Aether’s Apprentices (Aether’s Revival Book 4)

Gregory looked at the other two coordinators. “Do either of you have a preference?”

“I’ll take your group,” the slight-framed, tall woman with rabbit ears said.

“If she’s taking your group, that leaves me with Shining Light,” the shortest of them said.

“I get the Iron Hand then,” Gregory said. “Um… can I get your names? I’m Greg.”

“We know who you are,” the short man snorted. “If you want to be called Greg, that’s fine. I’m Fred.”

“Roshana,” the woman said softly, her trace of an accent clear to Gregory.

“I’ve never heard that name before,” Gregory said as he led the other two up the stairs.

“My mother came from Limaz as a child. I’m named after her.”

Gregory nodded, considering her dusky skin tone, and her dark hair and eyes. “They worship Mortum and the Traveler there, don’t they?”

“Mortum is worshipped. The Traveler is just acknowledged, not worshipped.”

“From my reading, it’s a vastly different place than the empire,” Gregory said, stopping at the base of the stairs to the third floor. “Nice to meet you both. I hope our groups can all meet up quickly. It’ll be the only way they have a chance to win.”

The other two agreed with him and kept climbing to the next floor. Gregory had seen the armsmasters having a whispered conversation with Paul when he had passed the first few rooms. He retraced his steps to the last room where the two Iron Hand apprentices were speaking with their watcher, instructor Ella Voulaz.

“I’m your coordinator,” Gregory announced as he entered the room.

Dave Marthman looked over and nodded. “Pettit.”

“Greg, please,” Gregory said.

“Fine. Dave,” Dave replied. “This is Elliot.”

The other apprentice nodded to Gregory, but didn’t say anything as he studied the map.

“Greg, is it?” Ella asked with a raised eyebrow.

“My town was informal,” Gregory told Ella.

“That informality will either help or break your men next year,” Ella said. “Some need a more rigid command style.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”

“You may call me Ella,” she said. “I’m also an informal person. I find most who grew up on the fringe are.”

“I’d agree, as my entire village was informal,” Gregory nodded.

“I hope you all win,” Ella said. “It’ll be entertaining to see Egil give each of your groups a week of his training. He hates training others, but he loves to fight.”

“Okay, we have our men set,” Dave said. “The first thing we’re going to do is invest in carrier pigeons.”

Ella’s eyebrows rose and she nodded. “Very well. What do you plan on doing with them?”

“We send one to either side of us with a message.”

“Finding your allies? Smart,” Ella smiled. “Very well. Write the messages up.”

Gregory went to the table, making notes on the units so he could do his job. He found both units to be under half manpower. Morale was good, though, which is what let them continue to keep their men together on the field.

~*~*~

Over the first few rounds, nothing of major note happened outside of the pigeons finding the other camps from multiple directions and the three separate groups attempting to merge into a single group. Scouts tried to spy out each group, but it didn’t work out well for Krogga, as both Aether’s Guard and the Iron Hand had invested in hounds as anti-scouting. The hounds got hurt far worse against Krogga than the empire scouts, but they still killed the scouts.

With only Shining Light known and moving, it was thought that the opposition would come for them. Iron Hand met up with Aether’s Guard and they dug in, setting out their limited archers to cover when Shining Light made it to them.

“This turn, things should get entertaining,” Elder Cho said when she joined the coordinators. “A light foot was just out of range last turn. They rush for the Shining Light to stop them from making it to the conjoined camp.”

“The archers that were sent out were given orders to advance twice and lay covering fire,” Roshana said. “I believe that will get them there to injure the light foot.”

“One unit will turn to fight the light foot. Both magi and the other unit continue to the camp,” Fred said.

“Apprentice Marthman will use his magi to wet the field, hindering Krogga’s movement for the turn, which should let the archers do more damage,” Gregory added.

Elder Cho nodded as she took notes. “Very well. The Kroggian force will rush, using death to all magi to bolster them in the fight, as the magi are fleeing from them.”

“Last stand,” Fred said. “Since we have archers assisting us, it will extend to them, too.”

Cho’s eyes glittered for a moment. “Using that now? Interesting. Very well. Anyone else?”

Roshana exhaled as she spoke up, “I was told that the archers will hold the field if the magi from the other group have a chance to reach the camp. Considering the cards in play, I believe they will if I use rapid fire. With the field being slogged and last stand in play, I think the extra card will stop or even break the Kroggian force.”

Cho smiled widely for a brief moment before she nodded. “Very well. Let us tally and see what happens.”

It took a moment for the math to be run, but in the end, the unit from the Shining Light was wiped off the map. The archers were broken to less than a tenth of their strength and retired from the field. Both magi made it to the camp, and the Kroggian light foot was killed to the last man.

Cho smiled again. “Excellent. I shall see you next turn.”

The three coordinators stayed where they were for a moment. Fred was the first of them to speak, “It’s odd not bringing the watchers out for combat.”

“Magus Harrison said if they can’t trust the elder, they might as well close the academy,” Roshana said lightly.

“I think it’s also to keep an eye on the groups all the time,” Gregory said softly. “To make sure no one tries to make small adjustments in their favor.”

“The Iron Hand wouldn’t,” Fred snorted.

“Nor would the Shining Light,” Roshana added.

“It wasn’t an implication,” Gregory reassured them. “Think about some of the other clans and consider it again.”

“Eternal Flame,” Fred snorted.

“Perhaps the Han, if they thought they could get away with it,” Roshana added.

“Exactly. If they’d planned to do this from the start, then it makes sense.”

“But the elder—” Fred began.

“Did Egil look surprised when they ‘changed’ things?” Gregory cut him off.

“No,” Roshana said softly. “He laughed and talked about strain, but there was no surprise on his face. I didn’t think about it at the time.”

“They knew Magus Elkit would challenge him, and he used Krogga to beat him. And it was known this would be a Kroggian force, too,” Gregory said. “They had this planned from the start of the tournament.”

Fred nodded slowly. “Okay, so we should expect them to have a solid plan and not a rushed one, then?”

“It wouldn’t have been rushed even if they were surprised,” Roshana said. “Think about how they did against the Eternal Flame bid to take over.”

“Oh, right,” Fred nodded. “At least they can’t bring a champion in.”

Gregory winced. “They can, but the conditions for it are harder since they invaded the empire. Fifty turns and at least two dead magi. I looked up the conditions after the last game.”

“We can’t even warn them,” Fred sighed.

“Jenn already knows,” Roshana said. “She mentioned it during the first turn. I’d thought she was being silly, but now…” Trailing off, Roshana looked thoughtful.

“Let’s get back to the combined group, we’re all in the same room now at least,” Gregory said.

“It will make strategy for the group easier,” Fred said.

Fred went to go get Klein and the other magi, leaving Roshana and Gregory to go back to the new command room.

As they headed for the stairs, Roshana broached a topic, “Greg, a question? It’s rumored that to join Aether’s Guard, one needs to deeply believe that Aether will return. Is that true?”

“That’s the one thing that is required. If you deeply and truly believe, then speak with Magus Dia… I mean Magus Ursinda. We call her Dia.”

“Your whole clan is informal?”

“Most of us are.”

“My grandmother left Limaz because she believed in Aether more than Mortum. She had a much harder time of it for multiple reasons.” Roshana touched one of her ears. “But she said she had dreams of Aether returning and that it would be here in the empire.”

“And you hope she’s right?” Gregory asked.

“Something in me burns with hope,” Roshana said, her dark skin darkening further. “I wanted to approach the clan before the solstice, but I am not skilled in combat, nor very skilled with my water magic… But with my hope and what I’ve seen and heard of how the clan accepts… one of my heritage…”

“Speak with Dia,” Gregory said. “Mom always told me, ‘It never hurts to ask. The worst that happens is that you are told no.’ Sometimes, that ‘no’ can hurt, but if you never ask, you’ll never truly know.”

Roshana had stopped walking, a soft smile on her lips. “My mother told me that, too.” Her smile faltered. “With magi, that’s not the worst that can happen. It’s what’s kept me from asking.”

“It’s your choice, Roshana, but you’ve seen who is around me. I can honestly say they’re all treated as friends and family. There’s no bigotry or hate for those of different heritages. Faith in Aether and a deep need to improve yourself is what drives us all forward.”

Roshana fell quiet as they made it to the room, but she was clearly thinking.

“Good news— they made it. Fred went to go tell them,” Gregory said as they entered the room. “Bad news is that their foot unit and archers were wiped out. Better news is that the attacking unit was killed to the last man.”

“Two of ours for one of theirs is a bad trade,” Jenn sighed. “I’d been hoping to bring in Farin, but we might want to change tactics and invest in more men. More magi will not aid us here. If anything, it’ll hurt us more.”

“We should wait for them,” Dave said.

“That would be for the best,” Harrison said from the corner.

They didn’t wait long for Fred to lead the Shining Light group into the room.

“We made it, but we’re down to a single unit of men,” Klein said when he joined the others at the table. “I’d suggest we pile all we can into troops, even going so far as to bring in a few non-magi commanders.”

“I agree,” Ling said.

“Me, too,” Clover added. “We can have them take the field with the men, leaving us back. It’ll dampen the morale a little, but we can compensate for that.”

“Fighting Krogga is always rough,” Dave said. “They gain too many bonuses against us.”

“I had an idea, but it’s a radical one…” Clover said slowly.

Gregory was surprised to see Clover hesitate; she was normally so outspoken and happy.

When they all looked at her, she went on, “We can hire a few units from Buldoun. It’ll cost more— nearly double what our advanced units do— but they would tear through the Kroggian units.”

No one spoke up right away, but Ling and Jenn gave her smiles and nods.

After a few minutes of considering the idea, Klein said, “This has merit. I’m going to suggest another idea that will possibly not be well received. We combine the units and have half of our magi retire from the field.”

Harrison sat up, paying attention.

“My unit is gone and Gula’s are under half. We’d both leave after handing our men over to one of you. That will remove us from the game, but it also reduces the bonuses they’re getting from having so many magi fielded against them.”

“Elliot, do the same,” Dave said.

“But—!” Elliot began.

“Do it,” Dave said firmly. “I’ll take control of your men, and theirs. That’ll give me two full units.”

“Clover, you’ll get my men,” Jenn said.

“No,” Clover said, putting her hand on Jenn’s shoulder. “You’re better on the field than me. If we have to have a single magi left, it’s better for it to be you. If they catch one of us, you can at least bleed them.”

“If that’s the case, I should be the one to step out,” Ling said. “You can create potions to help the troops. My magi did the little enchanting she could for the men and is unable to do more for five more turns.”

“She’s right,” Jenn said, “as are you, Clover.”

“Fine,” Clover exhaled unhappily. “I wanted Ling to be able to get more time in.”

Ling smiled and shook her head. “I’d rather win.”

“I’ll go, too, after I make the next batch of medicine,” Clover said. “That’ll leave just two of you on the field.”

Elliot asked, “Dave, shouldn’t we let Klein stay? Spatial magic would—”

“No,” Dave cut him off. “I can slow down entire units. He can only try to kill a single commander, and that’s iffy.”

Klein stared at Dave for a moment, then bowed his head. “I would take one with me before I died, but you are correct. If we hire the Buldoun mercenaries, being able to slow units would be better.”

“Let me clarify,” Harrison spoke up. “You four are stepping out, and you are combining units to bring your men to full strength while also hiring mercenaries from Buldoun?”

“Yes,” Jenn said.

Harrison stood up and came over to the table. “This is going to get very interesting.”