Battle at Cargelhan

Brochwel talked Aoda through a midnight landing, his legs dangling toward a grassy hillside that was steeper than it had first appeared. Meanwhile a few torches broke from the line to investigate the distinctive sound of an odonaran's wings.

"Keep descending, almost ..."

"Who goes there?" demanded a soldier who held her torch aloft to illuminate Brochwel and Aoda.

"Commander Brochwel, Temporary Expeditionary Auxiliary Regiment. And this—"

As Brochwel's heels joined his toes on the grass, Aoda stopped flying and fell the last few feet. He pitched forward but caught himself with a step or two and leaning forward under her until she was confident of the ground underneath her. An awkward landing, but a safe one.

"I'm Aoda Eouzan, requesting asylum in Kirrglos."

Several people caught up with the first soldier now. Izabel and Tarquin walked alongside someone Brochwel recognized as soon as the torchlights lit her ringlets.

"Well well well. Since you brought back my wayward run-amok commander, I suppose granting your request is the least I can do to repay you." General Olivia Callaway then looked to Brochwel. "As for you ..."

Brochwel winced and braced for a lecture, a thrashing, or worse. He technically had an independent unit, but that only went so far. Any leader of the Flaxen Order, recent or historic, would flay him for being so reckless.

"... Next time make your grand entrance during daylight hours so we can see it. Seriously, how do you expect to climb the ranks if no one witnesses your exploits?"

"I ... will try to time it better next time, General."

"That's what I like to hear. Now, the enemy approaches. I know most of your unit is exhausted, but you seem to be in somewhat better shape."

Olivia was right. Having some pilfered rations and water under the tree while his mind spun its wheels had let him get some rest. Brochwel had been without sleep for quite a while, and knew that he would pay for this later with interest, but right now he felt that lift of exhaustion when the body knows no sleep is coming and it just has to deal for a little longer.

Besides, he and his unit had only kept the imperial army occupied for two days. As the commanding officer, he would need to make some changes so they could operate more steadily. For now he could take responsibility and make up for the shortfall.

"I'm sorry. I'll—"

"Sorry? Whatever for? I wish I had three of you. Come on, let's get ready to fight."

At first he hung his head. She wanted more of him ... him to do more. Then common sense knocked through the sleep deprivation and reminded Brochwel that it was a common compliment, not an instruction to try to be in three places at once.

"Uh, General, miss?" Aoda kept a thumb and forefinger on Brochwel's sleeve. "I don't mind fighting, but will it be during the day? I can only see the torch flames."

"Afraid I can't give the enemy the time to rethink their mistake." Olivia gave Brochwel a glance toward the pair of his troops who had come with.

Brochwel understood the hint. Who looked most tired ...

"Recruit Izabel. Show Ms. Eouzan to the inn where you and Ms. Sobriquette are staying."

"Come onnn. Why me?" Izabel stamped an exhausted foot. "I'll miss the battle!"

"Not if you hurry. Now get to it."

As the Kirrglosian line went dark, Brochwel looked around at the extinguishing torches and tried to piece together how General Callaway had arranged her forces. They seemed to be placed along a ridge that gently curved and undulated with the crest of the hills just outside Cargelhan. There seemed to be an opening on the northeast side, where the dense trees had likely impeded the march, but maybe someone was there, torches out already.

They waited under the stars, which winked out one by one as wispy clouds rolled in. Tarquin led Brochwel to the Tea Regiment's allotted position, a small gap between two much larger companies. Tecca stood there, grumbling about not letting Olivia say she slept through the decisive battle. Duhaan fussed with the buckles of his armor. And Tarquin begged to hear what flying was like (later, Brochwel said).

General Haute's army marched into the low ground and began coming up the hill, led by an array of plodding, worn out summons.

A long, mournful howl went up along the Kirrglosian line in the dark, followed by the thundering of a cavalry detachment swinging around on the imperial flank. Ball lightning went up from the imperial line to illuminate the battlefield, and Brochwel's breath caught when he saw that the gap he thought he had imagined was actually there.

"Tecca," Brochwel turned to see her expression stormy. "That still looks like a lot more troops than our side has. Shouldn't Olivia fall back into the Kirrglosian countryside."

"I tried to tell her that General Haute said during the drinking that his assignment was to crush our army. Olivia just laughed her annoying laugh and said she'd beat him here, because losing Cargelhan would devastate morale, she says." Tecca gritted her teeth.

With both sides able to see each other, there came a strange pause (which the cavalry, being cavalry, ignored). Most of the imperial summons disappeared. New ones took their place at the head of the column. The most prominent was a titanic isopod, its shelled back rising thirty feet in the air. Surrounding it was a host of butcher elk, trinoceros, and other large, swift creatures useful for breaking through a line. They began a lumbering uphill run for the gap in the Kirrglosian line, which rained arrows and fire at them.

Brochwel was about to run over there to do something, anything, when he spotted motion behind the units next to the gap. Another unit marched into the gap as if it had been left just for them, which he realized it had. General Callaway had left a false gap in her line, and had waited for General Haute to see his numeric advantage and to commit to rushing it.

But looking at that isopod again, now as it crawled closer Brochwel could see that people stood on its back. And one of them clearly wearing all white.

"Duhaan, can you get your armadillo to roll downhill to that big one?"

The wolfboy shrugged. "Yeah, but it's not big enough to stop it."

"I don't need it to. Just get there and then unroll part way up the shield."

"Right." He brought his hands up and summoned the armadillo.

It hopped up and curled into a sphere, shaking the ground on landing. Brochwel ran downhill after it, certain he looked a little silly. The rest of the Kirrglosian force was folding around the Rhosarian column, going for encirclement despite having at least a thousand fewer soldiers. All around him summons tangled and mangled each other, while Brochwel ran behind the big brown ball, pausing only to cut down the occasional imperial summon that decided to chase him.

The armadillo crushed a butcher elk just before it impacted the isopod's side. There it uncurled, stretching itself as far up the side as it could. Brochwel put the spine of Cambadr between his teeth and scrambled up, given a little boost by the armored beast's calloused paws. While the isopod's shell was slick lower down, near the top it was tacky (so its intended occupants wouldn't slip and slide off). Brochwel crawled up as a great thorny giraffe swung its head over and allowed Olivia to step directly onto the isopod's shell-deck, rapier drawn.

"I am Olivia Callaway, General of the Army of Cargelhan." She cast aside her cape with a flourish, not seeing that she threw it onto Brochwel's head.

"Major General Maximilien Haute. Loyal servant of the Rhosarian Empire." He gave a little bow and drew his jewel-encrusted rapier. "I hope you weren't expecting a one-on-one. My personal guards need something to do."

As Haute's four guards began to encircle, Brochwel stood, having finally gotten far enough up the shell to stand comfortably. He held the cape bunched in his off hand. "Uh ... hi."

They all stopped for a moment to look at him while the battle raged on below. Olivia turned toward him with a scowl that bounced back to a small smile the moment Haute and his guards couldn't see it. Then she winked at him. A plain, straightforward wink.

Brochwel threw the cape in one guard's face and rushed another while Olivia squared off with Haute.

So Brochwel hadn't been in Olivia's plans, but that didn't mean she minded him being here. That ... probably went for both this fight and the war as a whole. All this time he had been driving himself crazy trying to dream up ways the he could fix everything the Flaxen Order had gotten wrong, but he had been trying to do it all himself.

He crossed swords with a guard and kicked him in the stomach, sending the man tumbling down the side. Then he rushed back and blocked the remaining guard from getting behind Olivia. He kept working through the personal guard while Olivia and Haute probed each other's defenses with controlled slashes and feinted lunges.

None of his ideas worked the way they were supposed to because of course one person or one unit couldn't carry a whole conflict. He could move independently, but had to be in concert with someone else. Brochwel knew he never had to be alone again unless he chose it.

Brochwel had his sword locked with the last surviving guard when General Haute's elbow prodded his side. They had ended up almost back to back, and turning he saw that Haute was letting his legs go completely, dropping to the deck so that he could stab from way below where a fencer usually was.

Maybe Olivia would have blocked it, maybe she wouldn't have, but Brochwel had his left hand and Haute's elbow was right there. Brochwel grabbed his arm, then kicked the last guard's knee so hard it made a crunching sound.

Olivia's rapier stopped at Haute's throat.

"That wasn't fair," he said to Brochwel's hand, still holding his elbow.

For a moment lightning crackled, arrows whistled, and summons roared at each other.

Then Brochwel and Olivia both started saying why it was fine at once and over each other.

"Sorry, you first," said Brochwel.

"No, he's addressing your action."

"But I was just interpreting your order."

General Haute glanced around at the battle unfolding beneath. His forces were still fighting admirably, despite everything. But the Kirrglosian cavalry had swept in behind and the battle wasn't going his way.

"Fine. Just so long as I don't have to listen to you two babble in whatever cell or dungeon they throw me in." General Haute jerked his elbow out of Brochwel's grasp, then presented his rapier to Olivia. "I surrender."

"Lovely." Olivia accepted the sword, then grabbed Haute's arm and hauled him upward. "Now tell your soldiers."