northern slope, and for each shadow, at least two enemy soldiers would fall.

Thom's katana just slashed the fairy that would have struck Azuma a lucky blow as he'd momentarily lost balance.

Afterward, the pair of them exchanged words, and although I was far away from them, I could tell from the scowl on Azuma's face that Thom was mocking him for his weakened state.

"Focus, you idiots," I whispered. "Keep the enemy back…"

About half an hour after Thom and his drow appeared on the slope, I received a report from our southern lookout that turned my deepening frown upside down.

The gliders had returned, and with them came Edo and his b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They'd brought the kobolds with them too.

Honestly, this was really good news as they were a shot of adrenaline in our tired arm that not only reinforced our defenses but boosted our morale as well.

I clasped Edo's hand gratefully when he approached.

"I hear you're in need of saving again, Dean," he teased

"About d.a.m.n time," I said.

I clasped Thor in the shoulder next.

"You guys are just what we needed to turn this tide," I told the pair of them, and to the rest of the men behind them, "If we're to have a chance, I'm going to need you lot to make a lot of noise!"

Another round of cheers mixed with the howls of Thor's kobolds.

"And give them h.e.l.l!" I roared.

An hour after I'd made that speech, the fighting reached its fiercest point and the blood of allies and foes alike dyed the northern slope's sand in red.

A wheezing Azuma had been brought back to the oasis by his guards while Edo took his place as leader of the defensive line, which at this point, was getting dangerously close to the summit.

Our barricades below lay broken and the enemy had swelled in size on the slope and climbing over their dead to reach us.

Beyond our oasis, the column of enemy soldiers had returned and was now making a beeline toward us. Pretty soon, the two thousand we faced off against would become ten thousand.

With Azuma down for the count and Edo and Thom with their hands full below me, I realized it was time for me to make my move.

I unsheathed my falchion and raised it high, "Foolhardies! With me! We fight for our lives! We fight for all of us!"

I heard the roar behind me, and it lit a fire under me the same way I'd obviously just lit a fire under my men.

It was a gamble to lead our reserves down the slope to reinforce the defensive line for as long as we could. Thankfully, I didn't need to do that yet. And while that last speech was wasted, the sight of the Foolhardies flag in the desert plains below was a second shot in the arm.

I couldn't tell who was carrying the flag, but I recognized my brother and his swifthart leading the charge. Xanthor Xor rode at his right side, and on his left was Qwipps Daggerby.

Our cavalry had arrived, and by the looks of it, they would reach us before the enemies in the north would.

I don't believe the two thousand soldiers climbing up to us noticed Luca's band until they were right below them. Despite their rear guard's efforts to block Luca's pa.s.sage, he and his riders plowed through them like they were sticks on the wind.

They cut through the enemy's formations like snakes pa.s.sing through tall gra.s.s, and they continued onward, past the rear guard, and up to the sand dune's northern slope.

I believe I'd already mentioned how steep the climb was, right? Well, color me surprised as I watched the swiftharts and centaurs easily ride up this steep slope as quickly as if they were navigating through a straight stretch of road.

Luca and his forces continued to mow down the enemy, slas.h.i.+ng at the backs of soldiers unprepared to face cavalry.

Sooner rather than later, Luca himself had reached the summit just as our soldiers pulled the wooden walls back for them.

He trotted over to where I stood, and in a way that charmed even me — his super cool big brother — Luca said, "I've arrived at the turn of the tide, Dean."