The Foolhardies 87 Now You See Me 2

In lock-step with my earlier hand gesture, the Flag of Fools on Edo's side lowered, and like Luca's squad before them, Theren's squad pulled out of the line of fire and made their quick exit. And once again, the Foolhardies completed their disappearing act and was absorbed into the line of our center army.

As a result, Azuma's soldiers stopped their march a second time. Around them, the other units of the Magesong clan's center army continued their attacks on our vanguard, but they didn't matter. Tying Azuma and his troops up, that's what mattered. The longer we kept his sights fixed on us, the less resistance Great General Darah had in her march to slay the enemy's own Great General. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

I laughed. It was the kind of giddy laughter I hadn't expected to come out of me in such stressful circ.u.mstances, but I couldn't help feeling light-hearted. The plan was working. In this chaotic battlefield on the right side of the center armies clash, the game of tag I forced upon our enemies was in play.

But then I heard the agonized screams of the dying soldiers and my mood turned sober. I was once again reminded that this wasn't a game. We were at war and that meant death and pain. It wasn't a place for insensible laughter.

The drums of war continued to beat to the tune of We Will Rock You. Soon afterward, a third Foolhardies flag was raised. This one was directly twelve o'clock and forty yards forward from my position. Thom's Bat squad was reporting for duty.

My eyes narrowed as I watched their battle from atop Myth Chaser. "Don't mess the timing up please…"

To be absolutely honest, Thom wasn't my first choice to lead a whole squad that wasn't solely comprised of his drow clansmen. He didn't strike me as someone you could rely on to keep everyone alive. But I really didn't have a choice. I needed Ashley to support Luca and Qwipps had escaped the battle by feigning a worse injury than the one he actually had. So asking Thom to step up was my only option.

Luckily for me, Thom turned out to be an excellent choice.

From our back row seats, Aura and I watched as Thom directed his soldiers to play to their strengths. The squad was mostly formed of archers with a few sword-wielding fanatics like Enna to tank the incoming enemies who slipped past our center army's vanguard.

Thom's squad fired arrow after arrow into the ranks of Magesong soldiers until many of the dead bodies that littered around them began to resemble porcupines. And even from my spot, I could smell the scent of death from the mounting dead as their blood soaked the field.

Just like what happened when they marched toward Edo's group, Azuma's Immortals reformed their lines and marched toward Thom's Bat squad next. Another detachment—roughly two-hundred soldiers—broke off from their main unit to resume their march for the Inglorious b.a.s.t.a.r.ds previous position.

I was confident they wouldn't find them. At least not until I gave the order.

My fingers tightened on Myth Chaser's reins. "It's almost time…"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Aura take in a deep breath. "We're as ready as we'll ever be."

I glanced behind me to the soldiers I'd kept in reserve while we waited for the opportunity to strike to present itself.

"I've kept you fools waiting, haven't I?" I asked to the group.

There were several neighs of agreement. Mostly, one could sense their restlessness. It must not have been easy for centaurs to stand still.

"We're raring to charge, boss man!" Xanthor quipped.

I raised a palm up. "Don't worry. We'll be moving out soon and there will be lots of Magesong b.a.s.t.a.r.ds for you to run over."

There were a few m.u.f.fled cheers at my statement that only increased in volume after Xanthor's words of, "Start your engines, boys and girls! Get ready to unleash max horsepower!"

Luckily, in such a huge battle, the war cries of a few dozen centaurs weren't enough to catch anyone's attention. There was just too much noise to pick us out.

The next thing I did was order Jensen to raise the green flag which signaled Thom's squad to begin their retreat behind the army's vanguard. This also served as a signal for Luca's group to begin preparations to renew their attacks in an entirely different location than the one they left behind.

"We will, we will rock you," I sang along to the tune drummed by the dwarves behind me. A few centaurs joined in by stomping their feet to the ground in tune to the beats. "We will, we will rock you."

After a while, I asked Jensen to re-raise the red flag which signaled Edo's group to restart their attacks about twenty yards east of their first attempt. Luca's group, which was fighting around twenty yards west of their original location, would slowly fade back into the army as well.

We raised our signal flag once more and sent Thom's squad back to the front barely ten yards away from their first attack point. It also served as a call to retreat for Edo's group.

This meant there were now six different spots where the Foolhardies flag had risen, and each one proved difficult confrontations for the enemy Magesong soldiers who could only hold their line when they were reinforced by Azuma's Immortals. This also meant Azuma's soldiers were now stretched thin along the enemy's front and was heavily engaged with our army's vanguard. Meaning Azuma had less of his trained soldiers around him now. Not that this would be such a big difference where he was concerned, but facing five hundred with roughly my eighty cavalry members was better than taking on the entire one-thousand-man unit.

"Dean," Aura called urgently, "I found him!"

My eyes followed the direction Aura pointed at. Roughly fifty yards away on our one o'clock, a black-clad soldier riding atop a gray swifthart was swinging his spear around mercilessly against the Darah soldiers who faced him. 

My eyes narrowed at the sight of them falling like fodder to Azuma's martial might.

"Geez, I forgot how much this guy scared me..." My hands shook as if in agreement with my words.

Around Azuma, a much leaner group of soldiers gathered. They were less than the five hundred soldiers we'd accounted for, and it looked like their mounted troops were no more than twenty.

I felt a hand grasp my shoulder, and I turned around and saw Aura's blue eyes gazing back at me.

"We're ready to go on your order, Dean," she said in a resolved tone. 

At her touch, I felt my own fear get swept away as if it was nothing more than dust on my winds.h.i.+eld. We stayed in that position a minute longer before I pulled away from her feeling grat.i.tude at the inner strength she'd just shared with me. 

I glanced over to Xanthor and the rest of the centaurs who were all looking to me with breathless antic.i.p.ation. The determination in their eyes mirrored mine. They knew what I knew—now was a time for action.

"Let's ride," I said.