Ball of Nothing

#127: The Battle Begins

Everyone was tense. Many warriors polished their armours or sharpened their weapons. Raj did some final fine-tuning for his weapons and Zero finally knew how the Pigeon Canon could be of practical use.

Hua Tuo meditated and Zero decided to spend his time foraging for things to absorb. It was always good to stock up on energy points. He didn't know how many people he would have to heal today and was slightly worried. Hua Tuo made a lot of spare mana potions but Zero wasn't sure if they were going to be enough. The children were quiet today. Leon and Jacqueline hadn't argued at all and that worried Zoe slightly. Still, she cooked for everyone and kept herself busy.

Nobody knew when Carrabas would attack. Zenobia placed more warriors on patrol duty so that they could catch Carrabas before he arrived.

The day passed slowly and Zero was restless. They'd eaten dinner and it was getting late. There was still no news about Carrabas on the move. The last report came from Roovan. Carrabas was still at camp a few miles away from the village with no signs of mobilising the army. Zero was told to go to bed but he couldn't sleep. The children were also having difficulty falling asleep so Lovina made some calming tea with a tad of sleeping magic mixed into it. Zero didn't suspect a thing as he drank but found his eyelids closing slowly after a while. Hua Tuo didn't say anything but carried his young apprentice to the bed, tucking him in. He would enjoy the peace will it lasted.

Count Carrabas finally launched an attack two days after. It was two in the morning when Zero jolted from his sleep. The village was woken up by Raj's air horn blasting. The warriors got into position quickly and the evacuees were on standby. Zero hid up in the tree and palmed a small stone nervously. Mii had a map pulled out and Zero observed how the red dots were splitting up. Everything was going according to Zenobia's plan up till now. The hired adventurers were held up at the bridge so Count Carrabas had to lead his army to take the detour.

It was at the detour point through the forest at the shallower side of the river that the plans went south. Zero couldn't tell from the map he was observing but Roovan who was patrolling from the air saw it. The raven beastman quickly reported the situation. Count Carrabas was moving to the main area with the rest of his army. He'd sent three out of twelve knights to pursue the escapees but continued to march towards the village.

With Mii's help, Zenobia received the report. Party call was a great magic and the chieftess thanked Zero silently. Wiser who heard the report scowled. according to Amaraline, Lovina had finished subduing the adventurers and put them to sleep.

"No good!" Mitchnew reported. "They're setting fire to the surrounding forest to trap us in!"

Wiser remained calm. "Get Latitia and Cleo to put the fire out. Change of plans, we're attacking. Cull their numbers from the trees. Get the archers."

"No!" Zero protested, startling everyone. "Don't kill, the army is innocent. We can use the sleeping potions to put everyone to sleep and tie them up."

"The three knights are taken care of," Lowis reported back. "What should we do now, Chieftess?"

Zenobia listened to everyone on the call and frowned. "Get Cleo and Latitia to put the fire out. Lowis join the main force. Hua Tuo, keep the children and Karris safe. Lovina, are the adventurers taken care of?"

"Yes, we're restraining them now," the witch reported.

"Good. Amaraline, take one person to watch over them. Lovina head over to the clearing to prepare a large scale sleep magic on the enemies. Zero, can you assist Lovina with your map?"

Zero replied affirmatively and Zenobia nodded. "Wiser, distract the enemies and gather them at one place. You can use every man at your disposal. Forget the sleeping potions, we don't have time."