The fire kept ravaging the far bank of the river for another full day. Finally, in the early hours of the third day 5th division had been camping by the river, a runner stuck his head into their tent to fetch Bordan for an emergency meeting. Curious, Edwin decided to come along, while Leodin took a long, bleary-eyed look, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

As Edwin crawled out of the tent and threw on his cloak he had an inkling of what the meeting would be about. It was raining. Bordan followed him outside, looked up at the sky, grunted once, then stalked off toward the center of camp. Edwin walked after him, excitement dispersing the last traces of sleep.

As they entered the cramped command wagon, the room was buzzing with nervous energy. Two more officers stepped in after them, then the meeting began.

“We finally have the rain we were hoping for,” General Asher said, his quiet words easily filling the silent room. “The scouts were dispatched before I alerted all of you, so I expect their report soon. If it is positive we will leave at first light. Any objections?” He looked at the battalion commanders and Lord Theodor, who nodded one after the other. “Very good. Then all we need is the scouts’ assessment.”

“While we are waiting anyway,” Master Gregory spoke up, “let me apprise you of a piece of news that I received late yesterday evening. As you know, the focus of our spellweaving team is on reverse engineering a fireball for our own use. We made this decision early on because we assumed that this spell would be the most useful in battle. The Marradi certainly used it to good effect before we found a way to counteract it.”

Gregory saw several of the gathered people perking up, and his frown deepened slightly. “Unfortunately, we are still not successful on that front, although the spellweavers are reporting good progress. They expect to finalize their version of the spell within the week, after which we will begin learning it immediately. No, the news today is something else. We previously spoke about the College vaults being opened after the… secession of Marrad. Without the Codex we did not find any offensive spells, but we did find a few spells that we thought might be useful in combat. Their uses are less direct, so we initially did not prioritize them. A few members of our contingent were assigned to learn each one, but that effort was delayed further once the combat training began. Now, two mages informed me that they have successfully learned the first of those spells and are ready to deploy it in combat.”

“That is good news!” General Asher said with a smile. “What exactly…”

He was interrupted when the door opened and an officer in light armor jumped up into the wagon.

“Captain Algin,” the general said, returning the scout officer’s salute. “What is the verdict?”

“The fires to the north and south are still burning, and they’ll keep doing so unless the rain really picks up, but the trees around the road where the fire started are burned out. The rain has cooled the ground and extinguished any open embers. It’s not pleasant, but can be traversed without danger.”

An eager murmur filled the room, but the captain continued. “There is a problem, however. The burnt-out carts that were set on fire in the initial ambush are still there, abandoned on the road. The fire has also downed a number of trees, so the road will need a lot of clearing before our supply train can pass through.”

“How long?” Asher asked.

“Hard to say, General. The rain may protect us from the fire, but it’s also quickly turning the dirt and ash into mud. Our best estimate is that it will add at least a day to the time it takes to leave the affected area, maybe as much as two.” The scowls of the surrounding officers made it more than obvious that this wasn’t what they’d been hoping for.

“If the problem is clearing obstructions, we should be able to help,” Master Gregory offered. “Every one of my mages is trained in telekinesis, and capable of removing something the size of a tree without much trouble.”

“Thank you, that would be a great help,” Asher said with a smile. “We must take care not to tire out your mages in case we are forced into a fight, though, and there are only thirty of you.” The general turned around, studying the map on the wall behind him. “Captain Algin, have we had contact with your men that are shadowing our foes yet?”

“No, General. They will have sent a messenger back the moment the rain started, but depending on how far they have traveled, the messenger will most likely reach this location in one to three days.”

“Thank you. Thoughts, men?”

“Our initial assessment still stands,” Colonel Meller said. “The enemy division is a disproportionately large threat as long as they can operate without being threatened, which is why the original plan was to march after them and reestablish contact as quickly as possible. I suggest we keep with the spirit of the plan and adjust it for the new situation: Our train is unable to travel the road until it has been cleared, but we can send a force ahead on foot.”

“Interesting,” Asher said. “but that force would have to incorporate most of our troops to be strong enough to challenge the enemy division.”

“I was thinking my second battalion along with the ninth should be sufficient to force them on the defensive and limit their options until the rest of the division clears the obstruction.”

“An interesting idea,” Asher said with a satisfied nod. “Everyone else, what are your thoughts?”

“I suggest we send the third as well,” Colonel Conrad, the commander of first battalion jumped in.

“Are you sure?” the general asked curiously. “This would mean that your men are the only ones to stay behind with the train.”

“Yes, General,” the colonel said, his face as unreadable as ever. “As Bordan said: We are a light division, and my heavy infantry is what allows the light battalions to do their jobs. In our current position, the only direction we could be threatened from is the front. As long as the advance force doesn’t let at least a battalion-sized enemy pass, my men will be more than sufficient to protect the train. On the other hand, the stronger the force we send out, the more effective they will be in their mission.”

“Well said,” General Asher said with a smile. “Harrick, Gerrack, what do you think?”

“Sounds good,” third battalion’s commander, Colonel Harrick said. “Though my scouts will be stretched extremely thin until the shadowing force returns.”

“No objections here,” Major Gerrack added. “This seems like the exact kind of mission we should undertake to play into our strengths.”

“Excellent!” Asher said, clapping his hands animatedly. “Then we need to start preparing immediately. Conrad, I will leave you in command of the train, coordinate with Karmund for the details. Everyone who is leaving, find out what supplies you need and coordinate with logistics. Theodor, I assume we have enough rations for this?”

Lord Theodor was studying the upbeat general with a confused expression. “We do, though we will have to wait for resupply before we can do it again. General, am I understanding it correctly that you are leaving as well?”

“Of course!” Asher answered, almost seeming hurt. “A commander needs to lead from the front. If I stayed with the train where all information is a day out of date, any decisions I made would be obsolete by the time they reached the place where it matters!”

A confused silence followed, which was thankfully broken by none other than Master Gregory.

“I will ask for volunteers from among my mages,” the bald mage offered, surprising everyone even more. “Some of my younger colleagues should be able to keep up with your men, and we wouldn’t want to leave you without magical protection. You might also find a use for the new spell I spoke of earlier.”

“Right,” Asher said, turning to him, “you never told us what it was.”

“Yes, well, as I said, it is not an offensive spell, but having experienced battle myself these last few weeks, I am sure that it will come in useful…”