Chapter 40 Change On The Battlefield

“Sir Silminian, how are the men?” I asked as soon as I saw Silminian walking in. He was covered in dirt and sweat.

“Morale is high thanks to you. We were on the verge of being defeated but your commands led us to being able to push the enemy back. On behalf of my men and I, I thank you.” Silminian words held sincerity. I can tell he was very grateful for my help. I just wished he stood a bit further away because he stunk….

“The war is not over yet. We still need to work on the next plan.” I already could imagine what the commander of the Norian army was thinking. “What are the reports from the soldiers keeping an eye on the enemy?”

Silminian straightened his back and walked over to the map. And began moving the pieces he had placed down. “Here is where they are camped out. It seems they were also recuperating. The first battle lasted a while and we took the most damage before you showed up, the tactics we used helped even the fight. Although we are still outnumbered”

“Hmmm…” I rubbed my chin. I leaned back in the chair I was sitting in and fell into thought. “The enemy will probably try to steal our tactics. Which is what I want.”

I smiled which turned a little evil. My father looked at me and rubbed my head. “What do you have planned now?”

“It’s simple. The enemy will waste their mana keeping the fog up. While we will not try to counter the fog spell at all, instead, we will do this.” I stood up and began moving the pieces on the map that represented us, they were nothing more than a few chess pieces. “When the enemy enters the fog our mages will create a large one hundred foot tall earth wall. We will trap as many enemy soldiers as we can and only then will we dispel the fog and take the enemies’ heads. Although to get as many as possible we will need one group of brave and quick men to act as bait. Our mages will only worry about putting barriers on them to protect them from attacks. Don’t worry about protecting our mages, I will handle that. As long as we can cut off a big group of the enemy’s forces we will be able to deal a heavy blow to their numbers.”

“Young Miss, you have really shown me a new light. Your plans all seem to be perfectly flawless in design.” Silminian praised me but I couldn’t help but sigh because these plans would never be any good if I did not have the skills for it. Military command and military tactics were truly meant to be used together.

“I do not need praise, I just need you and your men to carry out my orders. Keep a close eye on the movements of the Norian army. As soon as they begin to move we will as well.” I may sound arrogant but I really did not want his praise. I just wanted everything to run smoothly. My future was at stake here!

After Silminian left to go carry out my orders my father placed his big hand on my head. “How are you feeling? Is your ancient will staying dormant?”

“Mmm… No sign of it. But after this next battle, I will need to join the fight as well. I need to make sure everything is under control no matter the situation.” If I am on the battlefield and am thinking of how to turn the tides or how to successfully infiltrate the enemy’s rear line, I might be able to suppress it. While I am not doing anything my ancient will is staying quiet but I still needed to test it while in battle, close up, right in the thick of it.

“Should I join you on the battlefield?” My father asked. I looked up at him and smiled while shaking my head.

“Nope. I need you to keep an eye on everything. If something strange happens I will need you to let me know as soon as possible.” While I might be able to keep an eye on the battlefield with detection magic it was not ideal. Having my father be my eyes in the sky was much better.

“Then I will make sure I do not let you down.” My father’s words were always reassuring. He has never once let me down in my life.

It was not until the early morning of the next day just before sunrise that the call to battle was heard. The Norian army attacked us once again, probably hoping to catch us off guard. And just like I had guessed, as soon as they got close enough they casted a fog spell to cover part of the battlefield. Now the show was truly about to begin.

I stood in the sky with my father watching the movements of not only the front lines but also the rear. I could see the mages getting ready to cast some big attack. “Silminian, have our pulling group enter then quickly retreat. No one is to remain in the fog after counting for two seconds.”

Silminian didn’t even say a word back as he began passing on my orders. While I knew the mages could easily cast a spell in under a second there was still a lag time between the cast and activation. This was why I said enter for two seconds. That lag time would be enough to keep making our enemies waste mana on an area of effect spell which cost five times the mana than a normal single shot spell. Seconds later a massive flame circle was cast engulfing the fog, not a single one of my men were in the fog meaning it was a pure waste of mana.

My father let out a laugh. “Haha! Did you see that! Look, the mages are being cursed at by their commander!”

My lips curled up seeing this. Being yelled at like this for wasting so much mana was just lowering the mage’s morale. This will hopefully cause problems as the battle goes on. A commander who yells at and degrades his soldiers is only asking to be rebelled against. Whether it is turning against them or rebelling by not listening to orders in the end it will cause the enemies fighting prowess to suffer. Sadly for our side though, we had yet to execute my plan.

As I continued to watch the enemies’ movements I was starting to see a pattern. “Father, is it just me, or are they all trying to force the left side?”

“Hmmm?” My father looked out towards where I was pointing and frowned. “You are right. Why would they be doing that?”

“I have a bad feeling.” The enemies’ movements could be considered a tactic but only a tactic if you have reinforcements coming. As I realized this I quickly swept the area with my detection magic and sure enough, another group of Norian soldiers was making their way here. “Silminian! Stop sending men to the left and pull back! Gather everyone in one place I will shield you all! There is incoming from our right flank!”

“Father, help the stragglers on the right. I will go help on the left and allow our men to fall back. We can not lose a single soldier!” We were already low on numbers, to begin with. Now that the Norian army had reinforcements it was not going to be an easy fight for us. While I may be able to fight them off myself the issue still stands that I have to protect those under my command first and foremost. If they die here there would be no meaning to victory.

“On it!” My father did not question my orders at all and quickly went to the right flank to help those who were injured and needed assistance retreating. I even thought I saw a big smile on his face as he took off. It made me wonder if he had been itching to fight this entire time. As for me, I was headed to the left flank where our men were trying to fight while retreating. My plan was now all messed up. We never even got to execute it due to the change on the battlefield.

As I made my way to the front lines I bit my thumb. It was vexing… My plan would have been perfect if not for the interference. But this is my own fault for being too cocky. I had not taken into account all of the scenarios. “While I have enough knowledge to become a great commander my problem is inexperience.” I muttered to myself as I landed on the battlefield, sword drawn.

My appearance startled the Norian soldiers but the Gravos soldiers all gave me a grateful look. It seemed Silminian had told them about me. “Everyone, quickly fall back! Earth wall!” I created a giant wall the length of the left flank cutting off a huge chunk of the Norian soldiers from the rest.

I heard a roar of cheers from the Gravos soldiers, it seemed this simple spell was enough to boost their morale big time. “Enough cheering and gather up! Kill who you can as you retreat but never stop moving your legs!”

I rushed into the Norian soldiers and began cutting them down. I had no time to even think about killing or anything like that. My mind was always on keeping my soldiers alive. When I saw one about to be attacked my hand would wave and a barrier would appear in front of them giving them time to back away. My sword never stopped once as I danced across the entire front line of the battle field.

“Faith we have gathered!” My father’s voice rang out in my ears. I looked across the muddy blood soaked battlefield and sighed before turning to my own men and waving my hand. Four grand domed barriers formed over and around them. These were the same kind of barriers that could stop grand fall. “Now then, I should also join them.” I also needed to come up with a new plan. And to do that I needed to get a better grasp on the situation.