Chapter 320 - Change of Tactics

"That should do it for now, so what have you got for me, Hurman?"

With more than half a dozen people gathered around a blown-up map, everyone looked toward the boisterous ape and chuckling man. 

"We've got a few ideas to run by you," Hurman replied without batting an eye. "We'll be quick so you can rest properly, along with--"

"Right now, we're depending on Vloz returning in for the battle. With his squad, we're already outnumbered. Without his squad, tactics alone may not save the territory," stated Rathe, rushing to Hurman's side to scan over the map. Small blocks were placed across the somewhat crude and hurriedly-drawn map to mark the supposed position of the armies, as well as the predicted point of confrontation between Vloz's group and the invaders. "Not bad… But they'll be closer, won't they?"

"There's a chance of that." Nodding, the fox on the other side of Hurman added, "This is merely the most likely position that we've pinpointed."

"Fair… Still closer to us than the town, so that's good. But make sure to have scouts well placed between both locations. We need to learn of that fight's outcome as soon as possible. And we don't want anyone from that group sneaking off to rejoin the army."

"We've made sure to position plenty of scouts between that point and the camp."

Rathe nodded to Eila and then looked to Hurman. "And what are the scout formations?"

"One fox and one lynx to each scouting group. To offer the best speed and stealth abilities to make sure that at least one scout will always survive any confrontation," Hurman answered with a straight face.

"Great! Make sure to keep me informed if the scouts spot anyone, regardless of enemy or foe." Chuckling loudly, Rathe turned his attention back to the map on the table. He fidgeted with the invading army's placement. "This is where we placed the trap. It won't be enough to permanently take out their numbers but it should slow them down. Now they need to be more thorough on what traps may be waiting ahead and heal those that survived the front lines."

"What if they just move on with minimal healing and assume we didn't have time for setting more traps?" Eila asked.

"May I answer?"

Patting Hurman on the back, Rathe grinned cheekily.

With permission, Hurman stated, "It's for the sake of morale. With an army made of mercenaries, they aren't fighting for pride or shared cause. The moment the pay and reward are outshone by the danger they face, the men will desert. Mercenaries care more about their own lives and likely only agreed to be a part of the attack because they were guaranteed to heavily outnumber us. That doesn't mean they'll take too long to reach us, but at least the leading officers will need to provide minimal support in scouting and healing."

"Keep this up and we'll be working together for the next invasion!" Rathe laughed, pounding Hurman's back repeatedly. "And your setup here has me excited, but I do have some suggestions."

"Then please, I would appreciate the advice," Hurman bowed his head and motioned toward the map while Rathe was already repositioning the mock troops like a child eager to play with his new toys.

*****

"Why bother? Why not flee?"

Getting no verbal response from the leopard, the woman laughed some more, "You're fast enough to escape, so why die to protect everyone else?!"

Again, Vloz was silent as his inner rage built more and more with each moment. He glanced at the disobedient lynx with utter disappointment but noticed no change in Gar's countenance. 

The lynx chief was grinning as he pressured his opponent, proving to be more dominant as he commanded the tempo of battle. However, controlling the tempo didn't mean he was winning. Gar had yet to injure his opponent, who was on the defensive and making ice barriers on top of more ice barriers. 

"You coward, Gar!" Sarpo yelled amid his own battle. But he didn't divert too much attention elsewhere while he pushed harder and harder against his own water-wielding foe. The woman was using ice as well, but Sarpo's aggressive charges and physical size tore through everything she dared put up. She was already bleeding badly as the jaguar was showing no mercy and no fear of trading blow for blow, the antithesis of Gar's long-range approach.

There was only one match-up even more lopsided than Sarpo's.

Liz was fully focused on evasion now, dodging and weaving between each attack of the fiery mid-perennial. Few articles of clothing were singed thanks to her speed, but that was also proof of her weak defenses. It was only a matter of landing a single against her to decide the fight. And that was compared to the man wielding a flaming sword and shield in full-plate armor. The few times Liz snuck in a few attacks, either the man's flames could counter it or the man simply let it crash onto his sturdy armor.

While it was encouraging to see that Sarpo would eventually defeat his foe, it would be hard for anyone to think that Liz wouldn't lose first. 

'Give me that item.' Suddenly, Liz heard Vloz's voice in her mind. But before she could properly react of glance at the leopard, Vloz ordered, 'Nixt told me. Now prepare to pass the item.'

Being sure to take everything in, Vloz kept a close eye on everyone in his team. But most of his attention soon fell on Liz, even though he made sure to not look at her battle all that much. 

"That--"

'No time!' Cutting off Liz's verbal response, Vloz telepathically shouted. 

Vloz's countenance in battle didn't seem to change though. At least, not until the female leader charged next. As her flaming fists rocketed toward the shifty leopard, she squinted her eyes and reevaluated the fight. 

Four differing images of Vloz diverged as the leopard evaded the punch. And all four images scattered in different directions, forcing the lead invader to rethink everything.