//------------------------------// // 26: Battle of Bale - Part 2 // Story: Feathered Hearts - Continuation and Chronicles // by Firesight //------------------------------// “A text? How? And from whom?” Guerrero asked Chris in disbelief. “That’s just it!” the latter replied excitedly. “I have no idea how she managed it, but the sender is showing up in my contact list… as Starlight Glimmer!” Gilda only understood about half of what Chris had said. Text? Contact list? She noted at least two more unfamiliar human terms to add to her ever-growing catalog of them—but whatever he meant, the surprised Marines seemed to comprehend it instantly. “Starlight Glimmer? You mean the personal student of Princess Twilight?” Henderson asked, to which Chris nodded eagerly. “I remember her. She was really friendly and curious. Liked to hang out with us, too. We called her Glim-Glam,” Guerrero noted, taking advantage of the lull in action to release his quiver and swap in a new one, ratcheting the weapon to ensure a fresh ‘bullet’ was loaded before he returned the rifle to a ready position. “Well, she was really friendly and curious with us, too. In fact, she liaised with—wait. Glim-Glam?” Chris gave him an odd look. “And, uh… dare I ask what you guys nicknamed Princess Twilight?” “‘Twi-Fi’,” Henderson’s entire team chorused with chuckles, earning a chortle from Chris while leaving Gilda unsure if she was more amazed or appalled that they could joke at a time like this. “And never mind what we nicknamed Celestia and Luna. So how the fuck did Glim-Glam text you?” Guerrero asked. “No idea! But she did! Just look!” Chris turned his small portal device around to face them, on which Gilda saw what looked like a profile picture of a grinning pink-and-purple unicorn with text beside it. Chris! I’ve been trying to reach each of you! We just heard the Kingdom was under attack by something called the Cloven, but we’ve lost contact with Arnau and the Equestrian Embassy! All cross-ocean avenues of communication are out as well! Are you guys okay? Where are you? Find a griffon mage or unicorn, and you can reply if you hit send right after they cast this telepathy spell! Please reply soon! I’m worried! We’re going to send help, but it will take some time! Until then, stay safe! Following the text was a series of arcane symbols Gilda had no idea how to translate, but she presumed another unicorn or Magus could make sense of it. “Shit, dude…” Guerrero shook his head. “You three made some friends in high places!” “Right! So… can we reply to her? She’s a really strong mage and she might be able to help us! Can Nydia do the spell?” Chris asked hopefully, to which Gilda summoned her to the balcony. She arrived with a few flaps of her wings just seconds later. “Well, Decanus? Can you cast it?” Gilda prompted after the Magus had been given a chance to study the strange text, trying not to voice the thought that she could see no possible help the ponies could send short of dispatching the Alicorn Princesses themselves. And who could say if even they could fight effectively, given Celestia had been so easily felled by a Changeling Queen? Nydia studied the strange symbols, only to shake her head. “No. Or at least, not now.” “Why not? Can’t you read it?” Chris went crestfallen. “I can read it just fine. But it’s a composite spell, crossing telepathy with a modified form of reverse item summoning—basically, instead of sending an item, it sends your very thoughts to a remote person or object which can presumably receive it. By the Ancestors, whoever invented this incantation was either completely mad or utterly brilliant considering how badly it could have gone wrong.” “Mad but brilliant…” Chris chuckled. “Given some of the crazier stuff she said she’s done, that’s Starlight, all right.” “I’ll, uh, take your word for it. But right now, I don’t have the power to cast it, and I don’t dare try anything complex like that until I’ve gotten more familiar with this stave,” she explained in defeat. “It’s possible the Ibex could.” “It’ll have to wait anyway…” Henderson warned, swapping her standard rifle for a bigger one; she shouldered the former while looking through the oversized spyglass mounted to the top of the latter. “I’ve got eyes on a large force of Cloven inbound along the highway!” “That would be the main force we saw earlier,” Ebon Umbreon noted over the radio; Gilda could well-imagine how confused he was at the discussion. “We counted two and a half centuries of Cloven soldier forms, of at least two types.” “How far out are they?” a calm Corporal Imlay asked, still sounding all business and leaving Gilda wondering if he ever got excited or anxious. “According to my rangefinder, a klick and closing quick,” the female Lance Corporal pronounced grimly. Her words left Gilda wondering what she meant by ‘click’; her eagle eyes could tell the Cloven were a little less than half a league out even in the dark of the night.  “He’s right; there’s at least two hundred fifty of them. ETA is about three minutes. They’re in range of my EMR. Want me to start whittling them down, Corporal?” she asked, loading her weapon with what looked like a shorter but thicker quiver. She then pulled free two stilts from near the tip of the tube for it to sit on, which Gilda guessed was to give the weapon stability as she propped it on the end of the low stone rail. “I’ve already got the first in my sights.” “Then by all means, start dropping them, and let your team join in as they get closer. McLain! You said you were a good shot at distance? Here’s your chance to prove it!” Imlay further invited. “Just hope you have a low-light sight.” Chris broke out in a huge grin as he immediately pulled his ‘Nagant’ free, pocketing his portal device again. “Sir! Yes sir! And I do.” “Good. Get that old Russian rifle set up and go to town. Just don’t call me sir. I work for a living!” he said in a half-humorous tone, earning some snickers from the other humans. “Marines! Let’s roll out a very red carpet for our latest guests! Plant a circle of Claymores around the main hall. Daisy chain them into three groups and be bloody quick about it!” “Claymores?” Fortrakt’s voice asked from the Crow’s nest at the top of the main building tower as the Marines broke into renewed activity, producing and tossing half a dozen more storage gems on the ground. “What’s that?” “It’s a type of olden Equestrian sword, used mostly by the Shetlandian ponies in ancient times,” Giraldi replied in some bemusement. “They’re large and heavy, only able to be wielded by the most powerful earth ponies. Even I would have trouble with one.” “It’s not a sword. It’s a directional mine,” Imlay replied as Gilda winced from the sound of close-range rifle fire from Henderson and Chris; the crack of their twin guns even louder than the standard Marine weapons. “I don’t have time to explain, but you’ll see shortly.” A groan behind her brought her attention back to the Ibex. “Please… sound hurts… no more…” he pleaded in Aeric. Gilda grimaced as she realized his large ears probably made him more susceptible to the piercing sounds of human guns than griffon ones, so she ordered Spear Jade Jumentum to come up and carry him back below. “Three down,” Henderson said as she cycled for another shot. “How you doing, Mister McLain?” “Just one… by accident.” He grimaced as he yanked his bolt back to eject a spent cylinder. “I hit the Cloven in front of the one I was aiming at. Never fired at this range before!” “Remember that your bullets will drop over distance. Use the horizontal lines on your scope sight below the main crosshairs to adjust your aim point—that’s what they’re for! Range now 800 meters!” “Right. I just have to remember—” Chris’s reply was drowned out as Henderson fired again. “Centurion! With respect, we could do more damage at close range with our repeaters,” Ebon Umbreon’s voice broke in. “The efficacy of human cannons is impressive at that range, but it’s still just a few pinpricks to the overall force.” Gilda’s response was instant. “Denied! Do not engage in combat away from the steadholt, Shadow Decurion. We don’t know their full capabilities yet, and the last thing we need is for one of you to be slain and reanimated,” she replied, impressing herself that she could make that observation even as she shivered at the thought of corrupted Ravens. “Stealth yourselves and observe the main force from at least a quarter league to the side to keep out of the line of human fire. Call out any movement or notable activity you observe. Decurion Gletcher! Are there any more Cloven flyers present?” She called up to Fortrakt next. “None that we can see!” he said after a brief pause. “Do you wish us to take flight? We might be able to pepper them with explosive bolts as they get closer!” he offered eagerly. “Don’t,” Imlay said immediately before Gilda could. “That’ll put them in the line of rifle fire! And once the Cloven close to within 400 meters—that’s around a fifth of a league by your reckoning—the rest of Henderson’s team will start shooting as well.” “700 meters! Four down!” Henderson announced. “Make that six!” Chris said excitedly as he slammed home another ‘stripper clip’ into the top port of his weapon, loading five fresh rounds. “I got another!” “Great. Only two hundred forty-four to go…” Guerrero muttered as he laid down and propped his weapon on the rail beside Henderson, readying to open up with it in turn as the Cloven got closer. “Fuck… they’re in a full sprint now!” Chris suddenly warned as he fired again, starting to sound nervous. “Holy shit. That’s a banzai charge if I’ve ever seen one…” “He’s right. Estimate forty seconds to arrival,” Henderson said far more calmly, then fired again. “They’re aiming for the front gate. Wait—check that! They’re fanning out to circle the steadholt!” “Huh? What the hell are they doing?” Chris asked as he fired again; Gilda instantly guessed from his curse that he had missed. “Damn it, that lateral movement is throwing me off…” “Steady, Mister McLain. You’re doing fine. Try to lead them by about half a body length at this distance, then shorten it as they get closer.” She fired again. “Eight down.” “Nine down!” Chris corrected after his rifle boomed and he yanked back on the bolt again, ejecting another empty cylinder. “Think I’m getting the hang of this…” “They’re all circling away from the entrance.” Ebon Umbreon observed from overhead. “And they’re splitting into multiple groups. I think they’re going to try to create additional breaches in the wall out of the line of fire.” “Because they’re not stupid enough to charge through the main gate and run right into a kill zone covered by a fifty-cal. Marines! You’ve got twenty seconds to complete claymore emplacement!” Imlay warned. “Arm them and then fall back to the Main Hall! Trigger the mines only on my command!” A cacophony of harried acknowledgements came back as the Marines rushed their tasks to completion, scurrying around quickly on the ground below. Gilda wasn’t entirely certain what they were doing, sticking odd curved rectangular boxes into the ground with wires trailing out the back, which they then somehow joined together, but her gold eagle eyes were just able to pick out the text on one before it was turned around to face the curved surface outwards, away from the building: ‘Front towards enemy?’ she repeated the words to herself, which were written in all capital letters. So by ‘directional’, they mean it’s only lethal in one direction? she guessed, almost regretting that she was no longer writing intelligence reports for Tribune Narada and Ambassador Strenus. “Centurion. Orders?” Fortrakt prompted from the top of the tower. “They’re getting awfully close…” His words were punctuated by the other Marines of Henderson’s fire team opening up as the charging Cloven got in range of their standard rifles. “Wait until they’re inside the compound and the Marine ‘mines’ have done their damage. Then take flight with your two decades and rain down death from above! You too, Shadow Decurion! That will be the time to use your repeaters.” “By your command!” they both shouted before Imlay broke in again. “I strongly suggest your soldiers and the Ravens concentrate on one breaching group at a time, wiping it out quickly before focusing on the rest,” the human Corporal advised. “We’ll hold off the remainder and then shift our forces to concentrate on the other groups in turn.” “Approved. Griffons! Load explosive bolts!” she ordered, noting she had but four left after the earlier engagement, having already pumped an equal number into the Cloven Rams and the hole the Diamond Dogs had dug into the compound. The latter had been sealed by a still-weak Nydia, who had remotely detonated a series of large explosive gems the Ravens dumped into the shaft to collapse it; she’d thrown a seal spell on top of it to make sure it couldn’t be reopened without Magus help.  It wasn’t that they didn’t have extra arrows available, either. They’d collected the quivers of her fallen soldiers and the corrupted Cloven they’d encountered after the first battle around the cart, which they were now keeping inside of it. But she couldn’t go back for a reload then, and neither could her soldiers. “Are you fine on crossbow bolt supply, Shadow Decurion?” she then asked the Raven leader. “We are. We have dozens more loaded repeater drums in storage gems. But our supply is not inexhaustible,” Ebon Umbreon warned with the sound of a fresh drum being slammed home into his weapon. “We won’t be able to keep this up forever.” “Neither can we, but we’re fine for now. If they think we’re going to run out of ammo anytime soon, they’re going to be waiting a while.” Gilda could hear Imlay’s thin smile right over the radio despite the rifle fire around her, leaving her somewhat amazed that she’d already learned to mentally block out all the sounds of the human guns. “The question remains: what are they doing this time?” he wondered aloud as his Marines stabbed a few final ‘mines’ into the ground and rushed back to the main hall. “They’ve split into three groups!” Ebon Umbreon reported from where he orbited the steadholt invisibly just below the topmost level of the tower; he couldn’t go any higher without potentially triggering the lightning field enchantment still emplaced in the air above them. “They’re spacing them at equal distance around the perimeter, away from the opening.” “Then they’re trying to hit us from multiple directions at once. But how will they get over the wall?” Giraldi wondered in turn. “Recommend bringing Spear Jumentum outside, Centurion. Our heavier explosive arrows will be useful against concentrations of Cloven.” She thought about that for only a second before nodding. “Agreed. Marco? Send Spear Jumentum outside and tell her to join Giraldi at the Hall’s front entrance.” She didn’t get a response before the two human rifles fired again. “The group I’m targeting is turning inbound!” Henderson warned as she switched out a quiver on her larger weapon. “Eleven down. Estimate sixty-five remaining! They’re at two hundred meters and closing!” “So is mine!” Chris replied in tense tones as he yet again loaded a fresh stripper clip. “Five down…” he added in what she took to be a slightly disgusted tone at his lesser kill count. “Steady…” Gilda called out, feeling her heart start to race and her senses heighten as she mentally readied to enter combat again. She flared her wings for takeoff, intending to observe the battle from above. She then made a quick count of their forces and found she didn’t like their odds. Each ‘fire team’ of four Marines matched against a single group of sixty Cloven? However they’re going to climb the wall, they could reach the main hall in seconds after that, even counting the losses they’ll take from whatever those curved boxes are. And once they do… she clenched her beak at the idea of the brutally strong spike-winged and black-armored beasts mixing it up with the Marines or even her griffons at close range. She then closed her eyes in prayer as she reached her next decision, bringing the human radio to her beak. “Chief! Marco! Tara! Come outside and join the Marines! The Cloven are going to hit us from three directions! I need you to brace the defense!” It was two seconds before she heard a reply. “Sigurado ka? You really mean it, Gilds?” Marco’s voice was both excited and fearful; Gilda wasn’t sure he realized he’d lapsed briefly into his native language, which near as she could tell, was the first she knew of that didn’t seem to have a Tellusian equivalent. “You heard her! Now move, Lakan!” Chief Jacobs replied over the radio before she could. “You and Miss Fields join Jamal’s fire team to the back left of the entrance! I’ll join Brennan’s to the right! If you want to be Marines, then start acting like it! So obey orders and go get some!” “Sir, yes sir!” she heard Marco and Tara chorus, leaving her praying again she hadn’t just ordered them to their deaths. “Centurion…” She then heard Fortrakt’s very unhappy voice above her. “Save it!” she snapped, her beak tight. “I don’t like it either, but right now we need every human rifle we have on the front lines! They are not your problem, the Cloven are! So carry out your orders, Decurion! After the Cloven enter the compound and the Marines use their ‘claymores’, take flight! Concentrate on each Cloven cluster in turn and remember to stay below the area field enchantment! Rain death on those crow-cursed creatures from above! Watch out for flyers and by all our Ancestors, stay out of the line of Marine cannon fire!” “By your command!” he responded instantly, issuing orders in the background as Chris shouted that he could no longer see the Cloven, which were now close enough that they were below the level of the steadholt wall. “Recommend you attack the largest group, Decurion Gletscher, approaching from the east,” Ebon Umbreon suggested. “First Scimitar Occulta Bellator and I will concentrate on the medium-sized northwest element. Centurion, I respectfully request the assistance of Second Scimitar Serpens Oculis in this battle. Please release her from her guard duties. The three of us can reduce that formation of Cloven quickly.” Gilda was given pause, not by the request, but by it being the first time she’d heard the names and ranks of the other two Ravens. Interesting time to say them! she thought, but Giraldi’s voice then sounded over the radio.  “And leave the Ibex unguarded, Shadow Decurion?” he beat her to the question. “They’re not going anywhere with those cracked antlers, Optio, and there’s nowhere for them to run anyway. If they want to live, they have to stay here. We have seconds left before the Cloven reach the wall. I need her now!” he requested again, a little more urgently. Gilda only had to consider it for a second before replying. “Granted. Get out here, Second Scimitar!” she called into the radio, though instead of receiving a voice reply, she heard two squelches in response from the mute eagless—her signal for ‘yes’—leaving Gilda wondering again why she didn’t talk. “Leave the Ibex behind and rejoin your Fuga!” She didn’t actually have any idea if the Ravens used the same term for their teams. No acknowledgement was heard this time before the third Raven eagless flew up the stairs and burst out the doorway behind her. Gilda only briefly glimpsed her soaring into the skies before she engaged her stealth spell; the last thing she saw of her was the grey-dyed female banking left to join her comrades while pulling her crossbow free of its mount. Gilda then nodded. “Everycreature—I’m taking flight to observe the battle from above! Mind your targets and do not shoot each other! Griffons—let the Marines make the first strike! Once they do, descend and wipe these evil creatures out!” she proclaimed vehemently, her steel claws flexing against the crossbow they held. A cheer came up as the call came out from First Scimitar Bellator this time that the Cloven had reached the wall. * * * * * The entire mixed human/griffon force held their breath as nothing happened except for an odd scrappling sound that had no obvious source. The walls themselves did not move, nor show any sign of being forced or damaged. “What the fuck are they doing?” Guerrero muttered over the crackling radio as the Ravens returned inside the walls and Henderson’s team collected into a single unit again, targeting the southwest force; Gilda planned to use them as a mobile Marine reserve, rushing them around the balcony periphery to focus fire wherever they were needed. “Are they tunneling under?” As she watched, Henderson switched back to her standard gun, stowing her ‘Enhanced Marksman Rifle’ in its storage gem. Gilda was starting to understand that the human weapons tended to be useful at one set of distances but not another; she could well imagine the female Marine’s long-range weapon was much more unwieldy and awkward to use at close range. Ancestors, there’s so much we still don’t know about these ‘firearms’ of theirs, she thought idly as she circled the tower about two-thirds up. Never dreamt that personal cannons could come in so many different types, shapes and sizes and have so much nuance! She could well imagine the education that Tribune Narada and the griffons in Arnau had already received on them; she just wished she could have seen the look on the Tribune’s face when she saw them in action for the first time. “I’m not sure. We can’t see them. Permission to make a quick look outside the compound, Centurion?” Ebon Umbreon requested, his voice tense. “Granted. But stay stealthed and do not let them know you’re there!” she reminded him, probably pointlessly—they knew their craft far better than her, after all. “By your command,” he said quietly, then fell silent for the next ten seconds until she heard him swear violently. “Crows take it; they’ve played us for fools! Centurion, shift your forces south! They’re concentrating in that direction out of view from the inside, forming a large ramp with their very bodies! They’ll come over the top of the wall in seconds!” His words were followed by a series of severe griffon and human oaths. There were external buildings, including a dozen stores and warehouses inside the wall in that direction, meaning the Cloven would be able to use them as cover and means to close on the main hall that the front entrance didn’t have. It also meant that the heavy ‘fifty’ the humans had used to defeat the ram-like Cloven was faced uselessly away. “All Fire Teams! Shift south! Stavrou and Jenkins! Continue covering the main entrance with the fifty and keep your fingers on your claymore trigger! We don’t know what other surprises or forces they may have.” Imlay ordered before Gilda could add her own instructions. “Centurion! Should I attack them on the outside? Try to whittle their numbers down?” Fortrakt asked as the two Marines acknowledged their instructions. “No!” she shouted. “You’ve got no cover out there and could get swarmed by fliers again where we can’t help you! We also don’t know what defenses their ground forces have! Stay close and wait until they’re in the open ground in front of the Hall to attack! Shadow Decurion! By my order, stealth yourself and strike! Hit that crow-cursed ramp they’re building and then return to the Main Hall before they can target you! Do what you can to buy us time to redeploy!” “By your command!” he replied as the first Cloven crested the wall and began to pour into the compound; at least twenty made it in before there were a series of firecracker-like detonations punctuated by even louder booms and a light show. They accompanied the sound of bursting repeater bolts and larger explosive gems from their pouches; Gilda couldn’t see the carnage that they caused on the other side of the wall; but the flow of Cloven stopped as the top of the living ramp disappeared from view.  But her sense of triumph was short lived as retaliation swiftly followed, taking the form of a series of glowing spikes that shot outwards and upwards in every direction from behind the barrier. She wasn’t sure of their origin until she cataloged yet another new Cloven type already in the courtyard; this one apparently modeled after a Porkupike—grounded boars with spikes on their backs that were the bane of farmers everywhere, given they didn’t mind at all digging up crops to get at succulent roots. Physically powerful, armed with tusks and very ornery, they could fire their spikes a short distance to discourage pursuit or even kill at close range. But the Cloven appeared to have improved their design and lethality by entire wingspans, given the hail of hot spikes she saw erupting reminded her instantly of the Midway movie Fortrakt had confirmed she watched. “I’m hit!” She heard the cry of the more talkative Raven eagless along with the first bursts of rifle fire from the Marines, targeting the few that had already made it in; lacking numbers they were slain in short order. She couldn’t hear any more words over the radio, but saw the First Scimitar being escorted away by Ebon Umbreon covered by the mute Raven female—the latter’s name was Serpens Oculis, if she recalled correctly. They disengaged their stealth spells to become visible again as they got near; Occulta Bellator had two ugly spikes embedded in her body that had even penetrated whatever her odd armor was. “Centurion! Beg to report! We took out around thirty of them and collapsed the ramp. But they’re rebuilding it quickly and those spiked boar-like creatures are not to be trifled with! Worse, they’re heavily armored! Our repeaters are not effective against their forms!” he admitted in dismay. Though tempted to go to them to help the wounded eagless inside, Gilda stayed put, not wanting to lose sight of the greater battle she was supposed to be commanding. “Noted. Get her to safety! Then get back out and keep watch to the north! Make sure they’re not sneaking in another force on us!” she told them, starting to get nervous about the open gate as the Cloven crested the wall again. But there was no sign of an attack from that sector; the Cloven seemed to have thrown everything they had into the southern strike. “Marines! When you see those porcupine pigs, kill them!” Imlay ordered. “Fine with me!” Brennan said; Gilda could pick out the continuous fire of his bulky gun over the three round-bursts of the other Marine weapons and single cracks of Marco’s rifle. “Be just like hunting hogs in the bayou backcountry of home…” “Jeez, could you get any more fucking redneck, Brennan?” Marco asked as they continued to fire; Gilda noted that if he was cracking jokes in battle, he’d adjusted to combat quickly. Gilda could all but hear Brennan smirk. “Mais… Ah reckon we ate cottonmouths, chauoi, hogs ‘n gators growin’ up. Mah Mamere made ‘em with a little file, patate ‘n may-nez. And them’s good eatin’!” he answered in an odd exaggerated accent vaguely reminiscent of her one visit to Neigh Orleans in Equestria, pausing only briefly as his gun thundered again and the last of the Cloven fell. “That answer your question, Flip-boy? Or should I break out my back-holstered violin?” “You could,” Marco agreed weakly to a few laughs as the Marine rifles fell silent for lack of targets. Outside the wall, there was now a continuous hail of upward firing spikes that were clearly designed to deter any more sneak attacks. “Clear!” “But not for long…” Imlay warned. “Centurion! Recommend a larger force to watch the north. I’m nervous about the open door and hole. Can the Ravens and Decanus Nydia cover it?” he asked as the Cloven crested the wall again and this time began to flood in unhindered. “Marines! Stand by to detonate mines on my command!” Gilda considered the question. Even from the air, she couldn’t see any additional Cloven force in that direction, and the hole the initial attack had come through was sealed. But that didn’t preclude them from opening a new one, and she was starting to experience the same tingle of danger she had before the initial ambush at the cart. So this time she trusted her instincts, even if she didn’t yet know their source. “Ravens! Optio! Spear Jumentum! Decanus Nydia! Cover the front of the Main Hall! Decurion Gletscher! Send one of your two decades there, now!” She didn’t get acknowledgements back before the Marine rifles opened up again on the invading Cloven, aided by the civilian ones. But this time, there was return fire as the Porkupike-like creatures simply stood on their forelegs to bear their armored backs so they could launch their spikes like slower but heavier rifle bullets; large enough that they could be seen in flight and she could even pick out a slight arc to their paths across the short distance of the compound. The heavy impacts of their red-hot projectiles caused the Marines to flinch away in places, allowing the charge of standard soldier forms to creep closer. “Fuck!” she heard a Marine cry out as the first wave of attacking Cloven were cut down but more and more were coming in. “I’m hit! Corpsman!” a Marine she recognized as Anderson called for Chief Jacobs. “Suck it up, Anderson! I can’t spare a rifle now. Keep firing, Chief,” Imlay ordered coldly. “Stand by on the mines. Just let them get as close as possible…” She trusted his judgment enough not to overrule him over whatever the ‘mines’ were, though she was starting to get the impression that they would be used as roughly the equivalent of ‘scattershot’ bolts from storm clouds that pegasi could create, used to devastate charging infantry at close range—she’d seen them demonstrated at reenactments of old Equestrian Aerial Corps tactics in Cloudsdale.  As the Marine Corporal seemed to have the southern battle in wing, she shifted her attention to the north, deciding she’d help cover it herself. There was still nothing there that she could see, and yet the tingle of danger she sensed only grew stronger and her already racing heart was starting to speed up further; her pupils dilating as she swore she kept sensing movement out of the corner of her eyes. But no matter where she turned her head, she saw nothing except an empty plaza, nor was there anything she could hear except for the rifle cracks to the rear aided by the occasional distinctive pop of an explosive bolt fired into the Cloven ranks. And yet… she squinted hard at a spot on the ground as a depleted decade of seven sky griffons joined her in the air. “Centurion. Orders?” the decade leader asked as Giraldi and Spear Jumentum appeared at the front door, crossbows drawn. She didn’t reply right away as a ring of pink appeared at the edges of her vision. But instead of simply arousing her as it had before, its other effects came into play as it heightened all her senses, including her vision and magical awareness. In that moment, she realized two things: First, there was a faint trace of magic in the air of Ibexian origin, coming from the courtyard. And second, there were also a series of sourceless hoof and paw prints creeping forward, only fifty paces from the Main Hall, nearly to the line of boxes the Marines had emplaced. Her guts clenched as she raised the radio. “Stavrou! Whatever your ‘claymores’ do, use them! Now!” she allowed a moment of panic to enter her voice. “What? Why?” “JUST DO IT!” she screamed into the human device as Stavrou and his partner—as well as the sky griffon decade around her—looked up at her in confusion just as more hoofsteps started to appear in rapid succession on the ground below. Their source was now in a full charge and they would be on the uncomprehending pair of humans within seconds; their big gun lying silent before them. And then there was a series of sharp explosions and equally deafening BOOMS that were followed by a wave of sheer death emanating from the curved boxes. It manifested itself as a visible outward-propagating shock wave that merely slapped her in the face but shredded the fore of the shrouded force. The source of the stealth spells went down to reveal at least fifty Cloven soldiers and an equal number of corrupted, including three Ibex, with half their force already dead or wounded. “Fuuuuuuck!” She heard Stavrou and his partner exclaim, hurriedly opening up with their ‘fifty’ again as Giraldi and Spear Jumentum likewise shook off their shock at the horrifically powerful and evil human weapon, which had mowed the first several ranks of Cloven down like a scythe. She still didn’t know what the human ‘mines’ were or how they worked, but judging by the fact that even Cloven further back were staggered, peppered with what looked like an array of small holes, she guessed the ‘mines’ somehow fired hundreds of cannonballs horizontally at once, producing devastating effects at close range. She couldn’t dwell on it then, however. “Stealthed force at the north gate! Wipe them out!” she ordered as a pair of intact porkupike forms at the rear reared up to bring their armored backs to bear and started launching spikes, while the two uninjured Ravens reappeared and began opening up on the charging formations with their repeaters. “Take flight and load incendiary bolts! Target the source of the spikes!” Gilda heard Giraldi order Spear Jumentum as her sky griffon force bobbed and weaved to dodge the hail of fire. The humans did not have that ability, however, and worse, it appeared that there was at least one corrupted Ibex still active—probably one of the comrades of the three inside the hall, killed during their own running battle with the Cloven—firing lightning bolts from a single intact antler towards the humans. A still-weak Nydia cast a faltering shield spell over the Marines to allow them to fire the ‘fifty’ out of it—Gilda had no idea how one-way shield spells worked—and any other time, she would have ordered her sky griffons to target the attacking Ibex. But the pink in Gilda’s vision suddenly intensified along with a sense of not fear, but pure rage at his presence, and what the Kingdom’s longtime enemy had done to her and her friends. Worse, what they had been planning to do, cubnapping Chris away from them! Her pink-hued gaze fixed on him, she swooped in with a snarl right through the thick of the Cloven formation and, oblivious to all danger or Giraldi’s startled squawk as the gun fell suddenly silent for what she would later guess was fear of hitting her, she crushed the back of his head by slamming her curled metal-clad talons into it with more force than she could ever remember, caving in his skull. Her anger and adrenaline surging further, she then grasped and broke his already-damaged remaining antler off, following it up by firing her crossbow into the back of his head to make sure he was well and truly dead. “Centurion!” She was yanked up and away by the shoulder straps before a nearby Cloven soldier’s tail spikes could impact her side. Though initially inclined to snarl and swipe at the attacker with her steel claws, she realized she was being pulled quickly into the air by Spear Jumentum, who had entered the aerial battle with her crossbow and axe. “By all our Ancestors and with all due respect, are you out of your crow-damned mind?” she asked as she swung her axe at an attacking Cloven, cleaving its head in two. “I…” Her senses returning and cider-boosted ire ebbing as fast as it had come, she noticed the eagless had an empty crossbow and one of the two Porkupikes had been consumed in fire while the second had been felled by a heavy human bullet in the head. Looking up, she realized that Henderson and two members of her team had rushed back to the north and were now shooting down from the balcony again, providing what cover fire they could. But Chris was not among them. She didn’t have time to worry if it was because he’d gone down. Even with their help, there were still five decades of mixed pure and corrupted Cloven that were to be shortly joined by at least forty razorbat-like flyers she could see winging in; it would take another minute and several more dead soldiers from her already-depleted sky griffon decade before they were all slain. “Centurion! Can you hold out? We’re still fighting the southern group! We’re grinding them down but it’ll take another minute before I can send any more Marines!” Imlay told her as she clawed for altitude and readied to turn on the flyers, notching an electrical arrow. “Not without help!” she instantly replied, realizing that with the human ‘gunners’ pinned and her flyers under razorbat attack, they’d overrun the ‘fifty’ and be able to storm the main hall, killing everycreature within before crushing Imlay’s force on the other side. Worse, with dozens of additional Cloven flyers on the way; her sky griffon decade would be driven from the air soon and no longer be able to aid the battle from above, forced to fight from the ground as the second Cloven force surged through the compound. Unless… “Ravens! Target the flyers!” She reasoned that their repeaters, stealth and sword skill could cut them down quickly, hoping they could do so swiftly enough to allow her sky griffons to continue assisting the ground defense. “Take them out, or we lose the ability to fight from the air!” “By your command!” Ebon Umbreon shouted as he and the mute eagless turned their repeaters upwards, their weapons buzzing as they began cutting down the lighter and far more fragile airborne Cloven. They weaved to dodge the sharp-edged wing slashes and smaller mouth-fired spikes they wielded, struggling to close the distance where their scimitars could tell. It worked, at least to a point; they swiftly took down a dozen flyers before streams of maw-fired spikes began converging on them like tracer bullets from the human movie Midway—wait, how did she know what those were called? But it quickly became clear that the Cloven had pegged them as priority targets and were doing their best not to let them near. “Engage stealth spells,” she heard Ebon Umbreon order; Gilda had noticed before that those spells only seemed to last so long before they lapsed, and there appeared to be a recharge time before the ability could be used again. But whatever its magical nature, this time it didn’t work as the final corrupted Ibex in the back made its antlers emit a bright purple light that matched the human ‘blacklights’. Worse, it had the same effect; instantly illuminating the stealthed Ravens by making their hidden outlines glow, forcing them to fly for their very lives as every single flyer opened up on them. Though tempted to help the pair, Gilda decided the ground attack was more important, ordering her aerial forces to focus crossbow fire on the final Ibex as she heard the massive human cannon fall silent, leaving her guessing it needed a reload. Turning away after shredding the wings of a Cloven flyer that had gotten too close with her steel-clad talons, she saw Stavrou and his partner hurriedly opening a new metal box that held a fresh belt of the large and lethal bullets. They were covered from above by Henderson’s team as Giraldi and Spear Jumentum fired two more heavy crossbow bolts, using short bursts of flight to shift and cut down any Cloven forces that tried to flank them with axe and war hammer. But this time, the remaining Cloven spotted the pause and emitted a blood-curdling roar. They erupted into a full gallop that would reach the two humans in seconds, and worse, the flyers instantly coordinated their efforts, forcing Stavrou and Jenkins away from the gun as the ground around them was impacted with dozens of spikes that threatened to impale them, peppering the pair with glass-like fragments.  Her immediate options exhausted, she was about to swoop in to try to save at least one of the sorely endangered humans when another pair of heavy explosive bolts detonated right in the middle of the charging formation, disrupting their attack for a few critical seconds. Gilda watched as Giraldi tossed his crossbow aside and ran up to grab the end of the bullet belt. He then threaded it into the top of the open cannon and slammed the latch shut as she’d seen the Marines did to load it, yanking the charging handle back once. Though she had no idea if he’d done the process correctly, he then bodily hefted the abandoned heavy human weapon in his talons, standing upright while he cradled the massive tube from below the junction of its tripod mount. The belt of large ‘rounds’ dangled off to the left as he struggled to wield it, clearly uncertain how to fire it. Fortunately, the dazed Marines did. “Optio! It’s a thumb-trigger! Grasp the right handle and push down on the metal tab between them!” he mimicked the motion with his soft talons. Giraldi fumbled for a moment before the gun fired a single round. He looked surprised at the force it exerted on him as even his large form was visibly rocked back, but then he set his legs and braced the back of the long tube against his barrel before he began firing again. He used all his considerable strength to keep the weapon stable against the severe recoil, swiftly finding his mark as the first two Cloven fell, their armored bodies all but shattered by the brutally powerful human bullets. And then he began marching forward with the big gun on two legs. The nearest three Cloven crumbled beneath the impact of the massive rounds and soon the ones further back were falling, their chitin-armored bodies shredded in turn. Stavrou and Jenkins could only look up in astonishment as Giraldi’s beak emitted a jaguar-like roar to match his hindquarters, the pair finally going for their personal cannons. They then ran out to assist her former First Spear, taking position to the sides and slightly in back of him, firing their standard rifles in support to keep the Cloven from flanking him.  Even without being told, Giraldi seemed to quickly figure out that the best tactic with the powerful gun was to fire in short bursts, with each one seeming to down two or three Cloven at a time.  One flyer-fired spike impacted his armor, partially penetrating it as he shortly had all the attention of the faltering Cloven attack. And then another. But he ignored the hits and the blood streaming down his side as he then flapped his wings and took to the air, firing down on the rapidly thinning group until the entire belt of bullets had been sucked up into the greedy weapon’s tube. The remains of the rail the rounds were attached to were flung to the side as the expended shells rained down to the ground beneath the big gun, a score of corrupted and pure Cloven creatures dead before him. The entire belt expended, the ‘fifty’ fell silent; the black metal tube smoking heavily while Giraldi visibly shook from exertion—or was it excitement? He was still clutching the human weapon as he slowly descended to alight on his hind legs, his suddenly stiff wings remaining flared as the final grounded Cloven fell to individual rifle bullets and crossbow bolts. The surface forces defeated, Gilda ordered the attention of her sky griffons turned fully on the flyers, only to find that the two Ravens had taken most of them out with blade and bow after the Ibex illumination was eliminated. Giraldi was shaking and breathing hard as he beheld the carnage he had created with the human heavy cannon; it was only then Gilda realized the firing on the other side of the Main Hall had also ceased. “Holy shit…” Stavrou said, staring up at him in awe. “You took that Deuce and mowed them down like the fucking Terminator!” Giraldi didn’t respond right away. Though she didn’t understand the reference, Gilda blushed to realize her longtime First Spear and now-Optio was not just shaking, but also quite visibly and painfully erect as he carefully settled the weapon to the ground. He was clearly trying not to touch his throbbing flesh with the hot metal; she could feel the massive amount of heat coming off the tube. And off his body as even the two Marines suddenly noticed his state and looked quickly away.  Though his spear stubbornly refused to subside, he did finally speak. “I thank you for your guidance and assistance, Private First Class Stavrou and Jenkins. I now return this impressive weapon to you.” “Uh… thanks,” Jenkins said as Giraldi finally fell back to all fours out of his bipedal stance, the two Marines seemingly stealing repeated looks at his impressive stature before his hindquarters disappeared from view.  His red-cheeked gaze then locked with Gilda’s. “My sincerest apologies, Centurion. I find that using human cannons is most… invigorating…” he announced in Aeric with a fiercer flush. “No apology necessary,” she replied with a dry beak in the same tongue. The Cloven killed, she realized at that moment she not only perfectly understood his reaction to being able to use such a destructive weapon, but that she also greatly envied him for getting the chance. Five minutes later, the Cloven were confirmed to be vanquished as the nighttime animal sounds returned. Finally able to catch their breath and treat the wounded, which included at least three Marines and four griffons who’d taken spikes, fresh mines were laid, griffon and human ammunition was replenished from the cart and storage gems, and the Marines deployed an insectile ‘drone’ to monitor the surroundings while the Ravens caught their breath and tended their own injuries. Not all the endings were happy ones, however. The Ibex had sensed the spellcasting of their former brethren and demanded to see them; the buck and the less wounded doe shortly found three of them among the corrupted Cloven, slain for a second time. “Mikhail,” the Ibexian male fell to his knees before the buck Gilda had struck down as he recognized the gruesome remains of his twice-killed comrade, adding something under his breath in his native tongue that almost sounded like a prayer to whatever Gods they had. “Nyet…” She might have felt guilty over it, and she was also still worried about her sudden surge of not simple lust but outright bloodlust during the battle, even if it had given her the strength and clarity of purpose needed to kill the well-trained Adept. But she couldn’t worry about that then, as she summoned her humans and griffon subordinates to a council of war. “We can’t stay here, Centurion,” Imlay told her, rifle smoke staining his sweaty cheeks slightly gray. “They’re already adjusting their tactics and bringing in new and more dangerous Cloven forms against us. If we remain, they’re just going to keep hitting us until we’ve got nothing left.” “I agree. But I don’t know where else we can go,” Gilda replied, her beak tight. “The next steadholt is too far away to reach by ground.” “Then can you carry us by air? On your backs, maybe?” Imlay suddenly asked, causing Fortrakt to look startled and Gilda to blink; the former had reacted with visible envy to the news that Giraldi had gotten to fire the big human gun and seemingly had to hide his own hindquarters when told.  “The Optio and I were discussing that as a possible tactic earlier. Could you fly us to the next steadholt? Or even somehow carry us in that cart? There’s twenty-plus of you against eighteen humans. And the Optio here just proved he can carry a lot of weight,” he noted with a slightly wry grin.  His words elicited a renewed blush; from what Gilda had gathered, word of Giraldi’s deed and… reaction had quickly made its way around the Marines and civilians. Tara had rewarded him with an affectionate kiss to his head while Chris openly admitted he wished he’d gotten to see it happen, stealing repeated glances of his own at the big griffon’s hindquarters. Though Gilda might have teased the two over it if the situation wasn’t so dire, she knew it wasn’t the time as she exchanged a look with her comrades; the expressions on their faces said that each had reached the same conclusion as her. “No. That might work for short hops, but not for extended journeys without some sort of saddle. You’d have to hold on tight to us the whole way and we’d be very vulnerable in flight to a Cloven attack with you on our backs, unable to maneuver properly,” she knew. “I agree. I suggested that we could use griffons to carry the Marines to reinforce threatened areas or put human rifles on high ground, but as a means of transporting you eight leagues in darkness with roving Cloven flyers and corrupted griffons about? No,” Giraldi shook his head. “We would be slaughtered.” “Then what about just a few of us at a time?” Imlay didn’t give up on the idea. “One group of griffons carries us, while another group guards us? You’d have our rifles defending you, too.” Gilda thought about that, only to shake her head again. “Even assuming we weren’t attacked in the air and that you could safely fire your rifles while riding us, it would take an hour to make the next steadholt and return for another group. In the meantime, whoever’s left behind would have sharply reduced defenses and be much easier to overrun. And if they are, the returning force would be running into a trap.” Imlay frowned. “Then what about the—” “The cart has no harnesses and isn’t designed to be carried into the air. It would fall apart if we tried,” Fortrakt anticipated his question. “I admit, I don’t know what to do, Centurion. Short of getting word to Aricia somehow and hoping they can rescue us. What if we send a flyer there and tell them where we are?” “At thirty leagues distance through Cloven-infested territory, I find survival unlikely.” Giraldi sounded resigned. “And even if we did get word, we would be asking them to fly the same gauntlet back.” “What about Starlight Glimmer?” Chris held up his portal device again; he was soaked through with sweat and covered in a fine acrid-smelling ash from whatever the explosive powder they used was. “Could we reach her? Maybe she can send help!” “How?” Gilda couldn’t quite keep the derisive note from her voice. “I know she’s your friend, Chris, and I believe you when you say she’s powerful. But she’s also half a world away. Even if we told her where we were, there’s nothing she could do. Not even the pony Princesses could teleport that far.” “I don’t have the power or control to cast the telepathy spell she said to use anyway, and neither do the Ibex right now. So it’s moot,” Nydia added. “Then what do we do?” Chris slumped. “Stay here and wait for them to send a thousand Cloven at us next time?” “No. Instead of awaiting certain death, we escape by summon spell,” a new voice broke in. It belonged to the previously silent Ibex buck who was still standing over his fallen comrades a few paces away. He spoke in fluent Equish, causing Gilda to stare at him in surprise given he’d only uttered a few broken phrases of the pony tongue previously. “If you will trust us, Centurion, we can give you the means to get all of us to Aricia.” He turned to them as he produced a single large yellow gem from a hidden pouch, floating it up before them on the feeble strength of his barely active aura. “These are enhanced anchor point crystals. They allow for mass movement of entire formations of troops. Their range is not as good as our standard Adept beacons, but they can transport dozens, even hundreds of soldiers at a time depending on the distance,” he explained as Giraldi frowned and the two remaining Ravens exchanged a surprised look. The reaction elicited a smile. “I see you were unaware of them, Ebon Umbreon and Serpens Oculis. It’s good to know we kept some secrets from the Council of Crows and Ravens.” “Like the fact you spoke Equish?” Ebon Umbreon asked menacingly. “It is clear you are still withholding information, Karin Kazel. So why should we believe or trust you?” For the first time since she had met him, the Adept’s orange eyes flashed in genuine anger as he went nose to nose with his Raven rival. “Because I don’t want to die out here any more than you, Ebon Umbreon! The human commander is correct—how many more of these strikes do you think we can survive?” he asked them all point-blank. “By the Ancient Rams of the Rodina, we know the nature of the Cloven just as well as you! With every action we fight, they get smarter and our options become fewer! They hit us with four hundred pure and corrupted forms this time? Given their endless supply of soldiers, what is to stop the next attack from involving double or triple that? Can even your cannons and odd explosive devices stop them then, human?” he asked Imlay directly, who frowned; even Marco looked perturbed at the scenario the Ibex buck described. “You sought sanctuary here, but it is now clear there is none. If we stay, this steadholt will not only become our grave, but result in humans and human weapons being added to the Cloven arsenal! So tell me, Centurion, how long do you think your precious Kingdom will last then? And how could the Ascendency survive once it falls?” he challenged her, then turned to address human and griffon alike. He was joined by the smaller-horned doe as he spoke, whose blue eyes were wet but whose expression had turned steely. “You don’t have to like us. You might even have good reason to hate us. But we are no fools—as the Shadow Decurion said, if we don’t work together, both sides will die! For the sake of not just our nations but the entire world, we must defeat the Cloven of the Sun here and now, or all will perish!” “We have two of these gems,” the female Ibex spoke up for the first time as she produced her own, speaking in only slightly-accented Equish. “Just one would be sufficient to transport everycreature here a third of the distance towards the city, thus getting us most of the way there in two hops. They only work once, though, after which they need to be recharged.” “And can you recharge them?” Decanus Nydia asked, her voice wary; Gilda guessed she’d not been taught about that particular Ibexian magic before. The female’s jaw clenched. “Nyet. Because the Capricorn Conclave never teaches its Adepts the spells to do so, for reasons I’m sure you can guess.” She smiled thinly. “Aside from their usual paranoia? They would not want knowledge of it to fall into griffon wings from a captured Adept, else we might be able to counter it,” Ebon Umbreon suggested with a slow and knowing nod. “Or worse for them, we might later be able to redirect such teleports to places… undesirable. Like deep underwater or into a circle of ready troops, where they could be quickly killed or captured.” “Da,” Karin Kazal confirmed in some disgust. “But even if they had taught us the spells, we are still left with one difficult dilemma—how to place the enhanced anchor points at our destination. If the three of us were at full strength, we could teleport one or two of you—or ourselves—the distance. Assuming we were familiar with the area and could visualize it, that is. But we are far from full strength, we cannot visualize the area without having been to it, and even were it otherwise, teleportation would be a grave and deadly mistake.” “Why?” Gilda asked, more suspicious of the trio than ever when it was revealed that they in fact spoke Equish fluently, which she supposed was necessary for them to interact with Chris after they cubnapped him. “Because teleports of that distance require an enormous amount of mana. That would not only drain their caster, but fire off a massive magical flare at both the origin and destination points that would be sensed by any Magus within a dozen leagues,” Nydia explained. “Their jump would be instantly detected by corrupted mages and the Cloven would know where we’re going. You can bet they’d attack us there, and the outcome is the same.” She slumped. “Correct, Magus. But our anchor points do not use teleportation. Instead, they use summoning spells,” he emphasized. “That is an entirely different magical mechanism, in effect pulling instead of pushing its target. It uses the magical conduits of the world itself to work—I believe the Equestrians call them Ley Lines—and as a result, they do not release that magical flare. “A griffon mage or Ibex might still sense it, but only at very close range. This is how we infiltrate your borders, Centurion,” he said with a sly smile that made her immediately want to hit him. “Your standard anti-intrusion wards do not detect or stop this.” “Remarkable,” Ebon Umbreon said in grudging respect. “We knew about your anchor beacons but had no idea you’d developed them this far. You could have used them to launch a devastating first strike, transporting thousands of troops to critical points behind our border defenses.” “Indeed, Shadow Decurion. But now that you know, I’m sure your organization and the Council of Crows will find counters for them quickly—assuming we survive the Cloven, that is,” the Ibex buck said dryly. “As you say, we have crossed horns before, but I do respect you, Ebon Umbreon. And I hope you do not begrudge us our original orders, given the grave threat we thought humans posed to our race and nation.” “Grave threat?” Chris repeated angrily as Gilda’s tail lashed and Marco gave a growl. “What the hell did we ever do to you?” For the first time the two Ibex turned to look at him directly. “After we obtained Marco Lakan’s ‘laptop’ device, we learned how to magically interface with it. We then watched many of your ‘movies’, where we saw the horrifying power of your weapons and the potential world-devastating violence of your wars, human! Worse, you eat beings like us and some of your movies showed Ibexian-speaking humans as the enemy!” the female pointed out. “By the Ancient Rams themselves, were you to ally with our mortal enemies and start sharing those weapons with the griffons, we thought we were as good as dead! And thus, our only option was to gain knowledge of those weapons and human technology for ourselves! But we couldn’t defeat the magical wards the ponies placed on the stolen human equipment without an actual human present! Mister McLain was the obvious choice for such an operation given his intelligence and knowledge of multiple subjects, including human history and firearms.” “And you thought kidnapping Chris wouldn’t make us your enemies?” Tara pointed out icily. “Maybe you hadn’t heard, but human weapons were not going to be sold to Tellusian nations!” she further told him, to which the goat-like creature gave a very equine snort. “Not formally, no. But how long would it have taken the Kingdom to get their grubby talons on just one human firearm, Tara Fields? That’s all it would have taken to teach them or the Minotaurs how they worked, and then how to make their own on a mass scale!” he insisted angrily. “What, do you think we didn’t know your Council of Crows was trying to do just that?” Everyone fell silent, including Gilda. There was little she could say in response, as the Starshina’s words were true. But still, she was not about to let her ire at them pass so easily. “Fine. You’ve got us there. But that doesn’t excuse your attempt on our lives with that crow-cursed spiked cider!" The Ibex closed his eyes for a moment, but only a moment. “I’m sorry, Centurion. It wasn’t my team that conducted that operation, but we still would have done it if we were told to! Because based on what we knew about humans even then, we had to prevent a human/griffon alliance at all costs!” His words elicited a ripple of angry trills and ruffled feathers paired with human curses. “Well, guess what? It failed, Ibex. In fact, for attacking their civilians, you gave the humans plenty of reason to ally with us against you!” Fortrakt’s wings splayed hard as he took a step towards them. The female rounded on him. “Then perhaps you should be thanking us, Fortrakt Gletscher! Not only for that, but for allowing you to enjoy the company of a human doe!” she said with an appraising glance at an infuriated Tara, but then her grin turned evil. “Or did you prefer their bucks instead…?” Fortrakt gave a warning trill punctuated by a fierce flush. Stepping in front of him to head off a challenge, Gilda had been about to snarl her own reply when Giraldi stepped forward in turn, his voice calm and composed despite his own lingering blush. “Enough. With due respect to all present, recriminations and political debates can wait. Our first priority is survival and getting to Aricia. And we are still left with the question as to how to get these anchor points to the next steadholt towards the city—which I believe is called Harness, located eight leagues ahead and situated on top of an isolated hill. Chris groaned. “If your measure of ‘league’ is the same as the Roman one, that’s about an eleven-mile march through hostile territory over mostly open farmland. I’m no tactician, but given Cloven numbers and all the effort they’ve made to kill us, there’s no way in hell we’ll make it.” “Fuck…” Marco said simply. “He’s right. The three of us couldn’t possibly make that distance weighted by our guns and armor, let alone Raleigh or the two mothers with their cubs by ground.” “Christopher McLain and Marco Lakan speak true,” the Ibex male said. “But I would submit, Grizelda Behertz, that an agile, low-flying sky griffon might be able to evade pursuit and deliver the gems to a new and unoccupied steadholt, triggering them from there. And could do so in under an hour.” “I think he’s right, Centurion,” Fortrakt agreed grudgingly. “It’s an all-day journey by ground, but less than half an hour away by air. It might not even have to be a low-altitude flight if the lightning field enchantment is only triggered by large groups, not small ones,” he mused aloud. “I wouldn’t advise that,” Giraldi warned. “We have no idea if they’ve changed the spell parameters. You could be struck down the instant you fly into it.” “Fine, then we stick to low altitude!” Fortrakt conceded. “If we deliver the gems by air to a safe location and activate them, pulling everycreature to them, we could finally find respite. The Cloven wouldn’t know where we are any more than we knew where the Ibex were before we pulled them to us. And after that? We repeat the process. We do it again with the second gem to the third steadholt in line, getting there by dawn, and from there, it’s only five leagues to Aricia. For all we know, that steadholt is already within their defensive lines!” he suggested hopefully. “I doubt it, as they’d want to concentrate all their civilians and soldiers behind the city walls, which are far more defensible than the outlying towns. But I concur with the Decurion’s assessment.” Giraldi nodded slowly. “The Corporal and the Ibex are correct. We cannot stay here. The Cloven will return, likely within an hour. And given how badly they want the humans, they will not stop coming until we are all dead.” All eyes then turned on Gilda as she considered the situation. The last thing she wanted was to do what the crow-cursed Ibex buck suggested after their latest admissions, or worse, trust them with their very lives. But nor could she deny that their reasoning was sound. If we stay, we die, and the Cloven gain access to human knowledge and weapons. But if we can use these Ibexian anchor point crystals to slip free to the next steadholt, and then the one after that? We could conceivably reach Aricia and safety by midmorning, she thought, though she also wondered if safety could be found anywhere in the Kingdom or even outside of it by now. If, that is, a single fast flyer could make it there unseen… She mulled it over, and in the end, she made the only choice that both military necessity and her own personal honor would allow. “So be it. Ancestors know it’s our only possible escape route at this point. Optio Giraldi? I leave you in command. I’ll personally deliver the crystals to the steadholts of Harness and Yoke. I just need to know how to activate them when I get there.” “Gilda!” Marco, Chris and Tara chorused in alarm as Giraldi and the Marines gave her a startled look. “With respect, Centurion, your courage and honor do you great credit, but myself or the Second Scimitar are better choices,” Ebon Umbreon offered, to which the mute eagless nodded vigorously, stepping forward in offering. “Our stealth spells will allow us to evade pursuit and deliver them there unseen.” “They’re right, Gilda,” Fortrakt spoke up, earning a momentary glare for calling her by a familiar term. “Please don’t throw your life away because you think you aren’t doing enough here.” But Gilda only shook her head. “It’s not that. Yes, you’re the better choice, Shadow Decurion, but I need you and the Second Scimitar here. You’re the best early warning we have, and if you go, we lose your swords and repeaters from the defense. But if I go, we’re only down one crossbow. If I’m nothing else, I’m a very good flyer. And besides, I won’t ask anyone under my command to do something I’m not willing to do myself.” She noted Imlay nodded slowly in agreement when she spoke. “My decision is final. I’m going.” “Then I’m going with you!” Fortrakt stepped forward. “Decurion—” Annoyed, she was about to outright order him to stop acting like a stupid cub, but then stopped at the gleam in his eyes. “With all due respect, you need me, Centurion! I’m going because there should be another griffon on your wing out there, and because we’ve been partners for over six months now. Crows know we’ve taken care of and looked out for each other all that time, so by our most sacred Ancestors, do you think I’m going to stop now?” he said firmly.  She stared at him, realizing he wasn’t just posturing or making airs. “Are you sure, cub?” “Very. We know how each other flies and fights, so better me than another sky griffon. Besides, two flyers have a better chance of making it than one. We can each carry a single crystal, and if one of us falls, the other can carry on,” he further reasoned. “Not both of you…” Chris looked shaky again as the Marines exchanged uncertain glances and Tara appeared to murmur a prayer. Fortrakt closed his green eyes tightly for a moment. “I’m sorry, Chris and Tara,” he told them, baring his throat in apology. “I want to stay and defend you, but if she’s going to do this, the Centurion needs me with her. I promise I’ll get her there. And then get you all there.” “A bold plan. But not without great danger,” Karin Kazal addressed them; she was surprised to see some real respect in his gaze. “If you two are killed and corrupted, they could gain access to the crystals and pull us all to them,” he pointed out ominously.  “If that happens, we can’t stop the summoning process. Once you trigger them, their spell will complete—as I believe your Magus made happen with our standard anchor beacons earlier,” he noted with a glance at Nydia. “If you do this, our lives are in your proverbial horns, Centurion.” “And if I don’t, we’re as good as dead anyway,” Gilda replied, trying to draw what strength she could from her determination to do her duty and her love for her human friends. “This is our only chance. I swear by my Ancestors we’ll get there and save you all. Now give us the crystals and tell us how to use them…”