Walk the Line

Maybe if the troll had launched a suicidal attack that disregarded its own life for the sake of killing me or Luca, maybe then it might have succeeded. But a desperate counterattack to try and shift the momentum out of our favor so the troll could escape was never going to work. The Foolhardies were too well-trained.

Regardless, the troll might have thought attacking us would force our troops to break formation and come to our rescue. Unfortunately for it, we already had a blazing guardian angel watching our backs.

A firebolt slammed into the troll's armored chest, causing it to stumble. A second and then a third fireball forced it to a halt.

I spared a glance behind me.

Aura stood there with her staff pointed forward. The orb at its tip glowed a fiery red. The warm heat radiating out of it was similar to the kind felt when one puts their hand close to a campfire.

It made me think of nights spent camping with my family, of marshmallows and hotdogs roasting by the open fire. I felt a pain in my chest then that had nothing to do with the current fight. It didn't help that aura's face, even hidden behind her golden half-mask, seemed more enchanting as the light bounced off her.

I quickly turned away from Aura for fear of losing my battle sense. Tonight was not a time to reminisce happier days. Tonight was reserved for the butcher's work.

My gaze returned to the troll, who for the moment, stood stalk still while its eyes darted between me, Luca, and Aura behind us. It was then that I saw the fear in its eyes, and I just knew the fight was already finished. 

"Let's do this," I said although to my ears it was almost a whisper.

I raised my falchion high and charged. Beside me, Luca did the same.

The troll defiantly raised its broken steel pole to defend against us. Its remaining hand ready to smack me and Luca out of the way.

Then the firebolts came again. One, two, three, four, like a boxer performing a combination of jabs and straights, Aura's firebolts struck the troll in the gut, in the chest, and in the face. It didn't matter that it wore steel-tier scale mail. Aura's firepower packed enough punch to render it useless.

In my head, I thought that she'd gotten much stronger than before. It wasn't just me and Luca who gained new strength from using the mana pool a few months ago.

The firebolts pummeled the troll down to its knees. It was almost too easy when both Luca and I sent our shadowblades sliding across its neck from opposite sides. And we cleaved the troll's head in scissor-style execution.

"Yo~~osh!" I yelled in delight.

It wasn't often, but I did have those moments of pure joy. Usually, it happened whenever one of my plans went perfectly.

"Chill out, Dean," Luca admonished. "There's still plenty of time for things to turn sideways on us..."

I scowled at him. "Why would you want to jinx us like that?"

Despite Luca's words, the plan continued to work like a well-oiled clock. Not only did we learn that the troll we defeated was actually a five-hundred man commander, but we were well on our way to claiming more officer heads.

I spent the brief reprieve activating Fool's Insight so I could get a better grasp of the battlefield around me with a birds-eye-view.

The first thing I did was seek out the rest of my unit. Most of them were close to my location.

Qwipps' and Varda's squads held court just outside Ashley's infantry square formation. They were doing a good job thinning the crowd of enemies surrounding us and giving Ashley's squad time to rest.

The Qwipps' Talons, as if channeling their squad leader's inner nastiness, deftly assaulted the scattered enemies with their bows and their daggers, keeping them from regrouping and forming a counterattack.

Varda's still-nameless five-man magician squad supported the Talons from the rear. They dealt AOE damage on the surrounding field with a series of elemental spells ranging from Donar's Flame Arrows to Varda's Fist of Stone. Berrian stood on standby and was ready to heal any troublesome injuries.

After Qwipps and Varda, I sought out Thom and discovered that his unit had followed Edo and Luca's Raiders deeper into the enemy lines.

Thom had taken command and ordered the squads into a circular formation that would allow them to attack and defend from all sides.

There were two lines of circles. The outer-circle of drow and viseres were melee fighters who could hold back an enemy charge. The inner-circle were all archers led by Thom himself. They did an excellent job holding back the enemy from reaching them and disrupting Edo's fight in the center of their ring.

Edo was fighting toe-to-toe with an elf that their group managed to trap inside Thom's ring of soldiers. It was a similar tactic to what Ashley had done.

Surprisingly enough, the elf stood his ground and he seemed highly skilled with a sword. At the very least, he was still alive and hopping around despite facing off against Edo.

Of course, it wasn't lost on me that the Foolhardies were in a very danger-close situation. In fact, both halves of the unit were in pockets of open space between a sea of gray. thanks to my leading charge, we'd gotten past the enemy center army's first line and were now between them and the second line. But, luckily, our own center army was stealing attention away from the small hundred-man unit that had escaped between the cracks.

Immensely satisfied at what I'd seen, I disengaged Fool's Insight and told the soldiers around me that it was time to move out. it was imperative that we regrouped before we could be overwhelmed.

"Where are we going?" Aura asked as she leaned on her staff. She looked winded. Perhaps using her staff's ability drained her more than she let on. "Don't you think we're too far out?"

"We are," I admitted. "It's why we need to regroup and push our way out."

"Out to where?" Aura's brow creased. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking right?"

I wasn't sure if it was our shared connection that clued her in to the butterflies in my stomach. Excitement coursed through me and she might have caught onto it.

Fool's insight had shown me more than just our unit placement. It also gave me a brief overview of the flow of the battle which was like a great wave moving and pulling in all directions. If we timed it just right, there was a possibility that we could use this flow to break past the third line of the enemy center army unscathed. That would mean a straight and free path to an even bigger prize.

"Do you trust me?" I asked her.

She paused for only a brief second and then nodded her head. "You know I do."

"Well I don't," Luca interjected. "You've come up with another foolhardy plan, haven't you?"

"It's been working well so far," I reasoned.

"Luck can only get us so far, Dean," Luca countered.

I smacked his chest lightly with my fist. "It's not luck that wins us the fight, little brother. It's heart."

It must have been very hard for Luca not to roll his eyes but he managed. Despite his complaints, I knew he believed in me.

"So, are you going to tell us the plan?" Aura asked.

"Later, when we're all together..." A wide grin grew on my face. "First, let's go piss Edo off and steal his kill."