Chris

Gemini City

A sharp horn blast echoed through the city to gather everyone. It wasn't the four long blasts for war, just a short one to alert and notify everyone that we were gathering.

With movement from the enemy, it was time for us to also get on the move.

Elliot, Hal, and Gabriel all left to do their own thing, while I did the same. Gathering my things didn't take long, but I had partially unpacked while we were waiting. My pack was light, compared to the hulking thing it had been during my trip. Food and provisions were in wagons, which greatly reduced the things I needed to carry personally.

After gathering my things, I headed out of the city to where our gathering area would be. There was already a cleared area outside the southern gate that Marcus had used for a similar purpose, if I had to guess.

Most of his fighting force was already out of the city, which only left us to gather there.

Marcus himself was inside the city, but I was expecting him to be receiving the same news I had just gotten and coming to the same conclusion. As I made my way out of the gate, a bell rang inside the city, which confirmed my assumption.

Already, there were people working in the clearing. Horses were being saddled and hitched to wagons, and people were tearing down the temporary encampment. We had a few thousand people with us, and the city hadn't had enough room to house all of us. Over the week, people rotated in and out to give everyone a chance to sleep on real beds, but now that we were on the move, the camp needed to be taken down.

Sarah was at work wrangling the animals, and she was a wonder at work. It almost seemed like she could speak to them. A point and a few short words, and they would do what she wanted.

Horses, bison, wolves, and birds alike.

Her focus had been on the horses and bison, which left the birds under her control few, but there were some. After hearing about Kathy from our tutorial, she began to diversify her tames somewhat. The ones under her direct control were few, but those she had tamed were many. The woman had a hand in taming, tending, or nurturing nearly every beast in our arsenal. Those she wasn't connected to were under the other Beastmasters.

There was only one slight problem.

Sarah was geared up like she was coming with us.

She's not a little girl anymore, I thought. It was easy to forget that, and it made me realize how much time had passed.

She was a woman grown now. Twenty going on twenty-one years old. Not at all like the little girl we had found her as. She reminded me of Annabeth, in a way. Now that she had turned fourteen and gotten a Class.

I caught Jonathan walking up behind me carrying his things, and waved him over.

"Are you aware of that?" I indicated towards where our resident Beastmaster was working.

Jon looked over and sighed, "Yes, sadly."

He was the one who had spent the most time with her and acted almost like a second father, in a way. He trained, raised, and took care of the girl from the moment we had found her, and now she was joining us on the war path.

She had noticed us staring and made her way over.

"Don't you dare tell me to stay behind!" She pointed at Jon accusingly. "You promised!"

"I wasn't going to," he raised his hands defensively.

The response was unexpected because it was obvious she was ready to defend her argument aggressively.

"Good," Sarah nodded, slightly confused at winning so easily, "This might be what pushes me further."

My confused look was answered by Jon, "She's been hounding me to let her join in a more... active role. She feels like gaining battle experience is what will push her towards a better Class."

"It will!" She exclaimed, "All I've been doing lately is tending to the animals like I always have. It's fun, yes, but it isn't what I need. If I want to gain anything worthwhile, I need to push myself, and to do that, I need experience outside of the dungeons."

"You realize this will be dangerous, yes?" I finally spoke up. I wasn't against the idea, but it would be a blow if we lost her. She was important for the city and our Faction, not to mention I was somewhat fond of the girl. She was like a little cousin.

"I know, but I'll be in the back line with the other Rangers. Plus, I'll have Locke to protect me!" She claimed.

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At his mention, Locke made himself known by padding into view. The beast was larger than anything else here, coming to my head in height. The Brown Bear was the cornerstone of Sarah's menagerie, and one of the few she had gone out to tame specifically.

She even had a skill for it, [Guardian Familiar]. It empowered both of them while they fought together, and while linked, she could share any damage she took with it, up to a point. I wasn't sure what grade she had it at, but it was a good defensive skill to have with a tank like the bear by her side.

Thinking about it, it wasn't likely that she would be in any high danger. Rangers were back far enough, and with Locke by her side... It would take a motivated person to put her in any danger.

Still, I'd ask Hal to make sure that she was in a more protected portion of his line.

Getting experience was good, and I admired her for the initiative, but we couldn't afford to lose someone so vital.

"Then welcome aboard," I said.

She brightened, knowing that we weren't going to leave her behind, and ran off back toward where she was needed. Jon looked sullen, but he made no moves to stop her.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure she's around Hal's best." I said.

"That's all I can ask."

The clearing quickly began to fill up as people arrived, and it wasn't long before everything was ready. The only thing left to do was head out, but there was one last thing to take care of before we could do that, and the man required to do it was already headed toward us.

Marcus and someone by his side made their way toward where I was standing, and at the same time, Hal, Elliot, and Gabriel did as well. With Jon still beside me, it was everyone we needed to be making any plans or decisions.

"I see you've heard the same as I have," Marcus began. Thankfully, he was done trying to convince us not to interfere.

"I have." I stated, "They're on the move and we aim to meet them."

"I figured as much," He said, "Then it's time to fill you in. I've told you nearly everything already, but it's best to go over it one last time before we part ways so we're all on the same page."

Jon formed up an earthen table while the person Marcus brought took out a map of the area that was already marked. The map was familiar, as we had gone over it many times during the last week. Everyone had, so all the various markings didn't need any explanation.

There were even expected routes that the enemy may take, and where favorable battlefields would be in case they did. Mainly of those were in the South, with a few in the West.

"As you know, most of my men are here, here, and here," Marcus pointed to the three deep blue markers that signified the three Outposts he'd created in preparation.

"I and the rest who are still stationed in the city will go here, to this pass, as it is the most likely route the Heartlands will take." He indicated to the pass Hal wanted to defend initially.

The numbers were thin, but with a few days to dig in and the defensive advantage... I still didn't like those odds. If they didn't split their forces, he'd be outnumbered massively, and it would take time for the rest of the Outposts to reinforce him.

"You will head here to fight the Reservation and ensure that they can't combine their forces. Based on the direction of travel and their pace, we expect them to try and flank us by swinging north, before coming back south." He pointed nearly due west, towards a heavily forested region with only a few ways to traverse it quickly. The multitude of small lakes and ponds didn't help, even when they were frozen over.

All of this was as we expected, which was both good and bad. Good, because we had plans for this, bad because it felt like I was missing something.

The five of us on our side nodded, aware of what we had to do.

"Remember, Tasunka will likely lead the Cavalry division while his second in command will lead their infantry," Marcus added.

"Any more intel on his power?" Hal asked. He'd been having a hard time building profiles of who we might face. Mikayla was easier, as she used her powers more openly and while around more people, but Tasunka kept his cards closer to his chest.

"You know what I know," He said, "Mikayla is a Nature Mage with a strong Law and affinity. We know of some of her skills thanks to the test, but we don't know anything about her D-rank evolution. It's suspected that she's forged her First Circle since then, while also expanding her Law.

"Tasunka, on the other hand, is an unknown. His presence wasn't as large, and he was less eye-catching during the test, so not many were able to make note of his skills or strengths. We know he usually fights mounted and wields a long-bladed spear from the few times we've encountered him. He also has a strong Wind affinity."

The unknowns surrounding the Faction head were worrying, but there was nothing we could do about them. The man would soon be my opponent, and we barely knew anything about him other than what weapon he wielded, his affinity, and that he was a Baron.

"Anything on his Law or Body level?" I asked.

"No, only speculation. We think he has a Tier 2 Wind Law, but we don't know for sure. We also think he has a Body of Stone, but we also don't know. It could be that he has a really strong defensive skill or high Fortitude instead. We know he has something, as he wasn't as injured as he should have been after the test."

"What of the saber he wielded. We were told he wore that to the Assembly instead of a spear." Hal asked, repeating what we were told by Rachel.

"I saw that as well, but we aren't sure. It could be it's his secondary weapon, or that he figured a spear was unwieldy indoors." Marcus answered.

"At level 118, he doesn't yet have his second Class skill, but he will have one D-rank skill of at least Rare grade, Epic most likely," Hal informed from what his Scouts had been able to figure out. The [Blocker] the man had couldn't hold up to Hal's Scouts.

They weren't able to get the name of this Class or his Profession, though, as that was a much higher bar to reach and required a more intensive search.

"Anything else?" I asked, ready to wrap things up. I was eager to get this over with.

"Don't underestimate how much ground he can cover. His Faction has the best horses that I know of, and they have Classes based on mounted combat. The speed they can travel is high, even in this snow." Marcus made sure to point out. It was an issue that had been brought up before, but bore repeating.

"I'll make sure that Zion understands he will most likely be outpaced," Elliot said, referring to his Lieutenant in charge of the Bison Cavalry.

"No, I'll lead them this time. I'll need the mobility if I'm to face him," I said.

Fighting someone skilled in mounted combat while I wasn't didn't sound like the best idea, but I also didn't want anyone else to face the man. The man was a Baron and had been for a long time, leaving him to anyone else was even worse of an idea than doing it myself.

No one said anything to the contrary, and nothing else was brought up. It was time.

"Then this is it..." Marcus said softly.

"May fortune favor you, my friend," I held out my arm, and he shook it.

"Good luck," He said back.

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