Chapter 66 * Cirinian Valley *

“A bird’s eye view of the encampment shows around 150 pogs,” Kynobi reported. “It looks like twenty of them are the larger variety.”

Kynobi was able to summon his second companion, a small redwing bird named Kite, to scout the encampment from the air. Because of their bond, he could easily see what the bird saw. After relaying the information, he opened his eyes once again. Stephanie and Lori were sitting directly across from him in the small clearing, while the other Order of Nature chiefs were on either side of him. They were in the forest, only five minutes from the main encampment, preparing for the raid on Calendon’s forces.

“What about the animals; can you see them?” As was his habit, Jandor was pacing around the group.

“No, but that’s to be expected. They’re gathering in different areas of the woods and mountains waiting to be summoned, but I’ve sent Junjun out and he’s verified various packs and groups of animals at the edge of the forest. I believe we can expect several hundred to come to our call, and we already have the wildcats brought by Silvet.”

“But how will we coordinate the attack?” Jandor asked. “The only way this works is if all of the animals move according to the plan we laid out.”

“It will not be a problem,” Wheaton assured. “We’ll be able to convey our desire through song to every animal that hears it.”

Jandor raised an eyebrow at this, but Stephanie gave him a reassuring look. “Trust us, we know what we’re doing.”

Jandor nodded. He was still skeptical but found it best not to question aspects of this new world he didn’t fully understand.

“My shadow foxes have confirmed that the chiefs who were sent out with Calendon’s soldiers are all safe,” Lenora added. “Everything went according to plan. The monsters were defeated, and the soldiers restrained. They’re being taken to the abandoned cabins not too far south of here. Gavin and the others will be able to take care of things there.”

Lori jumped down from the tree she’d been perched in and landed nimbly next to Jandor. “I see her. That girly’s coming with the deathclaw and pogs. She’s a good ten minutes out. If we gonna get her, we gotta do it now.”

Jandor nodded but gave her a concerned look. “Are you sure about this Lori? I hate sending you off alone to face that deathclaw thing. It almost killed me.”

Lori chuckled lightly. “Mate, I can take care of myself, don’tcha worry. Besides I ain’t gonna be alone. I’ll have Dan with me, not to mention the queen of all land animals,” she gestured to the black wildcat sitting majestically at the edge of the forest, as if waiting to be let loose.

“Yeah well, I don’t know how much help one more animal is going to be against that thing,” Jandor said skeptically.

Kynobi chuckled.

“What?” Jandor asked, not seeing the humor.

“My apologies,” Kynobi cleared his throat. “Silvet said not to worry, she plans to purge that abomination from her valley. Do not underestimate the ruler of the lands.”

Jandor looked like he was about to respond but Lori forestalled him. “Look, you gotta stay here and handle Calendon. Besides, I’ve been itchin’ for a proper fight with that lieutenant girly. As soon as we’re done cleaning up those frags, I’ll be right back to join ya, so save some for me.” She gave him a brief peck on the cheek, which Jandor was not expecting. “Try not to miss me too much.”

Lori took off running, Silvet at her heels. Daniel, along with a few members of the northern encampment, were already in place to provide support, and they would soon be joined by over a hundred wildcats which were the primary fighting force sent to cut off Addilyn’s group before they could reach the main encampment.

Jandor was slightly stunned by her brazen gesture but quickly recovered when he saw Stephanie smirking at him. “When Daniel gives the signal, we’ll engage Calendon’s troops at the same time. Let’s get ready.”

Everyone nodded at this. As Stephanie started to climb a nearby tree, Jandor turned back to Kynobi and Lenora, suddenly remembering something. “What about the hostages? We never settled that. Didn’t you say something about getting in contact with Windborn?”

Lenora nodded. “Yes, and he said he’d be able to get the others out of harm’s way by the time we start the attack”

“How exactly is he going to get over one thousand people out of the main encampment?” Jandor asked.

“Chief Windborn has a very unique companion,” Kynobi said as he shared a knowing smile with Lenora.

***

Addilyn was beyond frustrated. No matter how fast the pogs were, they couldn’t match the legendary speed of the argent wolves, the third fastest land animals in the world. Combine that with the disorienting nature of the amenus powder and there was no way she could pursue the escaped seal bearers and their cohorts. Furthermore, since the smaller group was able to travel through the dense forest with ease, Addilyn was certain that they could reach the main encampment far faster than her. She didn’t know what they had planned, but she knew that getting back to Calendon as quickly as possible was her top priority.

It seemed like madness that the order would stoop to using animals to fight for them.

Why couldn’t they just surrender? They’re throwing their lives away, she thought to herself.

It didn’t matter how many animals were in the valley. Addilyn knew that in the end, the invincible creatures of the Book of War would win. What was the point of trying to fight back?

The young lieutenant found the whole situation to be the height of irony. Almost all of the towns they went to would quickly surrender once they saw the might of the Book of War. Sure, sometimes it would take time to breakup battles between neighboring towns, but beyond that, people quickly fell in line. Regions that had been locked in conflict for decades were completely subjugated within hours of their army’s arrival. People were given a choice, peace or death, and in the face of such a decision, most chose peace.

But now, the usually peaceful and pacifist Order of Nature was choosing to fight. They wanted to prolong their inevitable defeat, and what was worse, the captain assigned to subjugate them was already dead set on killing them all. He only needed the slightest excuse to justify it, and they were giving it to him.

Why would they do this?

This isn’t how it was supposed to be.

Addilyn’s mind was a jumble of thoughts, but this one was the most prominent. This wasn’t why she’d join Davron’s army. She didn’t want revenge, she didn’t want war, she wanted what she saw when Calendon brought his battalion to Millmesh.

Addilyn and her father had moved there after Portson was destroyed and her mother was killed. But Milmesh was hardly better, another town caught up in petty squabbles with other towns over scarce resources. Then Calendon appeared with Davron’s forces and put an end to all of it in a matter of hours, killing everyone who opposed peace and recruiting those who wanted a better life. The creatures of the Book of War enforced absolute obedience. None of the soldiers even had to draw their weapons.

Being able to put an end to war without drawing her blade; that was what she was hoping for. Despite being an accomplished swordswoman, despite the bloodlust she felt whenever she faced an opponent, at the end of the day she felt no joy in victory and no sorrow in defeat. It was all empty, all meaningless, because it never changed anything. No matter how many enemies she defeated, there was just more fighting to come, a never-ending cycle. But Lord Davron offered hope, a chance for true peace, enforced by his unbeatable monsters.

Now there was this new and unexpected obstacle in their path: these seal bearers and the Order of Nature. They were determined to fight, determined to show her how naive she was to think she’d be able to obtain peace without having to step onto the battlefield herself. But at least this time when she fought, there would be meaning to it. She didn’t care how bloody the path was, as long as there was an end in sight.

These were Addilyn’s thoughts as she rode atop the deathclaw which was running at top speed. The main encampment was almost in sight but just as she was about to spur her creatures to go faster, she saw it, a row of wildcats lined across the plains, blocking her path, with a sole person standing in the middle. Thoroughly bemused, Addilyn ended up slowing down to confront her opposition. A small part of her thought of barreling right through the animal barricade, but her frustration at losing her captives and her desire to put an end to this farce of an uprising got the better of her.

As she came closer to the wildcats, she finally saw who she was facing, and laughed. “You? You’re not even a seal bearer. What are you doing here? You can’t hope to stop me, even if you use your little tricks from before. My creatures will just plow right past you.”

“No tricks, girly.” Lori said as she drew her claymore. “Me and my animal mates are here to stop ya from going any further. We don’t need any more company at the camp right now, especially not from that bear thing you’re ridin’. So, let’s you and me dance right here; whatd’ya say?”

“If you’re that eager for death, fine. Kill them!” she ordered.

The pogs rushed forward, and at the same time so did the animals, which outnumbered the monsters almost three to one. None of them headed for the deathclaw though, leaving Lori and Silvet to take on the massive foe and the lieutenant riding it.

The half-elf and the tigrex shot forward simultaneously and the deathclaw raised a massive paw to strike. Lori’s swung her claymore to parry the blow as Silvet ducked under it and bit into the deathclaw’s flank. It roared in pain, but it seemed the tigrex’s teeth didn’t go deep enough to inflict too much damage, and the deathclaw reared up on its hind legs to swat at her, causing Addilyn to almost topple off.

Lori took this opportunity to charge forward, racing around the black bear-creature and jumping high to tackle Addilyn to the ground.

“Got ya!” Lori said triumphantly as she landed on top of her.

Addilyn used mentus to strengthen herself and kicked Lori off of her, giving the nimble soldier enough time to grab her sword and jump to her feet.

“Oi, soldier-girl, you sure you wanna fight? You don’t have any of your monsters to back you up this time,” Lori taunted.

Addilyn looked around briefly and saw that all of her pogs were busy dealing with the wildcats. Still, she didn’t back down. With a flick of her head, she shifted her brunette hair out of the way and took a fighting stance. “And you don’t have your seal bearer friends here to help you.”

Lori grinned wickedly, clearly itching for a good fight with something that wasn’t an unkillable monster, and she took her own fighting stance. She darted forward and there was a high-pitched clang as the two swords met each other in combat. Next to them, Silvet and the deathclaw circled one another, a dangerous fire in both of their eyes as each prepared to pounce. The battle was on.

In the distance, Daniel was standing on a low but sturdy tree branch. He had already sent out his chakram multiple times to aid his animal allies, but once he saw that Lori had engaged, he paused and raised a hand high. Blue mentus flames shot into the air, giving a signal to Jandor and the others.

***

Terri was still staring out of the window when Calendon barged his way into the council hall commons, clearly on another tirade.

“Where is he?” Calendon demanded of the first person he saw.

“Where is who?” the female healer coward.

“That old man, Windborn. He’s disappeared!”

Calendon had been ready to vent more of his pent-up frustration out on the head chief, but he was nowhere to be found, not even mentantly. He’d searched the entire building.

“He’s plotting something, I can tell,” Calendon leered. “It’s been hours since any of my patrols have come back, Addilyn should have returned as well, now the old man is missing. I’m not an idiot!” he shouted to no one in particular.

Terri smirked at this before turning back to the window. That was when she saw it, at the edge of the distant forest, over twenty black wolves were lined up in a row.

“Wait, what is that noise?” Calendon said as he strained his ears.

Everyone in the room began to look around. Terri heard it too, and she forced open the window so that the sound would be clearer to all.

A loud, symphonic tune was reverberating throughout the valley. It wasn’t just one instrument, but several, all playing together to form a beautiful melody. The song was equal parts encouraging, breathtaking, and motivating.

Burke smiled as recognition dawned on his face. “I know this song, it’s ‘The March of Tearrion.’”

Sarah, who was seated next to him, looked up at this. “But that can only mean…”

Calendon, who seemed to also recognize the song, laughed almost triumphantly. “Finally, they’ve shown themselves! This is what I’ve been waiting for.” He pointed to the soldier that had been stationed in the commons. “Gather all our forces. We’re going to crush whatever pitiful resistance they’ve mustered up and then we’re going to burn this whole valley to ashes! And you two,” he gestured to the massive pogs at the doors, “make sure no one leaves this room. These people are going to be the first ones to die after we’re done with this farce.”

Calendon stormed through the double doors before the pog shut them and took position outside, leaving the people gathered there confused as to what to do next.

Terri was still by the window, and something caught her eye. “Oh my god, hundreds of animals are charging: wolves, bears, wildcats…there are so many!”

Burke and Sarah joined her at the window. “Maybe it’s a distraction so we can escape?” Burke mused.

“But how? Sure, even if we could get past the pog guarding the door, there are still all of those monsters outside,” Sarah reminded him. “We wouldn’t stand a chance, and it’s not just us; there are hundreds of people all throughout the camp.”

As if in answer to her question, the floor began to vibrate and there was a soft rumbling noise, though it was eclipsed by the song still echoing through the window along with the sounds of battle raging nearby. Everyone began to back up to the walls, scared at what might be happening.

Suddenly, the wooden floor was torn open in the center of the room. A set of massive brown paws pushed the debris aside and a long snout briefly poked its way through the hole before quickly descending back into the ground. Sarah was certain that if the room wasn’t filled with members of the Order of Nature, there would have been several screams at the giant animal that invaded the commons. As it was, only Terri looked like she was about to faint.

“Is that…” she seemed at a loss for words.

Sarah nodded. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s a mountain mole. It’s the first time I’ve seen one in person though.”

After a moment, Windborn emerged from the makeshift hole. He brushed dirt from his long white hair and green robe before greeting the room calmly. “Hello all, I believe most of you are familiar with Seedle, my companion.”

The long snout of the giant mole creature poked out again. It was so big that if it had exited the tunnel fully, it would have easily taken up over half the room.

Burke stepped forward. “Sir, what’s going on?”

“I’ll explain later. I put up a mentus barrier to block sound so our captors won’t hear us, but it won’t last long. For now, we need to leave. I’ve already had Seedle dig tunnels to the other buildings where people were being held. This place is the last stop. We’re going to be heading to the mountains while this battle takes place, just as a precaution so Captain Calendon doesn’t try to use us as leverage against our friends. Come along everyone.”

Though many people were still a little stunned and confused, they obediently followed their chief’s orders and headed for the giant hole in the floor.

One glance showed that the tunnel beyond sloped gradually downward, and as Sarah came closer, she could just make out the short stubby tale of the giant mountain mole as it went ahead of the group.

“Wow, it’s so big,” was all she managed to say.

Windborn chuckled at this. “Oh no, Seedle’s very much still a youngling. Give him a few decades, and he’ll be three or four times that size.”

Sarah smiled at this before looking back at Terri who seemed conflicted. “What’s wrong, I’m sure the tunnel’s safe.”

“It’s not that,” Terri said glancing to the window. “Jandor and Daniel are out there, aren’t they?” Her question was addressed to Windborn.

He nodded. “Indeed, they are.”

“I can’t just leave them to fight alone,” she said as if steeling herself to jump out the window and join her friends.

“They are not alone,” Windborn countered. “There are others with them, including a few of my chiefs and several hundred of our animal allies.”

“But they…they could die out there. Don’t you care?” Terri asked, a hint of accusation in her voice.

Windborn stepped up to her, a serious expression on his normally placid face. “Of course I care. Though you may not believe me, everything that I’ve done is to try to preserve life and protect as many as I can. Your friends have a plan, and this evacuation is part of it. We must trust that they know what they’re doing.”

Terri hesitated for a moment but finally nodded. She knew there was nothing she could do to help Jandor and the others. In fact, running out into an active battlefield would only cause problems. Though she had no idea what was going on, she trusted that even if Jandor did do something reckless, Daniel would keep a level head. After all the years she’d spent with him on Mendala, she knew she could depend on him when it mattered. With that in mind, she followed the others down the mountain mole’s hole.