The Foolhardies 209 Two Friends

She wasn't even a little bit uncomfortable by this sudden reveal, something I, Luca, or Aura could wrap around our heads. We all had the same dumbfounded expressions splashed across our faces. 

"You… You…" Seriously, I was at a loss for words. 

"Yes, I'm in the Fayne," Arah answered the unasked question. 

"Why… you…" I hadn't realized how much shock could dull my speech patterns. 

"Yes, I didn't tell you, and no, I'm not sorry for going behind your back," she answered almost like she was reading my mind because these were the exact questions I wanted to ask. 

I pointed at her. Then, unable to bring the words forth from my tongue-tied mouth, I pointed to Liu Xiang before pointing at back at Arah. 

Mercifully, Arah shook her head. 

"No, I didn't join the Pilgrimage. I'm only working with them temporarily so I could a.s.sist you guys without letting you know that I was in the Fayne…" Arah addressed Aura when she spoke, possibly to a.s.sure Aura that she wasn't a fairy hating racist. "I didn't expect us to meet on my first mission… but there was no other choice but to come and rescue you myself."

"We didn't…" Again, my words wouldn't come. 

"Yes, you did, and Liu Xiang helped me convince the Charlatan to send you aid," Arah explained. "They're very interested in you and Luca by the way… disturbingly so."

Liu Xiang cleared his throat. 

"As I've already stated, our interest lies in your recent achievements," he clarified. "The success of the Dapper brothers in the Fayne is something all humans, viseres and slaves, can look up to." 

I was surprised with how he made it sound like me and Luca were people to root for. It was as if they'd pinned hopes on us or something which was insane as we weren't doing what we were doing for the betterment of mankind in the Fayne. 

Despite the number of questions increasing inside my brain, the only thing I managed to say out loud was, "Charlatan?"

"The Charlatan is our ill.u.s.trious leader," Liu Xiang revealed. "He told me to send you his regards and hoped to meet you in the near future."

"Um," I didn't know how to respond to that either. Honestly, something was wrong with my brain, and I know what caused it. 

I turned baleful eyes at Arah. "How—"

"It was easy," Arah answered before I could even finish my sentence. "After I realized how deep-rooted Mudgard's link to the Fayne really was, making contact with people who were connected to the other side was as simple as surfing social media." 

"Our recruiters contacted Kitsune after they noticed her researching the Fayne, and we recruited her after we discovered she had close ties to you," Liu Xiang admitted. "Sadly, she turned us down."

"Like I said, I'm only with them so I can help you and Ty save Luca," Arah repeated. 

"Why didn't you just talk to us?" Aura asked in a voice that was genuinely concerned. 

"Because you and Dean would have been against it… You'd probably keep telling me how dangerous it is here," Arah answered. 

"Well, why do you think now?" Finally, my voice was back, and I expect annoyance at how smug Arah sounded for duping us was the cause. I pointed a thumb behind me toward the enemy army readying to attack us. "There's a high chance that we would have died today…"

"Which is why I'm here to save you, stupid!" she countered. 

"You're the stupid one, stupid!" I fired back at her. 

"Perhaps the two of you can have this argument after we've dealt with our current dilemma," Liu Xiang interrupted. 

"He's right, Commander," Varda said, speaking up for the first time since the meeting began. "I'm not particularly happy with it either, but maybe we can defeat Garm's smaller force with the Pilgrimage's help…"

"But… aren't these guys anti-fairy…" Luca said worriedly. 

"They've treated our people fairly so far," Aura explained. "And Varda's right, we need their help if we're going to escape from my uncle with our lives intact. Garm's not known for giving up…"

She was right. If anything, Garm was an even bigger wild bull than Redbull was.

"Liu Xiang," I said finally. "We'd like to officially request the Pilgrimage's a.s.sistance."

While still smiling, Liu Xiang shook his head. 

"You misunderstand, Commander Dapper," he said. "Our auxiliary force is already at your disposal. In fact, for this engagement, we would like for you to lead the ten thousand soldiers into battle."

"Wh-what…" Once again, the shock of what I was hearing had taken my voice away from me. 

"Like I said, we are interested in your well-being, and the Charlatan would like me to see first-hand how you take command in battle," Liu Xiang. "Of course, I and Kitsune will a.s.sist you since you're unfamiliar with our soldiers different strengths."

Part of me wanted to scream out loud that too much was happening too fast, but another part of me, the leader in me, was getting excited at the possibility of leading a force as big as this one. Didn't that technically make me a general?

I felt a hand grasp my arm and squeeze, and I looked to my right and found Aura had steered Starlight to Myth Chaser's side. 

"We'll follow your lead as always, Commander," she said with eyes alight with trust.

"Yup, even though most of your plans end up a little too crazy," Varda added. 

"Don't encourage him, Varda," Luca sighed. Then he glanced sideways at me. "Technically, if you do agree to their offer, won't that make you a temporary general?" 

Luca said the thought out loud. Not me. So I was allowed to feel a little pride at the thought. 

"Don't let that get to your head, Dean," Arah chuckled. 

I glared at her because I wasn't about to forgive her for this foolish stunt she pulled, at least not yet.

"You sure you can keep up with my tactics?" I challenged. 

"Puhlease, my tactics could run circles around your tactics," she fired back at me. 

"This isn't Starcraft or Chess or Call of Duty, Arah… These are real people who will die if we f*ck up," I chided her as she was being a little too smug. 

That did the trick. It was one thing to be smart and be a great chest player — which Arah certainly was — but it was another thing to carry the weight of lives on your shoulders. It was a fact that drove me to tears and frustration that first time I led the Foolhardies against Azuma. 

Thankfully, the splash of uncertainty that momentarily appeared on Arah's face comforted me. At the very least, she was self-aware of the challenge before her. 

"I know, Dean…" she said with a determined voice that matched the change in her expression. "But I will handle my sh*t if it means bringing you guys home."

"Why did you do this? Why put yourself in harm's way?" I asked frustrated.

"Because we're friends," she stated matter-of-factly.

And just like that, whatever annoyance I'd felt appearance evaporated. 

I sighed just before I smiled at her. "Alright, Kitsune, tell me what kind of fire power you brought with you."

Arah returned my smile before answering, "The Pilgrimage brought their big guns just to impress you, Dean… and they are an impressive operation." 

The temporary pilgrim strategist wasn't kidding. The army they'd brought with them really was impressive.

At the front stood the three-thousand heavy infantry, and they all wore matching electrum-grade chainmail armor underneath their pilgrim tabards. They wore heavy metal helmets shaped like buckets with slits where the eyes would be. The sword and kite-s.h.i.+elds they held in each hand were all silver-tier too. 

The three-thousand light infantry behind the heavy infantry all wore electrum-grade cuira.s.ses which they combined with padded jackets, metal armguards, steel-toed boots, and barbute helmets. Their collective weapons of choice were two-handed halberds. 

On the cliffs above, two thousand archers, all in padded white armor and barbute helmets, each carried steel crossbows that you'd be hard-pressed to find in the Fayne because fairies had a particular love for the wooden longbow. 

"They're repeating crossbows but unlike any design seen in Mudgard," Arah explained. "Each one can fire five bolts as fast as a colt with a maximum range of three-hundred meters."

"Human science combined with fairy technology, huh?" I guessed. 

"Probably the same thing you've been doing with that gnome friend of yours," Arah agreed. 

"But we'd never thought to bring gunpowder into the Fayne as it would set a dangerous precedent, but I understand you've already done this very thing, Dean," Liu Xiang interrupted. 

"Black powder isn't gunpowder… it's totally a Fayne product," I said defensively. "Give me some credit. I know what kind of implications bringing gunpowder to the Fayne would have."

This was a half-truth as I really was thinking of making gunpowder when Zarz and I stumbled instead on the black powder recipe. 

Behind the infantry and waiting by the entrance to the gorge was a cavalry unit of fifteen hundred swifthart riders. They wore similar gear as the heavy infantry but with lances instead of swords. 

To round off the army were the five-hundred support and supply staff, all of whom were humans dressed in white pilgrim robes. In fact, there wasn't a single fairy among them apart from my unit which I divided into squads and positioned among other units of similar types. 

"Impressed yet?" Arah asked playfully.

"Yup, they're definitely something else," I said. "At least in terms of equipment and discipline… but how are they in a fight?"

"Honestly, that might be a challenge," Arah admitted. "From what I've learned, the Pilgrimage usually deals in hit-and-run tactics… this standing army is more of an experiment." 

"So they're mostly amateurs at warfare," I guessed. 

"Which is where you and the Foolhardies come in," Arah admitted. "Dean… there's more to it…"

"They want to recruit me," I answered, guessing as much. "They want me to fight for human interests in the Fayne against the fairy clans."

Arah nodded wordlessly. 

"Well, that's a problem for another day," I reasoned. "Right now, we've got a great general to frighten away… care to join me and Aura when we meet him?"