96. CAVALRY
Tyentso’s story
The Marakori war camp
Just before attacking
“You know these wards really remind me of Nemesan,” Grizzst said as he examined the protections set up around the enemy camp.
Tyentso sighed at him.
“What? They do!”
“Yes, that’s because they were created by Nemesan,” she snapped. “Can you take them down or not?”
“What kind of college dropout who never went to proper wizard school do you take me for?” Grizzst growled. “Of course, I can.”
He was just a damn suit of armor. There was no way he was smiling.
It felt like he was smiling. Asshole.
“All right, then let’s get ready to move,” Tyentso said.
The suit of armor tracked her movements. She could tell because the helmet moved. “No offense or anything, but you and what army? Half your people are starting to stumble into their tents for nap time.”
It was her turn to grin. “I’ll show you what army. In fact, I’ll show you three of them.”
The Marakori soldiers (they probably had a different name, but Tyentso sure as fuck hadn’t been paying attention to whatever idiotic label Nemesan had decided to grant his wet dream of imperial secession) had prepared for a siege. Nemesan had no doubt sworn up and down that it was impossible to open portals into their territory. And why wouldn’t he make that guarantee? He thought it was true. Maybe he’d been promised that no Immortals would interfere. Nemesan had blocked any incoming gates, including ones made by the Empress of Quur.
But he still hadn’t properly warded several miles up.
To be fair, it was impossible. He would’ve needed to have something to hook the wards onto, and what was he going to do that with, clouds? He’d warded against certain hazards. No chucking boulders from the top of Demon Falls, for example. See also scorpion casks.
But crops needed rain, so he hadn’t blocked water.
That meant he hadn’t blocked ice.
Giant balls of ice are shockingly destructive when falling on the enemy position from that far up.1 And aimed at the right spots, fantastic at wrecking the wards that kept people from opening magical portals into your territory.
Which is when Tyentso attacked. Not with imperial troops, of course. Those had largely been taken out of the game thanks to Warmonger withdrawal.
But the Yorans had been pleasantly responsive to the idea of self-rule and the magical restoration of their cave systems. Likewise, the morgage could cover shocking amounts of ground under the magical guidance of their sorceress leaders.
And then there were the Joratese and those Marakori whom Ninavis and her people had been smuggling out of the Dominion for years now, the ones who wanted nothing to do with Royal House ideas about slavery. The firebloods were especially vicious on the battlefield.
If anything worried her, it was that this seemed too easy.