The next day, Yuriko found out the casualties from the two battles.

Five hundred seventy-three wounded, two hundred five dead. Of the five hundred, nearly half would need a long recovery time, while the remaining had wounds minor enough that it didn’t take more than an evening to recover.

That morning, the last rites were performed for the dead. They were wrapped up in canvas and buried in a hastily erected mausoleum. After the war, they would be exhumed and moved back to Lucenti. At least, that’s what Rhox said.

Of the gravely wounded, they were escorted by a cohort of the lightly injured back to the city-state.

Afterwards, nearly ten cohorts, a thousand warriors, went about digging trenches and ditches outside the palisade. Another set of a thousand went out into the swamp carrying wood axes, and another set collected swamp water.

“That isn’t for drinking, is it?” Yuriko asked Rhox when the men poured the water into large clay cauldrons set above firepits.

“No, siege defences,” Rhox explained. “We’ll pour boiling water down any attempt to climb the palisade.”

“Ah. Are we going to wait until they attack us here?”

“I think so,” Rhox shrugged. “We’re outnumbered.”

Yuriko just nodded. It wasn’t up to her to decide the army’s strategy but she wondered at the wisdom of just waiting it out.

“Lessons from Agaza would have been useful right now,” she sighed.

I doubt it. That academy you’ve been pining over would have taught you common tactics from your nation. But you’re not in Rumiga and these people don’t have the weapons and armour, or even the abilities to pull off what you would have learned.

‘Basic strategies would have been common no matter the composition.’

No, that’s not true. These people are not of pure human stock and the way they think is different from how you do. I really doubt that Otlaca fellow would be content to wait it out. He would need a decisive victory if he wants to win independence. That’s a tall order considering the other side has a War Sorcerer. Ah, that guy’s barely worth the title though.

‘Wasn’t he the one who brought down a fort?’

That’s right, and that’s why it would be foolish to wait here in fortifications. Ah, go on the walls and look at what they’re doing.

‘Alright.’

Yuriko nodded to Rhox and took off towards the palisades. She bounded up to the platform with an easy leap and looked out over the terrain. Aside from the ditch just in front of the palisade, the troops dug more trenches beyond the first set that was already there.

Each one was at least a couple of paces deep. It was just enough that an Ahas or L’tik warrior could stand upright at the bottom without exposing the top of their heads. There was a step up at the trench’s walls so they could shoot their crossbows at attackers, or activate whatever abilities and techniques their strange Animus had. For that matter, the trenches reached all the way to the swamp and they had water flood into the things. She supposed it made it easier for the lizard and croc men to enter and exit the swamp, but she heard a few of the Ahas complaining of wet feet.

Yuriko returned to her quarters to continue repairing her Anima. She was nowhere near done, though the little bit she accomplished allowed her to expand her Anima an extra inch from yesterday. The work of more than a week had been accomplished in the midst of battle. Maybe she should fight in more wars to strengthen herself faster. She snorted at the thought. She wasn’t bloodthirsty! She wasn’t a barbarian who needed to kill to grow stronger.

She could practically hear Damien snorting in derision and was somewhat surprised when he didn’t. Then again, her reserves of Radiant energy were dwindling. The Season of Air had overcast skies but there was enough sunlight for her to absorb. Provided she stripped down to her underwear.

Yeah, no.

She opted to meditate outside of her tent where she was exposed to the Radiant Sun. She rolled up the sleeves of her dougi and opened the front as much as she was comfortable with. That still meant it took her hours to fill up. Oh well. She wasn’t about to strip in front of strange men and women even if they looked markedly different from her. She still felt dozens of gazes on her body.

At the end of the day, she was again invited for dinner at the conference tent. The three of them sat on one side of the table this time, atop cushions on the rug. By now, Yuriko had grown used to sitting on her heels though more often than not, her legs fell asleep. The pins and needles when the blood rushed back was more than a bit annoying.

Tonight, Akko and a couple of other Wing Leaders made their report while the three Elders ate.

“...two skirmishes today, Elders. Mostly inconclusive. No casualties on either side and no sign of any enemy Elders participating. We did not feel the Sorcerer acting.” One of the warrior leaders Yuriko didn’t know reported.

“We observed a small caravan moving from the west. Probably a supply caravan from Lardel Keep. We didn’t engage.” Rhox said.

“They are also improving their fortifications. The palisade was quickly repaired and the ditch dug deeper and wider. We spotted a few patrols that we engaged. We wounded some but no fatalities.”

Otlaca nodded.

“Very good. We will continue with siege preparations while the wounded recover. I’ve sent a messenger hawk to Elder Gorrosau to bring reinforcements and supplies. We should expect them in a couple of days.”

Yuriko ate her fill and listened politely, though she excused herself once the two Elders brought out a bottle of wine. They offered it to her, of course, but she declined. From the scent, the wine was dry and she didn't like that.

By the next morning, her Anima had recovered and grown by a couple of inches. Thirteen more before she reached the threshold to Knight. A few more battles like that and maybe she would reach it before the turn of the year.

Later that day, the alarm sounded. When Yuriko reached the walls, the army from Vizugmon was coming down the road. The cats looked grim and determined.

They stopped a hundred paces before the first trench. The warriors stationed there were huddling undercover, but from her vantage point, Yuriko could see them grasping crossbows firmly.

A small group, about a dozen, broke away from the main body and shouted a few words towards the trench. Nothing happened for a couple of minutes before one of the Lucentian warriors clambered out of the trench and ran for the camp. Once he was within shouting distance, he looked at Otlaca who had climbed up next to Yuriko.

“Request for parley, Elder!”

“Very well, we will come see what they want,” Otlaca grumbled. “Elder Yuriko, if you would accompany me.”

“Of course.”

She jumped across the wall and ditch, landing a couple of paces from the warrior who jumped in surprise. Otlaca landed a moment after she did and she could hear him muttering imprecations about her haste.

Elder Irseso remained behind, though she watched them on the walls.

Yuriko and Otlaca hopped over the trenches, which were about as wide as they were deep. An easy jump. As they came closer to the delegation, Yuriko frowned as she recognised the Sorcerer.

He was the only human in the group but was otherwise attired in the same leather and chainmail armour, though he wore a dark green overcoat that reached his knees. His eyes were riveted to her when came within sight, and his jaw slackened before he shook himself and set his lips to a formidable line.

The Vizugmon Elder accompanying him was the one who fought against Irseso yesterday. She was a Kutin woman wearing a metal cuirass. She looked like she wore some kind of gambeson, thick padded clothing, under it. The Kutin’s fur was white with black patches on her cheek.

The Kutin woman and Otlaca spoke in their native tongue for a few moments before they switched to Wojan. Yuriko understood a few words, mainly from several days listening to native speakers jabber. Otlaca mainly asked the other two to speak in Wojan, but there were several phrases she didn’t understand.

“So,” the Sorcerer said, “I am Rhain Hervard of Tiath. In accordance with the rituals and pageantry of war, will you surrender or will we have to annihilate your forces?”

Otlaca visibly bristled.

“You dare? Hah! Will you surrender? You’ve invaded Lucenti’s sovereign territory and you say you’re from Tiath City? Your state has not declared war yet you’re here!”

Rhain smirked.

“You’ve violated the Vizugmon Treaty of the Equitable Rights to the Labyrinth. According to its passages, your act of aggression is cause for war.”

Otlaca yelled, “Tiath is similarly disadvantaged by that Treaty! Why would you support it?”

The Kutin Elder shifted her weight between her feet but she remained silent. She did give the Sorcerer a sidelong glance.

“That’s not for me to decide,” Rhain said. “Now, will you surrender and prevent further loss of life? Oh, you’ll have to surrender this…girl…to Tiath. She is from a foreign and hostile power.”

“You…you know where I’m from?”

Rhain sneered.

“The cruel and greedy, so-called Eternal Empire! Your nation has spared no expense in creating strife and subversion for several decades now.”

“What?” Yuriko blurted out. “I didn’t even know this plane existed before I accidentally wound up here.”

“So you say. Yet a warrior of your power just happened to join Lucenti and their rebellion!”

“Hey! We are not rebels! Lucenti is a free and independent city-state,” Otlaca protested.

“Marauders and robbers then,” Rhain scoffed.

The Kutin Elder clapped a hand on the man’s shoulder, interrupting his tirade. The Kutin woman was taller than the humans, for that matter, most of the bestial humans were. For the first time in her short life, Yuriko wasn’t the one towering over others. She found it both refreshing and strange. Still, she noticed most of them tended to lower their posture when she was around, except for the Elders, of course.

Rhain glanced at the Kutin woman, then snorted.

“Very well. We will meet on the battlefield.”

He spun dramatically around, flaring his overcoat in the process.

Yuriko and Otlaca returned to the palisades, and not ten minutes later, the contingent of Vizugmonian warriors started their assault. Well, they actually started digging their own trenches that were just out of easy crossbow range.

Nearly a hundred felinekin started shovelling into the ground, their bodies aglow with Animus. There were a few who merely waved and the earth moved to their bidding, but from the glow, they expended a prodigious percentage of their reserves to accomplish this.

Of course, neither Otlaca nor Irseso allowed them to do as they pleased. Crossbow bolts, head-sized stones, and clumps of mud were flung at the Vizugmonians to great effect. They had to pull back several hundred paces away and start their digging there.

Anyone that stuck their heads above the trenches was met with an attack. Either from crossbow bolts and fire, lightning, ice, and acid bolts. The majority of the warriors on this plane seemed to have Facets that created blasts of energy or empowered their bodies in some way, Yuriko thought. Or rather, those were Animus techniques, not Facets. Still, the speed at which they deployed their techniques wasn't that inferior to an inlaid technique or Facet.

The ones who threw fire, and other energies, took several seconds to wind up. She’d been observing from above the palisade for the entire afternoon as well as much of the next day. Otlaca and Irseso haven’t committed to a strong counterattack, and neither have the Vizugmonians. She was pretty sure that a concerted assault by any of the Elders against the normal warriors would result in a massacre but other than the Sorcerer, none of the Elders attacked.

As for Rhain Hervard, she saw him staring at her from across the battlefield, a menacing gleam behind his eyes. He didn’t attempt to cast any spell, and it was as if he was content to let the warriors throw themselves at each other.

Pretty quickly, the Vizugmonians learned to erect defences against the swamp sides. More than once, a contingent of Lucentians sneaked up and delivered an ambush at any who were too close to the edge.

The days rolled by, and the trenches crawled closer to each other until the nearest one was merely a dozen paces away.

It was the third day after that sorry attempt at negotiations. Otlaca and Irseso called for a meeting at the conference tent. When Yuriko arrived, the two Lucentians had grave expressions.

“What is it?” Yuriko asked.

“We've decided to make an assault,” Otlaca said. “Tonight. Just the three of us, targeting the opposing Elders.”

Yuriko nodded. “You’ve fought them in duels before, what makes you think you’ll succeed this time?”

“Because there won’t be duels,” Otlaca said grimly. “We’ve been bound by tradition for too long. We’ll incapacitate or kill Elder Naoko. She’s the softest one there. Then, we can focus on the other Elders. We’ll have to take care of her quickly, or the plan will fail.” Otlaca gave her and Irseso a pointed look. “Please don’t hold back.”

Yuriko pursed her lips. She hadn’t been holding back at all. Well, she hadn’t pulled out Fri’Avgi, but she shouldn’t display the artefact as it would draw even more undue attention to her. Besides, having the Anima Telum stored away allowed her Anima to grow faster.

The Empire fought wars, conquered planes, and destroyed cities when it came to claiming artefacts, and with good reason. If it became known she carried one with her… who knew what would happen. She had no real bonds with these people other than that of hospitality and common courtesy. And of course, the Vizugmonians were the first to attack her.

Still, if she could bring the war to a close before it got any worse, maybe it was worth brandishing the golden greatsword around. Maybe.