42

Chapter 40

Myta blinked at me in confusion, her panic dissipating. Clearly she didn't understand the profound nature of this development.

"I thought that the divine of the sun controlled the Radiant Sea?" she ventured. Ket made a strangled noise of disbelief, though 'noise' was not correct, as it was still in our heads.

"No," I said. "That's just Pure propaganda. Utu is one of the divines, and powerful, but all the divines reside in the sea, and gods compete there, for influence or power."

*Not just gods,* The spirit leopard interjected. *Many beings influence the Radiant Sea, though most either perish or become gods in short order.* That was news to me. She seemed far too calm about this for my liking.

"This must be the real reason Kubek was interested in me," I mused. "I didn't mean to touch the sea, nor do I know how it happened, but it would have attracted his gaze."

*Kubek didn't exactly hide that. He told you from the beginning that he was only interested in you because you were veth. Any being of lesser potential, who caused such damage to his domain, would have been killed outright." She sneezed. *As for how, I can outline it for you, now that you have already touched the sea the knowledge is not forbidden. But we don't have time for that now. Not unless you wish to delay your plans?"

"No," I shook my head. "Our preparations are already set, and our information may grow stale quickly." I glanced at each of my three companions.

"Get cleaned up and ready. We attack in an hour."

Preparations didn't take all that long. Cleaned and refreshed, we joined the fighters that were equipping themselves for the raid. Not that any of us were intended to join the fighting. Myta, Hati, and I were all meant to play support. Ideally we'd hide our presence entirely, but if any of our four synchronized raids went wrong then we'd be available to intervene.

The confusing layout of the tunnels was essential to our plan. Each squad would send one harrier to try and lure enemies away from their camps. Myta and the other hunters were perfect for that role, and the stealthiest of our warriors would aid them. They'd each draw as small a number of enemies at a time as they could or manage, leading them a short distance into an ambush or trap. We had already cleared away their warning markers.

If any squad attracted more enemies than they could manage, then they'd have to fall back to our position. We couldn't afford to go to them, lest we be unavailable to assist another group when needed. I wasn't sure how long this phase of our plan could last. It depended a great deal on our luck, and the enemy's discipline. If they reported in regularly, or even just before pursuing our bait, we wouldn't have the element of surprise for long.

Our men talked quietly among themselves, checking over their gear for what was probably the tenth time or more. No one had any illusions about how dangerous this would be. Not the first surprise battle, though there was certainly risk there, but afterward it would be much greater. We were in confined terrain, vastly outnumbered, and we knew that the enemy also had awakened warriors, in the form of both sorcerers and demons. There would be much blood shed, and there was no way it would be confined solely to our enemies.

Jito came over to us, the right side of his face decorated in silver scars. All his wounds had healed that way, and his healed eye sported a silver iris. He had declared himself fit enough to fight, and I didn't gainsay him. We would need every fighter we could muster.

"Esur'uk," he nodded to me. "I must ask, why are we not simply attacking the enemy with all our force. While we have the element of surprise?" His voice was pitched deliberately loud, enough so as to reach our entire company. His tone was challenging, but I couldn't detect any hostility from him. This felt staged, instead.

By rights, this question should have gone to Myta, but when I glanced her way she gave me a tiny shake of her head. She wasn't responsible for this, she would have told me, but whatever it was she understood and approved.

"The enemy are too many, and they are spread out too much." I pitched my own voice a bit louder as well. "Our goal is to delay their attack, not try to defeat them. Not even Mytan could kill all their fighters before their sorcerers were able to respond. If we hit them all at once, they may move to the surface, and attack Bani immediately. If we confuse them, hide our strength, we may delay them, while revealing any surprises they have in store.

"Remember! We have a good idea of their forces, but they may have more mana users, sorcerer or demon, near the exits. The wards there prevent us from knowing for sure. So distracting them for as long as possible offers the city the greatest chance for survival. Our efforts here stand between these aggressors, and thousands of civilians."

"For Bani!" Jito saluted me with a fist to his chest. "For Esur'uk! For Mytan!" The enthusiastic echo from throughout the room surprised me, but I took it in stride and bowed to them. Crisp and formal, I bent at the waist, a little lower than I should have, given the respect they were affording me. Those who were standing bowed in return, waiting to rise until I did.

"Well done," Jito was rather quieter this time. "There had been some rumblings in camp, and Hati asked my to help lay them to rest."

"Why not do this with Myta? She's the one commanding you."

"With all due respect, Esur'uk. Your relationship with Mytan is no secret. Everyone respects her already, but when she defers to you they need to respect you as well. Not your power, that's plain to see," he touched his healed face. "They needed to see some indication of your good sense. Now, if you'll excuse me, master, I have my own preparations to finish."

The squad leader left, and I wandered over to my vas, a little disturbed by the conversation. I understood the sense of it, but I didn't want her soldiers looking to me for direction instead of her. Hati and Myta both laughed at my worries, which was less than flattering.

"You need to think about that again, Esur." Hati, at least, was more than willing to drop the honorific. "They don't think less of Mytan. They are worried you're incompetent. No one is going to play ask mommy ask daddy to give her the runaround. They're just concerned you might override her with some foolishness. It wouldn't be the first time they'd seen a competent officer serving an idiot."

I accepted her blunt wisdom, and let the matter rest.

The first round of assaults went flawlessly. Denu went with Jito's squad, and later gave me a detailed report. She'd lured one guard with bird calls, of all things. I suppose the sheer oddness had drawn a single unwary guard easily enough. Then she splashed a small amount of spirits on the stone floor, leaving a few more men to think that their comrade had made off with a bottle instead of keeping watch. The squad killed six men with that lure. At that point the camp roused and took up arms. Ten men came crashing into the tunnels, and were lured into one of the traps. A spray of acid that blinded and pained them, such that the squad didn't even need to retreat to us. They killed all ten themselves.

That was the highlight, however. The other hunters were not so effective with their lures, and the other squads all took injuries, though none were too serious. I enlisted Cata as my nurse, showing him how to treat the more superficial injuries. He was eager to impress me, and I worried that he might be a little too eager, but he kept his head while following directions well.

He was clearly angling to learn sorcery from me, but I'd been wary of taking an apprentice for many years. I'd been teaching Myta, of course, but her bond to me was a far more binding connection than a standard apprentice's oath of loyalty.

That made me wonder, however, and I began examining everyone, looking into the sea, to see who among our company might have developed connections to Myta. My vasra, as Ket called them. To my surprise, the answer was 'most of them'. Hati and Jito had the strongest connections and after them the strength or lack of a bond seemed mostly to mirror the amount by which their spirits had been improved. Cala had insisted on being included, and his bond was a little stronger than average. But I could also tell that it ran not just to Myta, but through her to me as well. The same was true of Jito and Hati.

I wasn't entirely sure what to do with all that information, but it was helping me form a better picture of what being a vethris might mean. I suspected that our company would be staying together, not just during this conflict, but beyond it. Possibly far beyond.

Our early raids killed 29 of the pure, more than half accounted for by Jito's squad. A respectable number, to be sure, but no more than a fraction of their force. And, of course, none of their elite fighters. The remainder consolidated as much as they could, increasing their security. In the war council we'd made several potential plans, but they all depended on how the enemy would react. Our next move would be dictated by theirs.

Chapter 41

Our enemy was either reckless or overconfident, which was fortunate for us. After a few hours of consolidation they flooded into the tunnels in squads of ten, including the demon, and two sorcerers. Myta and Hati scoffed at the foolishness of it.

"Whoever is leading them should have either countered immediately, or waited. At this point their men are poorly rested, and now under strain from facing an unknown enemy. They'll be tired, and incredibly on edge. Unless the men we've already killed were their dregs they are undisciplined and disorganized."

"Ensu would be horrified." I couldn't help but smirk.

Myta raised her brow, but I waved for her to continue.

"Per our plans, we'll hit the group with the lone sorcerer, as hard as we can. You'll keep us covered, so that I can fight at my full strength, then we'll see if we can raid the camp. Seizing supplies or eliminating the other sorcerer will be our goals. Then, we continue with whatever our condition allows."

I nodded as she concluded. Nothing had changed, I was just a little nervous, and wanting to review. Ket and I would both be essential in hiding us, and she was also our most effective scout. Her ethereal nature made her even more effective at that than Denu.

I worried that we were leaning on the spirit too heavily, but she'd been amenable, and was easily bored. The hunting and stalking kept her entertained, and I supposed that was reward enough for her right now.

Passing out a ration of tak, I verified that I still had a fair supply. Most of it had remained with my goats, outside the tunnels of the ruin. I didn't hand it out too often, however, so we should have plenty. Chewing the leaf would give the company a burst of energy, and keep them awake. It was safe enough, and not terribly expensive nor different to acquire.

Some people chewed it daily, to wake up in the mornings. I preferred not to lean on it so heavily. The plant was mildly addictive, and lost it's effectiveness with frequent use. The minty flavor of my own leaf was a pleasant distraction from my stress.

We gave the groups a little time to drift apart, and then Ket began hunting. The corridors and chambers of the ruin distorted sound and the flows of mana, making it difficult to track things at a distance. It was an aid, as much as a hindrance, as we could be mistaken for one of the enemy groups when it came to noise. I let out my controlled presence as a bubble around us to mask our mana, while the cat spirit stalked ahead.

*Two rooms ahead, and then take the second exit on the left wall. That will lead you to your prey. This one's escort has infused weapons and armor.* Ket's report made sense. The earlier enemies we'd faced had provided our current, superior gear. They were probably the elite soldiers of the pure, and it made sense for such elites to be escorting sorcerers. I shared the news, and Hati grunted.

"If we back up to the last room, there's a path we can take to get behind them," she offered. Myta and I shared a brief look, before she replied.

"Take two squads. I need Esur with me to hide our mana, but you should be fairly safe from detection. If you approach first, wait for our attack."

The sergeant nodded, then tapped two squad leaders on their shoulders. Her chosen crew then moved out with the quietest hustle they could manage. Our group waited for a few minutes, letting them gain some distance.

On a whim, I tried to see if I could track her, by her connection to us. The answer turned out to be yes, but it was far too confusing to be practical. Trying to pay attention to both the mana of the physical world, and the tether in the sea was hard enough. Doing so here, with the ruin's distorting effects in play, gave me a splitting headache. Perhaps with more practice it could provide some practical value, but not now.

When Myta signaled us to move, my head was only suffering from a dull throbbing. I considered that a win. Ket didn't return to us, instead opting to stay near the enemy, ready to silence the battle. I thought it was a smart move, just in case Hati accidentally engaged them first.

As though my thoughts were a curse, we heard shouts, and the ring of clashing steel ahead. Myta didn't curse or panic just took off running forward along our outlined path. Our run through the tunnel was quick, and Myta engaged a formation of enemy fighters with bloody enthusiasm. Unfortunately we were stopped in a corridor, not a room so I couldn't see much around the soldiers ahead of me. When I felt Ket's sound dampening field enclose us, I knew something had gone wrong.

Wherever Hati's group was fighting, it wasn't here. Fortunately their conflict had drawn the attention of out target group, and we'd taken them from the rear. Myta had already killed several, but the sorcerer was not among the fallen. Now the corridor was choked with bodies, and the enemy were beginning to recover from the initial shock.

Myta tried to close with the sorcerer, who lashed at her with blades of air, invisible razored discs that cut through the backs of his own allies to strike at my vas. My heart was in my throat, as that form of attack was extremely deadly when executed properly.

My flame saw the attack coming, however. She blocked with her glaive, releasing a burst of her own pressurized mana to disrupt the technique. Too much mana, I thought at first, minor criticism given the circumstances. The wind blades had already been weakened by the anima of the men they'd passed through.

Then I saw her true intent. The blades were not disrupted, but merely knocked aside to spend themselves against the impervious walls. Which left Myta's own attack, a nearly solid projection of liquid fire, relatively intact. The lance of fire passed between the two defending soldiers, who were staggering from the friendly fire. Bolstered by her will and intent, Myra's spell passed through much of the enemy's presence before dissipating, leaving more than enough inertia for the created fire to set the man ablaze.

The weakness of fire in terms of combat sorcery, was that it didn't long outlast the spell that created it. A thrown spike of stone would still be an effective weapon, even when the mana that empowered it was dispersed. Had that liquid flame reached all the way to the sorcerer, his flesh would have boiled and burst away. Instead, he survived for several long seconds of screaming agony, before being cut down. I pulled in the remains of his spirit, even as he hit the ground.

The unit was disciplined, they didn't immediately break in the face of the screams, or the smell of burning flesh. Instead, they tried to form an organized, running retreat. My vas was simply too fast for that to be effective, and they were cut down in short order. Then we were off and running again. Hati's crew were still fighting.

This time, the fight went as intended. Hati's group was holding a hall entrance while the enemy were in a larger room. There were bodies on the ground, but given their positions I thought them to be enemies. These Pure were carrying smaller weapons, and so two of Hati's fighters with glaives were able to attack for each one of theirs.

Again we hit our enemies from behind, and these were not nearly so disciplined. Ket had maintained her muffling spell, and so we caught them utterly unawares. The combat was over in seconds.

Immediately, we moved again. There was no telling how many enemies might have heard that battle. We traveled toward the Pure camp for perhaps twenty minutes, before stopping so that I could look everyone over. We only had minor injuries, though many would have taken severe wounds without their armor. Hati, in particular, had a bruised thigh that might have meant a lost leg in poorer circumstances. I healed some cuts and bruises, and then we were moving again. We hit another target of opportunity in the way, and although it was no contest, it was clear at a glance who in our company had most advanced their spirits. Myta had expended a fair amount of her mana, which I refilled from my own reserves, and so she looked a little tired. Hati looked fine, and Denu looked as though she'd just gotten up from a refreshing nap. Everyone else was showing varying levels of strain.

The Pure 'camp' was a section of tunnels and rooms that they had occupied. And it seemed that they had now tried to fortify the area as well. Both their sorcerer and supplies were likely located deep behind their defenses.

Our scouts managed to find one cache of supplies we could hit with relative ease, and Ket lurked deeper into camp for long enough to confirm that a sorcerer was well behind their lines, along with two demons we hadn't seen before. That confirmed our enemies were using the warded area for cover. There was no telling how many more demons or sorcerers might be lurking there.

So, we hit the supply cache, Myta leading the way again, with Hati and Jito flanking just behind. Though the enemy was wary now, their alertness was dulled by lack of sleep. The battle was brief, and brutal. We put down five guards under our veil of silence, and then made off with what crates of supplies we could carry.

I wanted to push, to take out another patrol or two while they were spread out and isolated, but I was disabused of that notion. Although the tak masked it, the men were suffering from battle fatigue. No matter how short our engagements had been, or how one sided most of our victories were, the fights were taking a heavy toll. And so we fled the area, before the costs came due.

Chapter 42

Our flight from the Pure encampment went smoothly. They hadn't been communicating particularly well between the separate rooms, and with the shroud of silence in place, no one came to investigate, even while we were looting. Not that we took much time about it, just grabbing whatever looked most valued.

With the state the camp was in, I doubted that their ideas of 'most valued' included food and water. We pushed hard to move far enough that Myta felt comfortable taking a break, and then everyone who was not assigned to keep watch was sent to sleep. Some of the more inexperienced complained that the lingering excitement of battle would surely keep them awake, but they were unconscious to a man within minutes.

Those of us who were best off in terms of fatigue kept the first watch. We allowed the others to rest, until our own senses became too dulled, then we woke them and switched. We were roused before our allotted sleeping tim had passed, only to fight another brief battle. Then we moved, and rested again.

That was the last pursuit that we faced, and I took grim satisfaction in the fact that our little band had accounted for a third of the enemy's numbers. Our conflict wouldn't be so easy going forward, I knew.