47 I don't attack a fortress

A detailed Seles kingdom's map is opened on a circular table suspended in the air. The piece of furniture is made of a single piece of circular wood raised about a meter from the ground. No wooden leg holds him up but only an intricate interweaving of dwarven runes.

Simon watches the table fascinated by trying to memorize the set of symbols to be able to recreate it once at home. Meanwhile, Queen Fefel, Prince Colt and some senior Elven officials are discussing the problem of the giant half-breed. The tribe settled in a small castle in the northern part of the kingdom, not far from the border with Olmaria. The castle, small, very old and of human construction, belongs to a small nobleman. He uses this residence only in the summer months to control the two small villages of breeders in the area.

The invaders, finding it empty, managed to seize the stronghold. The soldiers who now guard the area are numerous. There is talk of a thousand humans and giant half-bloods. The most dangerous are the latter because they have a Herculean strength and some terrifying unique skills. Among those noted: antimagic, rock skin and earthquake. Corresponding to the ability to nullify the magic, to have a skin resistant as a shield and the last, the most terrible, the ability to generate small shock waves with hands and feet.

The first attack of the elves was solved with a carnage. Security of the superiority of magic, they attacked directly by finding themselves unarmed against the monstrous strength of the defenders. The second and last attack was performed by the combined force of wizards and infantry. The combination managed to resist more and guarantee the escape to many but the result was however disappointing.

Simon observes the small map of the territory where the tribe settled. The castle is well perched in the mountains and the view over the valley guarantees protection from ambushes.

Elder Cacam speaks last saying, "This is what we can tell you. I'm not convinced that with the few men you have brought you will be able to take the castle."

The perplexed prince scratches his head, then worried turns to Simon imploring him with the look of not letting the queen see him in trouble.

Simon spread his voice and casually answers the old elf "I don't even think of sending my men to die like ants in front of the walls of that castle."

The shock in everyone's eyes as they look at him makes a small smug smile appear on his face.

Resuming the speech "I am a coward by nature, I do not see the purpose nor the advantage of going to assault a fortress. But before continuing I would like to ask only one question, does anyone know what they want? "

The queen beckons Cacam not to answer and says, "We met one of their commanders, or so he told us. He says that the tribe claims that territory and all its treasures as his own. He did not add anything else and he refused to carry on any negotiations."

Simon, reflecting on all the information gathered, comments "I understand that we are talking about an armed force made up of men only and not of a tribe since none of you has ever seen women or children. I do not think they can all be in the castle since there are a thousand soldiers outside. Also with what do they feed? There are no fields and the cattle have been moved south."

The curious elves are silenced to listen better.

"I do not think it's a tribe. Instead, it seems to me an armed force designed precisely to repel the elves. Does that castle have something special? What treasure did their representative speak about?"

Queen Fefel is the first to answer "Your doubts are more than correct. We took the matter from the wrong point of view. However, I don't understand what treasures there may be in a castle of a small nobleman in an area so far north."

Prince Colt joins the discussion "You said that the castle is very old. Maybe they know something we don't know."

Simon resolutely concludes, "We will ask after we beat them."

The mouth of those present opens up in front of the shamelessness of this young man while he continues undeterred to speak.

"They have already beaten you twice, let them believe that they can do it the third time. They will certainly know of our presence here, and if they have seen Cacam's friendly greeting, they will not be surprised if Olmaria's army withdraws to its borders."

The upset queen screams "Don't you want to help us?"

The prince touches his hand to reassure her and then jokes "Simon's mind is a dark place. They don't call him a black demon for the color of his clothes but for the darkness in his head."

With a gesture of the hand, Simon dismisses his friend and continues the speech "Olmaria will return to its borders and the elves in the last desperate attempt will try to attack the castle! Actually we will be in front of the fortress while you are pretending to be us towards the way home."

The prince, sensing Simon's reasoning, continues: "When the invaders, sure of winning, will attack the besiegers, they will face an armed force immune to the 'antimagic' skill. The goal is to thin out their ranks as much as possible. Then we can think about taking the castle without too many losses."

Surprised Cacam says, "I've to apologize. Because of the rumors about you I was rather worried about having in our kingdom the beast called the black demon and instead I find out that in addition to having an exceptional strength you're also a pretty smart guy. I hope your plan works. But I have two doubts. I don't know if they will believe you elves mages and I don't know if you will then be able to resist their charge."

Cacam stretches his voice trying to draw the attention of Simon who is observing from the corner of his eye the hand of the prince caress under the table the hand of the queen "Ugly fool! I do the work while he takes advantage of it."

Cacam annoyed resumes "Baron Forb? Cannot you answer?"

Simon answers exasperated "I don't need to answer. Those are our problems. Sign your agreements while me and my men solve this problem. Once the alliance is confirmed I will tell you how I did it."

Elder Cacam snorts loudly.

Simon turns to the queen and asks, "Could I have nine elven wizards, nine elven healers and nine elven druids? They do not have to be experts, it's enough for them to have the skills I've told you and to be willing to join my army. Even untrained people are fit, adventurers or even elderly people who have retired."

The intrigued queen Fefel answers "Are you going to explain the reason for this request, before or after the alliance? I still need a few hours to see if it's possible."

Prince Colt intervenes "We have to pretend elves, we need to show some magic to the enemies to convince them. For the scenic part, I am convinced that Simon's rune experts can specially prepare something these days. I would say that the most important thing now is to give a good show to the spies. In these days, once we get out of here, we have to make believe that the grudge between us is so unbearable that we decide to ditch you."

-----------------

In the following week, while Simon and the dwarves work on the realization of small runic bracelets capable of giving the appearance of an elven wizard to the Olmaria humans, Prince Colt is unleashing the artistic vein in an attempt to create a credible state of agitation between the two kingdoms to strip spies.

Simon also took advantage of this time to learn some magic theory from his new elven soldiers, clashing with a series of ancient and complicated notions.

Thanks to the enchanting uniforms some of the best men of the Force of Fate, that is the usual brothers Darius and Marius, Camille, the two hunters Todd and Franck and above all Mike and Theodore took care to gather as much information as possible about the current enemies.

Now, about ten days after arriving in Seles, after revising the plan several times, the paranoid Simon is ready to start the battle against the giant half-breeders.

After having exchanged seats for two nights in a row, the elves are now in the field of Olmaria ready to leave covered with the heavy chameleonic mantles of the Force of Fate for the border while Simon's soldiers are eagerly waiting to fight.

Elza standing on a terrace of the royal palace speaks with a small elven child sitting on the floor "I forgot to bring you the greetings of Madame of the mountain. She still remembers when your father's territory, the first elven deity grazed her mountain."

The child with a serious tone answers "Send my thanks to her. Tell her that Sabri, the protecting deity of the Seles's elfs, gives her compliments and that one day even from her mountain she will be able to see the magnificence of our towers!"

The deity of Fate, annoyed, answers "In the middle there is a kingdom that will be dedicated to me. little guy stay calm. When you can look out of the balustrade alone we will talk about your conquest plans."