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The reports kept coming, but continued to only describe a mana signature. The reason was now very visible. A gray fog was rolling in from that direction, spreading across the battlefield at the same speed as the threat, keeping it hidden.
I had last seen that oncoming fog in the eternal twilight of Ilim Below, where it had also obscured approaching threats.
The drums of the opposing army began beating a new rhythm, and the din of fighting died away, turning into shouts and jeers from our side. Our side’s bugle calls were orders to reform the lines, not calls to advance or charge. The orcs had just broken contact on purpose.
The messages incoming soon confirmed it. Shield magic had appeared in order to block the Orestanians from pursuing the enemy, who was pulling back. Either the enemy had some unusually well-trained and well-organized orc mages, or disguised magic-using demons were infiltrated into their ranks. The latter was a lot more likely. Orc mages exist, but they are rare.
Before, I had been unable to send my fairy sense out to the distance of that fog. I could only manage that range with vampire sense in the dark. Even now, I couldn’t manage much, and I certainly couldn’t sense so far at 360 degrees, but now I could stretch my spiritual sense out in a specific direction and get at least some information.
But I was encountering stealth magic, and all I could tell was that it was huge, and it had demonic mana.
And, it wasn’t alone. It had a companion. A smaller figure moved ahead of the giant that our mages had sensed.
My eyes narrowed. My fairy sense had been weak when I had felt it in the past, but I still recognized that aura.
I looked at Aenëe, still in stealth, and told her, I’m going forward, My Lady. Please stay back to defend this camp if necessary.
I could see her ghostly image frowning at me, and her thoughts replied to me clearly. It wasn’t spiritual voice. She simply focused her mental voice and expected me to pick up.
Do you consider me under your command, My Lady?
I do not, but please cooperate with me for now, I replied. Remaining here to spread our protection over more of the mortals is an honorable tactic. No fairy knight would question the choice. I need to be the one going forward because the prince in command here is my foster brother and my lord’s son.
In the honor code of a fairy knight, one’s lord, one’s contractor, is paramount.
To the captain, I said, “I’m moving up to protect His Highness. Please alert him that I am coming.”
He nodded, making no protest. With that, I cloaked and headed toward the line. I flew slowly, surveying the battle flags as I moved.
Flags are important in this kind of warfare. They mark units and let soldiers know who to follow as they move around the battlefield. Due to that fact, commanders stay within order-shouting distance of their flags and their buglers or pipers, who relay basic orders through the short tunes, or “calls”, that they play.
I had no idea what Ged’s flag looked like, but I could see only a little more than a dozen flags in all, and an educated guess could guide me. His would be one of those toward the center, in the support area, on higher ground…
I found him and declared, in spiritual voice, Your Highness, it’s Tiana. I’m approaching. Tell them I’m on their side.
Ged jolted, then looked around trying to find me while his subordinates grew concerned at his odd behavior. They had been looking at him when I spoke, so perhaps he had been in the middle of a sentence.
I am in stealth, Your Highness. I’ll uncloak now, I stated as I landed a short distance ahead of them. I put away my wings and then uncloaked.
Seeing me, Ged smiled warmly. I felt like saw something like relief in his eyes, too.
I gave the fairy knight salute, pressing my fist to my breast, and declared to the rest, “I am Tiana of the High Forest, a knight of Faerie in service to His Majesty, King Owen, and a royal knight of Orestania. I am here accordance with the wishes of His Majesty “
I then moved closer to join them, while adding, “Please forgive me for hiding my wings, Your Highness. I don’t want the enemy to spot them early.”
The group around him included a couple familiar faces, the royal knights who had been his escorts in school, Sir Topas and Sir Gald. Other than that, it was all new faces, probably regular officers of the Army. Having heard from Nandi that the entire Demon Patrol had followed him up here, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see some of them in his command group, but it was more senior officers around him at the moment.
“It’s good to see you, Ti,” Ged said, his smile remaining warm. “I’m glad Parna didn’t leave any injuries. He struck you, if I saw correctly.”
For a moment, I hesitated, then smiled sheepishly. “I had actually forgotten about that, Your Highness. I suffered no lasting injury.”
His eyes narrowed, as if he wasn’t certain whether to believe me. Now that I thought about it, Parna had landed a solid strike to my leg with his magic sword which had bit deep. Thanks to the [Fortification] skill I was using at the time and a coating of Healing mana, the wound had already been fading while I was still in Ged’s view, but I have no idea how it had looked from his position.
I insisted, “Your Highness, I don’t even have a scar. Must I remove my stocking and show you?”
He coughed, embarrassed by the suggestion, and put up his hand. “No, that won’t be necessary, My Lady. I apologize for doubting you.”
I looked toward the approaching threat. It was surely about to emerge from the fog.
“That demon is approaching,” I confirmed, “but something much larger is behind her. Prepare yourselves.”
Ged raised his eyebrow and adjusted his glasses. “The dispatch from Thuriben said that you also believe that the fairy knight is a fake.”
“That’s correct, Your Highness,” I nodded while keeping my eyes on the hidden body of demonic mana that I believed to be Trisiagga.
“If she is here, this is serious,” he mused. “She has been hitting our forces throughout the theater, but this is the first time she has appeared here at the headquarters camp.”
I concentrated my sense on the figure, and could detect the aura quite clearly now.
“It’s her,” I confirmed. “It’s the asura named Trisiagga. This is my third time encountering her.”
The officers surrounding the prince all looked at each other with alarm.
At last, she emerged from the fog, in a very convincing illusion of a fairy knight. It was such an abrupt shift from completely obscured to fully visible that I knew she had used optical stealth, dropping it just as she emerged, to make the fog seem more effective. The Water and Light making up the fog made it impossible for me to see the stealth magic she had used, but I felt confident about that.
She looked like a fairy knight of the Sylph tribe, with bird wings similar to Lady Serera’s. Her armor was quite believable, with high-hipped mail panties and bra, along with epaulets of metal for pauldrons. Other than that and a sword harness, she wore only the standard fairy mail gauntlets and high-heel sabatons. If I had been going on my eyesight alone, I would certainly have believed she was a fairy knight.
She turned and slowly flew the length of the lines in the other direction, toward our right.
“You’re saying she isn’t a real fairy?” an officer standing next to Ged asked me. “Our mages don’t detect any demonic mana.”
“They need to raise their level as mages, Colonel,” I stated, giving him an arch look, like a proper fairy knight. “I know her aura, and I can see her demonic mana quite clearly.”
The officers made various sounds of consternation and a few made quiet comments to each other as I turned to Ged.
“I’m prepared to go up and challenge her at any time, Your Highness,” I told him. “I will do so if you request. However, for the moment, I wish to wait and see what she’s hiding in the fog.”
A lieutenant who had her hand pressed to her ear– I realized after a moment she was holding a magic device made from a clam shell to her ear, listening to it like a kid ‘listening to the ocean’– announced, “Reporting, Your Highness! Support Magic reports the large mana signature has remained stationary after the fairy knight became visible.”
I nodded. “It’s standing and waiting. And it’s huge.”
Ged frowned. “What do you think she’s planning?”
“We’re probably about to hear it from her,” I said. Trisiagga had just returned from the other end and had turned to face us, hovering.
Her voice boomed out, amplified by magic. “You mortals are too slow! I’ve brought my pet all the way here and this is all you’ve got? It’s hardly enough to give him a small scuffle! We’ll pull back for now and wait for you to bring more men! Breathe a sigh of relief that you can live another day!”
I bit off an ugly word or two I might have muttered as she turned and disappeared back into the fog.
More drumming– it seemed that’s what the orcs used instead of bugles– and the enemy regiment did an about-face and marched away.
“Do not pursue,” Ged immediately ordered. “They’re trying to draw us into that fog. Resume ranged attacks.”
The communications mages quickly relayed the orders to the company commanders as the prince wore a scowl of deep thought as he watched the backs of the retreating troops. Volleys of arrows began flying at their backs, mostly deflected with magic as the enemy disappeared into the fog.
When they reached the lines of the supporting Hamagaaran regiments, who never advanced for close combat, the mortal infantries also about-faced and joined them in the retreat.
The fog began retracting slowly, at which time an outline appeared within it. An enormous silhouette of a creature sat facing us. Silence fell across the field as all our soldiers witnessed the impossibility that we were seeing.
“A wolf?” I heard a hushed voice ask. But, as I said, that was impossible. Wolves don’t stand five stories tall at the shoulders.
I felt the same oppressive weight that the troops around me were feeling as we all watched that massive being slowly turn away and follow the ‘fairy knight’ leading the withdrawal. Its footsteps should have been like small earthquakes, yet it made no sound. Somehow, that made the effect even worse.
The fog then stopped receding, allowing the enemy to disappear into it.
“What was that?” Sir Gald finally asked, as the army also began murmuring. “They went through all this, and showed us something like that, just to say ‘bring more troops’?”
I could hear no energy in his voice, or in those murmurs. The moral effect on our troops had been dreadful.
“It was a feint, Sir Gald, just like in fencing,” Ged answered, his voice unshaken. “This was a fake move meant to force my hand. She knows I can’t refuse. I can’t gamble that she won’t unleash that thing on the troops that are here.”
“But why didn’t she just unleash it now?” Sir Topas wondered. “As we are now, could we even handle such a beast?”
Ged adjusted his glasses, then declared “She either means to draw our forces away from another location, or to gather us together because she believes she can wipe us all out in one go.”
Even though he said nothing to inspire confidence, his tone itself was helping his officers. They seemed to be coming back to life thanks to his steady voice.
He ordered, “Colonel, withdraw your regiment back inside the shield wall. Lieutenant, relay that same order to the other regimental commanders.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” both answered briskly.
He looked at me. “Will you join me in my command tent, My Lady?”
I considered saying yes, then decided to stick to the plan I had made while watching Trisiagga disappear.
While growing my wings, I told him, “I’ll meet you there in a while, Your Highness. I need to go fly a little reconnaissance first.”
