The Foolhardies 164 The Fast and the Furious

Honestly, it was a good plan, turning an otherwise indefensible oasis in this sand valley into a nearly unassailable piece of land protected by a magical hedge maze. It was nothing short of brilliant and something I wished I'd thought of too which is probably why I chose the counter-tactic that I used. Just so I could poke a hole into this brilliant strategy.

My counter plan wasn't all perfect though. The heat generated by being the efreet alone was bordering uncomfortable and slipping into scalding territory. There was the smoke caused by the burning hedge wall too. It got into my nose and was slowly murdering my lungs, causing me to cough again and again.

I glanced over to my right, to the other side of Red Bull where Aura rode on Starlight.

Aura, being the gorgeous elven maiden that she was, rarely sweats, so seeing her brow glisten with sweat worried me a little. It was a sign that she was beginning to struggle with her efreet summoning, which was a powerful spell, but also had a lot of drawbacks such as losing control of a mighty fire spirit and letting its rampage across the valley where both friends and foe were gathered.

I did not want a repeat of that Broken Sellsword's Canyon Debacle so I called to her and said, "Release the summon as soon as he burns through the lash hedge wall… we'll handle the rest."

Aura didn't even turn my way. She simply nodded as her attentions were focused on keeping her efreet on its leash.

Luckily enough, the efreet just burned through the maze's last hedge wall. However, waiting for it on the other side were half a dozen fairy magicians, who, at the moment of its appearance erected a Shield of Flames to keep it at bay.

Using the same element to render the spirit ineffective was another smart move on their commander's part. More and more I was enjoying this matching of wits.

"Aura, release the efreet," I ordered.

Aura raised her staff forward, and whispering words I couldn't hear that canceled the summoning spell.

As the efreet exploded into a shower of sparks and flame, it overloaded the Shield of Flames and caused its own implosion, a strategy I'd learned during my first encounter with Azuma's forces during that faithful night when my journey truly began.

Through the smoke and embers, we galloped, and as we cleared the hedge, our shadowblades sang in the air, swishing toward the surprised faces of fairies who were too confident in their magic.

I felt my falchion's shadowblade sink deep into the left shoulder of the fairy before me, but I didn't stop to check if it had fallen from my attack. I urged Myth Chaser onward and toward the next target.

A little ways ahead of me, Red Bull was swinging his battle-ax left and right, cleaving through foes that weren't prepared for his charge.

Suddenly, as if by some invisible hand, Red Bull's mount skidded to a stop, forcing its rider off its back and sending Red Bull sailing forward like he was in a car crash.

The sight of wooden spikes piercing the red swfthart in places at its front caused me to veer Myth Chaser to the right, and I was just in time to avoid the spiked wooden barricades that were in the way.

"Turn right!" I warned.

But I wasn't Red Bull. I didn't have the strength to command his men, and although some heard my warning and followed my lead, many more followed their master into the arms of the trap that had been placed there and hidden in the mist.

"Aura!" I yelled.

She appeared at my side.

"General Red Bull?" she asked.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw him rise groggily to his feet. Blood poured down from a deep cut on his face.

"He's alive," I answered, and then I saw his predicament and swore. "Sh**!"

Enemy soldiers carrying tower shields were beginning to surround Red Bull and those of his men who'd join him in the plunge down to into the sands.

"They're using an inverted phalanx formation to pen him in," I explained to Aura at the same time as I urged Myth Chaser to turn around.

April Valentine cut in front of me, causing me to pull Myth Chaser back.

"I'll go back for the general… you continue with the plan and break through the enemy's defenses," she said with a face full of steely-eyed determination. And as she turned around to lead a second charge to where her boss had fallen, she glanced over her shoulder and said, "Kill the Dawn Breaker if you can. We'll catch up."

April Valentine left me my Foolhardies cavalry while she took the rest of her riders off to rescue their general.

A quick count told me that I had fifty riders including me, Aura, and Xanthor. And a quick survey of my surroundings told me we were between a healthy side of hedge wall and defensive barricades hidden in the mist with enemy soldiers most likely mixed in there.

Sadly, I realized that this situation wouldn't even make the top ten of worst-case scenarios my Foolhardies and I had stumbled into so I wasn't paralyzed with fear.  

"Quickness is the essence of war," I repeated another beloved Sun Tzu quote before I made my decision. "Let's ride!"

"Roger that, Commander," Xanthor answered. "Put the pedal to the metal, centaurs!"

As one, our squad skirted the narrow space between the hedge maze and the enemy's defensive formations—literally making it the space between life and death—running along their line and back to where I guessed Luca and the rest of the Foolhardies had broken through.

A few enemy soldiers were brazen enough to leave the safety of the mist and barricades to try and attack us. Our centaurs' arrows turned their choice into a very fatal mistake.

Arrows shot at us too, but the speed of our passing was all we needed to dodge. There were a few hits but those centaurs or swifthart riders that were wounded pushed onward. They knew what was at stake.

For my part, I did my best to lead them safely through the path as quickly as possible, zigging and zagging past clumps of defenders who jumped out at us and cutting off limbs of those fools who were too eager to nab my head.

Eventually, we'd circled long enough and found what we'd been looking for, although I didn't really expect to see the large ice spikes poking out of the ground like some enormous geyser had frozen over the valley floor.

"Ty's power really is impressive," Aura noted.

I nodded disbelievingly as my bias over my eight years of friendship with the guy wouldn't allow me to go past the old Ty to see this new and improved and highly useful version two-point-oh.

Ahead of us, Ashley's shield squad was front and center. They were in a clash of shield walls against the enemy's own formation.

To the left and right of the shield wall, Azuma's Immortals and Edo's Bastards took up arms against large clusters of enemies who'd failed to get around Ashley's shield wall.

As I rode, I watched Edo cut through soldier after soldier like the war machine that he was. On the other side of the wall, Azuma was performing deathblow after deathblow on all challengers. And in my head I thought that I was so lucky these two warriors had chosen to follow me.

Ashley herself was proving once again how useful it was to have a shieldmaiden in the unit as she led our forces forward inch by inch.

"Push forward, fairies and viseres!" she commanded in a very gender-neutral kind of way.

Her shield wall slammed into the enemy's own wall, and with a timed and mighty heave, they pushed against their enemy, forcing the less-trained shield wall to step back another inch.

Arrows from behind both shield walls flew over the night sky, peppering the other side with the promises of death from above.

Death cries and war cries could be heard in equal measure, and as we approached them, the thrill of battle was beginning to take its hold over me. This would no doubt be marred later after I'd taken a life and regretted it, but for now, I relished in this heart-pumping feeling of clashing fates.

Then I saw my brother on the far side of Ashley's shield wall, further back than Azuma's position, and watched him struggle against his opponent.

Luca had parried another attack from the Dawn Breaker's greatsword, but it was clear that he was on the back pedal. He looked winded and I could see why. His opponent was relentless. Each attack transitioned to another again and again in what I could only describe as some kind of infinite combo.

My brother managed to dodge, block, and parry most of the attacks well enough, but it was clear that managing this barrage of attacks was draining him.

"Sh**!" I hissed. "Aura, take command and follow me in if you can. Stay by Edo if you can't…"

I snapped Myth Chaser's reins and urged him to gallop faster, almost leaving behind Aura and Xanthor behind me.

"Ashley! Make a hole!" I ordered.

Ashley glanced to her left and saw me galloping toward their clash of shield walls. Her eyes went wide. Then, with barely any hesitation she yelled, "Step off in three, two, one… now!"

As one her squad took a coordinated two steps back while maintaining formation. This opened up a narrow path through at the same time as confusing the enemy that had at that point been pushing against Ashley's Shield squad for all they were worth.

The result was that many of these enemy soldiers fell forward, some toppling over completely. It wasn't a problem however as Myth Chaser simply jumped past some of them and stepped on others, bulldozing his way through the narrow tunnel Ashley had created for me.

As my Foolhardies saw me pass, a loud and raucous cheer rang out.

"Foolhardies!" they yelled.

And, fortunately, I had the presence of mind to raise my falchion high in salute as I passed by, earning me an even louder salute.

No, I wasn't just showing off. I was boosting my soldiers' morale like any proper Commander would.

I pushed past the shield wall, the lone swifthart rider to reach the other side of it. Then I was moving past Azuma's Immortals who all cheered me on while their squad leader, my instructor, was shaking his head, and I was almost certain I was going to get reprimanded later for going reckless.

But could you blame me? Luca was the main reason I was in the Fayne, and seeing him struggling, something that was such a rare sight, sent the big brother in me into protective mode. I needed to help my brother. I needed to beat the Dawn Breaker.

I was ten feet away. Luca was on one knee and clearly out of breath. His opponent had his greatsword raised high, ready to deliver a blow that might have injured Luca.

Five feet of distance separated us when the enemy suddenly turned my way, and I knew thanks to Fool's Insight that he had baited me in and was going to attack Myth Chaser instead of Luca in an attempt to unseat me.

"No, you don't!" I yelled.

I launched myself off my mount with my falchion slashing sideward just before the Dawn Breaker swung down.

Our shadowblades collided in mid-air in a resounding shriek that scratched at my ears. But the force of his attack sent me crashing backward and I found myself falling luckily onto the soft sand.

I tumbled backward and reflexively rolled away to protect my spine. This had the added effect of getting me back on my feet, and not a moment too soon as a broadsword was already snaking its way toward me.

Our shadowblades clashed a second time, but this time I held my ground, the soles of my boots digging into the sand as the weight of his weapon bore down on me.

At the corner of my eye, I glimpsed my mount slowing to a stop next to Luca, and in my head, I thought that he was such a smart swifthart who deserved a treat later. That was the last errant thought I had before my mind went into battle mode. It was time for some serious enemy officer hunting.

Chapter end