Mythos: Last Stand

  Chapter 17 — Field Strategy

  by Caide Fullerton

  Jackie’s game of poker had come to an abrupt end when a soldier arrived with an urgent report. They vaguely remembered the man as one of the other soldiers who’d been in Jahd’s squad.

  He’d come specifically for Delia, claiming one of their comrades was in trouble and Sils had ordered an emergency meeting. Viz and Raffica had ended up following her, and, in a split-second decision, Jackie followed as well.

  They ended up back in Sils’s war tent, and were seemingly among the first to arrive, given the pub’s proximity. Already inside was Sils, standing atop the map once again, and Jahd, hunched over the same map with a grim expression. Sitting beside him and breathing heavily was an unfamiliar young man with a hare’s ears and a pair of short antlers atop his head, clearly winded and severely wounded.

  More arrivals filed in over the next minute or so, among the first of which was Makala, who began seeing to the antlered man’s wounds as best he could.

  Jahd: “Alright, enough of us are here.” He looked around the gathering, his gaze briefly stopping at Jackie. “Jamal, full report.”

  The antlered man took a deep breath. “Gerney defected. A few elven soldiers ambushed us. Rasha’s dead. Others were alive when I escaped.”

  Jahd: “How long ago?”

  Jamal: “Eight minutes. Ran as fast as I could. At least three enemies, plus Gerney.”

  Jahd nodded. “Makala, get him to a tent.”

  The old doctor nodded and helped Jamal to his feet, leading him out of the tent. Jahd swept his gaze across the others who had gathered, about a dozen-and-a-half warriors.

  Jahd: “We’re saving them, obviously. Could be a trap. We need a small, fast team outside and a strong defense here. Who’s in good enough condition?”

  Viz: “Delia and I can go. I’ll survey the area.”

  She turned to exit the tent immediately, but Jackie called out to stop her with a question,

  Jackie: “Are you strong enough to carry a person in flight?”

  All eyes turned on them. Viz paused, glancing back,

  Viz: “Why?”

  Jackie: “Take me and one of my companions, leave a third here. You take one into the sky, the other stays on the ground with everyone else. We use telepathy to keep everyone in touch.”

  Murmurs spread across the group. The cat was officially out of the bag regarding their identity as Humans, but that was probably inevitable. They might as well put this ability to work where it’d be most useful rather than continue to hide it for their own safety. Plus, putting themself at risk like this for her people’s sake should earn them a lot of brownie points with Sils.

  The fairy in question looked up at Jackie, narrowing her eyes. “How can we trust you out on the field?”

  Jackie: “We don’t have any reason to be disloyal, do we? You’ve been kind, and you’re one of only two factions we even know exist. Our only experience with the other one is one of their soldiers trying to kill me.”

  Sils considered this for a moment. “Good enough for me. We don’t have time to be picky. Go make yourself useful.”

  Jackie nodded, then focused on their mental connections to Sam and Helena. Throughout the whole meeting they’d been sending updates to each detailing the new information as it came. The stressful situation had provided them with a convenient opportunity to learn that they could send the same message to multiple people at a time quite easily.

  Jackie: [I got her to agree, but who’s coming with me?]

  Sam: [You should have asked first.] He somehow managed to mentally transmit a sigh. [I’ll go. If we can help, I want to.]

  Helena: [Hold on. Why are we putting ourselves at risk for these people? We hardly know them.]

  Sam: [It’s the right thing to do. If this power can help save someone, I want to use it.]

  Jackie: [Helping will earn us some favor with them, too. If we want some real bargaining power, this is the way to get it.]

  Helena was silent for a moment. [Fine. I know I can’t stop either of you. Please be careful.]

  Sam: [We will.]

  As they returned to reality, Jackie realized with a start that the entire exchange had only lasted a few seconds. Another benefit of speaking via thoughts. They looked to Viz,

  Jackie: “Medical quarter, there’ll be a skinny guy with a bow and a muscular girl. The skinny guy is Sam, take him with you.”

  She nodded, stepped out of the tent, and spread her wings, crouching down before launching herself into the air. Jackie turned from her back to the others around the table to find that a small argument had broken out.

  Sils: “I said I’m goin’! I ain’t gonna sit back an’ let Celeste die out there!”

  Jahd: “You can’t! We need you here, keeping things in order!”

  Sils: “I never asked to be in charge, damn it!”

  Jahd: “You are in charge. I’ll save her, but you need to stay. They,” he gestured broadly at everyone else, “need order, especially if there’s an attack while we’re gone.”

  As captain and first mate glared at each other, the others around the room exchanged nervous glances. Just as Sils seemed ready to sling another retort, she was cut off by the clap of someone slamming their hands down on the table. All eyes turned to the source—a young, red-haired girl.

  Raffica: “It’s okay, Sils. I’ll go in your place!”

  Sils: “Raffica, it’s a dangerous mission.”

  Raffica: “I know. I can handle it.”

  Sils: “Lapala wouldn’t—“

  Raffica: “Lapala doesn’t decide what I do. He just worries too much.”

  Sils paused to seriously consider it, the conflict showing in her expression. “He’ll have my head for this.”

  Jahd: “He’s your subordinate. Just set ‘im straight.”

  Sils: “Right. I’ll let ‘im have your head, an’ you can just grow it back.” She sighed before looking back up at Raffica. “You’re up, kid. Stay safe.”

  Raffica: “Don’t worry! I’ll save everyone and be back soon.”

  Sils: “A’right, that’s our forward squad. Jahd’ll lead them out, the rest of ya are with me. Prepare our defenses, get everyone to their positions. Rest of ya to your tasks!”

  Fluttering up into the air, the fairy began barking commands to her men, and the tent erupted in motion as all the meeting’s attendees scattered. Jackie hurried off to one side, where they joined Delia and Jahd. The latter nodded to them both and strode out of the tent with purpose, trusting them to follow. Raffica met up with them a few paces later.

  Jackie: “What’s the full situation?” They asked Jahd as the group walked towards the edge of camp.

  Jahd: “It was a squad of five, scouts checking for enemy advances. Rasha was the leader. With him dead, Jamal here, and Gerney defecting, that leaves two survivors.”

  Jackie: “Sils mentioned a Celeste. She’s one of them?”

  He nodded. “She’s a Ghost. Good fighter, but… I’m sure she ain’t holdin’ up well.”

  Jackie: “And the other?”

  Delia: “It was Earpiercer, wasn’t it?”

  Jahd: “Aye. Our Kritta. Scrappy lad, him; he won’t let ‘imself die that easy.”

  They’d seen him the day before. They still had a lot of questions regarding how there were Kritta in the outside world, so they had no intention of letting him die. The Ghost girl was a new name, but Sils seemed to care about her, so that was reason enough.

  They glanced at their companions’ weaponry as they exited the camp and slipped past the webbed perimeter. Jahd had his three swords at his belt, of course—an odachi and two identical wakizashi. Delia had strapped two spears to her back. Most curious was their last companion, Raffica, who didn’t seem to be carrying a weapon; did she intend to fight bare-handed?

  Sam: [Jackie?] His voice cut Jackie’s train of thought there.

  Jackie: [What is it? Are you with Viz?]

  Sam: [If that’s the bird lady who abducted me, yes, I’m with Viz. This is freaking terrifying, you know.]

  Jackie: [Sorry. Something to report?]

  Sam: [Yeah. There’s smoke ahead. Several plumes. Someone lit fires in the forest.]

  Jackie: [Fires?] They looked to Jahd, “Report from above. There are fires ahead.”

  Jahd: “Are they spreading?”

  Jackie: [Is the fire spreading?]

  Sam: [They look like they’re staying in place. We’ll get a closer look.]

  With that answer, Jackie shook their head. “Looks like they’re contained. Is the enemy using them to communicate?”

  Jahd grit his teeth. “It’s more nefarious than that, I’m afraid. Get ready for a crash course in our local monsters.”

  ? ? ?

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  When he’d been offered the opportunity to help someone in need, Sam leapt at it. He didn’t particularly care if it was dangerous, and while he understood that it would improve their position in the camp, he didn’t much care for that fact, either. He would certainly appreciate it, but it had no impact on his desire to help; he simply wanted to save whoever was in danger.

  Sam was a doctor. He took pride in that title. It was one that had been forced on him by his mother through a combination of lectures, lessons, and books, but he had come to accept the role, even after she was gone. Even if he resented her now, he was appreciative of the path she’d placed him on.

  To be honest, Sam wasn’t sure what the actual definition of a ‘doctor’ was. In fact, he was almost sure that the accepted definition here in the outside world wouldn’t match his idea. As far as he was concerned, his medical knowledge was only a small part of being a doctor.

  To him, a doctor was simply someone who saved those in danger. No matter who, he would save every life he could reach with his own two hands. That was what it meant to bear that title.

  With that said, being carried through the sky was terrifying enough to make him reconsider that conviction.

  The blue-feathered Harpy had appeared in the blink of an eye, and the two only spoke a few words before taking off.

  Viz: “You’re Sam?”

  Sam: “Uh, yes!?”

  With just that brief interaction to serve as an introduction, she’d lifted off the ground, seized his shoulders in her talons, and took off into the sky. It took everything he had to hold back from screaming as he was lifted away.

  This woman was a total stranger to him. There was nothing stopping her from just dropping him out of the sky. Every part of this idea was stupid, reckless, dumb, and dangerous. Even so, he let it happen, because he wanted to help save people.

  That brought him to the current moment. He sat precariously on the branch of a tall tree, one that stuck out above the rest of the canopy. With one arm desperately clutching the tree’s trunk, he surveyed the world below him along with his impromptu companion—her name was Viz, according to Jackie.

  She was perched atop another branch, her talons closed tight around the bark. She peered down at the world below from behind the strange metal visor that adorned her head, hiding her expression.

  Before them, several plumes of smoke rose from the jungle below. The source of one such plume was almost directly below them—a campfire lit within a small pit, well-stocked with wood and sectioned off from the surrounding foliage of the undergrowth.

  Sam: “They put effort into preventing it from spreading…”

  Viz: “That isn’t the sort of thing you would improvise. They were prepared ahead of time.”

  Both made their own observations, and Sam relayed the new details to Jackie. It still felt incredibly odd, using this new power like it was completely normal, but the present circumstances denied him time to think deeper on it. Jackie’s response came before long,

  Jackie: [Lay low for a bit. Jahd thinks they’re luring monsters nearby.]

  Sam gulped. Some part of him had simply assumed that monsters didn’t exist here in the outside world—that their existence had been a unique feature of the wasteland like the toxic grass or blood-red willows. That obviously wasn’t the case. For that matter, he’d already encountered one—the giant spider outside Heapwatch which Jahd called a ‘Maneater’.

  Sam: “They say the fires might be to lure in a monster. We should lie low for now.”

  Viz: “A Firefly, huh?” She clicked her tongue. “We should be safe here. They won’t fly this high, and my feathers blend with the sky a lot better than the ground.”

  That was true. Sam had thought her bright blue feathers and hair would’ve made her a poor option for a scout, but it seemed even those bright shades had their advantages.

  Jackie: [Any sign of our survivors, or the enemy?]

  Sam: [None yet.]

  Jackie: [Gotcha. Stay put until we get closer.]

  Sam couldn’t help but feel useless up here in the sky. He desperately wanted another way to contribute. He understood his role was an important one, to maintain communication between the lookout and the rest of the squad. Even so, he wanted to do more.

  His thoughts were interrupted by a deafening crackle from below. It came as a crash like thunder, and in the blink of an eye the world below was engulfed in flames. Looking down, he could see streaks of light beneath the rising smoke, bolts of electricity that stretched out from one central ball of light and caressed its surroundings.

  His eyes widening, he stared down at the dancing lights for a moment before contacting Jackie. [The monster’s here. At the southeast fire.]

  He tried his best to focus on the silhouette below, but it was difficult to make out any details behind all the smoke and foliage. The electrical outburst had lit many small embers across the surrounding plants, but they all seemed to die out quickly; the plants were wet enough to resist spreading the flames further, thankfully. All he could make out was a large form that skittered away through the smoke.

  As Jackie had said, the monster had been attracted to the fire. Why had it attacked, though? It was already leaving, so it didn’t seem like it’d detected him or Viz up in the tree. Had it been aiming for the fire?

  Sam: [It’s moving north, towards another fire, I think.]

  Jackie: [We’re a couple minutes from the first fire. Track it from a safe distance.]

  Sam turned to Viz to relay the order, only to find that she wasn’t there. Talons seized his shoulders, and before he even knew what was happening he was lifted into the air once more.

  Sam: “Wh-what’re you—!?” He began to protest until another sound rang out from below. The tree upon which they’d both just stood groaned and began to topple over. He watched as it crashed into the ground below, a hole smashed in its lower trunk by the monster’s attack.

  He gulped, turning back in the monster’s direction. “They say to keep tracking it from a distance. They’re still a few minutes away.”

  Viz: “Then after it we go.” Several powerful flaps of her wings carried them both northward, toward the next fire.

  The beast clearly outpaced them, as another ear-piercing crackle echoed through the jungle before they reached the smoke. Viz did her best to hover nearby, her and Sam both peering down for another glimpse of the monster.

  Viz: “There, heading west.” She dove after it, barely giving Sam a chance to follow her gaze.

  A third sound rang out.

  This was not the thunderous crackle of the monster, but a sharper, more precise sound. Rather than a roar, it was a single bang, and what remained after was only the sound’s echo and the faint ringing it produced in one’s ears.

  Blood erupted from a hole in Viz’s wing.

  She’d been shot.

  Despite having been the one to get shot, Viz panicked much less than Sam did. Blood trailed behind her wing as her flight became lopsided, but she quickly regained control and jolted both of them to the side. She weaved between several rows of trees before thrusting Sam onto a branch, tumbling onto a different one herself.

  Sam clutched his branch, nearly toppling off. His heart was racing. “What the hell was that?”

  Viz groaned, both from her wound and, Sam assumed, from annoyance. “You don’t know what a gun is, do you? Shit.” She folded her wounded wing in front of her, grimacing as she inspected the damage. “Fuck. It’s a weapon like your bow, shoots metal that hits harder. Makes that loud sound when it fires.”

  Sam glanced between her and the ground below, unsure of what to do. Should he try and patch her wound? Should they try and escape? He wasn’t sure how well she could fly like that. No, before anything else—

  Sam: [Jackie! It isn’t just a monster—there’s an enemy with a gun. They hit Viz in the wing. We’re stuck in a tree somewhere near the fire. I don’t know where the enemy or the monster is.]

  * ? *

  A group of four knelt amidst the jungle undergrowth, their advance stalled by startling new information. Jackie had repeated the message word-for-word the moment it arrived, and the group paused to determine their next course of action.

  Jahd: “Why the hell are their soldiers still out here?” He grit his teeth. “How far did they plan?”

  There certainly were a lot of layers to this attack. They’d coordinated with the defector, Gerney, to pick him up and assault the rest of his squad while they were out scouting. According to Sam, they’d set up the fires in advance to lure in the monster. One would assume they would’ve left to let the monster finish off the other scouts for them, but at least one enemy soldier was still out here and had spotted Viz and Sam in the sky.

  That weapon, the gun, was loud. Jackie and the others had heard its echo in the distance from here. Simply remaining in the area while a monster was loose would already be dangerous, but firing such a loud weapon would surely draw the beast right to them. Was it a suicide mission? A foolish soldier pushing their luck? Or…

  Jackie: [Sam, were you near the monster when you were attacked?]

  Sam: [Yeah, we were following it.]

  The attacker hadn’t just been in the area, they’d been very close to the monster. Surely even the most foolish person would know firing such a loud weapon right next to a monster would lead to their demise. They turned to Jahd and Delia,

  Jackie: “These monsters, Fireflies, can they be tamed?”

  Jahd: “Never seen a tame one, but I suppose it’s possible.” He scratched his chin, the gears turning in his head. “The monster was just a distraction, eh?”

  Delia: “Sir?”

  Jahd: “We’ve been had, that’s for sure. They wanted us ta think they set the fires to lure in a Firefly, but they were really just lurin’ us into a false sense of security.”

  Jackie: “They have a defector. They knew with a degree of certainty that you’d send a group out to save the survivors—hell, they might’ve even let that Jamal guy reach camp on purpose.”

  Delia: “What now, then? We can’t just retreat without saving them.”

  Jackie: “I doubt we could retreat either way.” The others turned to them again, so they continued, “If I set this all up, I’d have my men form a perimeter around the area to keep us locked in.”

  Jahd nodded grimly. “Aye, sounds right. Reckon we’re already surrounded, then?”

  Jackie: “I’m sure they knew that gunshot would give the situation away. That they shot anyway means they don’t care if we figure it out at this point—we’re already trapped.”

  Raffica: “What’re we gonna do, then?” The red-haired girl chimed in, her usual cheery disposition replaced with an earnest seriousness. “I won’t abandon anyone.”

  Jahd: “We ain’t. In fact, it’s in our best interest ta find ‘em as soon as possible.”

  Jackie nodded in agreement. “We don’t know how big the perimeter is, but within we’ve got our group of four, the pair of Sam and Viz north of us, and the other two survivors; assuming they’re still alive, they’re probably somewhere within the entrapment as well.

  “The enemy has to be spread pretty thin covering a large area like this, so if we all group up we can punch a hole through the perimeter and escape. Or, alternatively…”

  Jahd’s eyes lit up in understanding. “They don’t know about ye, obviously. We can call in reinforcements from camp.”

  Jackie: “I’ll get a message to Sils to send some forces and keep them on standby. Once we gather everyone, we can overwhelm part of the ring from both sides and retreat to camp.”

  They hardly finished speaking before they did as they said, messaging Helena. [There are Evendel forces out in the jungle, we’re surrounded. Tell Sils and get her to prepare some reinforcements, but don’t attack yet. We’re going to pick up the survivors first.]

  Helena: [You’re surrounded!? No, shit—I’ll tell her. Should I go with them?]

  Jackie: [Yes. I’ll contact you when we’re ready to attack.] They then shifted their mind to Sam and relayed their conclusions before continuing on, [You two should make your way back to us. We need strength in numbers.]

  They received the mental equivalent of a nod in reply and returned to reality. Once more they were disoriented to find that those messages had barely taken a second to communicate; in the moment, they’d felt as slow as talking normally.

  Raffica: “In that case, we need to find them quick!” She started to rise, but Delia reached for her shoulder and pulled her back down.

  Delia: “Wait. There’s still that monster in here with us.”

  Jackie: “Probably at least one soldier, too. I think it’s safe to assume the entrapment is surrounding all the fires, since that’s where they wanted to lure us. In that case, whoever shot Viz couldn’t have been part of the perimeter. If the monster is tame, it’d also need a handler.”

  Jahd: “Handler an’ shooter are probably one in the same.” He clicked his tongue, and Jackie nodded in agreement.

  Raffica: “Then we need to deal with them first?”

  Jackie: “Right. Once we—” They cut off, raising a hand to cup their ear as they received a message. The gesture itself served no function, but it signaled to the others around them that they were speaking telepathically.

  Sam: [I don’t think we can reach you.]

  That… was something they should have predicted, honestly. Viz did just get shot in the wing, after all. The wound would likely restrict her ability to fly effectively, especially with a passenger. Even if she could manage, it’d likely be slower and louder than usual; she’d just be asking to get shot again.

  That understanding seemed to reach Sam wordlessly, so he continued, [Not just that. We’re pinned. The monster’s buzzing around this area, searching for us. They’ll see us the moment we try to move.]

  Jackie: [Well shit. Do you know roughly where you are relative to that nearest fire?]

  Sam: [Uh, yeah. We haven’t moved much since we got hit.]

  Jackie: [Good. Stay put—we’ll come to you.] They lowered their hand and looked to the others, “Sam and Viz are pinned. We need to go to them.”

  Jahd: “Monster’s there, ain’t it?”

  Jackie: “It is. I’d like to get a closer look at the situation. I have a plan.”

  Chapter Glossary:

  Jamal - A scout with the appearance of a jackalope. A member of the same group as Rasha, Gerney, Celeste, and Earpiercer. Escaped to inform the others of the ambush.

  | Gerney - An unseen member of Heapwatch who betrayed his fellows during a scouting mission and defected.

  | Rasha - An unseen member of Heapwatch who died during the aforementioned ambush.

  | Celeste - A Ghost warrior, and a member of the aforementioned scouting party.

  | Earpiercer - Heapwatch's resident Kritta, and a member of the aforementioned scouting party.

  Firefly - A large monster native to Tropika. It's attracted to fire and attacks with bolts of lightning. Evendel tamed one for use in this ambush.