“As a mercenary, at times you just had to do things that go against your survival instincts, if that’s what your job demanded, or that’s what ends up getting you a fat paycheck and bounty. It’s a difficult task, to balance this bravado and spitting on the face of death with staying alive to enjoy the fat paychecks you earn from it.” - Devlin Steinkopf, Retired former captain of the Devlin’s Daredevils mercenary company.

The trip back to their camp had taken Hannah a good ten minutes at her top speed, while the runners and elites who went ahead took twice as long to reach the region she reported the fighting to be in, as the land route was more rugged and they were running with passengers on their backs.

“By Tohrmut’s bony ass,” Reinhardt cursed as the small group he led crested a hill and finally saw the ongoing battle. Whatever illusions had hid them before, had been dropped, as the mist archmage seemed occupied with covering the signal flares the dwarves launched from time to time from sight. He had naturally been too far away to do anything to the flare Reinhardt’s group launched though, and Reinhardt had also been notified of reply signals from their southeast.

The dwarves had formed a battle line, but they were being pushed back by the more numerous troops they faced. Unlike the prior battles against militia and regional troops, the five hundred escorts of the God-King were elites of the elite of the Holy Kingdom’s army, with a good smattering of mages in their midst to boot, as evidenced from the periodic offensive magic that landed on a dwarf’s shield or body.

“I don’t think they’d hold another fifteen minutes, cap,” commented Grünhildr from the side as she dismounted from Niko’s back. She had squinted her eyes to take a better look at the distant battle. Fifteen minutes was the time it would take for the rest of the Free Lances to reach them. “They’re getting pretty hammered down there.”

“Grün’s right, boss,” added Ylisera. The elf sweated but was not that short of breath, an impressive thing considering that she had just ran the whole distance alongside the therians at full speed, just relying on her physique. Elves were considered some of the best long-distance runners for a reason. “I’m seeing at least sixty, maybe as much as eighty down, hard to tell if they were just incapacitated or worse from here.”

“They will need help, and soon, lest the bird flies the coop,” added Mischka as she towered beside Reinhardt. “It’s pretty tall odds, but those further north-west ought to be headed this way as well from the signals, so if we can delay them just another fifteen, twenty minutes we’d have them surrounded in a pincer, ripe for the taking.”

“Guess everybody’s in for going down for a fight then?” asked Reinhardt as he looked around, to be answered by nods and gestures of agreement all around. They all knew the risks associated, yet the rich prizes promised were worth the while in their considerations.

“We’re mercenaries, Rein,” replied Salicia with a rare smirk on her face. The one-eyed woman already had her bow out as she peered into the distance. “Risking our lives for gold and silver are just what we do for a living.”

“Guess it’s bloody time we earn our paychecks then,” said Reinhardt with a fang-bearing grin on his face. “Sal, you stay here, do what you do best,” he added to the one-eyed woman, who was the only archer who had come along with them. “Mischka, gonna have to ask your boys and girls to take the brunt again I fear.”

“Shields up front, lads and lassies! Wedge formation!” Mischka commanded immediately. On her command, the dozen shieldbearers of her group that were present formed up into a wedge, with Niko and Varilya at the point of the wedge, flanked by their respective spouses. Everyone else formed up right behind them as they filled up the wedge.

“Charge! Extra portion of the bounty for whoever grabs that God-King fellow!” yelled Reinhardt as the formation ran ahead as one. They were not that fast, as they matched up their speeds to remain in formation, but it was fast enough to cover the short distance from the hill to the ongoing battle in a couple of minutes.

The left flank of the God-King’s troops noticed their approach and wheeled about to face them, as their infantry interlocked their shields and pointed spears at the charging mercenaries. From behind them, at least a dozen mages launched projectiles of fire, lightning, ice, and rocks at the mercenaries.

Those magical projectiles landed on the shields of the shieldbearers up front, who just grunted and pushed through the blows. Even when a rock spear the size of a man’s thigh landed on Yuri’s shield the massive therian man just ignored it and kept running without a hitch.

Almost immediately the magical barrage found themselves under counter fire, as two of the mages learned the hard way, as an oversized arrow took them in the eye and throat respectively, dropping them on the spot. The third mage Salicia targeted managed to react and avoid the shot that should have taken him in the heart, and the arrow only skewered the man through his shoulder instead.

Meanwhile the Free Lances advanced under her cover, and soon closed on the left flank of the God-King’s guards. The dwarves also noticed the arrival of help, and redoubled their efforts, as they held onto their ground and refused to give way, even pushing back at some places.

With a ferocious roar from many throats and a cacophonous clash of metal on metal, the point of the wedge formation the mercenaries used collided with the shield wall on the left flank of the God-King’s soldiers. The shield wall broke almost immediately, as the momentum of the massive, charging therians behind their shields were just too much for them to handle, and the wedge quickly pushed several ranks deep into the God-King’s guards’ formation.

Then the point of the wedge pushed to the sides, as Reinhardt led the rest of his elites directly into the inside of the enemy formation with a roar that nearly deafened those near him.