The soldiers reacted quickly, and the Dominion attackers had barely stepped out of the spot their teleportation brought them to before they were attacked. Of course, in that time they’d already done a lot of damage.

I backed away, suddenly grateful for Aston’s solid presence shielding me from the fight, but I didn’t run away. I needed to know what was happening. Besides, he probably agreed that I was safest close to the group of high-stage cultivators, or he’d already be trying to move me. Worst case, I guess Kiyanu can just run and carry me. But that would still be a disaster.

Not to mention I didn’t want to leave anyone behind I didn’t have to.

I shook those thoughts off as another loud bang echoed through the camp, and one of the towers at the corner sacked downwards. It stabilized quickly, only half caved in, but that wasn’t a good sign. The Zarian had caught us by surprise, and I saw too many of our soldiers dying before they even got off a good attack. I swallowed hard and had to resist the urge to retch as the wind once more carried the scent of burning flesh and hair to my nose.

The officers behind and around me were shouting, more or less coherently and in a semblance of order. Some of them vanished from the tent as they charged towards the intruders, and a portion of the Zarian split off to focus on the incoming elites. I barely caught their fight, but it produced a blast wave that leveled a few of the closer prebuilt structures.

“Keep the siege weapons firing at the walls,” I heard Poteri order. “There’s nothing they can do here except wait to be destroyed.”

I grimaced at the thought, but I knew he was right. We didn’t want to level our own camp, and even getting a few more shots in before they were destroyed was better than not getting those.

Under other circumstances, I might have advocated for pressing a charge at one of the other cardinal locations to take pressure off this one. But we were sieging a fortified city, and any half-baked attempt at an attack would invite brutal punishment. Instead, I had to wait and watch as the fight spread through this camp. The Zarian broke their formation quickly, fighting as the individual heavyweights they were. Kiyanu stepped up beside me, clenching his fingers into fists, and I spared him a brief smile. Knowing you could fight this but were unable to had to burn like nothing else.

Heart beating into my throat, I watched as one of the Zarian faced off against a group of Lighters that had been caught at the edge of the developing struggle. There were two squads, but the enemy soldier was in the sixth stage, and he tore through them like they were cardboard figures. They barely got a shot off. The spray of blood and the screams of the dying and wounded made my stomach twist.

“Withdraw the Lighters!” I called in the direction of the officers. “All of them! They’re useless here.”

They were supposed to fight against regular soldiers. The plan was that a squad of Lighters should be able to take on a fighter in the fourth stage and come out ahead. And unlike normal cultivators, they would have barely used their qi, so they’d be ready to do it again, and again. But putting them up against elites would be like trying to set rabbits against a bear.

Maybe I wasn’t the first to give that order, and the rest of their company withdrew quickly, while what remained of the squads engaged with the Zarian tried to disengage, as well. He was hit by one of the Imperial elites, and they managed to scamper away. The few that remained, at least. I bit my lip.

Breathing out deeply, I focused on the world around me, the heat of the sun and the surrounding people, and pulled fire qi in, ignoring the way it burned against my meridians. I closed my eyes for a moment and shaped it, taking the time I needed to make sure the technique was perfect, then opened my eyes and focused on a target. I exhaled and launched the technique. A group of Zarian soldiers in the fifth stage stumbled in their bloody dance as the fireball exploded in their midst, sending burning pieces everywhere. A few soldiers close to them cried out as the Scattering Wrath of the Inferno landed on them and starting burning through their defenses.

I took a few deep breaths and gave my channels a moment of rest. Other Imperial soldiers took the opening I’d created and launched their own attacks against the Zarian. More and more, the central area of the camp was descending into chaos. With all the qi that was thrown around, I had a hard time keeping track of the details.

I shook my head and focused on light qi. Then I started laying my Light’s Speed technique over as many Imperial fighters as was feasible. I left the stronger elites, since my boost wouldn’t be able to do much for them, but I buffed quite a few regular soldiers. I could feel the drain on my dantian, which was depleting far quicker than I could have pulled in new qi, even if I didn’t have to maintain the technique. But that was alright. This fight would be over soon, one way or another.

“Come on, at least a few of you can go fight,” I said with a glance at my guards. “Aston won’t let me get hurt, and neither will Kiyanu. But we’ll all be safer if more elites fight the Zarian.”

Aston pulled a face, and while a few guards glanced at the fight, none of them moved. “My lady, I’m not sure that’s wise,” he said.

“Aston.” I regarded him steadily. “If you won’t, I’ll give explicit orders. Your choice.”

After a moment, he lowered his gaze and bowed. “Yes, Your Highness.” He straightened and started naming guards, while I turned my attention back to the fight.

The Imperial soldiers were finally beginning to fight back as a coherent whole, and the Zarian attackers were being stopped and even driven back. I caught some movement behind me and turned just in time to glimpse Kiyanu rising into the air. He was probably checking for other forces or hidden surprises. It’s not directly fighting, but I doubt the Zarian will get anything past him. Well, anything else.

“Inaris!” Tenira called as she joined me at last. “Looks like you finally learned not to go haring off into fights.”

“Very funny,” I replied drily. “Where’ve you been?”

“Looking after our projects,” she said more seriously. “Everything’s in order, more or less. I thought it was about time we did something about this.”

I sighed. I didn’t want to waste the advantage of surprise we still had. But she was right. I couldn’t let this go on much longer, or the Zarian would capitalize on it, and dislodging them from the city would get a lot harder. I’d be surprised if they didn’t have a follow-up planned, or at least prepared if they got the opportunity.

We didn’t have many good options, either, but we’d deal with it.

I turned back, Tenira at my side. “Kiyanu, Poteri,” I called. “We need to start the air strikes. They’ll push them to recall this force, and it would be good cover.”

The two of them turned to me. General Poteri frowned, but nodded after a moment. “Waiting any longer would demand too steep a cost. With your permission, my lord?”

Kiyanu nodded, but didn’t stop looking at me. “You seem like you have something on your mind, Inaris,” he noted. He cocked an eyebrow. “Another attack?”

My smile widened. “Not really, but I do have an idea.”

It took a minute to explain what I wanted before we could set things in motion. Slowly, I walked back to the edge of the pavilion, sweeping my senses through the area to try and get a better idea of how the battle was going. Large parts of the fortifications were smoking ruins by now, or twisted beyond any hint of effectiveness. Bodies littered the ground, and not all of them were showing signs of life, though some were groaning and dragging themselves off and others being carefully picked up by healers. More than once, I saw a healer getting attacked before they could get to their prospective patient. It would have been hard to say how the battle as a whole unfolded. It was hard to believe it had only been a few minutes since the start.

Then, finally, the crackle of radio chatter informed me that things were starting. I stepped back and glanced at the screens, some of which had shifted, and nodded as I saw what I expected to find. Our planes, cultivators on flying swords, and even a few of the more maneuverable airships had taken to the skies and were finishing their approach. The dome of energy over the city flashed in spots as they started to drop bombs.

I couldn’t help a smile as I watched. The spots spread out quickly, appearing in a dispersed pattern like raindrops on glass. Even from the distance, a few dark shapes were clearly visible as they dropped from the sky and onto the shield, larger than any of the bombs. Those were no joke, either, and one of the outbuildings close to the city walls descended into a blazing inferno, flinging scraps of burning wood and stone into its surroundings, as if to punctuate the danger.

But I wrenched my gaze away and to the fights happening outside. Immediately, I could tell that the Zarian had realized what was happening. Their advance had stopped, and if anything, they were drawing more tightly together. Preparing for a possible retreat.

Our bombings were threatening the integrity of the shield, and if it fell, we’d be free to bomb the walls and their defensive fortifications, not to mention wherever they might have assembled soldiers in preparation for the battle. The only way to stop that was in the air, and for that, the Zarian needed their elites. The same ones, I figured, who were merrily wreaking havoc in our camp.

I glanced upwards again, then tried to run a hand through my hair but instead brushed it past my shoulder. Yarani had helped me with putting it into a slightly complicated braid, since I’d put my foot down about not bringing servants into a war camp. And seeing what’s happening, I can definitely say I told them so.

I considered the state of the fight for another moment, then turned to my guards. “Aston, hold them down.”

He nodded and his aura seemed to rumble a little as he used his earth qi. I stepped back, watching. Aston and Ru Lis, who’d just joined us out front, together with a few strong earth cultivators, struck at the Zarian. The ground boiled up around them, clinging to the soldiers and drowning their feet and legs. The fight seemed to stutter for a moment as Imperial soldiers fled the area while the Zarian contended with the techniques. Most of the seventh-stagers broke free, but I watched with narrow eyes as many others were caught.

Then the slightest shift in my senses provided a split second of warning before the bombs fell from the sky, the bombers too high in the air for the Zarian to sense. A large rock sank into the middle of the area, barely missing a Zarian soldier, and then the explosives followed.

I had to shield my eyes, and took another step back. Waves of force and heat rolled over the camp. I could sense soldiers dying. Mostly Zarian, but also a few Imperials who’d been caught on the edges. That whole part of the camp was almost leveled, walls and several of our siege engines blowing apart or going up in flames. Smoke started to choke the air.

But it had worked. The Zarian might have been able to defend against it more properly, but they hadn’t looked up or guarded themselves against above well enough, too distracted by the fight and the earth.

“Finish them off,” I said. But it barely mattered. Officers were already bellowing orders, and the Imperial soldiers returned, this time a little more organized.

I watched impassively as a dozen more Zarian were cut down, while the remainder of their force took to the air and escaped. I’d known we’d only get one chance, planes on a strafing run continuing their course from the city. We’d made it count.

“I think we may have just won the battle,” Tenira said, blinking her eyes against the dust.

I shrugged, and turned to get back into the pavilion while the soldiers started the clean-up. It was a buzz of activity, and I stopped to linger at the edges.

“I guess they didn’t expect us to bomb our own camp,” I mused. “Well, joke’s on them. I’d happily blow our own fortifications if the Zarian elites are caught in them, assuming we wouldn’t slaughter our own soldiers.”

“I suppose they are certainly easier to replace,” Tenira said.

I glanced around, and after a moment, I frowned. “We’re pressing the attack now?” The frequency of our bombardment of the shield, especially from the other positions, had only increased, and I could see soldiers mustering.

“We are, Your Highness.” General Poteri looked at me and bowed his head. “Their shield has been stressed enough, and we have the advantage now.”

I nodded. In silence, we watched as the shield started to become ever more visible, and more flickering. Finally, sections of it began outright collapsing. Then our planes went in for another attack run. This time, they encountered stiffer resistance. I suppressed a wince as one of the planes was blown out of the sky by some kind of projectile weapon and another hurled to the ground by an enemy air cultivator. But even with the losses we took, the stress was too much for the drained qi shield. It disappeared in a flash of light and a wave of wind that rustled trees all over the city, and a moment later the bombs started hitting the walls and fortifications.

By the time our planes had to withdraw, the bombs and the siege weapons had reduced the walls to little better than rubble in some spots, and barracks, fields and gatehouses were burning, taking Zarian soldiers with them.

“It looks like there won’t be another decisive fight,” Tenira commented.

I frowned, but didn’t say anything as Imperial soldiers advanced. The city still sent out some shots, but they were too scattered to have any hope of halting our advance. Then I could see them taking the walls and setting up beachheads.

“This battle is over,” Kiyanu said, coming over to join me. “The Zarian are probably focusing on getting as much as they can out and bleeding us.”

“That means this will get ugly.” I grimaced.

But he was right. I watched in silence as our people started pushing into the city, slowly and carefully. They didn’t even cross the first intersection before springing a trap. The next force that entered, in another breach, got pelted with ammunition by Zarian fighters that retreated from the rooftops quickly afterward.

I paced up and down, watching and gritting my teeth while our soldiers fought. It took hours of bloody street fighting before we could secure the central government buildings. Smoke was rising from the city in more than one spot, and enough buildings had collapsed they could fill an entire village.

It wasn’t the clean victory I’d hoped for, and I knew its aftermath would be a problem, not least because we’d shown some of our cards and expended a lot of explosives. But in the end, we held Blue Valley City once more.