The Foolhardies 200 Bedtime Worries

So color me surprised when I returned to the Fayne later that night and found nothing amiss apart from the fact that my unit was currently in the midst of celebrating their most recent victory without me. 

It was quite the let-down because I'd been spending all of that Monday daytime worrying like an idiot when, apparently, I had nothing to worry about. Even more worrisome was the fact that they didn't need me to win a battle, and that really stung, although I did my best to hide it. 

"Did you guys get enough rest?" I asked. 

"Sure," Luca waved away my concern with a wave of his hand. "Also, Great General Garm's putting us in the reserves for the rest of the night as a reward for our performance today."

"Sounds like you guys did really well… although I still can't believe Garm's rewarding us," I guessed, but in truth, I was actually fis.h.i.+ng. 

"We were ayt," Luca shrugged. 

Luca never said 'ayt' unless he was trying to downplay something. It was a habit from his days as a jock where he didn't want to upstage my top grades with his stellar athletic performance. It was unnerving to hear again after a year of not hearing it. 

Yeah, I know. I was spiraling for no good reason, but my ego was bruised just a little bit. Enough for me to grill my brother on today's events looking for every small detail of failure I could use to make myself feel better. Yes, yes, I was a needy f**ker sometimes. But they say all the great leaders were a bit narcissistic, and I was hardly what you'd call self-absorbed… right? 

Luca told me of today's events, how he and Aura led the Foolhardies in the center army's vanguard as they ambushed an oasis that the enemy was in the midst of fortifying, thereby destroying the hastily raised fortifications and giving the army a better chance at claiming that territory for the Trickster Pavilion in tonight's battle. 

Strangely enough, I couldn't find a flaw in their strategy, a strategy my officers had cooked up together — and that was the moment my neediness transformed into one of pride. I felt great pride over the fact that my guys managed to handle things so well without needing me to tell them what to do. That was growth, and I wasn't such a dirt-bag that I couldn't appreciate that sort of growth.

It was only after I'd calmed down that Aura decided to tell me that she did wish I was there to lead them and that the pressure she and Luca felt trying to emulate my leaders.h.i.+p was, in her words, "Extremely intense." 

Part of me felt like she was just stroking my ego, something she was very good at doing by now, but I also felt the sincerity in her words and decided to trust in her instead. Plus, getting your ego stroked by the prettiest girl in all the land — trust me, nothing else can compare. 

"So, I guess we can take it easy tonight in the reserves, huh?" I asked again. 

Aura nodded. "But don't worry. Everyone hasn't forgotten our conversation at dawn and your orders regarding this have been followed to the letter." 

She would fill me in on how Pike had left at dawn with a few of Qwipps' most trusted pixies, and that we were just waiting to hear word of their arrival at the secret oasis. 

"Puma, Fila and Nike returned sometime before twilight and informed me that they'd completed their a.s.signments," Aura explained. "Fila confirmed that the McCords were nowhere in the desert area… apparently, Ardeen Spellweaver's unit is supporting the war effort against the Hermitage…" 

"But that makes no sense," I countered. "Chris Pint said he'd smelled Ardeen's scent the other night…" 

"I know and I don't think the Lord of Stars would lie about something like that, especially not to a fellow sense knight," Aura agreed. "But unless Ardeen Spellweaver has mastered teleportation then I don't know what to say…"

"Teleportation doesn't exist in the Fayne. I know, I've looked it up many times before, but there's no magic that allows instantaneous travel apart from the one that allows for travel between Mudgard and the Fayne," I countered. "You've been talking to Ty too much…"

Aura laughed. "I believe his exact phrasing for it was to 'beam' someone up?" 

After we'd laughed some more at Ty's expense, which he didn't know as he was out of earshot at the moment, Aura told me that Verania, Dain and, Al had been informed of the suspicions of the Scarlet Moon's interference. 

"Both Dain and Al have sent us their thanks and informed us that they'll keep a lookout," Aura told me. 

"And Verania?" I asked although I could already guess at her answer.

"Verania told us to mind our own business," Aura said with a roll of her eyes. 

"Yup, that's Verania alright," I chuckled. Then my face turned serious as I leaned into Aura and asked about Thom's and Thor's missions. "Any word on them?" 

Aura shook her head. "Neither of them could leave during the day's battle so I only just watched them head out half an hour before you arrived. About fifty of their most worthy spies were sent out including the two of them… we should hear more before the night ends."

But when the night did end — with us stuck in the reserves unit with nothing to do — no words from either Thom or Thor came. 

"You haven't heard back from your cousin, Enna?" I asked the drow who was part of my personal fire-team — my term for the special squad who joined me on my personal missions. 

"No, Commander," Enna said with a shake of her head. "But you needn't be concerned as he tends not to send word until he has proof or no proof could be found." 

I knew she had a point and that I shouldn't have to worry, but I couldn't help it. That was just how I was wired. Sadly, that's how my night ended in the Fayne, and it was a bit of a repeat to yesterday's worrying. 

However, the very next night back in the Fayne, two things caused my furrowed brow to deepen even more. 

First, there was no word from either Thom or Thor yet again. Not even an update on their tasks. Second, the Foolhardies was ordered to remain in the central army's reserves. Not that I didn't mind my men getting a second night's reprieve from battle, but that also meant another night where we weren't earning glory on the battlefield. And from what I heard later that night, we would have been pretty useful. 

Unlike yesterday's successful sortie into enemy territory, tonight's battle between Garm's fifty thousand center army and Lord Rah's seventy thousand center army was mostly a stare down contest. Apart from a few skirmishes in the vanguard, the day ended fairly uneventful. 

The very next night was the same as the last. We Foolhardies were told to stay with the reserves while Garm barely sent out any forces to attack Rah's position apart from the small battles at the front. In contrast, the battles in the south and north battlefronts were really ramping up. 

Thanks to our slaying of General Amon, a new, less experienced replacement had filled his shoes as leader of the now lesser fifty thousand right army. 

Yeah, we'd whittled down their numbers by at least thirty thousand soldiers. Sadly, there were still more of them than Redbull's remaining thirty-eight thousand left army. He'd lost nearly half of his manpower in our attempt of slaying Amon. 

Still, Redbull's army was high in morale after our big victory, and they'd managed to push the enemy's lines in the south further back than any other battlefield. 

Meanwhile, in the north, the battle was neck and neck between Llewellyn's fifty thousand strong right army and the Dominion's sixty thousand strong left army. Apparently, Llewellyn, who like me was a strategic-type general, was fighting against a different type of general who used instinct to foil Llewellyn's tactical plans. 

The battle in the north was the kind of battle where I would have inserted a wild card like the Foolhardies to shake things up. Sadly, I wasn't the supreme leader of our army, and therefore, could only wait in the reserves while s.h.i.+t hit the fan. 

Oh, don't think I didn't try to change our fate because I did. In fact, I requested several meetings with the Great General, even using my status as one of his tacticians to get into one of his meetings, but no joy. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d was boxing me out.

I could guess he didn't want a repeat of my last two victories and he simply couldn't trust his two subordinates in the right and left armies not to use me. So he was keeping us locked in the reserves and out of the spotlight. 

That's how my second night in the reserves ended — with no chance to claim glory or riches. 

Finally, on the third night where we were once again told to stay put at the back of the lines, I'd heard news from both Thom and Thors who'd finally resurfaced. But with the way they disappeared, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when they came back with bad tidings.