Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 920: Battle Plans ()

Jian sat at the head of a round table in the command tent. Neveah sat beside him, and the King’s guard, Kirgan and Imagor occupied the places on either side of them.

The rest of the table was occupied by the leaders of the various units in the first squadron.

The forlorn was closer than ever now. They would be upon them in barely a few days. And now, Cassian’s findings revealed the very high and very disturbing possibility that the first squadron would be attacked from two sides. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

And one was an enemy they couldn’t see. The magic concealment hindered all the scout parties, dragon and mage included from reaching the forlorn army rerouting from Aloria.

They didn’t have eyes on them. Or any knowledge of how close they had gotten.

Which rendered all the strategies previously planned, useless. They were facing triple the anticipated force of the forlorn army, on a safe estimate.

And they were already far outnumbered even with just a single army heading for them.

Neveah’s hand clenched on her thigh, relaxing when Jian rested a hand over hers underneath the table.

"How far out is Cassian and the second squadron?" Jian asked, his eyes fixed on the map spread out on the table.

"Three days out if they move at maximum speed." Kirgan relayed,

"In which case, they will be exhausted upon arrival." Jian noted, "That won’t do us any good."

"How about portals? If the advanced mages work together, they could possibly create one steady enough to bring them all straight here?" Neveah said, "Or multiple portals if that’s what it takes."

"They could." Imagor agreed, "But if even one of those portals is hijacked..."

Neveah sighed, "We’ll be leading the forlorn straight to our camp. An ambush would weaken our forces, and severely affect both squadrons."

Imagor nodded in agreement. "If Your Grace’s portal was stable enough, it would have been the safest bet..." He trailed off, as if realizing he’d just said the one thing everyone seated at the table had been tip-toeing around.

Arcane portals were much harder to hijack. Particularly by dark magic wielders because both were such contradictory forces.

At any other time, Neveah might have insisted on giving it a shot. She guessed everyone, in one way or the other, expected she would.

But after what happened earlier, she understood the limits of her abilities in their weakened state.

Her portal was no better than a mage’s at this point.

"We have never relied on magic to win our wars. Quite the contrary. In most cases, magic was the enemy and we of flight and flames faced it head on." Jian reminded his battle lords, "We won’t start now."

He passed Lord Egwain a look. "That is not to undermine the impact of your mage units, Egwain."

Lord Egwain shook his head, "I fully understand, My Liege."

Neveah was pleased to see the mages had finally earned a seat at the table, despite the dangerous situation that faced them all.

"My unit is doing everything possible to find a safe and secure way for portal travel, and to minimize the risks of hijack." Egwain said earnestly, "But I am ashamed to admit, we have not made much progress."

Jian hummed, "Magic has its limitations. We all know this, it is no fault of yours. You have been a great help already and there is more that will be expected of your unit."

"The second squadron will move at their pace. I will not endanger them in the bid to hasten reinforcements to Ebonhollow."

"If we are attacked at this time, the first squadron will concentrate a unified effort on holding ground against the forlorn until the reinforcements arrive."

A thought occurred to Neveah, "There is one way we haven’t considered."

Jian glanced over at her. It didn’t even take a moment for him to read the thought in her mind.

"Fae travel portals." He grunts,

"They’re much like arcane. They’re not summoned by the Fae but connected to the forest itself. It’ll be almost impossible to hijack it." She reasoned, "And I know our alliance with the Fae has fallen through, but the fate of the stronghold is their responsibility also."

She glanced at Jian, taking note of his reluctant expression. "I hear Lords Finlor and Joao have sent in requests to deploy their Fae battalions to Ebonhollow and support the war effort."

"They’ll only slow us down," Kirgan grumbled, "Or betray us again."

Neveah glanced over at Imagor. He didn’t comment. But she could see in his eyes that he was torn between reluctance and understanding.

"You dispatched Cassian to keep a look out and reinforce Aloria when necessary, why didn’t you all just leave them to their fate?" She deadpanned.

The council went quiet. None of the dragon lords wanted to admit that they still held concerns for the other races. It was expected. They would always stand in solidarity with their King, and Neveah respected that.

"My Liege," She turned her attention to the only person who could make the decision. "I’m asking you to trust me and lift the ban on the tributary races. Let them earn their keep."

Jian mulled over it for a moment and then nodded, "Kirgan, send the word to Cassian and Aloria. Tell them we accept their offer to provide reinforcements on the condition that they guide the second squadron safely to Ebonhollow without alerting the enemy."

Kirgan inclined his head, "As you command."

"The other tributary races will want a seat at the table if they receive word that we accepted the petition of Aloria." Imagor pointed out,

Neveah stroked the back of Jian’s hand from their intertwined hands under the table.

He sighed, "They will likely show up unannounced. Create campsites for them and assign them duties at your discretion when they arrive." He said to Imagor, "Just keep them out of my sight. And away from my tent."

Imagor nodded, "Of course."

"What other matters are left to be deliberated?" Jian returned his attention to the rest of the council.

Neveah communicated a thought to him through their bond, "I know that wasn’t an easy decision. Thank you."

His hands tightened around hers in response.