The Foolhardies 208 Surprise, Surprise

Knights in s.h.i.+ny armor with their swords and s.h.i.+elds at the ready stood like watchful sentinels in front of the oasis while archers in white gambesons lined up along the top of the cliffs, white-fletched arrows notched to their bows. 

Along with the myriad of banners fluttering in the wind, their line stretched across the length of the cliff wall. It was a daunting show of military power that caused even me to feel just a little bit worried. 

Yes, I was confused by their appearance but the fact that Aura's squad was lined up alongside the Pilgrimage's forces looking like they weren't prisoners gave me hope that we'd just gotten some much-needed support from the human-centric group notoriously known to hate fairies. 

"So… what do we do, Commander?" Varda asked. 

It took me a moment or two to make a decision. But after confirming once again that Aura — who was standing at the very front of her troops and was waving back at us in a gesture of welcome — wasn't clapped in chains, I shrugged and said, "We march onward!" 

Cautiously, our unit continued our march south toward the oasis. And although we'd slowed our pace somewhat, it didn't seem to be a problem as Garm's personal unit of nearly four-thousand elites had stopped their pursuit and were now in the midst of switching to a more standard formation. 

I understood his caution because I could tell just from a brief glance that there were around ten thousand pilgrims guarding the oasis. Rus.h.i.+ng in now without proper preparation would ensure death for Garm's troops even if they were his elites — especially since we'd whittled down their numbers a little with our earlier traps. 

On my peripheral, I watch Luca approach on Jade Shadow. He'd ridden hard and fast to reach my side.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked hastily. 

I shrugged. "I'm trusting in Aura… She'd never lead us into a trap…"

"Yeah, I know," Luca spared me a sidelong glance, "so maybe you should sound more convincing next time someone asks."

Our unit marched until we were within the range of the pilgrims' arrows. They didn't fire on us. So we continued onward while relief flooded into me, and I bet I wasn't the only one. You could tell from the nervous faces of the soldiers near me that they'd all been expecting the worse to happen. 

After they'd switched their formations to a conventional offensive with a much longer frontline, Garm's four-thousand-man unit began to resume its march. However, they now had several riders leading from the front at a good distance away from the main army. 

I a.s.sumed this was a countermeasure for any other arcane mines Aura's squad managed to plant, although I thought it was a waste of their time. I doubt Aura's squad was able to plant more mines in light of the third army that had appeared out of nowhere. 

"Luca, pa.s.s me a mana potion, will you," I said. "I need my sight working properly again…" 

Luca pulled out a small vial from the bag of holding slung around his waist and pa.s.sed it gingerly into my expecting hands. 

As I poured the vial's contents into my mouth, my tongue savored the sweet taste of tropical fruit before it went down my throat. Mana potions tasted differently to everybody and often took the flavor of one's favorite drink which in my case was a mango shake. 

"Thanks," I said to Luca after I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. 

Moments later, the sight before me made my eyes grow wide with momentary terror, and I was afraid I'd led my men to their deaths. This fear subsided as quickly as it had come, however, as I realized that the arrows the pilgrims on the cliff had just launched into the afternoon sky wouldn���t come down on our location. No, those arrows were meant for another target. 

I turned around just in time to watch a hail of arrows land down on Garm's frontline which had just stepped into arrow range. 

The heavy infantry at the front of the line raised their s.h.i.+elds to block the attack, and although they were mostly successful at repelling the pilgrims' arrows, a few frontline soldiers still toppled over and died on the sands. 

After the volley of arrows was over, there was a booming yell for "Halt!" from a familiar voice that I could hear even from where I sat on my mount. 

Garm's command was instantly followed, and then, in unison, their frontline took three steps back. This ensured that the next volley of arrows fell harmlessly on the sands three to four feet away from their front. 

Although Garm's timely action saved more of his men, I couldn't help but think that killing them wasn't the intention. Otherwise, there would have been no need for a second volley to confirm the range of the archers on the cliff. No, it was almost like the pilgrims had marked a line that would force Garm in place. If so, that was definitely done to help us out. 

I glanced back at the cliffs and searched the line of archers for their leader, and that's when I saw the masked fellow that stood apart from the rest. For some reason, I knew he was responsible for that a.s.sist.

"Thanks," I whispered although I doubt he'd ever see it.

We took advantage of Garm's wariness to march forward by finally bridging the distance between our unit and the Pilgrims waiting in front of the oasis. 

A short distance ahead of this line of visere warriors who bore a stark resemblance to the Templars of old were two people on swifthart mounts. 

I instantly recognized Aura as she rode atop Starlight, her golden hair blown back by the humid desert wind. 

Aura had planted the Foolhardies banner on the desert floor so it could flutter in the wind next to the banner of the Pilgrimage. This was a sign that we were allied, or at least not enemies — yet. 

I raised a fist in the air which was a signal for my unit to stop the march and hold in position. 

"Luca and Varda with me," I said. 

Then I urged Myth Chaser forward and rode to where Aura and her companion waited. And the closer I got to them, the more certain I was that I'd seen him before. 

He had tanned skin and a narrow face with Asian features framed by dark, curly hair. But he was no longer wearing the simple white robe he'd worn when I first met him at Ty's auction. Now he was decked like a knight ready for battle. 

"It's Liu Xiang, the Pilgrimage officer we met at the Undercroft," Luca realized. 

Man, I was a second from saying his name out loud, but Luca beat me to it.

"Greetings, One-thousand-man Commander Dapper," Liu Xiang said as he raised a hand in greeting. 

I mirrored his gesture, but spoke to Aura first, "You okay?" 

She nodded. "Liu Xiang has given us all due courtesy." 

The stiffness in her voice told me there was more to it but that we couldn't get into it at the moment.

"I didn't think I'd see you again so soon, Mr. Xiang," I said. 

"Surely you jest… it has been several months since we met at the auction," he chuckled. 

There was no hostility in him. Nothing but warmth flowed out of this man, almost like I was meeting an old friend in a long time. 

"It is impressive how much you've accomplished in such a short amount of time," he continued.

"You've been keeping tabs on me," I realized. 

"Your success within the Trickster Pavilion has piqued the interest of my superiors," he admitted. 

"Is this why you're here then?" I asked. 

"Partly," he said. "We recently intercepted intel that suggested Great General Garm would defect to the Scarlet Moon in this conflict and we thought to warn you of this double-cross."

"Doesn't explain the army at your back though," Luca noted loudly. 

"Yeah, what he said," I added. "A messenger could have sufficed." 

Liu Xiang sent me an apologetic smile. "Sadly, we were too late in receiving our intel, and so it was recommended by our new strategist that we come to your aid as she'd a.s.sumed your unit would become one of the great general's main targets and would need reinforcements in order to escape his clutches."

That was exactly what happened which left me with the impression that the Pilgrimage strategist was a good one. That was either a good thing or a very bad thing. I wasn't sure. 

My musings were interrupted when my attention was stolen by the arrival of another pilgrim on a dark brown swifthart. 

It was the masked fellow from the cliffs. But I was wrong in thinking he was a guy. She was a woman in a similar padded white vest as the archers on the cliffs. She had long dark hair that framed a face that was covered by a fox mask. 

"Ah, Kitsune, I was just talking about you," Liu Xiang said. "May I introduce Commander Dean Dapper, leader of the Foolhardies, and his companions, Varda Coldstone, The masked mage Aura, and—"

"Luca…it's really you," Kitsune breathed a sigh of relief. 

There was something about that voice that made my heart shudder in discomfort. I knew that voice despite the mask m.u.f.fling its sound because I've heard it often enough, ever since we were eight-years-old. 

"Muddamit…" I said. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing here?" 

Kitsune pulled off her mask and revealed her face — the stern face of a very pretty Asian girl. It was Arah.