The Foolhardies 207 March or Die

Will they catch up or won't they? Will they kill each other or won't they? Will they escape or won't they? 

See, so many scenarios for this one gruelling escape. 

Dawn had come and gone, and our march across the desert continued at double our usual pace. We had no choice as we were being chased by a rather stubborn fool.

Great General Garm hounded our heels, and although we managed to keep away for now, every hour brought him ever closer. 

"You know, if we don't shake off Garm soon he'll chase us all the way to our secret oasis," Luca commented. 

He was riding his swifthart to the left of me and readying to take our cavalry back to delay the enemy for as long as they could without incurring casualties. 

I know, I know, sounds like wishful thinking, but it wasn't. Luca and I had a pretty good plan. 

"Hopefully, the traps we set along the way will help somewhat," Aura added. 

She was riding her swifthart to my right and readying to lead her Magehand ahead of us using the few sand gliders we had left so she could set up the traps that might stall our enemy. 

"If you two manage to get your jobs done quickly, we'll make it out of this okay," I reasoned. "Get to it… and take care, please…" 

"I've never heard you sound so worried before, Dean," Aura said in a light tone. 

"You don't have to worry, Dean," Luca assured me. "We'll get the job done." 

On that final note, each of them took a hundred soldiers and left my side — Luca to the north and Aura to the southwest. 

"What do you think the odds of us getting through this alive are, Commander?" Varda asked me. 

She and her much smaller swifthart — the kind that could accommodate a dwarf's smaller stature — had replaced Luca on my left side. 

"Heck if I know," I lied. 

I knew that the odds weren't great but she didn't need to hear me say it because I was certain she knew it too. The situation was dire and there was just no point in confirming her worst fears. 

"We'll get through it," I managed to say. 

"You don't really lie so well, Dean," Qwipps commented. 

He had replaced Aura on my right. 

"Muddamit," Qwipps cursed. "It's just another day for the Foolhardies, huh…"

I looked up at the dull glow of the Fayne's sun and said, "Yup… just another day." 

One thing had happened with the rising of the dawn. We'd lost over a hundred soldiers including most of Azuma's Immortals. Since they were all viseres, most of them didn't carry a sun ring that would allow them to stay during the day. 

So I sent them off in a different direction from our march south right before dawn so they'd be far away from us and Garm's army. I gave them further orders to march southeast after they returned later tonight which would keep them out of Garm's path in case he traveled back north after failing to chase us. It was a small blessing that they just might survive even if we didn't. 

I could have probably gone with them, but I was afraid of leaving Luca, Aura, and the rest of my unit in such dire circumstances. Azuma had stayed behind as well. So did Ty, which was a real boon for his magic played a huge role in the traps Aura planned to set. 

Now, instead of the original five-hundred soldiers I marched south with, our main force was down to two-hundred. But our smaller numbers also meant we moved faster than originally planned, and it was nearly lunch before our enemy managed to get within striking distance of us. 

It was at this point that the first stage of the plan bore fruit. 

Luca and his mounted Ravagers along with Xanthor's Dash Riders, a total of a hundred cavalry, had stayed to the rear of our march this whole time. But now they were turning around to engage the enemy cavalry that was getting ever closer. 

"Steady, boy," I told Myth Chaser as I caressed his neck. "I need you to make sure I don't get thrown off while I check on Luca, okay?" 

Myth Chaser grunted with an affirmative. It gave me enough confidence to close my eyes and leave him in the driver's seat. 

"Oh, great fool, let me see the unseen that I might know the unknowable," I whispered. 

This was immediately followed by a stabbing pain in my irises that was indicative of overusing my fairy gift, causing me to cry out in pain. 

"Are you alright, Commander?" Varda asked in concern. 

 "Fine…" I breathed. "Watch the road for me." 

Once the pain had subsided, I opened my eyes and saw that I'd successfully activated tactical view. 

From on high I watched Luca's cavalry while in arrow formation charge at our enemy. However, just as they were about to hit the enemy cavalry's front, Luca and Xanthor split their forces in two with each of them leading half to the right and left sides. 

This allowed them to narrowly avoid a head on clash with the enemy cavalry which some might think was an act of cowardice, but it was all part of the plan. 

Just as they each swerved to the sides, both Xanthor's and Luca's riders dropped their payloads on the path of the enemy cavalry's charge.

I watched with grim satisfaction as the first of their riders reached our black powder grenades, and in the next second, get blown into pieces by the ensuing explosions.

Boom, boom, boom! My vision was covered in dust cloud after dust cloud as the explosions rocked the desert floor. And although I couldn't hear them, I was mostly certain that the pained screams of riders and their mounts could be heard for miles around. 

"What a waste of good swiftharts," I noted. 

"Muddamit," Qwipps explained. "I didn't think that would work!"

"Although dropping them from the skies is way more effective," I said. "Our guys were too close to the fireworks like this…" 

"Is our cavalry safe, Commander?" Varda asked. 

I searched the ground for signs of my men, and was happy to report to Varda that their evasive maneuvers had proved successful. 

"How about the enemy cavalry?" Varda asked again.

"There's still a lot of them… but I'm guessing Garm will think twice before overreaching a second time," I answered. 

"Too bad, he wasn't leading the charge himself, huh, Dean," Qwipps chuckled. 

"Y-yeah," I said half-heartedly. 

I suspect that if Garm had in fact been leading the charge, then Luca's attack might have failed. Once again I was thankful that the great general continued to underestimate us. 

"Jensen!" I called at the same time as I disengaged Fool's Insight. 

Somewhere close behind me, in one of the wagons we'd loaned from Shanks' company to ferry our injured soldiers across the desert, I heard him answer back, "Yes, commander?" 

"Raise the flag and order the cavalry back," I ordered. "Then let everyone know to pack in tighter. I don't want anyone straying from the path now, you hear?" 

Our formation was as narrow as we could make it without extending our line long enough to get attacked in the rear. 

Garm's cavalry managed to attack our backs a second time, and then a third, but their dwindling number now made it easier for Luca's cavalry to beat them back. 

It became obvious to me then that the great general was keeping more and more of his cavalry back. I suspected that he was expecting another brazen attack to come, and was simply waiting to counterattack whatever we had planned. 

It was past lunch now. We were nearing our destination. This was also around the time when the first of Aura's traps finally made an appearance. 

The reason for our narrow formation became apparent in this stretch of desert. While we marched harmlessly across the sandy floor, the army that followed us didn't fare so well. 

As soon as their right and left wings reached an area we'd just crossed, all hell broke loose. 

The right wing triggered fire mines left behind by Aura's fire magicians. And although she herself wasn't proficient in arcane traps, the explosive power of these fire mines told me she'd lent her own mana to the making of the mine's runes. 

The left wing trigged ice mines left behind by the chosen one himself, and the icicles that exploded out of the ground were like the spires of an ice palace.

Fire and ice danced across the desert floor, and any other army would have expired by now. But no, they were being led by Garm, and the half-elf was stubborn, and seemingly unkillable, for while our arcane traps decimated the enemy's left and right wing, his center forces remained mostly intact. 

"I see them, Commander," Varda called. "The gliders are parked at the entrance to the oasis leading into the gorge… um, but they're not alone…" 

"You mean Pike's team is with them now, Varda?" Qwipps asked. 

I didn't need to hear Varda's reply to know that wasn't the case because I could see the situation for myself.

A ways to the south of us, we saw the towering sandstone cliffs that marked the southern mountain range of the Westersand Desert. A desert gorge cut right into the middle of these cliffs, and at its entrance we could see the desert firs of the secret oasis. 

More than a dozen banners floated high above the oasis as well as atop either side of the thirty-foot cliff walls. But they weren't our banners. No, these banners — all of which were of a red cross painted over a white field — belonged to another group. 

"Okay… who invited the Pilgrimage to this party?" I asked. 

Chapter end