Marcus dismissed the summon, nodding to himself for a reason he forgot the moment he'd done it. Just a nod, the action feeling concrete where the future was vague.
The shapeshifter bowed, one of the more polite demons he'd encountered, and stepped backwards through its portal. A bit stylish, but Marcus wasn't really paying attention anymore.
No, the information it had provided was far more important. Far more interesting. Namely, the fact the Empire had released approximately fifteen hundred summons. Birds and demons, elementals and beasts. All specialized in information gathering, and circling around his army like ever paranoid lovers.
It would remove his ability to, well, move. To act without it being instantly known to the enemy, which would make any strategy near impossible. Marcus' own mages could counter it, to a point, but the Empire had the advantage there.
So few of his own mages could summon proper scouts. Had forged pacts with powerful demons, were favored by ancient elementals. They would do what they could, Marcus would make sure of that, but the Empire had seemingly decided to no longer be in the dark.
Somehow.
That many summons would need a lot of mages, more even than the Empire was rumored to field. Or maybe require all of their attention, especially once Marcus' mages were going to take them out. Not all of them, but most.
Still, no more catching them out of position. In fact, with how much information the enemy could now obtain, any solid plan was doomed to fail. They could hardly teleport, but unlike Marcus the Empire would know exactly where they were.
He looked up as a commotion began in camp, turning to push the tentflap out of the way. He couldn't see much, especially not because he was in the middle of the camp, but a simple summon gave him the answers in a moment.
Elly was back, and she was returning without her army.
Her losing wasn't in the possibilities he'd anticipated, not with her personal strength and numbers, but things could happen. Worst case scenarios occurred all the time.
He waited patiently enough, since the King running off to check on his Queen was unprofessional, and he was still salty about Helios being that much of a dick. He got excited one time and suddenly the Duke was 'subtly' recommending decorum tips.
It hadn't even been about Elly, not that anyone could be convinced of that fact. So there he was, waiting until Elly came riding up, her eyebrows raised. He shrugged. "Helios was mean to me so now I'm mean to you. It's the circle of life."
"That wasn't even remotely what I was going to ask," she replied dryly, dismounting. "And I'm not going to waste the energy on whatever thought process led you to saying that. No, I want to know why I spotted no less than thirty summons before I stopped counting, most of which were actively following me."
"Oh, that. Yeah. We've mostly seen demonic flyers, since those are simple to summon en masse, but also more exotic things. Birds from Kha-tor, a realm which I've only heard about but recognize from stories, and a few abstract elementals. Lightning, for example. Pure energy."
"Kha-tor?"
Marcus waved his hand in dismissal. "It's a relatively new discovery. A realm of endless forests, mostly dominated by birds. Big birds, small birds, stupid birds and smart birds. No human-like birds, though. Not that anyone has found. All I know is that the Empire isn't expanding into it, which means humans can't thrive there."
"I see," Elly replied, clearly not seeing. Marcus shrugged. Not like he was going to start ranting about the practically unlimited number of realities floating in an actually infinite void. "Well, my guards nearly ran out of arrows taking care of them, but I'm guessing that wasn't an isolated incident?"
"No. No it wasn't. Thousands of the things are keeping surveillance on us at every moment. I was about to order counter-surveillance before you showed up, though I'm not sure how effective it would have been. My mages simply don't have the experience to out-summon the Empire."
Elly rolled her shoulder, Marcus holding up a glowing hand in silent offering. She hesitated, nodding after a moment, and he frowned as the healing matrix started giving him limited feedback. Her body had been stressed, muscles close to tearing and joints inflamed. Tendons, too, and her bones had hairline fractures running down to her arm.
He gestured her inside, jerking his head at the Royal Guard stationed at its entrance. They moved to block after they entered, and Marcus spun up a basic two-way illusion matrix to block sound. "Your entire body is fucked."
"Thanks," she replied, rolling her eyes. "It'll heal on its own. Life Enhancement removes the body's limit on self-repair."
"I'm guessing it was Life Enhancement that created the damage in the first place. Hold still."
She hissed as he linked another matrix to his healing efforts, pushing to envelop her entire body. The hiss turned into a low sound he promptly pretended hadn't been made, and he stabilized his working before he spoke again.
"Leave that undisturbed for half an hour and you'll be good as new."
Elly hummed, posture relaxing. "This would have been a perfect opportunity to demand for me to undress, you know that, right? Not going to lie, it's a little strange not to be admired for my looks. Being hounded over is worse, don't get me wrong, but still."
"You have magnificent abs, pleasing shoulders and an adorable nose that has been broken no less than four times," he replied, tone utterly even. She let out a long, defeated sigh. "I could properly dredge up a few appropriately inappropriate platitudes from when I read books I shouldn't have at the age of twelve? No, eleven. Ten? I honestly don't remember. About the time I noticed everyone else going through puberty and being really confused about why they were getting dumber with age."
She rolled her eyes. "If they were anything like the books my friends were reading, I'm good. You really think my nose is adorable?"
"I regret speaking and wish to become one with the soil."
Elly snorted. "Don't we all. It usually takes a few days to heal on its own when I use this much Life energy, not to change the subject, so I'll take half an hour of awkward healing. We won, by the way. Took losses, but we won."
"Awkward is a state of mind I refuse to engage in. Also, you started it." He moved the healing matrix again, focusing on her upper back. "And so I assumed. Your army is taking care of the prisoners?"
"Indeed," she replied, growing tense again. "But I rushed back here for a different reason than healing. We took prisoners, quite a few of them, and the arms and armor are similar enough to our own that we can send them back to Redwater to equip new troops. But that wasn't all. Some of the Imperials talked."
"Kindly stop being coy and just tell me."
"The Legions invading our home are led by an Archmage."
Marcus nearly lost his grip on the healing matrices as he snapped to look at her. "What?"
"Archmage Vistus. What little I could gather tells me he's an Archmage of Transmutation?"
"He's the Archmage of Transmutation." Marcus ran a hand through his hair. "He's done such petty, inconsequential things as turn beasts into fire, wooden fortifications to steel and famously halted a dungeon break by turning twenty five miles of bushland into razor thin wire. A third of the horde cut itself to pieces trying to rush through. Fuck knows what else he can do, they don't advertise their abilities."
Elly raised an alarmed hand as he started pacing, healing forgotten. "First off, don't stop the healing. It's nice. Secondly, I get that Archmages are powerful and all, but I don't like seeing you freaked out."
"This is going to sound rude, but fuck it." He turned, resuming his matrices as he did. "The Mad Mage, the one who killed your continent, did he ever show up? Fight alongside his horde, support them and be supported in turn?"
She frowned lightly, but shook her head after a few moments. "No."
"Imagine if he had. Imagine you just learned the pinnacle of mages is coming to conquer your home, someone whose literal dayjob is to fight an endless army from deep below the earth, and then see if you're not freaking out a little."
Elly didn't say anything immediately, silence descending for a while as he calmed down and focused on healing, and when she did speak it wasn't about his outburst. "I've never heard of transmutation."
"I'm not surprised," he replied, working to keep his voice even. "It's harder than enchanting, and frankly the only reason the Empire can boast to have mages capable of it is because the very Archmage coming to kill us all trained them. Imagine if you had someone capable of turning a warehouse full of rotting food into iron. Into wool, into anything you damn well pleased. They're not overly great fighters, just like enchanters, but Archmages break convention simply by existing. If we're forced to fight him… Let's hope we're not."
She smiled a placating smile, clearly not really getting the point. Oh well. She was a good fighter, so maybe she'd fight him and learn firsthand. Hells, maybe they'd both survive. Get on another boat and live in her old homeland, which was looking significantly more inviting than it had minutes ago.
Elly rolled her shoulder as he moved the healing focus to her ribs, adjusting his healing matrix on the fly. Not often he got to experiment with healing, and if she noticed she didn't say anything. She did clear her throat, though. "Not to change the subject, but I killed several Imperial mages. Most of those had artifacts protecting them, shields and winds and arrow deflection, but I also killed their commander. He didn't have anything. That's weird, right?"
"Not really," he mumbled, focusing briefly before a third healing matrix clicked into place. She gasped as energy flooded through her body, Marcus lowering the output. "Sorry. Anyway, the Empire values their mages. Were they old?"
"About half of them, yeah."
"Old, experienced and skilled mages are worth more than talented commanders. The Empire has more enchanters than we do mages, but they also have dozens and dozens of legions to equip. I'm not surprised that they only focused on their colleagues."
"That's cold."
"It's efficient," he replied, shrugging. "And while I don't like the Empire, they do actually keep the dungeon contained. Lesser and greater evils, I think the saying goes. So tell me what happened during the battle."
Elly shrugged. "Oh, you know, fighting things. Our armies were suspiciously similar in training and quality of gear, I had a bow capable of twice their range, then I forcefully lured them away from their prepared battleground using said bow. Shieldwalls met in battle, I slipped through, started hunting for their mages. They created a lance of fire, killed a few hundred of my men with it, I killed them in return. Found their commander, ordered him to surrender, he didn't, I killed him, ordered his second in command to surrender, she did, battle over. Disarmament, holdouts, prisoner logistics, intelligence extraction, after battle meetings, the usual."
"The usual," he parroted, giving her an unimpressed look. "Right. Learn something?"
"A lot of something, but the Empire learned as well, and you can never catch all potential prisoners. They'll be prepared for Life Enhancement soldiers next time. They'll prepare for me, too. Might need some magical backup."
"You might need an army the size of Redwater if we're fighting the Archmage," Marcus said, taking his hand away. Adding a forth matrix seemed doable, but he wasn't going to test that out on her. "The only silver lining is that the Archmage is seemingly playing nice, but then again that isn't why you send an Archmage in the first place. Nor can you really send an Archmage, to my knowledge, but I'm not that familiar with high-level Imperial politics. The rest of your wounds will heal overnight, by the way."
Before Elly could answer a hand stuck inside the tent, making him raise an eyebrow, and he dismissed his sound canceling illusion. "Come in."
Vess strode inside as if she hadn't just pushed her hand through the tentflap, every inch her usual regal self. Six others followed her, and Elly turned to him with a somewhat exasperated air.
"You do realize that summoning six other succubi isn't exactly going to stop the rumors, right?"
"He also summoned four incubi," Vess oh-so helpfully added, smiling serenely. "Marcus, meet my sisters. Sisters, meet Marcus Sepsimus Lannoy, the King, and Elenoir Marsennius, the Queen."
The group of women curtsied, boredom and interest and more playing out on their faces. Younger than Vess, Marcus noted, since she was good enough of a cold-reader to know which emotion would interest him the most.
These ones were just trying stuff and adjusting accordingly. Elly folded her arms, eyes roving over them briefly before landing on Vess again. "And you didn't bring the incubi because why, exactly?"
"It would create less tension," one of the demons offered, offering Elly a small smile. "If you and the King are interested, however, I am not one to prefer one gender over the other. In fact, women are usually so much mo-"
Marcus flared his power, which succeeded in bringing silence back to the tent. Vess seemed uncaring, but the other six stiffened. He grunted. "Enough. Vess, why are they here?"
"They wished to meet you," Vess replied, shrugging. "It was part of the deal we struck. The incubi have already left to start their mission. My sisters will join them soon."
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, tone hardening as he looked at them. "And now they have. Get to work. I want to know everything you can find out about the Legions invading my home. Motive, supplies, exact number of mages, siege engines, everything you can find. For your own safety you will not engage with the Archmage, not any other mages for that matter. Should it look like you will be captured, return to your home."
The group curtsied again, more hesitantly this time, and seemingly didn't appreciate being told their target could involve an Archmage. Vess sighed when they were gone.
"You used to be easier to fluster," she complained. "And don't worry, they don't actually know anything. I made sure of that."
Elly cleared her throat. "If we seek to infiltrate the enemy, wouldn't shapeshifters be more suitable? Kill a soldier, take his place, work their way up?"
"The Empire will be on the lookout for that," Marcus replied. "It's human nature that tends to be the weak point. Soldiers will do stupid things for a pretty face telling them what they want to hear."
"Not something you have trouble with, evidently."
He decided to ignore the sarcasm, nodding like it was a compliment. "Exactly. But most don't have my self-restraint, so we can take advantage of that. Before I forget; Vess, since you're back I'd like your opinion on the Loyalists. Helios and two of his more prominent Barons are leading the nobility's forces, but I don't actually know much about them."
"Already done," the demon replied, waving her hand. "Baroness Clairfield and Baron Dasson. Economically tied to Redwater, which ensures their loyalty. Acceptable field commanders, though the recent tension because of the Isolationist and Moderate alliance has seen them try to diversify their fortunes. With the invasion ongoing I don't foresee any real problems."
Well, not exactly the deep dive exploration he'd been looking for, but he supposed it would have to do. There was, as she'd said, an invasion going on. The Loyalist would hold for a little while longer.
A voice rang out from outside, vaguely authoritative and clearly trying to limit it. Marcus blinked, not sure why he'd thought that, but as general Pator entered he dismissed the irrelevant question. The man did not look happy.
Elly turned, eyebrow raised. "Problem?"
"Three companies charged with ranging outwards to stem the summoning problem attempted to desert. They very nearly killed their officers before attempting to run, though one of the warmages had eyes in the area. They have since been apprehended. I regret to inform you that it was only Mirranian men and women who attempted to flee."
Marcus felt his face bleed free of all emotion. "Why?"
"They claim that, and I quote; We did not sign up to die." The general shifted. "The news that an Archmage is leading the attack has already spread."
Elly grunted. "It hasn't even been half an hour."
"Indeed, my Queen. It was not one of ours that leaked it. Refugees fleeing north spread the rumor, and after enough sightings of a man 'turning water to stone and houses into bread', people have started to believe it. We were still trying to confirm the intelligence when you yourself received independent verification."
Marcus frowned. "That doesn't make any sense. Why flaunt his power when it could be used as a devastating surprise attack, crippling us at the right moment?"
"Because it will damage morale," Vess offered, tsking. "I'll take measure of the army, see if we have more weak points. Companies might have to be reshuffled to avoid a repeat of this."
Elly rolled her shoulder. "Oh, we'll be doing more than that. I have experience with morale suffering due to the nature of the enemy. Leave it to me."
She strode off, her general at her heels, and Marcus was left nearly alone in his tent. Abandoned, not that he minded, and Vess stepped aside as his peace was promptly shattered. One of his scribes, coming with a small pile of paperwork that needed his approval.
It seemed that healing Elly had taken up his break. Wonderful. The man sat down, quietly arranging a small space to write on, and laid down the first decree which needed Marcus' attention.
Sewage renewal in the butcher district. Of course. Preparing sea monsters for further refinement produced quite a lot of waste, from small rivers of blood to unsellable meat, and despite the city watch's best efforts some groups still risked dumping it down there.
Not that there's trade at the moment. Not with the Empire, though I suppose it will create incentive to create more domestic use for them? Something to look into for my enchanters.
Rats ate the meat, grew in numbers, attracted predators, things escalated. Best to clear it out before another wave of rapidly reproducing cat-sized bears took to the streets like a furry wave. Surprisingly aggressive little things, despite how cute they were. Less cute when they teamed up to eat your loved ones, though.
Marcus calmed himself as he got to work. Elly would do her job, he would do his. Soon enough he was due to train with his warmages, then wagon maintenance, then dinner.
Who knew war could grow so monotonous?