-Callia-

  When morning came, I woke up to find Callen in the living room with breakfast set and waiting. Once the family had gathered, he shared why the mayor had called him and Reesia the night before. News that an army of bandits or maybe poorly equipped mercenaries were attacking our neighboring town was definitely a serious issue. It seems my return from the fishing trip came at a good time. I now held an essential role in the following operation. They needed me to fly over the siege and contact our neighbors to coordinate the operation.

  The town was buzzing with activity as people rushed about loading carts with equipment, soldiers visited families, and earthkin moved to reactivate the GFS (giant floating ship). I hopped into Callen's latest helicopter; it worked as a hybrid using a series of mounted batteries and a mana recharge system that functioned as a far more efficient flying device. It was efficient enough to fly without landing for an entire day before enchantments needed maintenance.

  Without hesitation I gave my siblings a wave as I ascended and set off. The journey on foot between the towns was typically a two-day journey, but that accounts for difficult terrain and interference. With the smooth flying in a direct path, I easily covered that distance after a boring 8 hours of flight. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the siege camp, but it definitely wasn’t the sloppy formation that engulfed the city. Some ladders were half made, but it clearly wasn’t a priority, and there was no siege equipment to contest the walls. They did notice me, and my instincts took action as I adjusted my course from the path of several arrows flying up from below.

  There was at least one good archer, so I climbed my altitude hard, but the invisible resistance against greater height started taxing my batteries excessively. When I got back I would have to talk to Callen about whatever it was interfering with extreme altitude. As I climb up, I also push forward, trying to bypass the invaders. The majority of archers below gave up, but that one jerk persistently kept at me and even managed to clip the back portion of my vehicle. It wasn’t a critical hit, but it did interfere with my spinning stability. Once over the town, I almost fully cut power, letting the copter plummet towards the town while maintaining its orientation. As I neared the ground, I slammed the power back up to full and slowed desperately.

  That archer managed to get one last shot and pegged me right in the leg. The helicopter’s armored chassis prevented me from losing the leg, but I held myself steady as I landed in the town square. Armed guards surrounded the craft, and I opened up, pulling myself out while calling out.

  “Aid from Port Town, I need a healer!”

  That seemed to lower their guards, and someone left in a rush to bring help. My leg had been hit in an artery, and the arrow had pushed straight through me. I held pressure to my wound while a dizziness and coldness began to seep in. Thankfully the man who left returned quickly, and the healer soon treated me. As I stood back up, I came face-to-face with a mountain of a man. He held out a hand and greeted me.

  “Knight Portten, my men are saying you're here on behalf of Port Town?” I grinned and shook the man's hand. Contact is established now; I just need to convince him to go along with the plan.

  -Baron Eldraine-

  I scowled at my advisor. The lanky man was a representative of the Snatchers guild and had sent some of their ‘best men’ to join my expedition. They were here for the rare opportunity to freely kill in a war. Easy levels killing outnumbered, outleveled, and unprepared townsfolk had made assembling my army easy enough, but being unable to kill the little girl in the Earthkin device was an embarrassment.

  “They made it past your archer.” I called him out on the man's incompetence.

  “My Lord, do not worry! That girl was likely a messenger sent to coordinate the town's guard with the aid we had planned to intercept. While it will be an inconvenience to keep an eye on the town itself and out on the road to town, it won’t interfere. Our numbers are sufficient to easily deal with anything Portten can muster.”

  Still, my instinct whispered to me that there was more to it.

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  “I want the ladders done by tomorrow; if Port Town intends to delay their response beyond the two days we anticipate, then I want to burn the town and have the head of every knight.”

  Personally I had doubted my new advisor's idea of using Portten as bait; it felt more logical to kill our enemies while they were divided even if they had defensive positions. However, when that man dared to mock me to my face, I decided to wait and let him feel the hopelessness of being abandoned. The arrival of the messenger almost certainly signalled imminent help from Port Town and a divided response from Woodside. Just as my advisor had predicted, these towns had close ties and completely underestimated us from the ragged appearance of our army.

  Though the ragged appearance wasn’t just a disguise, I had refused to properly suit these men until they had earned it. My treasury had become quite strained lately, and this was the perfect opportunity to fix my financial concerns. Just as I considered returning to my tent, a messenger came to report to my aide.

  “Sir, the enemy is still collapsing our tunnels. We haven’t been able to close the last 100 meters to the wall from below.” My aide just nodded and responded appropriately.

  “Keep digging; if the mage is busy finding and collapsing tunnels, they won’t be able to carve an escape tunnel.”

  With the situation well in hand, I return to my tent. Inside are the girls I had chosen to keep me company. They were a miserable lot of maids who had talked behind my back, but I was making sure to correct their mistakes. I rubbed my hands together and settled into a night of carnal enjoyment. Being Baron was stressful, but the power and authority were so addicting.

  I slept straight through the morning, and in the late afternoon I made my way out to hear reports on our progress. No tunnels breaching, ladders were ready, and no sightings of aid from Port Town. It seems my aide's plan had failed. I don’t know what the messenger’s purpose was, but I wouldn’t wait to see.

  “Form up the men and prepare to attack.” With my loud and clear order, messengers scattered to the subcommanders, and the men began to form up to attack. The regiments got into position, and just as planned, everyone braced to invade. I didn’t see any response from the defenders, but that didn’t make me hesitate.

  “ATTACK!” Teams of shielders escorted the laddermen towards the wall while soldiers marched with shields up towards the defenses. Archers let loose on the walls covering our entry. There was no resistance, and just before our men took the walls, a massive platform rose from the city. The archers pelted it but seemed unable to do any notable damage. The machine was like the one from before, but boarded sides hid everyone onboard from our retaliation. The arrows that hit pierced with ease, but it was impossible to see the results.

  We were helpless in watching the platform fly away. I forced myself to the forefront of our army, and looking into the town, all I saw was an inferno. They had left nothing for us and escaped in that accursed contraption! I ordered my scouts in pursuit, but upon getting into the forest, they were met with a hellscape of traps. Explosive runes, pitfalls, dart launchers, tripwires, and so many more. The scouting forces were nearly annihilated trying to keep pace with the floating sky platform before my aide recalled them.

  “PORT TOWN!” I bellowed in outrage as I whipped my army into motion and began marching down the path into Port Town. I don’t understand how they did it, but it was beyond just greed now. I would stop at nothing to turn their town to cinder. Looting the charred remains of Portten would have to wait. He wouldn't waste his time or men fighting fires and digging through rubble for whatever coinage was left behind until his enemies bled at his feet.

  The Plan

  Callen and the others looked over the plans that had been proposed. His idea was immediately dismissed; evacuating a city with the GFS was unrealistic, and countless civilians would be caught in the retaliatory fire from archers. If the GFS was hit somewhere critical and lost control, the entire plan would fail. Not to mention the arrival of the GFS would likely trigger a full-scale invasion.

  Stone-Foot's tunnel idea was also unfeasible. The town was guarded by an earth mage with an excellent sense for underground movement; any attempts to breach and provide an escape route would likely be mistaken for enemy infiltration. It was almost back to the drawing board looking for more limited solutions when a new idea came.

  If the GFS was too visible and a tunnel too discrete, then why not send Callen in on the helicopter and have Callia with the dig team? Using their twin bond to help the town's mage identify the safe tunnel. This seemed to get a lot more traction, but the Earthkin checked the timeframe and distance they needed to work from to move that much dirt and stone. It was an unrealistic timeframe. Even with the GFS moving the Earthkin and any support available. However, Mayor Hew spoke up this time, reversing the roles. Instead of sending Callen into the town, send Callia. Callen could help clear the tunnel by dumping the dug-up earth into his storage space.

  Then more detail and ideas were added on to the fundamental plan. After clearing the evacuation route, Callen would bring the GFS, and it would be used as a decoy, an empty ship piloted by Callen and Callia, who could bail onto smaller craft should critical damage be taken. Meanwhile the town will be ‘burned to ash’ with illusionary flames made by the rune maker community. The fake inferno was to prevent a full looting of the town and hurt enemy morale. If it was seen through, then the inevitable looting would still happen.

  Should the GFS escape, it would provide the perfect opportunity to lead the enemies towards a region safe to lay traps. (Leaving traps on the road risked harming the already rare merchant caravans passing through after and was thus decided to be done with restraint and with a focus on slowing the army.) Nixie was sent with a decent-sized support team from the town to fully employ her practice in the stretch of forest the GFS would fly over. Then her team would move towards the road, leaving occasional traps while they withdrew to the town's defensive encampment at the river. Ideally surviving forces of Portten would trail behind the enemy forces, and when Port Town and Woodside confronted them at the river, they would attack from behind.