There's Crows In The Garden | 3rd Life AU

.: A Tactical Retreat :.

TWs: war, death, blood, tiny mention of vomit

***

It was February when the Dogwarts castle was put in danger of being sieged.

What had happened to get us into this situation was this: a few days after the ceasefire ended, our army met the enemies' near Skizzle Point. We won that battle, but then proceeded to lose every single one after that, to the point we were driven back to where we were now, by the castle. Monopoly Mountain's army was coming in from the desert, as Etho had reported after a scouting mission earlier, so when they arrived, they'd be on the opposite side of the castle as us. 

"They'll be able to box us in," Ren said, using a quill to draw lines on a map he'd been provided with earlier. "The armies in front of us— Crastile's, Flower Vale's, Joel's, and the Counts'— will drive us back until we're squished between them and the castle. Before we can escape, Monopoly Mountain's army, split in half, will come in from both sides to trap us. At that point, if we don't surrender, we'll be done for."

"Okay." BigB chewed on his lip. "Is there any way we can avoid that?"

Ren thought for a bit. "If we can manage to push the other armies back before Monopoly Mountain's joins the fight, we might have a chance, but I think that's highly unlikely. All we have now, since Impulse switched sides, is your army, the Dogwarts army, and the half of Skizzle's forces who wanted to fight with us. That's no match for— what?— three full armies and Joel's guards and dogs? And if you count Monopoly Mountain yet, that's another full army."

"Yeah, that's not happening," I stated blatantly. BigB and Etho nodded in agreement.

After that, a few more ideas were thrown out, but they all got turned down for one reason or another. It turned out that we really didn't have many options at this point besides dying or surrendering.

"We could just . . . disengage," Etho suddenly suggested.

I blinked. "Huh?"

Etho slowly talked us through his thought process. "See, if we just run away, out into the wilderness, we technically aren't surrendering. The Desert Alliance will siege the castle, of course, but if we get away cleanly, we shouldn't suffer many casualties— at least not as many as if we fought. We can go off and regroup for a while, maybe pick up some more soldiers in small towns, and then . . . well, we'll figure it out from there."

"That's . . . not a bad plan," Ren said, considering it. "Yeah, that might work, actually!"

I still wasn't completely sold on it. "What if the other armies decide to follow us?"

"They'll be slower than us; as a whole unit, their force is much larger than ours."

"And if they break apart?"

"If we're moving fast enough, any army that could catch up to us would have to be around our size or smaller. I'd say we'd have at least a reasonable chance of winning against that."

I sighed and conceded. "Alright, you've sold me. BigB?"

"Oh, I've thought it was a good plan from the start."

"Alright, gentlemen," said Ren, rising from his seat. "We'll carry out this plan at dawn. Get some sleep before then."

"I will," BigB promised, with Etho nodding along. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight," I returned, and BigB and Etho left my and Ren's tent. I turned to My King. "I hope this works."

Ren sighed tiredly. "I do, too."