Chapter 75 – Eager

“They’re moving west… following the trail. Shake! Move primary warden clan marker just right of our south east boundary…” Kairon pointed at a spot on the map, “there.”

“Yes master!”

From the entryway to the citadel, pack leader Fang appeared. “Reporting! Green pack return!”

De-activating Sovereign Eye, the city lord gestured excitedly. “Come in, come in.”

Striding forward, back straight and muddied shoulders held high, the wrath pack leader banged claw to chest. “Master! Green pack full accounted. Return safe. No injury.”

“And you did a perfect job of keeping me informed throughout the clan’s journey. Well done, Fang. Well done.” The thirty warriors under his command were already catching up on rest and fresh meals. “Once we finish up here, get yourself something to eat too. We’re going to need your pack before this is over.”

“Understood!”

Vorathrex grunted in approval, patting the back of the stocky warrior. To his side, Boney also nodded.

Fang swelled with pride.

Shiny and Sythara, however, didn’t even bother to turn. Both maintained their attention on the war table.

“Child… You said there were hundreds of them?” asked Sythara, gaze switching between the different markers on the model.

“About five hundred clans warriors, and perhaps half as much from Valdren. A third of which appear to be the paladins that Veron warned us of.”

“Don’t worry, dear. We’ll protect you,” said Boney soothingly.

Rolling her eyes, the demoness flicked a tentacle at the big wolf. “I’m sure,” she cooed.

“Anyway,” cut in Kairon, “the timing here is going to be very close. The clan’s people are about six hours travel from point A.”

“Is that good?” asked Boney.

Kairon re-called up Sovereign Eye, flying back to the overhead view over this snippet of The Spines mountainous terrain. “Well, good is relative. In this case, we need to match their approach with that of Valdren, and time everything around dusk. It’s late afternoon now… This is going to be close. Very close.”

“This is the problem with your… tactics,” said Vorathrex. “When they do not work, what then, fledgling?”

“Then I have you,” replied Kairon with a grin. “Besides, I do also have… contingency plans in place.”

“Redundancy,” chimed in Shiny. “Need prepare for worst!”

Vorathrex gave the little imp a snort.

“Master, if you want us to do as you wish, then the pack needs to depart,” advised Boney. His furs practically bristled with anticipation.

“Agreed. Get going, and remember your directions. As a demon, I can’t interact with you any longer using my eye. That means you’ll need to rely expressly on what I can convey to the other Red Claws.”

“Understood master. The pack will not let you down.”

With that, Boney’s posture shifted. From a demon lounging in a citadel with allies to a predator on the prowl. Prey was near, and the pack was ready for a hunt.

Snarling, the demon dropped to all fours and bounded out of the tower, a small dust cloud kicked up in his wake.

“Eager, isn’t that one?” sighed Sythara.

“Something like that.” Kairon turned to Vorathrex. “You should get going as well.”

“Fledgling, are you certain this is the correct path?”

“I’m certain this is the path that maximizes our chances of survival,” said Kairon. “As for correct—meh—time shall tell.”

“Mmm. But for this to work, do you not have to make all of this… function? Have you ever moved this many warriors before at the same time? Battle is messy, and what you propose seems at odds with its very nature. You’re making a big assumption on how you believe the clans and the paladins will react.”

“That assumption may not be as big as you think. We’ve put a lot of setup into making this work, Vorathrex.”

Vorathrex stared back at him flatly. “This sort of combat is not something my elders would approve of, nor would they try. The pits reward strength. This rewards… tactics.”

“Exactly!”

Kairon could understand where Vorathrex was coming from. So far, their largest battle had been with a small militia assault on their city against a few dozen wrath imps. The coordination to carry that out was simple compared to what they faced today.

For them to succeed against their new foes, Kairon would have to orchestrate a battle plan that accounted for well over a thousand souls all told. Not to mention their numerical disadvantage.

Many in this situation would cower, despair, or panic.

Kairon, however, reveled in the challenge. He thrived in crisis management.

“You know what’s interesting. I’m coming to learn that war isn’t so different from logistics or accounting. It’s all just moving numbers on a sheet, pieces on a board, or troops on a field.”

To his surprise, the big giant didn’t argue further. Whether it was out of acceptance or lack of care, he didn’t know. He simply gauged the city lord for a few more seconds, then grunted.

That seen to, Kairon shifted to the next topic. “Focus on what your responsibility is. Speaking of—is everything ready with the warriors?”

“It is,” said Vorathrex.

“They prepared the ichor as I instructed?”

“That blood is incredible, fledgling. I will be dipping my own hands into it before it is time. As for the warriors, they did as you described.”

“Good. We’re relying on you, my friend. I’d say to be careful out there, but…”

“But what would be the point of that?” laughed Vorathrex. “I get it. Plane will it, I will see you soon, fledgling.” Without another word, he too departed the tower, heavy footsteps echoing off the stone chamber.

When his silhouette disappeared into the sunlight outside, Kairon felt an odd sense of loneliness creep into the emptying tower. And what he’d said… Plane will it? That’s unusually ominous phrasing for the big guy.

“He’s right, you know,” said Sythara. “That ichor is quite interesting.”

“About that…” Kairon pulled up his interface and focused on the ichor well.

“You know something? The potency still hasn’t gone down. My city lord interface describes it as 66%. That’s quite unexpected, is it not? With all the usage over the last day, I’d have assumed it would be at least a little lower. But to be the same? That seems… very irregular.”

“Child, you continue to compare the demonic to the mundane. In this world, the rules are not as they are in the plane we come from.”

“So then why doesn’t drawing additional ichor dilute what’s remaining?”

She shrugged. “Probably because the well isn’t drawing blood from a host. I’m not sure where it is from, or how it works, but I do know one thing. That well’s power does not come from the ichor. My tests confirmed as much.”

Kairon chewed on that. “Meaning that the ichor itself is less of a potion or alchemical concoction, but rather some sort of… conduit?”

Sythara gave a gentle bob of the chin.

“Then what gives it that power? We only created the connection with the plane during the ritual momentarily. It doesn’t make sense unless…” His eyes widened. “Unless… Sythara! How deep do you think that well is?”

“How would I know?”

“I don’t know, I figured maybe your tests could tell as much.” Seeing she wasn’t going to be of help here, he tried to think back to the ichor well’s creation. He recalled the spiderwebs of fissures that had been dug into the ground, and the feeling of the plane’s power reaching down further and further. “I… don’t know either, but I’d guess at least several hundred meters. Perhaps much more…” he said distractedly.

“Does it matter?” she sighed. The demoness had begun to clean a few of her talons, biting her lip at the effort.

“It does. Because the plane gave us a well to draw ichor from, but… it either connected that well to something that was already here, far beneath the surface, or…”

“Or?” prodded Sythara, looking up from her hand.

“Or it brought something else with it. And plopped it right at the bottom of that whirlpool of ichor.”

The demoness giggled. “Child, who in their right mind would be crazy enough to try and swim to the bottom of a pit of ichor such as this?”

“Yes, who?” muttered Kairon, a familiar glint from the citadel’s golden light reflecting off his eyes.

“Ah hem,” coughed Shiny. “This very interesting. But—” he pointed one claw at the war table. “Is this best time? We have… competitors. And competition bad. It want steal. If something in well… Won’t take too?”

Smirking, the city lord rubbed Shiny’s head. “You’re right. Competition is in our backyard. It’s time we secured our own market. Once we do,” he continued, shifting his gaze back to Sythara, “we have some experiments that are long overdue.”

“And environmental recycle!” reminded Shiny.

“And that,” agreed Kairon. “And that.”

The Audit.

***

“Elder, we are tired. We can not keep going,” gasped a warrior.

Rosk snarled, glancing up at the darkening sky. He wanted to tell the man to return to his place. To keep marching. That a proper warrior did not stop when their quarry was so close.

And Valdren was close. He could practically smell the metal of their armor. This entire wasteland reeked of iron. Besides, the winding trail of footsteps had become more and more fresh in front of them. They’d even passed several temporary campsites the arrogant soldiers had left. Like little jabs at their pursuers. Just telling them that they didn’t need to cover their tracks against barbarians.

Yet, through all that anger, the elder felt an unnatural strain on his body. That, paired with the growing wrongness, made him reconsider if following the tracks in the middle of the night was really a good idea.

It would be dark soon, and then, torches would be their only guide.

Before he could decide, the other elder spoke.

“Valdren can wait for a day,” rasped Senna. Her throat was clearly dry, but she was too busy staring at their surroundings with bloodshot eyes to have noticed. Rosk made a note to force the woman to drink later. “But I do not like the idea of camping out here. In the nest of whatever wicked taint has come to our lands.” Her voice trembled and palms shook. So much so the last of her words came out as more of a stutter than a sentence.

Rosk couldn’t blame her. Taint was an understatement. What they’d found wasn’t a sick forest, but desolation.

As the clans had traversed the hellscape, the true scope of the evil in their midst became more and more evident. From horizon to horizon, all that was visible were gently rolling hills of orange dirts and sands, corrupted trees, and dispersed debris. The floor was no longer littered with branches and wildlife, but bones, shrapnel, decaying corpses, and other nondescript horrors.

“I just don’t know who could do this,” she muttered.

“I do. Those sick Valdren bastards!” growled Rosk. He studied the dying light in the sky one last time, and then the clans behind him. Their hunched shoulders, greedily drinking from water skins and shielding themselves from the sun the best they could.

The great war chief let his shoulders go slack. “Fine. We rest here tonight. But we move at first light, if not before.”

“Rosk, does it seem wise to rest here? That feeling is growing, and by morning…” whispered Senna. “Maybe we should turn back to the edge of the domain and try again tomorrow…”

“Are you crazy, woman? I just dragged hundreds of warriors halfway through a fucking desert that wasn’t here last year. And we still haven’t found Valdren. Turning back now is ludicrous. We’d never find the bastards if we did that. No. We make camp here tonight.”

“But—”

Whatever came next, Rosk didn’t hear it. He stomped over to the clans warrior that had begged for the respite.

“Alright boy. Spread the word. We make camp for the night. I want double the usual watch. Tomorrow, we find Valdren.”

***

“Shake—adjust primary warden marker. They are exactly along the path we set. Just beyond dummy campsite six.”

“Yes master!”

From the side, Shiny crossed his arms. “Will it work?”

Kairon ran the numbers in his head. “I think. It will rely heavily on the coordination we practiced.” As he spoke, he’d pulled up Sovereign Eye on instinct, checking on the progress of the paladins.

The Solaric convoy had made it to the bottom of the pass, and stopped.

“Our Solaric guests and their knights have stopped, it seems. My guess is that they plan to camp at the start of the sands and move come dawn.”

Shiny slammed his claw on the table. “That not good! What do?!”

He checked the time. “Not to worry, Shiny. This is all within expectations. We just need to wait until it’s dark enough.”

“Dark enough for what?” asked Shiny.

Kairon put his claws on hips, orders already queueing up in his mind to be given out with Sovereign Eye.

“The pack.”