My early estimate of 'dozen' was off by a tiny amount.
By the time the gates closed behind the army, there were roughly 250 men trekking across the dry, barren ground. Their voices continued to be carried up to me by the wind and the natural acoustics, but the men in the front line had long since made it to the base of the mountain before the gates had shut.
My eyes skimmed over the force.
There were roughly 150 men who were probably light infantry. There wasn't much to their armor. It was more there for the idea of protection and the functionality of it than anything else. They probably didn't think that Daiyu would put up that much of a fight.
Or maybe they were just that much better.
Some commanders were mounted on horses, a dumb idea given the terrain, but I couldn't help but be impressed when they broke away from the army and started up the game trails. Mules, six of them, followed after them, thanks to the ropes connecting them all.
They were weighed down with supplies. Food, tents, more weapons. In fact, I almost felt giddy at all the supplies that would soon be in my collection.
Not for the first time in my life, I wis—I could make do with a space power, but unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards for me.
The shouts and jeers continued to get louder and louder as the infantry, archers, and scouts took the more direct way up. They weaved through the trees like they had done it a thousand times before.
However, it didn't matter how many times they had done it before… they would never have the opportunity to do it again.
From beside me, Shadow growled low, trying to take my attention away from the men in front of me. It was clear that he didn't want me here, but there was no place I'd rather be. I didn't move, didn't so much as blink as I continued to catalogue every weakness, every misplaced step, every arrogant smirk that would soon be wiped clean.
They were spreading out now, chopping trees, laughing too loud, talking too much. A few began to relieve themselves right there at the tree line. I made a mental note to pour an acid solution made from boiled fungi mixed with toxin-laced sap there when I was done with everything.
Papa always said the first thing you needed to do in a fight was to control the terrain. And I had done just that… only not on this side of the mountain.
Lesson learned, and it would never be repeated.
I let Wrath rise in my veins, not the wildfire burn most expected, but something calmer. Sharper. A surgeon's knife, not a bonfire. It helped me to think and to plan.
The math was laughable. Two hundred and fifty men against a single child, but Beau always said that the best way to eat an elephant was one bite at a time.
So, I took my first bite.
I slipped from my vantage point, Shadow close on my heels as we raced silently down the mountainside. The first scout was easy to find. He was leaning against a tree, his pants pulled down as he revealed himself out in the open.
Slipping behind him, I wrapped my arms around the trunk of the tree and quickly slit his throat with my knife. He crumpled into the puddle he was making, not able to get a single word of warning out. I didn't relish the kill; I had already disappeared, looking for my next victim long before I heard him fall.
It would be easier to let them get to my side of the mountain. After all, I had set it up already, but the very thought of these disgusting men invading my home made me wrinkle my nose and see red.
The second scout was more cautious.
I didn't know if he heard his friend falling or if this was his natural state, but he was crouched down low, his eyes scanning around him for a threat. Maybe he could sense I was watching him, maybe he was just that good.
But no matter how good you were, no one had eyes in the back of their head.
Coming right up behind him, I brought my knife down, striking between the first and second vertebrae, severing his spine. Like the first one, he crumpled as his legs gave out from under him. But I didn't kill him.
"I want answers," I said softly, crouching down beside his head. "And you are going to give them to me. Do you understand?"
I had to give him his dues. He looked at me, his eyes narrowing as if he was trying to remember my features. They widened for a second as he took in my age and gender, but then he went back to a blank face.
"Smart," I chuckled, letting the hit of my knife dangle between my two fingers. The fact that it was dangling over his eyes was neither here nor there. "You didn't try to scream. Not like it would do you a lot of good. But I digress. I want answers, and you are going to give them to me. Otherwise, there are 248 more men that I can take from. Do you understand?"
The man nodded jerkily, his eyes narrowing. It didn't take a genius to realize that he was probably going to lie to me, feed me the answers he thinks that I want. But I don't think he saw my questions coming.
"Where are we?" I demanded, my voice soft as a stick beside us snapped. A man called out a name, and I felt the man in front of me flinch. "Ah, a friend. I have a friend, too. Want me to introduce the two of them?"
Once again, the man's eyes widened, but he remained mute. "Fine," I shrugged. "And here was me thinking that the question was a simple one. Shadow, baby, go make nice with the other man."
Everything was silent for a second before the soldier screamed loud. "Wolf!" However, his voice was cut off quickly as Shadow returned with the man's head in his mouth.
"That makes 247 men available to answer my questions," I purred as Shadow spat the head out next to the man. I heard a soft whimper, and I couldn't hold back my smile. "Are you really going to make me ask you again?"