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Chapter 23 - Sloane
🕑 Added 2023-01-12 17:56:30 +0000 UTCThe Siege of Marketbol
Tiberius landed next to Sloane as she stood on the ramparts of Marketbol’s outer walls. She had worked with the city to have her falcon scout the approaching army, and the assistance had been well received. With the threat near, the city was wary of sending more scouts out, and only had a few remaining teams attempting to gain more knowledge of their enemy. Unfortunately, those scouts could not bring information back quickly enough for whatever they learned to be utilized effectively.
She glanced over at the army commander with her, the high elf man stood resolute but she could see the subtle signs of nervousness in his features. The city had a high opinion of their defense, but in the face of an opposing army, and when yours was gone… it was understandable to feel hesitation.
“It seems their rear force caught up to them. The army now numbers closer to ten thousand. I hesitate to send Tiberius further away, I would rather keep him close. They are also beyond the point you mentioned,” she said.
The man nodded and sighed. “If the army is past the fork, then it is very likely that they will be here by nightfall. I will relay the report. Will you be attending the meeting, My Lady?”
Sloane glanced at Nemura, who nodded.
“We will.”
The man saluted and thanked her for her assistance before closing the notebook he had been writing in and leaving.
Sloane looked over the parapet staring north along the path of where the army would arrive from, considering everything that had happened to this point. It was as if some new calamity would rear its head no matter where she went, and it was all she could do to stay afloat. She had to keep getting stronger, she needed to keep making contacts. And where the hell is that woman?
They still hadn’t heard anything about the Vlaredian woman named Ressa and the other Empire’s Fist that were suspected to still be somewhere within the city. Not even hints, for the second time, she reflected on the fact that it seemed they just seemed to vanish. It was almost as if they had assistance in remaining hidden this long. She had to admit that the thought of fighting that woman again made her nervous. Her subsequent training with Nemura that she’d been doing for the past month had shown her just how far the gap would be.
As a former Fist herself, she had a unique insight into the mindset and ability of their mysterious adversaries. Sloane had been put through a ringer of training that had left her exhausted and gross five nights a week. Just last night, Nemura had given her an assessment of how far she’d come. Apparently, after four weeks of grueling training that made everything she’d ever done in college seem like child’s play, Nemura had deemed her… ‘no longer a lamb facing a lion’. Sloane didn’t even know what the hell that meant. Was she now a sheep facing a lion? A goat? What was with the animal metaphors?
It was frustrating. She wanted to improve, she had thought her experience in fencing would be beneficial, but even Stefan had laughed. Her two guards had much different ideas on fighting than Gisele and the knights. The entire experience just continually frustrated her until, finally, Nemura patted her shoulder and told her to stop trying so hard to become a master swordswoman and focus on her magic followed by staying behind her. She’s definitely the tank of the group, so it makes sense. I guess the spellblade life isn’t for me.
She turned and sighed. “Have you heard anything?”
Nemura shook her head, knowing exactly what Sloane meant, for it had been a conversation they’d had many times since that day. “Nothing. They will show themselves soon though.”
“How do you know?”
The woman’s face grew dark. “It is what I would do. Knowing my army was approaching, I would want to do what I could to ensure they could take the city. Her priority changed when the fight was not as easy as they thought it would be.”
Sloane huffed. “Sure seemed easy for them.”
“No one died. You were the most injured person there and that is only because they were focusing on you. I have to admit, the knights are much more trained than I had first given them credit for,” Nemura said.
“Have you heard of her before?”
Nemura shrugged. “Ressa is a fairly common name. It has been some time since I was there, I won’t know until she makes her move and I am there to stop her.”
Sloane sighed. “I’m glad one of us is confident.”
“Just make sure to use as much magic as possible if multiple people come for us. After the meeting, I am having Stefan stay with you as well. The center will be fine with Ser Ernald and the guards.”
“I believe it was you that stated that the guards would not be able to stop them.”
The tank of a woman turned fully toward her.
“They wouldn’t, but having Stefan here will ensure that we can. From this point forward, everyone wears their armor and weapons, and you do not leave within shouting distance of me.”
Why is the waiting so much worse?
* * *
Gisele and Ismeld joined them heading to the city’s Hall of War–which was the headquarters of the Marketbol Army, and the meeting between all of the defending army’s commanders.
Sloane wasn’t sure what had caused General Irileth to change his mind concerning her, but she suspected it had something to do with all of the work she had put into shoring up the defenses of the city. The improvements that were made to the ballistae would likely be critical in anti-siege warfare. This meant that all the city had to do from there was wait, and hope that the reinforcements would be enough to lift the siege. Because we’re stuck here without it.
Sloane and the two female knights stepped into the crowded meeting, while Nemura and Stefan remained just outside. Ismeld had accompanied Stefan on the way back from the Center and noted how it was fully locked down with all of the guards armed and alert. The remaining knights were also geared up and ready, just in a nearby park that was outside of the hall.
They entered a fairly large circular chamber that had what were essentially wooden bleachers curving around the outside of the room. An adjutant guided them to their seats near the rear of the room, and after a quick bow of his head, left them alone. Sloane looked around, trying to gauge the atmosphere of the room, and was surprised at how calm it was. She, on the other hand, had to place a hand on her leg to stop the urge to anxiously bounce it.
To distract herself, she looked down at the center of the chamber. In the middle of the room sat an interesting table with another surrounding it. The inner one was a large circular table with an impeccably detailed wood carving of the entire surrounding area and city that seemed as if it was a part of the table itself rather than just perfectly set into position. There was a surrounding walking space where three young officers stood within, holding poles. It was curious, but when she was able to peer down, she noticed that there were figurines all over the map. They are there to move those little people.
Another much narrower table circled around that, with a small gap to allow people inside. This table had seven places, however, only four seemed to be set up to be used. Perhaps the other three people are with the army that left.
Movement at the door caught her eye.
“When the general enters, make sure to stand,” Gisele whispered from her right.
Sloane nodded, seeing two soldiers in gleaming gold armor. Another entered right after them and announced the commanding party. Sloane stood as everyone in the room did and watched as General Irileth and three other people in elaborate armor entered with him. Of the three, two were telv men and the last was a high elf woman, and all seemed nearly as old as General Irileth. The four took their places at the ring table, and the general nodded, clearly an invitation for everyone to sit.
As the room quieted and settled into their seats, General Irileth remained standing. He took a long moment as he stood there, looking around the room. Eventually, he nodded to himself, looked down at the map table in front of him, and crossed his hands behind his back.
“Scouts have confirmed, the Vlaredian army will arrive tonight. As of now, Marketbol is officially joining the war against the empire.” He paused to let it sink in.
As if that was ever in doubt.
“Our army is gone, left two months ago to go support our fellow Sovereigns at what we thought was the front. The empire has outmaneuvered us, but it matters not. With the timely assistance of a new citizen of our fine city…” He caught her eye and smirked.
Her eyes widened. Say what now?
“We have improved our ability to hold out against the approaching army and hold we shall. Even now Mogogale marshalls its forces to relieve us. Our city is a bastion of the plains, and we will not fall. Now, Commander Varka, please go over the initial plan,” he gestured to one of the men sitting down.
The telv man stood up, his scruffy, long beard and bald head seeming odd to her as he stood up.
“Brothers and Sisters, Alos himself smiles upon us. Erbium, as well, blessed this city by sending one who could only be his pillar, the god of crafting has aided us through sanctified weapons of war that will turn the tide in our favor.”
Sloane did not like where this was going. She glanced at Ismeld and saw that she too had a conflicted expression on her face. Gisele, on the other hand, seemed to be delighted. Oh, she’s going to give me such hell.
She went back to listening to the man speak, who she now assumed was affiliated with the church in some fashion.
“...now, these weapons are key, and we must take the imperials by surprise for the greatest effect. We will allow them to get set up and in position before we let loose our arcane wrath, and the fury of the Guilds under the watchful gaze of Erbium, himself!”
This is not good. Religious fervor is something I wish to avoid.
The bald telv proceeded to go into more details surrounding the overall strategy that the city would enact upon the arrival of the imperials. When he finished, the other telv commander stood and thanked the… zealous commander for his speech.
What came next was a more tactical explanation of assignments and duties for the various squad leaders, garrison commanders, or whatever other leadership positions and titles were filled within the room.
The man even addressed positions for Sloane and the knights, which Gisele accepted for them. Sloane would be supported by a team of soldiers and her own two guards on the walls in front of where the army would be, and the knights would be patrolling key locations due to the lingering threat of Vlaredian elites within the city–at least, unless it seemed the walls may be breached.
Her role seemed like a fairly large reversal on the general’s part, but she could just barely see the influences of others in the action. Perhaps the council wishes to make a statement.
Whatever it was, she wasn’t sure how she felt about all of it. Or…
She leaned closer to Gisele and whispered, “Psst, what do you–”
The woman gave her a silencing look, but responded, “You are the bait. It’s the only thing I can think of.”
Sloane leaned back against her chair.
Fuck.
* * *
Sloane stood with Nemura on the wall again that late evening. It was almost time. The army wished to take advantage of the waning daylight to cover their attack. A massive army was approaching, and the city was already locked down. Soldiers stood at ready, siege weapons were loaded. Her job was to help ensure the main gate did not fall in the opening fight. The city’s military wanted it to turn into a siege. They did not have the forces to attempt a breakout. So all they could do was force the attackers into a stalemate. One that Sloane knew would be paid by the less fortunate of the city if food stores started to run low or if fuel for fires ran out.
Tiberius sat on the perch that had been set up for him at the wall so that he could use his sensors to observe the army. He was in what was almost a standby mode while she would connect with him on and off with her Golem Sight. The falcon was essentially acting as a more advanced camera system at the moment instead of a golem.
She took a deep breath as the soldiers started to call out orders. People were running toward the edge of the walls and she saw teams of people load the ballistae with the bolts that she had enchanted. They had changed some of the plans they had originally thought of, but not by much. She had still enchanted the bolts themselves, but not nearly to the extent she had originally considered. There just simply wasn’t enough time. All they had managed to do to the bolt was reinforce them and a series of runic chains that allowed the bolt to be manipulated by the ballista itself.
In the end, she and the city’s engineers worked out various ways to enchant the ballistae even further than originally envisioned. One innovative thing they had managed to accomplish, was to create a way for the ballista itself to feed power and spells into the bolts before they were fired. This saved them time by having preset runes they could be selected to change the type of bolt from either penetrating or exploding. Other small improvements were added as well, such as simple enchants on the cocking mechanism that reduced the time needed to reload by nearly half. The work they had done had turned the siege weapon into an even more potent weapon.
They were already planning physical design changes that could be done in the future. Options such as a bolt feeding mechanism that held a magazine with several bolts. Unfortunately, that was something they simply did not have the time or resources to put into action.
Several of the nearby siege teams were shifting the weapons into position and she and Nemura were left alone in their position while the soldiers that were around them moved to assist or to head forward to the wall.
She had hoped her artillery spell would be useful, but after testing, it simply did not have the range that the city's enchanted siege weapons did. If the enemy army managed to somehow negate the advantage of the ballistae, then she would be called up to, as the zealous commander had termed it, rain Alos's Fury upon them.
“It’s time. The ballistae are preparing,” Nemura said from beside her, the woman with her scaled plate armor vambrace over her right arm and a leather vest and red shawl that hid a layer of chainmail. She wore a pair of scaled greaves that were in the same burnt gold color. A black band held her copper hair in place.
Sloane nodded. In her mind, this absolutely needed to work, otherwise, this siege could quite possibly turn into the fall of the city. The first ballista fired. It was a loud sound that was followed by commands for others to also fire. Explosions of purple arcane energy lit up the dimly lit sky. The trap had been sprung.
She took a deep breath and stepped forward intending to go check over everything at the siege weapons nearest to them, only for Nemura to yank her back. “Look out!”
An arrow darted past where she would have been and Sloane didn’t even think before she cast two Flashbang spells in the direction it came from. Nemura pushed her back as she practically threw herself in front of Sloane. Her shield was up just in time and took on this almost quick flash of a white sheen as two more arrows literally broke against it.
The nearby soldiers at the wall heard the commotion and turned, only for a mass of arrows to slam into them. Two black armored soldiers came up the steps onto the wall. A sword in their hands and a shield with the symbol of the Empire’s Fist on the front. The same one that had been hastily painted over on the shield that Maud had stolen.
Of the two, one was shorter and clearly female. Based on the magic, it was definitely Ressa.
“Ressa, I presume,” Nemura said from where she stood in front of Sloane. She nearly groaned but held it in. Of course, it’s Ressa, Nemura. She’s the only one who can make arrows appear from thin air…
The two soldiers paused, and Ressa spoke, “Lieutenant Nemura Kho’lin. So this is where you deserted to.”
“Ressa Ka’ai. I should have known it would be you,” Nemura replied icily.
Of course, she knows her. ‘Oh, I don’t know. Ressa’s a common name!’ Common… my ass!
Sloane looked to her right and saw a group of three Marketbol soldiers standing with them, shields in position and short spears at the ready. They watched the two Vlaredian soldiers warily but had yet to make a move.
Ressa ignored them.
“So, not only are you guilty of the crime of desertion, but you add treason and murder to the list.” The woman clicked her tongue. “How the mighty have fallen.”
There wasn’t even a hint of a warning as what looked like throwing knives were conjured and launched at them. That same white flash appeared over Nemura’s shield and every dagger was stopped.
Nemura cracked her neck. “Sloane, I’ll get the tiny orkun woman. You get the man.”
Sloane quickly pulled her sword out, the runes shining brightly, and cast two Mana Bolts. They flew at the man but then two circular shields appeared right in front of their path and the bolts burst against the conjured defenses. Ressa had angled the shields just right and they were launched to the side. One of the shields clattered loudly onto the wall, while the other flew right into the helmeted face of one of the Marketbol soldiers. The helmet may have saved the man’s life, but it did not protect him from getting instantly knocked out and falling.
The other two guards rushed forward, and one was quickly put down by more conjured arrows that found every weak point in the man’s armor.
Nemura launched into motion, she seemed to move at an almost impossible speed as her form nearly blurred. The big telv slammed her armored shoulder into Ressa’s shield and the woman flew backward, turning what could have been a crashing fall into a roll that she used to springboard herself back to her feet with a sliding stop. Ressa hurled herself at Nemura, who swung the bladed side of her war hammer at the approaching orkun woman. Deflecting the block with a sweeping move of her shield, Ressa and Nemura began a dance of steel with a ferocity that Sloane definitely did not have.
At the same time, Sloane launched another Mana Bolt at the telv, but the man dove to the side, slicing upward as he was getting back up, catching the last guard in the groin.
The man stood up and rushed Sloane. She cast a Flashbang and the man simply raised his shield to cover his face and kept running. Sloane had to dive out of the way to avoid the man’s attempt to trample her. She was not nearly as graceful, but she managed to keep hold of her sword and launch an awkward Mana Bolt as she was attempting to get up.
The bolt flew by the man, but it caused him to hesitate, giving her enough time to get up and position her buckler in front of her. As the telv approached she settled into the stance Nemura had taught her, letting the man commit.
He threw a feint before he swung at her unprotected side. Sloane brought her sword up and parried the blow before she twisted around and moved behind the man. He stumbled forward, turning the movement into a duck as she tried to swing for his exposed back. He turned around and bounced on his feet, seemingly a bit more cautious of her.
She took advantage of his hesitation and threw her hand up to cast two more Mana Bolts. Even as the spells formed, the man was diving out of the way, and both bolts flew right by him, only to burst against some barrels near Nemura and Ressa. Both women dove out of the way of the flying shrapnel, and Nemura came up yelling, “Watch where you are firing that shit!”
Sloane fed mana into her sword and threw herself at the man, swinging hard. He had managed to get up to a knee and got his shield up just in time for her sword to bash against it. Her runes flashed and the force of the strike amplified, causing the man’s arm to buckle inward, bashing the edge of the shield against the man’s helmet.
He grunted, and swung his sword wildly, forcing her to curse and jump backward or risk running right into it.
She snap-fired another Mana Bolt that caught the man’s shield as he was getting up, and it caught the shield just right, and at the perfect moment, causing it to jerk his arm awkwardly in a satisfying snap. The telv cried out in pain as his arm broke, and Sloane took advantage. She fired two more Mana Bolts and this time, both hit the man. The man was flung to the side like a ragdoll and she heard Ressa cry out.
Sloane didn’t even look or hesitate as she cast an altered Arcane Explosion, centered directly on top of herself. The detonation of mana didn’t go far, but it was enough that she felt only splinters of what remained of the arrows spray against her as she quickly moved her buckler to cover her face.
As the spell dissipated and she lowered her shield, she saw Nemura lurch forward and grab Ressa. With a smooth motion, the guardswoman twisted and spun, before she threw Ressa off of the wall. The woman cried out in surprise as she windmilled her arms in almost slow motion, cursing the entire flight over the edge.
Sloane rushed forward as she lost sight of the woman.
She heard Nemura curse as she quickly reached the edge of the wall and looked down back into the city.
On the ground, ten meters below was a massive stack of… pillows.
“Archer! I need an archer!” Nemura shouted out, but by the time a group of men with bows arrived, they had lost sight of Ressa.
“I will kill that woman,” Nemura complained.
“My Lady Reinhart!”
Sloane turned and looked at where several soldiers were standing around the man she had hit with her spells.
“This one is still alive!”
Sloane looked at Nemura, whose eyes narrowed.
“It is time we got some answers,” Sloane said, sheathing her sword and attaching the sling back to her buckler so she could slip it over her shoulder.
The big telv woman nodded. “I could not agree more.”
She looked up just as more explosions sounded in the distance. Shouting from behind her made her jerk back in surprise, her first thought was to consider if Ressa had returned.
Instead, soldiers came rushing up the stairs. A telv woman stopped and saluted. “My Lady! The gate was hit! We need your help to repair it.”
Sloane looked at Nemura. “The knights were patrolling near there.” She looked at the soldiers surrounding the Vlaredian. “Take him. Do not harm him, and make sure he does not die. He will be needed for questioning.”
The soldier closest to her saluted “It will be done, My Lady.”
“Let’s go. Stay behind me,” Nemura ordered.
Sloane sent a ping through her connection to Tiberius and the bird’s chest pulsed blue. His head turned toward her and tilted as it observed the scene.
“Wryaat!” He cried out as he took off and flew over to her, landing on her shoulder.
“Sorry, buddy. There wasn’t time to wake you up.”
His series of chirps were a bit derisive, and she wasn’t sure if she appreciated the tone he was using with her.
Nemura gestured toward the stairs and the two of them broke into a jog behind the soldiers as they made their way down the stairs and toward the gate. As they approached, a scene of a fight was clear. What looked like normal civilians were running with buckets of water to put out fires. Bodies of soldiers littered the area. She caught sight of Maud’s red hair and saw the woman moving between the wounded, healing them.
Gisele was standing with a soldier and seemed to be giving orders. Ismeld caught sight of Sloane and Nemura’s approach and jogged over to them.
“Sloane! Thank Alos. Are you two alright?”
Sloane nodded. “Yes, Ressa attacked us. Nemura threw her off the wall.”
Ismeld’s eyes widened and she looked up at the telv woman. “How did she get away?”
Nemura shook her head. “The woman managed to cast a spell to create… pillows that… cushioned her fall, then got up and fled. We did capture her partner.”
I’ve never heard anyone speak of pillows with such disdain before.
“What happened here?” Sloane asked.
Ismeld looked around, rubbing her arm, where Sloane saw several large bruises. “The rest of the Empire’s Fist attacked here. They nearly took out the gate. Which, you should really come to see if you can repair it before we speak more.”
Sloane nodded and followed the woman to the massive doors of the gate. She gasped as she saw that the hinges were nearly about to snap. Rushing forward, she used her Mana Sight and placed her hand against the steel-reinforced doors. She pulled at the blue mana around them and altered the steel until it reformed into place. Reaching into her ever-present satchel, she pulled out her enchanting pen and moved to the hinges.
She turned to one of the soldiers. “I need a ladder! I have to get to each hinge.”
The man quickly nodded and moved away, shouting at others to help him.
Sloane started with the two bottom hinges on either side while she waited. She quickly inscribed the runes for [Strengthen] and a runic chain that would [Repair] the hinges upon damage. A ladder was brought and set up, and she quickly finished her work, even taking the time to inscribe [Renew]-based runic chains into the wood of the door.
With a nod, she stepped back, nearly bumping into Nemura.
Ismeld stepped up to her. “I think they have it in hand, now.”
Nemura tilted her head. “What happened here? How did they do this?”
“They managed to get their hands on some Marketbol armor and got here just before us. Deryk realized something was off and we immediately attacked. They fought us as one of them placed several alchemical objects that exploded. Gisele managed to contain the blast for most of it with her magic. The damage you fixed is what she couldn’t contain. Then a barrel with some sort of mixture that spewed what looked like a liquid fire went off, and Gisele was able to stop it with her magic. While she focused on that, they moved to leave.
“We managed to injure three. The one I injured should be mortally wounded. However, that telv of theirs is very good at what he does. He kept them together and covered everyone as they disengaged. They started to escape, and a team of city soldiers rushed after them, so we stayed here to secure the gate. That team was cut down by arrows.”
Sloane glanced at Nemura and noticed her scowling. “She came straight here, Nemura.”
“Yes. That telv is her lapdog, Alexi Zil’vost,” Nemura said and winced slightly as she glanced at Ismeld. I can ask later.
Ismeld looked between the two, her eyes narrowing slightly on Nemura. “This woman and her soldiers completely outclass what remains of the army here. Marketbol sent its elites away to the front. What remains is their reserve and enough to protect the city. We cannot be everywhere, and inevitably they will try to hit somewhere we are not.”
“I am starting to see that,” Sloane said.
“Lady Reinhart?”
Sloane jerked and turned, seeing General Irileth there.
“My apologies, general. I did not see you approach,” she said.
Ismeld and Nemura both adopted complicated looks. The knight decided to speak up. “General, why are you out here in the open? With no guards at that?”
“I ordered my guards to assist with the injured and to recover those who had died.”
“Did you need something from us, general?” Sloane asked.
He looked… tired. “I overheard what you said. You are not wrong, lady knight. About our remaining forces, that is. With that, I would like to thank you all for your quick action. This could have been devastating, but with the gate still standing, the Vlaredians did not attempt to push through our attacks on their army. They have pulled back out of range of our ballistae.”
She sucked in a breath. “So, that part of the plan worked?”
The old telv nodded. “It did. We will see what the morning brings. For tonight, at least, we are safe. Especially if the saboteurs are back in hiding.”
For some reason, that didn’t make Sloane feel much better. They needed to figure out how to find Ressa. And we need to figure out how to break this siege.
“Did we get any word from Mogogale?” Ismeld asked.
The telv sighed. “No. We do not know… anything.”
Shit.
Comments
Irakli Jishkariani
Hmmm, they really missed most important part. Gate to reinforce. And they do it now? Come on, is it that unnecessary? 😀😀😀
Fortunis
[They were already planning physical design changes that could be done in the future. Options such as a bolt feeding mechanism that held a magazine with several bolts. Unfortunately, that was something they simply did not have the time or resources to put into action.] Woohooo! Also, the pillow thing. A variation on Feather Fall? 😆 also, also, agreed on the whole focus on magic thing. I've never understood isekai stories where the mc tries to do everything in a fight. Healing I get, melee sure if you have too, but pure instakill with magic is obviously the way to go. Her bird is a major asset, my question now it how many can she make, and can they be gifted to other people and bound like hers is? Because if so, scouts and rangers would become ridiculous. Not to mention flocks dropping the magical or alchemical variation of grenades.
