Chapter 57
Ten minutes later.
She had done it. Lally had pushed her warrior gang at a phenomenal stride. She already gave them enough time to disappear and if they'll catch them she won't be forgiving anymore.
In ten minutes, David's group had gone over five miles away from the cave, an incomparable accomplishment of David's group endurance especially when they have two unconscious individuals with them, luckily Jerome survive from the feral attacked when he reaches the end of the cave, without the silver and the wolfbane and he immediately regains his strength and fought with the feral with his massive alpha wolf, but it made him unconscious after so many wounds and out from exhaustion. However, his spectacular determination had taken its toll.
After a couple of hours of trying to capture David's group, Lally and her five dozen fairy guards and a dozen ferals camped for the night. “We must slow down, milady,” her second in command guard wailed in their command tent. Lally cloaked their scent and summoned a mist that covered their tent. “We have lost two human warriors to exhaustion and dehydration.”
“They were vulnerable,” mumbled Lally, “...More food for the feral then.”
Her second in command jumped in. “The numbers of deaths will rise exponentially if we proceed at this rate. Even ferals have their limits in this weather, and we are perilously close to it.”
They were within the boundaries of the northern territories, on the west ledge of the dark ocean near the witch's village. “We will capture them in one more day,” she said knowing full well that Leon had cloak their path and she knew well that his group was now long gone but she needs to pretend to know where exactly Leon's group, after all, if they return without a single traitor with them she might as well wish for a quick death, high guard or not.
It shocked his second in command, “Are you out of your mind? Do you want to take that group in one day?! We know they've been hiding now, we won't find them anymore."
Lally’s eyes narrowed like a wolf about to strike. “Are you challenging my authority?”
He backed down. Noncompliance was penalized by abandonment, a fate worse than death for a guard after all they are almost at the North territory.
He softened his assertion. “It will do us no good if we capture them in record time, with a demoralized and weak troop at an amount of their combat strength. It is suicide. For the Southern’s sake,” said the second in command, “....at least give the humans extra food and water, they are almost on the verge of exhaustion.” They were within minutes of whistle's call to journey again. Their weary faces were practically asking them for a quick death in this over-cold weather. Heavy Halestorm was brewing in the terrain and he knew the fairies weren't accustomed to this cold weather.
Lally stared at them with skepticism. The fairy guards were useless but they needed them, however, these fairies were enchanted by her, for them not to panic or raise a question about fighting with supernatural folks yet they were all needed out of respect for the human royalty.
The second in command clapped his hands. The two fairy leaders entered the tent and stood to attention. He ordered them, “Report on the morale of their comrades.”
The white-bearded leader announced, “My lord, there are whisperings of rebellion in some quarters.”
Lally thought about it. She strode past the leaders. She spotted the old guard with recognition. “That old fairy is keeping up, why cannot everyone else?”
The second in command gritted his teeth. On the one hand, his disadvantage was pinpointed again, but on the other hand, he simply impressed Lally. Now, if he could only find another way to convince her to go back.
“Give the fairy extra bread and water,” asserted Lally.
She thought to herself, Am I being too weak?
“We need to be at the witch's village by nightfall then we will go straight to White Mountain where our ferals battalions have been camping. Then they can have a few hours’ rests before the battle.”
“Yes, milady,”. He raced outside to make sure the whistle call would be delayed.
“And for my sake,” said Lally, “track down these rebellious trolls and David and kill them all.”
The white-bearded leader saw his chance and stepped forward. “Yes, milady. My group will slaughter them out before sunrise.”
Lally stopped her pacing and noticed the human again. She turned to the other. “You see this man? If the rest of you had half the will of this man, we would be unstoppable.”
The white-bearded human bowed and left the tent on his mission. He wondered whether her statements would raise him or keep him identified as miserable.
She had no intention of giving the fairies a few day's rests when they arrived at the camp. They would need a full day just to build their energy for crossing the cold terrain. She would throw numbers at the enemy to overwhelm them. Thousands of arm farries and weakened ferals were still too many for the North warrior to withstand. From what she gathered, the North has a shortage of werewolves and fairy warriors even with the help of the nearby land. The South one hundred ferals were expendable and the North was not invulnerable.
She knew the North pack well, their strengths, their weaknesses, and their numbers after all she was with them a long-time ago. Only several dozen of them were scattered around the perimeter. She would split her forces. The Fairy army would build as bait as the feral army traveled around the White Mountain to mount a side assault from the mountainous region in the south.
The White Mountain passage was walled by the mountain range in the north, the Dark Ocean in the west, Dark Forest in the east, and by the huge Lake in the South. The only opening into the White Mountain lay in the East, where the dominant Ferals forces stood guard. When they discovered the North army arriving on the lake, they would split their forces between east and west. They would not be expecting a flanking raid from the mountainous northern region. The enormous mountain cave was precipitous to ascent and therefore an unexpected entrance point for a raid. That's where she plans to gather her troops. Lord Colton might not have recognized her as a tactician but she knew better, she would direct her troop to the mountain and attack from behind.
Her troops were not experienced in fighting feral hybrids. Fairies could slaughter easily enough with their deadly claws, but ferals were deadly wolves without souls. The forces needed to combat their enemy were only half of their ferals and they were the monsters who were now busily held up in ghostly soulless methods, her enchantment will be out to good use after all.
And right now, Lord was on his way to Witch Village to either capture the legendary Fairies or kill the sisters. Yet, she knew Lannah was powerful, in the grip of silent panic, her eyes wide, her pupils dilated, and her mind racing. She was worried about Colton. The ideas in her head get so fast and so alarming that her brain shuts down her soul. The sweat has coated her body and her heart feels like it's going to explode, knowing that right now the possibility of Colton battling with the powerful fairy. Her negative thoughts keep coming like waves on rocks. She started pacing around irrationally. Fear absorbed every cell in her body, growing them with apprehension. With every second, she felt the rise of her blood pressure, but she recognized that this was the least of her worries. She also heard about the Moon Goddess daughter and her companion and right now she wishes that her lover Lord Colton could kill them in time.