The Foolhardies 203 Crisis Managemen

The Foolhardies had survived for this long only because my officers managed to rally our men before it was too late. 

"Luca, gather three-hundred soldiers and build me a wing to the left of Ashley's s.h.i.+eld wall. Edo, take three-hundred soldiers and form a right wing," I ordered. "Thom you go with Edo. Thor will join Luca." 

I looked over my to see who was left. 

Xanthor's cavalry had come to pick us up, and they were nice enough to bring our mounts with them. 

"Xanthor, I want you to take a hundred riders and hara.s.s the enemy's right flank once you see that we've secured our lines," I ordered. "For now, I want you to a.s.sist in pinning the enemy riders down… thankfully, there wasn't much cavalry in the reserves… mostly heavy and light infantry." 

I glanced over at Aura next. 

"You and me will head for the center… Get your squad to create some distance between us and the enemies to give our guys enough room to breathe and reform the lines then make sure your squad evacuates to the back of the center and out of enemy range," I ordered. 

Aura nodded wordlessly at me, but I saw that that she'd been gripping the reins of Starlight so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. 

She had every right to be anxious because we were in dire straits once again, but this time we'd been caught off-guard — and I didn't think we'd ever been in that kind of crisis before.

I rode Myth Chaser forward and past the rows of soldiers who'd moved aside to let me pa.s.s. My heart warmed at the sight of these vets, who, despite the situation, were moving in orderly fas.h.i.+on and in tune to the officers' commands. 

From my peripheral, I watched as both Edo and Luca called on their men and several others in order to bring my plan to life. 

"Hurry," I whispered. "We can't afford to dally…"

I arrived just five yards away from Ashley's s.h.i.+eld wall. They were a group of two hundred soldiers that stretched out in single file to brace against the tide of enemies rus.h.i.+ng at them. 

Behind this wall, Qwipps' Talons and Varda's Troublemakers waited to sh.o.r.e up the defences and spent their time lobbing arrows and stones into the enemy's frontline. 

I dismounted and pa.s.sed Myth Chaser's reins to Jensen who was sporting an arrow wound on his right shoulder. 

How did I know it was an arrow wound, you ask? Well, that was because the arrow was still sticking out of him. 

"Give me a quick breakdown of the situation now," I ordered. 

"After you left us, Squad Leader Ashley noticed that the other four thousand members of the reserve army were moving into formation, but since we hadn't received an order to sortie, she thought it was fishy, Commander," Jensen explained in one quick breath. He took a single paused then resumed, "She immediately ordered the unit into turtle formation like you instructed should the worst case scenario happen—"

"—which this is," I interrupted. "Sorry, continue…"

"The enemy noticed but they weren't fast enough to get into an attack position which is why we managed to keep them back while continuing our withdrawal to the south step by step per your instructions," Jensen finished. "Of our thousand-man unit, we've lost forty-three so far…"

"What of Redbull's reinforcements?" I asked as they were definitely a concern given the situation.

"Most remain loyal to the unit and don't understand why we're being attacked by the others," Jensen explained. "However, we've corralled and tied up fifty who'd begun attacking us from behind in an obvious coordinated effort with the enemy."

"How'd you do that so quickly?" I asked. 

"The chosen one… he stopped their movements by freezing them in place," Jensen said, pointing to our immediate right where a small outcropping of ice gleamed against the light of Idunn. 

"Sweet," I whistled just as I patted Jensen on the shoulder. "Good job. Now tell your boys to raise the banners… let the enemy know that the Commander is back and I am p.i.s.sed." 

Aura caught up with me just as I squeezed my way toward Qwipps and Varda who were finding the time to argue despite our situation. 

"Looks like Redbull wasn't in on Garm's plot, otherwise all his reinforcements would have gone against us," I told her. 

"Thanks the spirits for small favors," she replied. "That means we can resume south and then southwest to the oasis like you planned." 

"Pike and her team are already waiting to receive us, but maybe I should have sent Qwipps or Varda instead," I reasoned as I dropped in on the duo and smacked them both in the back of the head. "Alright, I don't want to hear it… just give me a sitrep."

"Our line's not going to hold much longer, Commander," Varda answered quickly. "Ashley's doing all she can to keep the enemy from overwhelming us but they're getting pushed back mighty easily." 

"I keep telling Varda that's what we want to happen, Dean," Qwipps countered. But the stubborn dwarf just won't listen…" 

"The retreat the Commander wants doesn't include Ashley's s.h.i.+eld wall breaking down, Qwipps," Varda fired back. 

"Alright, alright, I get it… you're both right… let's leave it at that," I said, nipping this argument in the bud. "Qwipps, how many of your fliers can you count on for an aerial bombardment?" 

"A third of my squad are prepared for the manoeuvre," he answered quickly. 

"Gather those guys and head to our supply wagons and then get Shanks to set you up with some hardware… I want you in the air as soon as you're lock and loaded," I ordered. 

"The rest of my guys?" he asked in a concerned tone. 

"They'll stick with Varda's unit and provide range support for the front," I instructed. 

"I'm fine with that Commander, but it'll be a waste of the dwarven heavy infantry in my unit," Varda protested. 

"You keep your range fighters but I'm taking your heavy infantry with me where I need to go," I said. 

"Sure, Commander," Varda said just before she spared me a sidelong glance, "Um, where will you be going?" 

"I'll let you know once I figure that out," I answered. 

"Arrows incoming!" Someone yelled. 

I looked up and saw the sky go dark as arrows blanketed the sky.

"Aura!" I screamed.

As fast as snapping fingers, Aura raised her staff to the sky and yelled out a quick chant, "Spirits of the sacred flame defend me from those who mean me harm. Breathe life into my s.h.i.+eld of flame!"

A brilliant flash of light spread out above us as a series of interconnected lines and swirls appeared over our heads and took the shape of a fiery s.h.i.+eld that covered maybe most of our frontline. 

"How much mana did you just waste for that ridiculously huge s.h.i.+eld?" I asked. 

"Enough that I won't be able to summon the efreet tonight," she whispered as she maintained concentration on her spell. 

Most of the enemy's arrows burned away as they pierced Aura's s.h.i.+eld. The rest just bounced off. However, each one of them weakened the spell which demanded even more of Aura's power just to maintain. 

"Release the s.h.i.+eld after the next volley," I ordered. 

"But—"

"—keeping it up for one more volley will tell the enemy we have a mage strong enough to do just that," I interrupted her. "They'll think twice before wasting more resources."

Aura nodded after a few seconds. I could guess that she found no flaw in my logic. 

A second volley of arrows did come but they were fewer than the first. After Aura blocked this volley, no third attack came. 

And while Aura undid her spell, I ordered Qwipps and Varda to get on with their tasks. Then, after I'd made sure Aura wasn't overly fatigued, I moved forward and made my way to where Ashley was. 

"How're you guys doing?" I asked from just a few feet behind her. 

"Kind of busy, Dean," she grunted. "Hold the mudd.a.m.n line, boys and girls!" 

"Ash, I'm going to need you to switch to phalanx formation once Edo and Luca have their right and left wings ready," I explained. "That way, you'll have a smaller, st.u.r.dier line of three to four rows." 

"I know that, Dean," she replied. "Hold on!" 

Ashley shoved her s.h.i.+eld forward just as she stabbed her spear into the s.p.a.ce between to skewer whoever was hara.s.sing her from the other side of her wall. 

She spared a second to look over her shoulder to address me, "Just let me know when to do it… my men know what to do." 

"Good," I nodded. "I'll let you know in a bit…" 

I doubled back to where I'd left Aura and found a hundred heavily armored dwarves waiting for me. 

"Here's your honor guard, Commander," Varda waved a hand at her men. "Use them as much as you want." 

"Thanks," I sat in a lotus position on the sand beside Aura. "How about you guys cover my b.u.t.t and keep me safe for now… I have to see what's going from up high…"