33 Beyond the enemy lines (2)

The next morning, John wakes Igor by handing him some dry meat. The dwarf rises from the ground raising his arms to the sky to put his blood back in circulation. Then he joins the small group sitting in a circle to discuss an action plan. All the members of the team are strictly wrapped in the chameleon-like mantle and thanks to some 'silent' runes placed in the hideout, no scout can detect them even a few meters away.

Mike confidently starts "it's time for the show to start. My ability will allow me to get in and out of there without any problems. "

Igor responding abruptly "Exactly. But it will be my and Theodore's duty to keep you safe. "

Mike gets up slowly, cleaning his cloak from the snow, then waving his hand he walks along the main path to the camp. Igor and Theodore move stealthily through the trees on the right side of the road. John instead remains motionless in the hiding place while calmly preparing the device for distant vision and the runic box.

Along the trail, pairs of soldiers from Luberistan patrol the area. Mike approaches the first small group of soldiers with a casual attitude. The guard shouts eagerly "Hey you! Unidentified! Which mercenary company do you belong to? What are you doing outside the camp? "

The shadow of a nearby tree stretches to cover the two soldiers feet. Mike sees the eyes of both men fill with a strange black smoke. The guard as if he were talking to himself "Ok, it must be that idiot of Nolan. Those arrogant of the Dragon Fang's mercenary company always do what they want. "

As black smoke dissolves in the air, Mike responds in amazement "I am Nolan of the Dragon Fang company, how dare you keep asking me the same questions."

The angry guard shouts "Stay calm! For this time I let you go because I don't want problems, but if I find you still outside the camp I report to my superiors! "

Mike walking over to the two answers "Do what you want!"

Thanks to Mike who catches the attention with his bold walk, nobody notices the two shapes moving at the edge of the path. Finally at the entrance to the camp the last check is passed with a similar trick. The infiltration operation is successful but Mike knows that now it all depends on him, the other two cannot follow him inside.

Mike walks in the military camp looking here and there. Thanks to the device of the dwarfs to see things far away, the night before he managed to get an idea of the layout of the camp. "I already have an idea. I know that during a war there is only one thing that soldiers particularly care about: food. When it starts to run low, information goes around the camp in a matter of seconds."

Mike approaches a large tent with wooden-reinforced walls. After passing a couple of times, back and forth, he greets the guards "Hey there, I thought that only we in the Dragon Fang had smart guards, then I saw you and I realized it's true! hahaha "

The guards, though red in their faces with rage, do not move a muscle and remain fixed in their position. Once free from the angry gaze of the guards, Mike backs up on his steps and making a a detour is now positioned exactly on the back of the tent. He places his hand on the wooden planks and invoking his skill he passes it over the wall as if the wood did not pose any resistance. He remains motionless for a few seconds then pulls his hand out of the tent and sets off in the direction of the mercenaries area.

In the new area the patrols are less frequent so Mike manages to move freely throughout the camp. Some veterans, seeing him disarmed, consider him harmless and ended up ignoring him.

Mike approaching a heterogeneous group of warriors thinks "A banner with the head of a dragon with its mouth wide open, I would say I'm in the right place. Here are my friends of the Dragon Fang."

After a few minutes, necessary to make the soldiers get used to his presence, Mike heads to the back of a tent used as a warehouse. He stretches out his hand and like a few hours before makes it disappear inside the wall, but this time Mike does not stop and continues to walk straight into the tent. The soldier disappears without leaving a trace behind him in the small warehouse.

John with the remote viewing device observes Mike with his mouth wide open "They told me he had the 'gate' ability but I never thought it was so exaggerated. The Count said that he can only use it on short distances and only after having pressed his seal on a wall. Mike was a thief before he was drafted and now I understand how he got his reputation. For him, thanks to that skill, it had to be like stealing candy from a child."

Mike inside the tent collects some sticks and a pair of daggers engraved with a dragon. Then invoking again his skill slips into the wall of cloth. This time he does not reappear outside but inside the tent with the country army supplies.

The operation takes a few hours. Meticulously the soldier moves the boxes of food from one tent to another.

Then to motivate him he begins talking to himself "Now the last part. The most risky moment."

Mike raises a stick over his head and with all the strengh he has hit the boards of the wall, breaking it in various places. The noise alerts the guards. He disappears through a 'gate', he prepared before .

The two guards outside the door rush into the warehouse. The tent has been emptied under their noses. The two look at each other in panic. The higher ranking one sees the face of his companion transfigured by pain. One of the guards collapses to the ground with a dagger in his back. A cry in the camp "Alarm! Alarm!"

Then silence. The second guard also collapses on the floor with a cut throat.

Mike recalls his power for the last time with the face marked by fatigue thinking "If I had not done that stupid oath, I would never have been able to use my skill so many times. Thanks Simon!"

The team meets in the hiding place.

Igor "Now I have to admit I do not know what to do. If we move now that the sun is still there, they could easily find us, but if we wait too long, the chances of being discovered increase considerably."

John shyly replies, "I think it's better to take a risk and move as quickly as possible."

Mike answers worriedly "True, but if they find us they will understand that it's all a plan by Olmaria."

Theodore "Let's see how they react. Based on how they react we will make our move. "

In the following hours the group deals with renewing the 'silence' runes, observing the movements of the camp and shielding the team from the probing spell launched periodically by the enemy wizard.

As the tension between Olmaria's soldiers increases, good news finally arrives. In the camp in front of them the army decided to investigate.

The tents of all the mercenary groups are opened by the official army among the soldiers' protests. The largest group of soldiers is looking for the Dragon Fang area.

John "It's time, they found something! Damn bitch! It's a bloodbath. They are massacring each other. Clashes have also begun in the other sections. "

Igor rejoices happyly "Mission accomplished, warn Simon!"

John collects the runic box and activates it "Simon do you hear me?"

Simon answers quietly "Yes John"

John declares excitedly "They are fighting each other. We are stuck. What do we have to do?"

Simon "Wait for us, we are coming. After the start of the mission we immediately mobilized the troops. We thought that if it went wrong, you would need us and we would not have had another chance anyway. If it went well, it would have been the only favorable moment for this entire military campaign. Get ready for battle, if Drew is not wrong we should be there in about an hour. We are dealing with the scouts. I am convinced that soon they will notice our arrival."

Igor excited "If it is about to start, I propose a last mission for our team. We eliminate the sentinels positioned on that top. Our action will earn our friends a few minutes. Coming, I saw a pile of wood. I think it's the signal for an attack."

Theodore assumes confident "You're right, if we take care of the signal will reach the camp with a little delay."

Mike answers worried "We risk being discovered."

John heroically states "I'm ready."

Igor abruptly "Nobody asked you, let's all go, of course. You would not have been exonerated just because you have not yet become a man! "

Mike laughing "I'll take you to a little place in Vanein when we come back, or you'll be a man or you'll die in the attempt!"