Industry & Intrigue (70 page)

The red spheres exploded in a
wave of angry
flames and she could see the effects of this, soldiers
rolling on the ground trying to put out the magical fire that
engulfed them, others turned to burned and charred
bodies.

The blue ones released a
torrent of cold mist that turned to ice as it was exposed to the
air. Zuri could see patches of the ice having encased
entire units, there
would be men slowly suffocating to death trapped inside the deadly
ice.

The impact of the green
spheres
had
summoned thick and sharp vines out of the ground. Soldiers were
trying to work their way out while the vines had claimed less
fortunate ones as well as several cannons and held them up in tight
knots as if in triumph. They were being crushed to a pulp by the
strength of the unnatural vines.

Clouds of yellow gas
were
slowly
drifting above the line of damage, having been released by the
yellow spheres, choking the life out of anyone breathing it
in.

She flew back up. The
fire on the walls
had stopped, the stunning attack of the spheres had managed to
shock their whole army. Zuri prayed it would be enough to drive
them back. She doubted the Scepters would have enough strength to
cast further offensive spells after that.

She few back and forth several
times, keeping car
eful track of the direction of spells being cast below as
it was used to counter the effects of the spheres. She had managed
to pinpoint several concentrations of Galrian spell-casters when
she heard their artillery units open fire again. They had recovered
from the attack and were not intent on retreating.

Damn
, she thought.
I had hoped to be able to
inform the long-range snipers of the location of the Pale Brothers,
so they could target them on a retreat. But they’ll move positions
if they’re still attacking. I’ll have to do it myself.

She focused on where she had
spotted the largest co
ncentration of magic and prepared her spell. For
several long seconds she maintained her position in the air, her
wings flapping enough to keep her in the same place.

The words she
muttered were quiet
at first, but they slowly grew in volume until she was shouting.
She could feel the strength in her wings lessening and she grunted
as she struggled to keep herself afloat.

Sweat beaded on the dark skin
of her forehead and flowed down her face. She said the final words
of the spell. “
Uasud Mosono Taeus!
”

With the release of the spell
she lost what strength she had been holding onto and fell
suddenly.
She managed to find enough strength in her wings to stop
falling and pushed her body upwards. She looked down to see the
results of her spell.

A wave of
midnight-black fire swept
across the front line of soldiers below. They had a few seconds to
scream before it engulfed them and burnt their flesh to the bone,
leaving behind only black skeletons. The fire swept through the
ranks, rushing towards the location of the Pale Brothers, its
intended target.

It swept into several of them,
killing them instantly, but stopped as it hit an invisible
barrier.
The
fire burned against whatever defensive wall the Pale Brothers had
erected and couldn’t penetrate it. It kept burning for another
minute, before the spell ended and it dissipated, leaving behind
the skeletons and charred ground as signs of its
passing.

Zuri was disappointed. She had
hoped her shadow fire would at least do more damage than
that
. She’d
only managed to kill a few Pale Brothers and a couple of battalions
of infantry.

B
efore she could gather herself to fly back
to the walls, she felt something smash into her and knock her back.
She was flipped back in the air, turned upside down and then she
was falling. She beat her wings as fast as she could, but all she
succeeded in doing was slowing her descent. She didn’t have the
energy to turn herself back up. She was going to hit the ground
this time.

She
let herself fall, trying to save what
energy she had left. She waited until she was only a few stories
away from the ground and then flapped as hard as she could. It
would at least mitigate the damage from the impact.

The ground rushed up and
slammed into her, the blow even harder than the force spell
that
knocked
her out of the air. She couldn’t breathe, the wind had been knocked
out of her. She tried to move but felt an intense pain in one of
her wings. She hoped it had not been too badly damaged. The thought
of losing her ability to fly was too horrible to
contemplate.

There was mo
re pain in her left leg when
she tried to sit up. It felt like a broken bone. Her vision was
starting to go blurry, the pain was too much, she couldn’t take
it.

She hear
d voices. “Hurry, Brother Zhyba
wants her taken alive. We need to bind her hands and gag her before
she can recover.”

She could make out several
shapes, but it was getting harder to stay conscious. As one of the
dark shapes drew close, she gave out a slight moan in
protest.
She
felt someone grab her hands and tie rope around them. Then her eyes
closed and she passed out.

Chapter
70

Tanaka was suitably impressed
with the line of ships
sitting in the harbor. The docks of Caer Anvos
were not as large as Alkos City or Daltilloch, but they were better
suited for the large military vessels currently berthed there. They
had longer berthing points and deeper waters. The troop transport
ships were directly docked at the piers, while the armored attack
ships and gunships were anchored out in the bay.

At the moment, the
re
stored
Royal Estaran Army was in the long process of boarding the vessels.
His own army, forty thousand of the best the Red Knights had to
offer, were waiting inside a series of warehouses rented for the
operation.

When
he first arrived, Tanaka had briefed
his commanding officers on the mission they were about to embark
on. He had ordered them not to spread word down the ranks, in case
of Estaran spies.

Over the next few
weeks more of his
Red Knights filtered into the city as well as most of the Estaran
exiles. The exiles were garrisoned and preparing in the huge grey
fortress that lay on the northern side of the docks.

In times long ago it had served
as the seat for the Lord of Caer Anvos. The elimination of
indiv
idual
city lords during the Northern Domination War, had seen it become
another fancy piece of imperial property. It had seen use in other
wars, but once the age of gunpowder and cannons arrived, the
ancient fortress became little more than a relic. So it sat,
preserved as a historical monument for a time, until eventually
even those days had slipped by and the once grand castle decayed
and crumbled.

The combination of its enormous size and
disinterest by most citizens made it the perfect place for the
Estaran exiles to gather, not to mention it was near the docks and
the Estaran soldiers were able to board their vessels without
having to travel where prying eyes could see.

The Estaran transport vessels
were wooden sailing ships, what
remained of the Estaran Navy. During their
civil war, the navy had remained loyal to the monarchy, which was
why they had been able to create a capable fleet in such a short
time.

Tanaka suspected that
the more modern
ships out in the harbor were Alkon vessels, repainted over with the
red and green Estaran colors to mask their origins. He was
surprised the Alkon government would take such an outright and
obvious step at aiding the exiles, but his only concern about the
ships was whether they would be able to protect him and his troops
as they made for landfall north of Senaea.

He spo
tted the Estaran general, Ursa
Opherus, and approached her.
A female general
.
These Estarans wage war far differently than I am
used to.

Over the years Tanaka had
slowly
become accustomed to the more progressive mainland culture
compared to his homeland. In Minakaya, females were restricted in
what they could do. However they were protected as well, crimes
against them were always met with harsher punishment and females of
the high clans were able to walk the land in perfect safety and
security. Any criminal who accosted them knew he would suffer the
most terrible punishments from the high clans.

Alkon allowed its women into
gov
ernment
and gave them an equal footing, but even they had never gone so far
as to allow them into the military. Estara was the only nation
which had done that. Much of that had been repealed by the
republican government with repressive new laws and
edicts.

“
General Opherus. How
muc
h longer
before my own men can begin boarding?” he asked the
woman.

She turned around to face
him.
She was
wearing an exquisite armored uniform in red and purple. Her hair
was hidden by a red and white officer’s cap which was adorned with
five diamonds indicating her rank.

“
Another hour or so, Commander
Tanaka. Please make sure your men are ready to leave promptly.” Her
tone showed the disdain she held for him and his mercenaries, an
issue he had quickly become aware of. Fortunately she was too
professional and loyal to her queen to risk insulting him directly.
He was concerned that it could affect her judgment when it came to
the campaign.

But if push came to shove the
Estarans needed his Red Knights more than Cicero needed the money,
so he
doubted she would do anything stupid. The Estaran exiles
had managed to pull together a force of fifty thousand soldiers.
Having the Red Knights fight with them, doubled their numbers. Not
to mention that the Red Knights had more modern equipment than the
old Estaran weaponry.

Even with
his force, it would be a
difficult campaign. President Praellis’ Republican Guard reportedly
had half a million men under arms. It was an exaggeration. The
question was by how much?

A
certain percentage of Praellis’ armed
forces were loyal to him, the rest were dubious. They would be
forced conscripts or former royalist soldiers, many of whom would
jump at the chance to fight for the monarchy again. The success of
the campaign would hinge on the number of Republican Guard soldiers
who would join them.

“
My men are as ready as they
need to be
,”
he replied. “They are veterans of many wars. It is your own
soldiers that have not had fighting practice in a long time. Nor
are they as familiar with their homeland as they once
were.”

Ursa didn’t respond to his
bait. She blinked a few times. “Good. I’m sure you and your
sell
-swords
will distinguish yourselves fine.”

Perhap
s the queen asked her to be more
diplomatic,
he thought. He decided not to push her further and changed
topics. “Is there word on the weather conditions near
Senaea?”

“
It should be
c
lear skies.
There’s a storm front due at the start of next week, so we should
arrive with time to spare,” replied the general.

“
And everything is in
place?”
he
asked.

“
Yes
,” said Ursa. “There are still many
in Estara loyal to the crown. They chafe under Praellis’ corrupt
rule. They will sabotage the ships in Haltoria Harbor so the
Republican Navy cannot ambush us while our forces make their way
north.”

“
And the remaining fleets?”
Tanaka wasn’t concerned about the main fleet in Haltoria. By the
time it could be deployed, it would be too late to change
anything.
The real unknown factors were the additional two republican
fleets which were usually stationed on the north and east coasts of
Estara. If they were patrolling the Summit Sea and spotted the
invasion fleet, the advantage of surprise would be lost.

“
The Northern Fleet is still
stationed in Portus Nova
,” replied Ursa. “The Eastern Fleet is on
operations. I don’t know where exactly.” He could tell she was as
frustrated as he was with that little information. Operations could
mean anything from long range patrol to simply being on alert due
to the Alkon-Galrian war.

“
We need better information,” he
said. “Knowledge of the field of battle is the greatest weapon a
commander can have.”

“
I am aware of that
commander
,”
Ursa angrily replied. “I did not receive these diamonds for
nothing. We are doing the best with what we have.” She turned her
back to him and walked towards the warehouses, where the last of
her troops were waiting.

But will it be enough to regain
your homeland
?
Whether they succeeded or not, it would be an aggressive
campaign and his men could use practice. Most of them had been on
contracts in the colonies and were not used to fighting enemies who
could shoot back. They needed to cut their teeth in a small war
like this before being contracted to fight in the larger war in the
south.