V3Ch20-A Chosen Challenge
The necromancer and the half of his forces he’d had with him at Vors reached Humun.
Shortly after that, he received the message through one of the undead he’d sent to serve as Andric and Tatiana’s guards: “Master, War Chief Andric says that either your father or your sister will be accompanying General Caracalla in the Kingdom’s attack on the Salt Waste. The General and his immediate supporters are also aware that they must expect a necromancer specifically.”
Half-sister, the necromancer immediately corrected in his head. But that was a petty detail. He just hated her and her father intensely and wanted to put as much distance between himself and them as he could in his own mind.
“Thank Andric and Tatiana for their high risk spying,” Tybalt replied instantly. “This is valuable information that accelerates my plans.”
Again, I have to accelerate, he thought.
“Yes, master.”
He quickly told the others about the new information.
“This confirms one of our theories about the General’s powers,” Vidalia said immediately.
Tybalt shook his head. “No, it doesn’t. It could just as easily mean that he and the High Priestess are in communication, or that someone else has looked into our activities. I assume your seer powers are not the only form of scrying that exists in this world. I am… aware that there are people who have even used mystic runes to defend against scrying previously.”
The foxgirl raised an eyebrow at that and gave Tybalt a look that told him she would have more questions when they were alone.
“That seems like a perfect reason to bring up something that Kistana and I were considering,” Mariella said. She looked at the catgirl, and Kistana gave her a slightly hesitant smile and a nod.
“What’s that?” Tybalt asked.
“We would like to be the ones to lead the expedition against the bandits,” the fire mage said.
“Why? I was going to go personally.”
“It will be nice to take on a mission I don’t feel any moral ambiguity about,” Mariella said. “Killing bandits has a nice, familiar feeling. Like we’re policing our territory properly.” She smiled as she spoke, but Tybalt sensed a hidden tension in her.
It’s possible she will never be entirely happy with having betrayed the Kingdom. At least not until we actually hold power. That has a way of smoothing over any questions of loyalty.
“Not only that, my King, but you clearly have larger concerns,” said Kistana, speaking formally, perhaps because they were within earshot of many of Tybalt’s soldiers. “We hate to be parted from you for even a moment, but I must acknowledge you are well defended. You have an army devoted to your protection, and Dero is close, too, in the event that you need a quick escape. You have said that before the General appears, you must take Fort Hadrian, correct?”
“That would definitely make our plans easier,” Tybalt said.
“No, it’s absolutely necessary, from the things you’ve expressed before, future husband,” Victoria said firmly. “Don’t downplay the risks of failure just because you don’t want to be separated from members of our circle.”
“The vixen’s right, Tybalt,” Dero said, her voice surprisingly gentle. “You’ll see them again.”
“This is the furthest thing from goodbye,” Mariella agreed. “You owe me, Your Majesty. The sight of the society you’ll build once you hold real power over more than just the beastfolk.”
She looked long and steadily into his eyes.
Tybalt returned her gaze and finally nodded.
“I can see I’m being outvoted,” he said evenly. “But I’m going to take Fort Hadrian very quickly. If you two can’t defeat a simple group of bandits by the time I return, with whatever forces you decide you need, then don’t expect to be in charge of anything important for the next few years.”
“I think we’ve just been given a challenge,” Mariella said, looking at Kistana.
The huntress’s aura, constantly wrapped around her body like armor, burned a little brighter as she smiled more broadly.
“I guess we’ll just have to do our best.”
***
“All right, Baldwin, talk to me. What did you face on that mountain?”
She gestured toward the peak beneath which they had recovered his body.
The revenant was the first one that Mariella approached, despite her distaste for him, after she and Kistana split up to prepare for the journey.
While Kistana was selecting a squad of killers from among the beastfolk, Mariella would focus on gathering intelligence and making a battle plan.
“They were fortified above a certain point, there,” Baldwin said, pointing. He paused. “Wait, are you intent on actually going to face these people? You know I would have died again fighting them if not for sheer luck?”
“Yes, and I intend to be prepared for the threat level they represent. Focus.”
“You’re pregnant, right? Tybalt had mentioned at some point- ”
“Focus, Baldwin,” the fire mage said. “Tybalt trusts me to take this mission on. You and I are going to do this as well as we can, or we’ll be killed in the attempt. Maybe Tybalt will torture your soul or something if you lose me on this mission. So just focus on planning it well. Help me do that, and perhaps we’ll be talking about how many undead Tybalt trusts you to command on a future mission… instead of how almost all the undead he sent with you this time got destroyed.”
The revenant nodded begrudgingly. “Fair point. Far be it for me to tell the master how to keep his women safe. As for our experience before…”
Baldwin began from the beginning this time, explaining in detail everything that had happened on the mountain when he and Sir Damek led the first expedition.
Mariella only occasionally stopped and asked him questions.
“You said it was a pretty steep climb on the side you climbed up?”
“Yes. Difficult for the living members of our party.”
She followed up a few minutes later with, “They were armed with javelins and crossbows?”
“Yes.”
She went silent, and Baldwin finished telling his tale.
“So, when I went over the edge to actually fight them directly, the guys behind me got impaled with a long pike, and I ended up in a one-on-one fight with a crazy bitch armed with a polearm.”
“Language,” Mariella said, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. She fixed her eyes on Baldwin’s. “And was she actually crazy at all, or was she just a woman who was fighting you and pushing you hard?”
“Y-Yeah, the latter.”
“All right. A berserker would be something different. That would be useful information if true. But no, just a normal fighter as far as you’re aware.”
“Probably had a class, mid-level, if I had to guess. Not as strong as Tybalt. I probably could have won. It was a hair’s-breadth of difference between us.”
“You want to fight her again,” Mariella observed.
It wasn’t a question, and he simply nodded.
“It sounds like they were fairly entrenched, and this is a mountain,” she concluded after he had finished. “Attacking uphill against a fortified position is a good way to get massive casualties. The bandits had you at a massive disadvantage.”
“According to some writing you studied in officer training, yes,” Baldwin said, gritting his teeth. “But we are the undead. Your books don’t plan for us.”
She clicked her tongue at him. “The training program exists for a reason. Most of the material in officer training isn’t rendered irrelevant by the existence of undead. This is real life. You are just a soldier, even if a slightly more dangerous one. I know you get around, say, some of the advantages of cavalry, because you and others like you aren’t scared when you see other soldiers around you being trampled. But you still have the shape of a human and eighty percent of the limitations of one. How are you better at attacking uphill than a human? Are you a better climber than me? Can you wield a bow while climbing up a rock face?”
“You know the fucking answer to that,” the revenant grumbled.
“And that’s why you died. Again. Let’s try not to make this a third time. I’m not interested in experiencing my first anytime soon.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” He spoke the words sarcastically, but she brightened at them.
“Oh, that sounds good,” she said. “You know Tybalt declared himself the Beastking before we returned here? He captured the ancient beastfolk crown from the defeated town of Vors, and everyone celebrated him. Since I’m going to be his wife, and I’m carrying a possible heir to the throne, ‘Your Highness’ does seem like the proper form of address. Good job.”
The future queen took a little more pleasure than she probably should have in the sour look that spread across his face.
***
Kistana stepped forward to meet Mariella, flanked by the catgirl’s hand-selected squad of fifty catfolk archers and monks, plus the five Beastking mummies who had been huntsmasters in life.
“I think I’m ready to take on the bandits,” the catgirl said proudly. “Or a small city. Or maybe a young dragon.”
Her tail whipped back and forth excitedly as she spoke.
“Well, this is a strong group. It will definitely punch above its weight class in terms of numbers. But I… think we need to ask for a couple more mummies. Specifically, two chthonic mages. And maybe one more undead…”
***
“I don’t know about this,” Tybalt said as Mariella presented her request. “On the one hand, I think your force is too small. And on the other hand, you are specifically asking for undead I wanted to use to take the fort. It’s starting to sound like this plan isn’t going to save me time at all. I- ”
“We only need two chthonic mages,” she said, interrupting. “You would still have the other four, plus Stanislaw. We only need a small force. The bandits aren’t exceptional fighters. An amazing group of elite bandits destroying our forces… isn’t the story of what happened to Baldwin. It’s more like one exceptional woman, who sounds like she might have been a professional soldier or trained as one, who probably knows some strategy.” She began to tick down her fingers as if counting. “They have one decent leader, but they don’t trust and obey her implicitly. They have a strong position. And they have decent weapons. That’s probably all down to the efforts of the one surviving leader, plus the dead ones you already reanimated. But considering the class and level disparities that likely exist, the advantages aren’t that big. It’s mostly that terrain. Remember how easily Dero, Kistana, and I took out the other leaders at ground level. If we have your chthonic mages, the dynamics of the fight change pretty drastically.”
“You haven’t even seen the place where you’re going to fight,” the necromancer said. “And Kistana is also taking my huntsmasters for this speculative plan- ”
“Master,” Stanislaw said quietly, interrupting, using his new ability to speak out loud almost for the first time. “You have fully communicated your wishes for Fort Hadrian to myself and the other Beastkings already, correct? If we prepare adequately, Edgard and I alone would be capable of executing it alongside you.”
“Fine,” Tybalt said quietly. “Everyone seems to want to split the group right now. Forgive me if that leaves me feeling a bit…” He trailed off but communicated what he meant with a hard look at the fire mage. “You’d better come back to me in one piece.”
Mariella instantly smiled, turned softer, and kissed him gently on the lips.
“I wouldn’t think of doing anything else.”