“Demons coming from the northeast, front column, ETA is five minutes,” Sorcha called out as she waved a red flag to catch the attention of nearby flyers. “Threat level moderate!”

“I’m on it!” Gallo shouted before diving away from the airship in the direction of the approaching enemy.

“Got it,” Dys told Sorcha from her position inside of the airship. “Salvius is aware and Noll and Stamatis are heading over there now.”

“Tell them I can see myrmidons! At least fifty!”

“Will do.”

“The approaching group has myrmidons,” Jay relayed the information to General Salvius as her Dys self listened to Sorcha’s shouts. “Around fifty. Simulacrum and mire hounds in greater numbers, plus something that might be a possessed drake. Hard to tell at distance.”

“Then I’ll send Tryfon’s team as well.”

“That will—actually, wait, never mind. Halvor is running in now. They should be good.”

“Understood,” the general nodded. “Tryfon will remain in reserve. Has there been any word back from the forward scouts on the first campsite?”

“They aren’t back yet,” Jay shook her head. “I’ll let you know when we see them.”

“Thank you,” the general said before turning his attention to a runner who had just arrived from the back of the column. “Che notizie mi hai portato?”

As the general and the runner conversed in their native tongue, Jay reflected on the day thus far. While there had been a few miscommunications and rough moments, overall, the march to Kastoria was off to a smooth start. She would never say as much out loud, as Jadis knew that to do so would be tempting fate, but she was still satisfied with their progress. There wasn’t a chance that the rest of the march would go as smoothly, but if everyone continued to act as competently and professionally as they had on this day, then Jadis felt strongly that they would be able to overcome just about any challenge that rose up to meet them.

With eighty thousand troops to move across several hundred miles, the main concern from a planning perspective was efficiency. The army couldn’t afford to stop every time a group of Demons threw themselves at the miles-long column of soldiers and wagons. They had to traverse thirty miles of hostile territory a day to get to the planned encampments, which meant there was no time to be spared for fighting off minor attacks. To keep the soldiers moving, Jadis, the Hero, and all of the strongest avatars and mercenaries had been given the task of protecting the column from attack. To do so as efficiently as possible, Jadis had been turned into a radio.

“Demons coming from the south, mid column,” Maeve shouted from the starboard deck of the Leviathan. “Threat level low. Five simulacrums at most. ETA ten minutes.”

“Relaying,” Dys called out to acknowledge Maeve’s report. “Who’s flying over?”

“Noct’s on overwatch,” the shapeshifter replied after a few seconds. “And Lucia is already in the area. I can already see her moving to intercept.”

“Good, I’ll let general Ovinius know,” Dys said before turning her attention to the cockpit of the airship. “How are we doing up front? Everything alright, Aila?”

“No issues,” the mage shouted. “The wind is starting to shift, clouds are coming up from the south. We might have some rough weather soon.”

“Alright, keep an eye on it,” Dys answered as she relayed the information to the two generals who were near her other bodies.

To keep everyone in the loop and decrease response times, the Leviathan had turned into a floating watchtower from which any groups of advancing Demons could be spotted. With Dys stationed inside, all of the lookout information was relayed to her, who would then convey the details to either General Salvius or Ovinius, depending on who was closer. The various avatars, mercenaries, and members of the Hero’s Party were stationed with one or the other general and were sent to respond to the Demon attacks as necessary. By keeping the responders organized, they made sure that they didn’t have situations where too many strong fighters showed up to repel a minor attack while simultaneously leaving the column to defend itself against a much more serious incursion. Communication and coordination were key, which was why Jadis was serving as a central hub of information, rather than clubbing mire hounds to death.

“Gallo says the northeast Demons are about to hit the line,” Sorcha shouted out an update flown over to her from the young Seraphim. “Definitely a yellow-banded drake in the mix! He says to expect burns!”

“Understood!”

A part of Jadis wanted to immediately leap out of the airship and take care of the possessed drake herself. She doubted the beast would be able to put up much of a fight against her overwhelming might. However, Dys restrained herself to a brief sigh instead. Noll and Halvor would be able to handle the fight perfectly well on their own. Plus, they had Stamatis with them as well, one of the powerful Dryad mages who had volunteered from Soteria’s grove. With him backing the two up, Jadis would be shocked to hear that any of the Demons reached the main line of soldiers. A moderate threat was not worth her leaving her post. If the threat level wasn’t severe or worse, Jadis had to stay where she was, coordinating the rest of the fighters.

“Jadis! Do you need me anywhere?”

Dys looked out the open door of the starboard side of the cabin to see Wilhelm riding on Taube. Since he could fly thanks to his griffon mount, the Hero had been coming to her directly for orders on where he was most needed while roaming the skies and keeping watch for aerial attacks. The rest of their winged allies like Noct and Gallo were acting as overwatch and support for the ground units. Mostly they just kept an eye on the fighting to make sure that there weren’t any nasty surprises that needed to be relayed to the rest of the fighters, but they also kept watch for flying enemies as well.

“Nothing major is happening at the moment,” Dys told the Hero. “Noll and Halvor are taking care of a moderate threat to the northeast if you want to go help, but I don’t think they need it. Maybe you should take a break! Jocelyn will get upset if you don’t eat something!”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I will pass by overhead to make sure they are well,” Wilhelm’s voice had some humor coloring his tone. “So long as they do not need my aid, I will take some rest. Taube is growing hungry, I have no doubt!”

Patting the side of his griffon’s neck, Wilhelm dipped out of Dys’ sight as he flew under the airship only to appear on the other side, already putting a good bit of distance between them in just a few seconds.

“Speaking of food, do you need anything?” Aila called after Dys from the cockpit. “I have some extra sandwiches here.”

“I’m good,” Dys shook her head as she rejected the offer. “I had enough to eat a couple of hours ago.”

“Well, check on Sabina, would you?” the redhead asked while keeping her eyes on the skies ahead. “She worked through lunch and I don’t think she ate more than a mouthful.”

Checking the open hatches to make sure no alerts were about to be shouted at her, Dys stepped away for a moment to follow Aila’s request. Aside from herself, the only other people currently on the airship were Aila, Sorcha, Maeve, and Sabina. For the next day, Jadis was thinking about bringing up several of Kerr’s clanmates to help stand watch since some of them had enhanced vision skills, but currently it was just her lovers manning the airship. They had thought that more of the mercenaries would be needed to help handle the ground fighting, but if the first day was any indication, Jadis figured they could spare a few eyes to help with the overwatch. In any case, with just her four lovers with her on the ship, the cabin felt empty and spacious. Well, it would have, if it weren’t for Sabina’s hastily constructed workshop.

“Uh, Sabina?” Dys called into the mass of crates, workbenches, hanging tools, and discarded scraps. “You okay in there?”

“What was that?” Sabina’s head popped up from behind some sort of wood and metal construct that looked vaguely like a backwards radar dish. “Do you need me? Does Aila need someone to pilot for a while? Are we under attack?”

“No, no, and no,” Dys held up a hand. “Just checking to make sure you got enough to eat today. Do you want a sandwich?”

“Oh, yes please! Can you bring me one? I’m so close to finishing this design and I think it’ll be ready to test in the next couple of days if I can just figure out the placement between these four enchantment loops that gives them all enough space to function without interfering with the main rune system! Something with lamb would be great! I’m craving red meat!”

“I’ll see what we’ve got,” Dys grinned at her ever-exuberant lover. “Hey, I have a question, though.”

“Yes?” Sabina said without turning her eyes away from the strange invention she was working on.

“Are you even going to be able to properly enchant this thing? You’ve got to melt the eleria, and you can’t do that in the airship. I mean, I guess you could try, but that sounds dangerous and I’m fairly certain that Aila will hang you by your toes if you try.”

“I don’t know how Aila would be able to hang me or anyone else by toes, but I’ll have to ask her to see how she would do that.”

“No, that’s just a—”

“But hanging toes aside, I’m not going to try and melt or smith anything on the Levithan,” Sabina blithely continued her thought. “That would be dangerous and also, I would be worried about ruining the enchantments if I poured the eleria and turbulence hit us at that exact moment. No, that would be a bad idea. I’ll wait until we camp and then do anything that involves fire! Tiernan and that one Lares with the big yellow eyes, was her name Fara? I think it was Fara. They said they would help me with my enchanting at night! I’m sure we’ll be able to get lots done together!”

For her part, Jadis wasn’t so sure. Fara was a fire mage and would probably be able to help, but Jadis doubted Tiernan would have much energy left in the evening to help Sabina with her experiments. Still, she just nodded along to Sabina’s words and headed to the cockpit before the talkative smith could catch her in a verbal trap. Dys could only step away for a few moments, as conditions on the trail were constantly changing. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Approaching Aila in the forward cabin, Dys glanced out of the front windshield to see a vision of incredible magic power at work. Far to the front of the marching column a collection of earth mages worked together with the Arch Mage Tiernan leading them. The gnome had been casting the same two spells since that morning over and over again, compacting and strengthening the soil and smoothing out the path ahead in large swaths. Around him, mages removed boulders, trees, and other debris, drained festering pools of poisoned water, and checked the ground for any signs of instability. The only reason why they were able to cast the spells over and over again, for mile after mile, was because of Alex and Amarantha.

Even though Tiernan had an absolutely massive magic pool to draw upon and several skills for quickly recharging his reserves, there was only so much the master mage could do in a day. However, with Alex’s insane magic regeneration rate and transfer skills to draw upon, the Arch Mage was casting non-stop, to the point where it was his stamina that was flagging instead of his magic. Unfortunately for him, Amarantha would not let him rest.

Ammy’s cauldron boiled over with a constant steam of fresh-smelling mist that permeated the area around her, rapidly restoring the stamina of the mages and soldiers who protected them. The catgirl was also not above pouring strangely colored potions down the mouths of any spellcasters who looked like they were flagging and had at one point dunked one woman’s head into her cauldron, causing a reaction that had been described to Jadis as “disturbing yet effective” according to witnesses. The misting effect of Ammy’s stamina-restoring potions was so prevalent that the first fifth of the soldiers marching behind the mages were being affected, giving them extra energy to keep going.

Fortunately, Amarantha’s cauldron was not the only source of invigoration for the troops. Dozens of Lares were meandering through the column, providing various health and endurance boosts to those who needed it. In one case, Jadis knew that a Lares named Tito was scurrying around, curing those who were less used to marching long distances of their sores and blisters. Apparently, he had a spell specifically for the purpose. Why, Jadis had no idea, but she was certain that his efforts were appreciated.

Aside from the many Lares doing their part, Jadis also knew that the soldiers were benefiting from the effects of the Wandering Stones. Kalliope and her troupe of fellow musically inclined Golems were not just simple artists. They were bards, a form of mage, capable of empowering their songs with beneficial effects. The four were moving up and down the column, playing their music and giving the soldiers boosts to their speed, stamina, and even taking away hunger pains.

Overall, the magic on display was impressive, and not just from a battle perspective. Looking at what the gathered mages were capable of doing in just a single day, Jadis could only imagine that the sky was the limit when it came to longer-term projects. What could a gathering of such powerful individuals accomplish if they were put to a task other than war?

“Have any sandwiches with red meat?” Dys asked, shaking her brief moment of idle thought away. “Sabina worked up an appetite.”

“Here,” Aila reached over and passed Dys a large slab of bread that had been cut open on one side and stuffed with some kind of shredded meat and vegetables. “Make sure to warn her, it’s spicy.”

“Spicy for you is mild to Sabby,” Dys laughed as she took the proffered meal. “But I’ll still—hey! Look! Is that Severina?”

Turning her attention to the way ahead, Aila nodded in confirmation.

“Yes, that’s her and the rest of the scouting party. You should let the generals know.”

“Already telling them,” Dys informed her freckled lover. “That’s not the direction of the planned camp, though, is it?”

The three flying figures were coming towards them from the east-northeast, while the stopping point for the column should have been slightly south of due east.

“Something must have caused them to detour,” Aila murmured as she adjusted the controls for the airship.

“And I guess we’ll find out what in a minute,” Dys said as she hurried out of the cockpit. “My bet is on a possessed hydra.”

“No bet,” Aila shouted over her shoulder. “I’m not going to tempt that bad fortune onto us.”

“Don’t worry,” Dys grumbled. “I’m pretty sure he’s already watching.”