Year 2, Winter, First Month, Third Week.
Even with the cold, the sweat accumulated on Taels forehead. With only a few hours of daylight, he had to act now or they would be completely left at the rcy of their enemies. After peeking a dozen tis, he was sure of their numbers. Fourteen armored and two robed figures, which probably ant only two Mages and the rest were either Guards or Fighters. The situation was both fortunate and dire. Fortunate because their worst fear was facing the Kingdoms Mages, and dire because he didnt know if having only two Mages would make any difference.
However, for now, he should focus on passing a ssage to the outpost without alerting the enemy forces. The fact that they didnt attack yet, ant they were waiting for sothing, so there was still a chance. Tael sighed, the Council discussed the importance of setting tight surveillance around the outpost, but they underestimated the Kingdom. The Council thought they could take a couple of weeks to recover, but their enemies found them first.
Anyway, they could go over their failures later, now it was ti to count on the Origins blessing and risk his life to save everybody, wasnt he looking for redemption?
Tael took out two arrows and started doing sothing to one of them. Ten minutes later he stood up, holding his bow tightly and praying silently for Origin to spare them one more ti. Preparing for the most important shot in his life was wise, but delaying any longer would only make matters worse. Tael knocked the arrow and aid for a high target behind Kingdoms forces, he felt the cold wind and adjusted his shot. After pleading for a blessing for the last ti, he let the arrow fly.
Without waiting for the result, Tael knocked the second arrow, faster than he has ever done before, and shot it without aiming much. He glanced at the bow and saw the residual shine still lingering on it, he hoped the arrow was in contact long enough for its enhancents to be powered. For a millisecond, both arrows still traveled through in the air but then, the first arrow scratched a tree branch before following its course and disappearing. The branch shook causing a patch of snow to fall from it, the sound spread through the quiet environnt capturing the attention of the spying enemies, who hastily reached for their weapons. While the alert Fighters confird the origin of the noise, the second arrow flew unnoticed towards the barrier. As the effects of the wind enhancent faded from it, the arrow passed through the barrier and disappeared from Taels sight.
Now he could only hope the arrow wouldnt hurt soone neither go unnoticed. For the first ti, he was relieved the barrier didnt block attacks.
***
Marlen coordinated the cooks to guarantee they wouldnt put too much heat into the wind at, but her mind couldnt stop thinking about Tael, was the boy OK? When his team returned, a couple of hours ago, the Councils first idea was to send a team after him, but Karl offered a better solution. Nobody knew the young mans location, so instead of sending a dozen of teams in several directions, they would use the magic locator to find him. Fortunately, Karl would only need to replace the Signature Extraction Array (pentagram form) currently tunned to find beasts, for another one set to locate the tal of the arrowhead, they just hope Tael hadnt lost any of his priceless arrows.
Even though the alterations should be finishing anyti now, Marlen couldnt help but be apprehensive, what if the boy was hurt? However, a strange thing caught her attention, an ownerless arrow landed on the ground near the water well, who would dare to carelessly shoot arrows outside the training grounds? She ntally traced the direction of the arrow and realized that it had co from an empty direction near the barriers border. Her expression hardened as she moved towards the arrow with the highest speed her body allowed. Marlen picked the arrow and sighed in relief.
Its one of ours What is this?
Again, Marlens expression changed, but this ti, a hint of panic could also be seen on it. She spared the nearby barrier a glance before rushing towards her most calm and trusted helper. The mans expression turned pale, and for a second it looked like he was going to faint, but Marlen shook the panic out of him. The man dashed towards the training grounds, while Marlen started to give calm and firm instructions to everybody she deed capable of maintaining a clear head.
***
Although things look normal on the surface, in less than 20 minutes, everything changed around the outpost. The people doing their jobs near the borders were quietly replaced by hunters, who pretended to keep doing the tasks. The elders and children moved to the outposts central part, so looked a little off but when the al was distributed, the scene beca more normal.
The other ex-villagers kept moving around different sites, supposedly finishing their daily tasks, but many were actually moving so essential resources. The recent challenges took many lives but also served to improve their teamwork. Of course, only a few actually knew what was happening, panic could be the most dangerous thing right now.
***
Are you sure?
Look at it yourself Its one of our arrows, but he carved the Kingdoms symbol on it.
Oro checked the arrow carefully, but Karl already had his conclusions.
Its him, this is sothing Tael would do
Toni couldnt keep himself silent.
But why send a ssage? If they are watching us, how did he sent the arrow without them seeing it? Or do they know about it? Why didnt they attack?
Oro answered:
They could be watching us first
The contemplative Lew decided to offer his opinion.
They should be estimating our strength before attacking They would think this barrier is being maintained by a bubble Mage. If they are a little knowledgeable, they would know that only a high-tier Mage could maintain a spell this bigger. So, they're probably hesitating. However, this only ans soone bigger will get involved.
Reiner held her husband's arm and said hesitantly:
What should we do if they decide to attack?
Everyone exchanged looks, while Lew added:
Not if, but when If they ca this far, they will at least try to check our defenses.
Oro closed his eyes like he was contemplating sothing, while most just tried to dont panic. Surprisingly, Sania looked calm and even a little excited, she checked everyone's expression, before saying:
We should just use our contingency plan
Lew ignored the scared look of so Councillors and asked:
Do you I an, do we have a contingency plan?
Sania answered mockingly:
We might not be as knowledgeable as a Kingdom's ex-Captain but we're not dumb Of course, we considered the possibility of the Kingdom finding us here before spring, they were just a little faster than we thought possible
Only Sania appeared to be satisfied with the plan, not even Oro seed to be considering it. Lew swallowed dry before asking:
What's the plan?
Lew shivered as he saw the wicked smile Sania gave before answering. Apparently, he was the only one that noticed.
We blow up everything
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