“There’s people that can change the world…with nothing more than their determination to do so. No special boons or cheats…Not following any path that’s been laid out before…”

  Celis smiled cheerfully at Alisson. The fields of golden sheafs swayed with a gentle wind. Her eyelashes were so long, so fine. Her face was so soft, and warm.

  She continued in that cheerful voice, full of life and enthusiasm, “…Do you think we’ll ever meet them? Alisson? Are you even listening?”

  …

  Alisson’s eyes shot wide as he rose from his cot, grasping his chest and breathing heavily.

  “Alisson! Captain. You hear me?”

  A familiar voice called from outside his tent.

  “Y-yes, come in…”

  Alisson muttered, taking a deep breath.

  Daventdale, the now commander of the 51st, stepped in, crossing his arms with a smirk.

  “You’ve been real busy since the battle…everyone can see it. Our General needs a break.”

  “That means your General is doing his damn job…” Alisson growled and rose up, straightening his back.

  Daventdale shook his head with a smile. “Take it easy for today – Go take a walk. Clear your head. Nothing is happening. I’ll hold down the fort for you.”

  Alisson stared into the ground, seeing Dascha flashing her eyes at him, laying by his feet.

  “…Fine.” He conceded, and sighed.

  The 7th would be moving out tomorrow, after having rested for a few days since the battle. The men were almost at one-hundred-percent again. They had relinked-up with their supply lines, and the army was mustering to move.

  Alisson stood and shook Celis, who was unconscious on a chair near his bed. She slept in odd positions, not caring for comfort anymore. Her eyes opened slowly, and in these instances of half-consciousness, Alisson saw the most life in her. The way she looked up at him, almost seeming pleased to see him, before her expression locked back into nothing.

  He walked out from the 7th’s basecamp, with Dascha and Celis, intent on stretching his legs in some quiet nature.

  “Master.” Firo spoke to him after they were a good distance from other people, “It’s been bothering me…You refused Constantius the other day. There’s a chance that Celis can-”

  Alisson cut her off, snapping, “You would entrust her livelihood to someone else? There are any multitude of things that could go wrong with that…For example, It doesn’t work and she runs back to Sidonia…It works only partially, and she is in greater pain…The possibilities are endless. Taking up something like that with the idea of that it will fix everything is just inviting greater pain.”

  Alisson looked out across the river beside them as he walked along it.

  “So…You don’t want to take the risk. Or maybe…You just want to be loyal, entirely, to Sidonia. Which is it?”

  Alisson closed his eyes, not answering. He clenched his fist.

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  “What’s in front of me is clear. We’ll do what’s been asked of us. We’ll kill them all.”

  He heard Firo sigh, apparently at a loss for words. “You’ve really changed, Alisson.”

  “I’m not in the mood for this.” He growled back.

  Firo was quiet for a long while, but continued, “How many more people are you going to senselessly slaughter? Like that boy from the other day. What point was there?”

  “Shall I do the same to you?” Alisson spat. “Know your place, parasite.”

  Silence finally befell him. He was never truly alone in his own body thanks to the slime, and sometimes, it got on his nerves.

  …

  The Na’baath Passage. A string of mountains cut across Irinian land, and the largest point of travel to cross them, was the Passage, where the city of Na’baath had been erected from the great flow of traffic.

  It was here that Alisson predicted the 87th would retreat to. Their supply lines had to go through this one point. There was a tunnel in the mountains there, wide enough to fit several wagons.

  Na’baath was highly defensible in that the city laid in a crescent of the mountains, funneling any attackers through a narrow point, that could be reinforced with the full weight of the city’s defenses. There were of course smaller passages through the mountains all around the range, but these were small, and to move an army through them would take obscene amounts of time.

  The 7th numbered roughly ten-thousand now, not including allied Angels and Kitsune, who combined would bring the number up a couple thousand. The rough amount of casualties on the part of the 87th were tallied to ten-thousand, and that was a generous estimate. They still had anywhere from eighty to ninety thousand soldiers cumulatively.

  That would’ve been Alisson’s information, if not for the Angel’s intelligence network. The 87th had split into two forces, two halves, with one chasing down Augen’s detached force. Alisson’s earlier battle had only been with one half of the 87th, and in retrospect, was probably the reason he was able to hold his ground. Thus, this half of the 87th consisted of something like thirty-thousand soldiers. Entirely manageable for a Sidonian army.

  The time to strike was now. The 7th had regrouped and rested. It was time to put Alisson’s plan to action, and hope Augen’s campaigning had done what Alisson had hoped it would.

  The 7th marched on Na’baath, and quickly set up siege lines around the small opening in the mountains that was the front of the city. He figured that hiding wasn’t going to help much, so instead, he had the men act like they were going to settle in for a long siege, and wait out the 87th.

  Alisson looked out across the walls of Na’baath, seeing the large mountains surrounding them on all sides. High in the sky, Angels circled, intimidating the Irinian aerial mages into staying on the ground. For now, no shots or actions had been taken, Alisson intended to keep it that way until he was ready.

  “Just why are they still here…This city gives us the advantage in attacking them.” One of his officers voiced suspicions.

  Any reasonable commander, who was in command of a larger force, wouldn’t try to make a stand here, at Na’baath. They would force a confrontation out in the open, to utilize their advantage in numbers. But Nariseer couldn’t do that, for one very specific reason.

  Alisson closed his eyes, and turned to his subcommanders. “I suppose there’s no use in hiding it from you now.” He looked up at them. “The 87th is trapped in Na’baath.” He waved his hand over the city. “Our actions, of burning this land, destroying towns to deprive eachother of resources…It’s pushed a stream of refugees northward.”

  Alisson looked up to the mountains in the distance. “Most have done so through this city. This one large passage through the mountains. If my plan has worked…The passage is clogged with civilians. The 87th is stuck.”

  Augen’s orders had been to split into several groups, to lure away the 87th. He succeeded fully in this manner for a few days, then partially when Nariseer decided to split up the 87th to chase him. While split, Augen was told to continue the razing of Irinian land, and subsist off captured supplies.

  The officers gasped, but he continued, “Nariseer has her back against the wall now. We will take this chance not only to destroy the 87th, but to kill her. Without Nariseer, Irine poses no threat to us.” He looked across his subcommanders, hoping his words were to set a fire under them. “Our victory in the previous battle has given us this chance to strike – Do not squander this opportunity. We will obliterate them here, in one confrontation.”

  ““Sir!””

  They sprung to attention, and Alisson turned back toward Na’baath, cracking a smile. If all turned out well, this was to be a butchery.

  ***