The Foolhardies 84 Inglorious Bastards

"Are you sure you're ready, Luca? I asked in concern. "I don't mind if you want to sit back and relax like Qwipps."

My little brother, ever the errant knight shook his head. "I'm good to go, Dean. And please don't compare me to Qwipps…"

I sighed. It really was difficult having such a responsible and capable little brother. It always made me want to do better.

Moonlight from the golden moon filtered into our command tent through the open flap, reminding me that the night's battle would start soon.

"Alright..." I patted Luca on the shoulder. "Let's get this show on the road." 

"We're still down a few hundred soldiers, Commander," Varda reminded me. 

I glanced over to my quartermaster standing confidently on the other side of the strategy table in a new set of midnight blue magician's robes underneath her sparkling dwarven chain-mail s.h.i.+rt.

"Darah promised me more soldiers for this mission." As I said this, my gaze moved from Varda to Aura who was standing next to her. "Any word on their arrival?"

"I expect they'll be here any minute now, Dean." Aura had just finished wiping her golden half mask clean with a silk handkerchief. She put it back on before she continued with, "This plan… it seems to rely too much on possibilities, don't you think?"

"The possibilities that the new enemy commander of the center army either wants Dean dead or wants his autograph," Luca expanded.

He had his arms crossed over a borrowed electrum-grade chain-mail s.h.i.+rt. His old one was full of holes that even Zarz couldn't repair in one day. I noticed that it was a little too loose for him. 

"I think it fits our style," I said, disagreeing with their deduction.

"True enough, Commander," Varda agreed. "It's definitely got that foolhardy label we're getting known for."

"That's not a good thing, Varda," Luca sighed.

His fingers fiddled with the handle of Shaqs' double-bladed battle-ax which he'd taken as his replacement weapon in honor of the fallen troll who'd defended his life.

"You sure that's not a little too big for you?" I asked while eyeing the heavy-looking ax.

"It's not that big… about the same size as my broadsword really," Luca explained.

To prove he could actually carry the ax, Luca lifted it off the ground with one hand and draped its handle across his right shoulder, perfectly mimicking Cloud Strife and his Buster Sword pose.

Regrettably, my follow up jab at how Luca looked smaller now was interrupted by the sound of the tent flap opening wider. I glanced behind me and saw Zarz, our unit's gnome artificer, walk in with a cloth-wrapped bundle in his hands.

"You've got a bunch of centaurs and elves looking for you outside, boss," Zarz announced in his cherubic voice.

"About time." I eyed the package in Zarz's hands. "Is that what I think it is."

Zarz's grin was so wide it looked distorted on his cherubic face. "Updated design. Should do its job properly this time unlike when we were rescuing Luca."

My own grin may have looked equally villainous to others. 'Good. Give it to Edo so he can put it in our bag of holding."

Satisfied with how things were coming along, I readied myself to meet our new guests. But as I was walking out of the command tent, Aura called out to me, "Dean, the plan—"

"—will work," I said, right before I walked through the tent flap. "As Sun Tzu said, know thyself and know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories."

I heard Varda ask, "Why's the commander talking funny?"

Outside our command tent, Edo was chatting cheerfully with a familiar-looking centaur. He was a brown-skinned young man with short curly hair from the waist up, and the white coat body of a stallion from the waist down.

"Xanthor!" I called excitedly.

Xanthor clopped closer to me and gave me the fairy version of a soldier's salute, that reversed fist to the chest thing Varda did a lot.

"Howdy, Commander Dapper!" Xanthor said, revealing rows of gleaming white teeth as he smiled. "Surviving members of the Dash Kadash unit requesting to board join your crazy party."

"Request granted," I said while reaching a hand up to the much taller centaur.

No, it didn't annoy me one bit that he was way taller than me. He was half-horse so it didn't count.

Edo came over to stand beside Xanthor. "The Dash Kadash survivors brought another fifty centaurs with them." Edo pointed his thumb behind him. "Looks like we've got cavalry now, Dean."

I looked over to the spot Edo pointed at and saw nearly seventy centaurs lined together in three neat rows. Many of them carried spears and glaives but there were a few, who, like Xanthor, sported war hammers.

"Hope you guys are ready to make a mess, Xanthor," I said cheerily.

Our very own cavalry. The Foolhardies were getting a temporary upgrade. And that brought a warm feeling to my chest.

"We're ready, Commander Dapper… but you might want to break up those knife-ears from making a mess right here," Xanthor Made a whining sound I figured was his version of laughter. He nodded his head to the left. "Elves… LOL."

I turned my gaze to my right and saw an interesting scene taking place.

Thom Blackthorn was standing in front of a group of blue-robed soldiers. All of them had hoods over their heads except for their commander who was staring daggers at Thom. Not one to be outdone, Thom's murderous glare was equally foreboding.

 It was immediately obvious why there was such enmity between them. Thom was a drow, a dark elf. The group staring him down were also elves but of a lighter breed. As I stared at the new arrivals, I quickly realized that I knew who they were.

"Theren Everleaf?" I asked doubtfully. The surprise spilled out of my voice despite of myself. I hadn't expected to see the elven sergeant who led the elves of our original unit away from the Foolhardies when we first formed. "Is that really you?"

It looked like it took the dark-haired elf a lot of effort to avert his gaze away from Thom and move on to me. But he managed it.

"Hail and well met, Dean Dapper." Theren dipped his head, pointed chin and all, toward me. "It has been quite a spell since last we looked upon each other."

Around this time, Aura showed up to stand beside me. Her arrival caused Theren's segreen eyes to widen before he bowed even lower to her than he did to me. He must have known who she was now.

Aura returned his bow. "Hail and well met, Sergeant. It is good to see you."

"You honor me with your words, sorceress," he said graciously, but in that pompous elven tone that always sounded like they were bragging even if there weren't.

"Not that we aren't happy to see you again, Theren, but what are you guys doing here?" My eyes searched the other hooded figures behind him. I could guess who they were. "Didn't you say you weren't interested in joining up with us?"

"Yes, we did say that, didn't we," he turned around to glance at his fellow elves.

Each of them pulled off their hoods and revealed a variety of elven faces ranging from apologetic to worried.

After his gaze had swept his group, Theren's eyes found me again. He said, "We arrogantly a.s.sumed you wouldn't be able to lead us properly, and yet… here you are, contributing to the war effort in ways we couldn't even imagine."

A spattering of "well done" ensued among the gathered elves.

Theren waited for them to finish before he continued with, "It was we who lacked foresight," he lowered his eyes, "but, if you will allow it, we have come to fight at your side once again and reclaim our tarnished honor."

There was an audible hoot of laughter from Thom that might have gotten him mobbed by rival elves, but no one moved. Everyone was waiting for me to speak. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"Dean—"

I held up a hand to stop Aura. There wasn't any need for her to take their side as I believed, like another famous philosopher named Bruce Lee did, that mistakes are always forgivable if they come from those who have courage enough to admit them.

"Sure, why not," I said, a mischievous grin appearing on my face. "I'll work you inglorious b.a.s.t.a.r.ds to the bone to make up for snubbing us the first time."

There was a noticeable collective sighing from the elves who were relieved that I hadn't turned them away. Next thing I know, the elves, centaurs, and surviving Foolhardies began to greet each other in shared camaraderie.

"Are you sure about this, Commander?" someone asked from behind me.

I didn't need to turn around to know who had asked. It was the way he said commander like it was a joke that gave him away.

"Not going to be a problem, is it, Thom?" I asked.

"You saved my cousin last night so it appears I owe you one, Dean," Thom whispered.

"Don't worry... the inglorious b.a.s.t.a.r.ds will do all the heavy lifting." I turned around and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll be relying on you more now that Qwipps is milking his injury."

"Smart move, if you ask me," Thom replied. "Your plan might get us all killed, after all."

"Or, it's a super awesome plan that will win us even more rewards," I insisted.

As if on cue, the horns of war began their loud thundering. It was the call to gather into formations.

I waited for the booming to finish before I raised my own voice to the gathered crowd. "Alright, Foolhardies. Let's go to war!"