As the sun rose the next day, 5th division had already left Pel Mahavir behind. They traveled west on the southern trade road, their pace as brisk as it had been on the way south. When evening came and the division found a clear space to make camp, Gerrack, Amos, and Edwin’s party tromped off to find the command tent. They were the last to arrive as the adventurers were still last in the marching order.

Asher acknowledged their arrival with a nod, waiting until they had made their way into the cramped tent before he began. “As you know, Colonel Karmund was tasked with providing tactical options to address the situation at Archibald’s Overlook. Just after our arrival this evening I was presented with three alternatives. This is the one I chose.”

A junior officer from the division staff unrolled a map hanging next to Asher. It was a lot smaller than the one in the palace’s war room, but it retained the same level of detail as it only showed the eastern third of the Wasteland.

“We will continue west until we reach this fork, then head south toward Giant’s Head. I have already sent messengers ahead to alert the garrison of our intentions, so the scouts stationed there can start clearing our path of enemy sentries. From there, we will march south-east until we reach Archer Hill, attempting to reach it before word of our presence can make it to the besieging forces south of Archibald’s Overlook. We will take Archer Hill within no more than two days after our arrival, then proceed to fortify it against attacks from the north and south, completely severing the enemy’s supply line.

“Should the enemy refuse to break their siege, we will march north to reinforce 1st division, engaging the enemy divisions in a pincer maneuver. Should they break the siege and march south instead, we will hold our position at Archer Hill while the 1st pursues them and assaults their rear. If they hear of our approach and manage to break the siege in time to reach Archer Hill before we can take it, we will retreat as necessary and confer with 1st division on how to proceed from there. Questions?”

There were questions, plenty of them, mostly focused on the specifics of taking Archer Hill. Asher had procured a map of the defenses which was only slightly outdated, and the gathered officers began arguing about the best and quickest way to take control of the fortification. Looking at the proposed plan, Edwin couldn’t shake a bad feeling in his stomach. This all seemed too easy. Could they really end the war before it began? Did the enemy really not know that they were coming, or was this all an elaborate trap, designed to bait them into a rushed attack?

He didn’t speak of his worries, as he knew that there was no way that the far more experienced soldiers around him hadn’t considered the possibility, as well as a lot of other possibilities that he wasn’t even aware of. Still… Something was not right. A piece of the puzzle was missing. Edwin sighed. He was probably going to sleep with one eye open until this was over.

Once they turned south off the trade road, the mood turned more somber as well. They crossed the bridge over the river Aste that marked the border of the Wasteland, and while the land around them looked exactly the same as it had further north, knowing that they were walking on contested soil put everyone on edge.

--- ----- ---

Leodin shielded his eyes against the low-hanging sun, gazing up at the rocky mountainside of Giant’s Head that towered over the surrounding hills.

“The view sure must be great from up there. It doesn’t look like much of a fortress though.”

“It’s all built inside the mountain,” Edwin explained. “This place has never been captured by an opposing force because the only way in is through tight corridors that can be held by a small force. The openings up there are for siege weapons; with their height advantage they can spot enemies from afar and rain ballista bolts down on them.”

“Couldn’t you just climb the mountain and enter through the windows?” Leodin asked.

“When the shooting floor was built, they turned the mountainside on the outside into magestone as well. Several meters in every direction are perfectly smooth.”

“Magestone?” Leodin asked, confused. “This is a Pioneer ruin? I thought they were only underground, does inside a mountain count?”

Edwin shook his head. “No, this one was built by human mages.”

Having only listened with half an ear, his last words made Salissa turn around. “Really? I thought that was forbidden because of the rules about taking part in fighting?”

“Correct,” Edwin said. “but this place was built way back during the Volarki war. When our ancestors began to push the Volarki back and take the lands that are now Harvand, their supply lines were getting too long. They needed a secure staging location for their conquest, so the mages turned this mountain into an outpost. It’s not meant as a defensive fortress like Archibald’s Overlook, the idea was to have a storage facility that was impossible for the Volarki to conquer while requiring minimal staff.”

Edwin pointed at different parts of the mountain as he explained.

“The tunnels that lead inside at the base are narrow, which means that the larger and more dangerous kinds of Volarki couldn’t enter at all. Even of the smaller ones, only one or maybe two could fight the defenders at a time. The shooting floor up above is built in a way that makes it impossible to climb up to, so they could shoot down on any attackers safely. There are massive storage caverns inside the mountain where a large number of supplies or even entire trains of carts can be stored safely. All of it is built from magestone, so it’s very hard to break with non-magical means.”

“Huh,” Leodin said, sounding impressed. “I wish they’d built more of these, it would make our job a whole lot easier.”

“It’s not very useful for what we’re doing now,” Amos joined in. “The narrow corridors mean getting in or out takes a long time. Also, even if you stuffed an entire division in there, it wouldn’t really do you any good because only a fraction of them could fight at one time. It’s almost impossible to capture, sure, but its offensive capabilities are severely limited as well. The ballistae are powerful, but their field of fire is narrow and ends a few hundred meters from the base of the mountain. It’s great as a strong point for scouting, storage, and as a lookout, but most enemies would simply choose to bypass it outside of ballista range unless forced to do otherwise.”

They stopped their idle conversation as Major Gerrack and Bordan returned from the command meeting.

“The garrison commander says that they got our message and that their scouts left to clear our path several days ago. They’re also in constant communication with Archibald’s, the last messenger came yesterday evening and reported that the situation was unchanged.”

“So, all according to plan?” Leodin asked.

“So far it is, yes.” Bordan agreed with a nod.

Here’s hoping it stays that way, Edwin thought. He didn’t say it out loud, however – best not to jinx it.

--- ----- ---

As they were closing in on Archer Hill every day, the command meetings became a hive of nervous activity. The officers tweaked the plan of attack more and more, trying to account for every possibility imaginable. They were still receiving reports from Archibald’s Overlook, and there were no signs that the enemy knew that they were here, but there were other factors to take into account as well. What if the garrison was stronger than anticipated? What if the westward defenses of Archer Hill had been substantially improved? There was even a scenario brought up during one of the meetings where the enemy cavalry, which had last been spotted several weeks to the west, suddenly showed up at Archer Hill to aid in the defense. Edwin found it more than a little excessive, but he figured that this was how the soldiers dealt with the stress and didn’t worry about it.

It was late morning, a day and a half before they were expecting to reach Archer Hill, that their carefully laid plans came crashing down all at once.

“Prepare for combat!” shouts were passed down the line. “Enemy ahead!”

The scouts had returned from their patrols, sweating from exertion and with fear on their faces. What was coming up the road toward 5th division wasn’t an enemy scouting party, or even a battalion. It was an entire division, four thousand Marradi troops marching straight at them from the opposite direction.