Chapter 54: Ch 54: Sixth Rank.
As August predicted, the Federation didn’t lay siege the next day. Or even the day after.
Three days after the demonic invasion, the Federation rolled up through Gharrick Pass.
Innumerable orange banners fluttered in the sky, each bearing the emblem of the Amica Federation. The army destroyed the abandoned checkpoint and defenses at the end of the pass.
"There’s a lot more of them than I thought there’d be," Anna said. She stood on top of the outer wall, along with August, Vera, and the others. All of them watched the Federation army encamp.
Anna shivered and held her arms around her body, rubbing her sides vigorously.
The day was overcast, and a chill wind blew from the west. The weather hadn’t improved over the past few days.
August wondered if it might rain soon. The idea certainly didn’t warm the hearts of the besiegers.
August removed his jacket and placed it over Anna’s shoulders. She shot him a smile.
The sight of her huddling beneath his jacket warmed him. Which was good, because nothing else was.
"You’re going to get a chill," Sen admonished him.
"I’ll be fine," he said. "And this isn’t that large of an army. I expected more."
"Really? For an attack on Gharrick Pass?" Anna asked.
"The Amica Federation is invading the Anfang Empire. This may be the boonies, but it’s still part of one of the greatest nations on Doumahr." August shook his head. "I don’t have the slightest clue what they’re up to. I know the Federation has more soldiers than this on its western front. Where’s their Bastion? I’ve only spotted two Champions, and maybe a single sorcerer."
"Two?" Anna frowned.
Fei chimed in. "The one with the onyx. Sunstorm, I think?" Sen nodded at Fei, and Fei continued, "Plus there’s one with an amethyst. She looked human as well."
"Isn’t that bad?" Vera said. "They have two monogem Champions. You have one."
"Hey!" Sen said. "I can give as good as any Champion."
Vera eyed Sen, but said nothing.
August ignored the bickering. For her part, Anna took his lead and gestured for him to continue.
"If this is all the Federation can spare, then even if they win, they can’t hold the fortress." August stuck his thumb over his shoulder and pointed at the keep. "Without a Bastion, they can’t claim the binding stone. Once reinforcements arrive, the Empire will reclaim the pass and this will have been a colossal waste of time, resources, and Champions. To say nothing of the political goodwill between the Empire and Federation."
August frowned. He wondered whether that was Leopold’s plan right now.
The Bastion promised to send reinforcements, but they had yet to arrive.
A duogem Champion could win this battle almost single-handedly, but Leopold hadn’t sent one. Was he busy, or waiting to see if August won the battle for him?
Because the Empire would win this war no matter what. With the demonic portal suppressed, the danger of the Empire’s collapse had passed.
And Leopold knew that the Federation had committed heresy in their invasion attempt. He held all the cards.
"I want to say you have a good poker face, August, but you make a much scarier face when you’re thinking about the bigger picture," Anna said. She poked August’s cheek. Fei squawked at the sight.
"Do I?" he asked.
"Your jaw locks, your eyes go distant, your nostrils flare, and you seem to exude a much more serious and mature atmosphere," Anna explained. She smiled lightly. "It’s cute. I like it."
"You promised you wouldn’t call me cute again," August said. "In any case, this army is still worrisome. But it doesn’t contain any nasty surprises, such as a duogem Champion or an enemy Bastion. They must be busy elsewhere."
"Like Forselle Valley?" Vera asked.
"They’d have to supremely arrogant, and supremely stupid, to attack both Gharrick Pass and Forselle Valley at the same time," August said. "Maybe it’s your lucky day."
August laughed bitterly. "Maybe. I’d prefer my lucky day to be the day when this army attacks, personally."
The Federation erected trebuchets to bombard the walls.
The stones they launched shattered on the barrier powered by the binding stone.
August had set one up a couple of weeks ago, and it projected a dome across the entire fortress, including the exterior ditches.
Next, a sorcerer wearing bright orange robes led nearly a hundred magic users in battle robes to the front of the encampment.
The magic users began glowing.
They held their palms in front of them, chanting nonsense.
At the front, the sorcerer waved his arms about. Eventually, a pentagon appeared around the sorcerer’s body.
"What is that?" Sen asked.
"He’s fueling his spell with the power of other magic users," August explained. "Most sorcerers struggle to cast anything above fourth rank spells. I basically exhaust myself with fifth rank spells unless I use the binding stone or a leyline. That’s why sorcerers typically use a cairn."
"Why doesn’t he use the leyline then? That’s what Ifrit is teaching me to tap into."
August raised an eyebrow. "Let’s say you’re in enemy territory. Your enemy has complete control over all the resources and weapons. You’re running low on supplies. You decide to steal one of his weapons. What do you think happens when you try to use it against him?"
"I don’t follow," Sen said, furrowing her brow.
August sighed. "I control the leyline here, Sen. I’m the Bastion. If he taps into the leyline, I make him go pop."
"Oh. Shit."
"Yep. This close together, the leyline and binding stone are essentially the same thing. Think of the binding stone as a super cairn, and I own it. It grants me power, but it can run out. But at least I can stop others from using it. Sorcerers can’t quite do the same with cairns, although they can set up traps," August explained.
"Wait, so I’m tapping into your energy reserve when I use the leyline here?" Sen asked.
"More or less."
"Isn’t that bad?"
August laughed. "Don’t take this the wrong way, but the amount of energy I use from the binding stone is orders of magnitude higher than anything you and Fei use. Bastions are horribly inefficient. I can top Fei up ten times for the price of a single supercharged fourth rank spell. That’s why Bastions use Champions and possession. We kind of suck at this fighting thing."
"You flooded the portal by yourself," Sen pointed out.
"And nearly collapsed from the effort." He physically pointed at her. "Meanwhile, you wiped out basically every demon at once with a single spell. I took out a fraction of what you did, for the same effort. And once you’re used to Ifrit’s power, you’ll be able to dip into my reserves and do it time and time again. But I won’t. Not to the same degree."
Sen nodded.
Outside the wall, the Federation sorcerer continued to cast his fifth rank spell. Slowly but surely, he prepared something that would probably destroy the barrier.
"Um, shouldn’t we do something?" Sen asked. She put a hand on the greatsword slung over her shoulder.
"Feel free. I thought Fei was going to run in while we talked, but maybe she’s napping. Or having her tail fluffed by a guard." August shrugged.
"As if she’ll let anybody touch her tail other than you. She nearly bit my hand off this morning when I brushed it in bed." Sen rolled her eyes. "Um, what rank of spell?"
"You know what rank," August drawled. "Don’t even think about sixth rank."
