That was how the campaign began. With her full and still under-strength brigade, Colonel Rivers did her best to assault the enemy. She sent scouts, troops, skirmish teams, even some of the heavy weapon crews with catapults armed with the same setup that was used against the dragons. It was absolutely devastating to the defending troops of the enemy, since none of them had expected an attack from their rear.

The overwhelming momentum couldn't last. With the scale of the mission being undertaken and not having the proper amount of supporting troops, which was practically none, there were too many chances that someone would escape and get away. This happened at the tenth town that was another major shipping port and military presence.

The very first catapult attack had only slightly missed the farthest ship and they quickly pulled away out of range. It gave a few of the smaller ships the chance to escape as well. The fight with the large military presence after that was much harder than all the other battles combined, mainly because that one miss gave the enemy a chance to spread the warning.

The Colonel had no choice but to leave a significant amount of troops in both port towns to ensure that the enemy wouldn't bring their navy in close to deploy their own troops. She hated leaving nearly five hundred men and women behind in the two port towns to protect her forces, because it reduced her own fighting capacity by a full third.

However, the biggest surprise was the townsfolk and their reactions. Not only did they not attack the Colonel's troops when they easily could have, the people greeted passing troops as if they were grateful to see them. When the Colonel turned her army's position into more of a holding pattern, because she couldn't spread them out any further, their efforts at repairing the infrastructure made the locals very happy.

Removing the rich and oppressive local tyrants made the local people's lives change for the better almost overnight. The emotional burden of being oppressed by the ruling class had been removed and gave the people a sense of relief they had never felt before. They even helped the troops build defensive structures and helped secure sensitive targets.

That was definitely a surprise to the Colonel, until she started interviewing the captives and learned of how the locals were treated. Just like her cousin Sandra, she couldn't stand the caste system and slaves were on the bottom rung on the ladder. There were thousands of slaves that had been freed and the problem the soldiers had was that the slaves wouldn't leave. They stayed were they were and kept doing their jobs as if the person who owned them was still there giving orders.

I hadn't seen all of this myself, since I was required to remain inside the latest forward base to make healing potions and number ten potions to help reinforce the walls. I had heard it all from returning soldiers and from those hurt in battle when I delivered another batch of healing potions to the medical tent. Hearing it from several different sources gave me a well rounded and practically full narration of the entire battlefront.

Our biggest discovery was that the locals built things with something called sandstone. It was plentiful, easy to make into bricks if necessary, and a lot stronger than reinforced wood. The new job that Gary, the construction crews, and I had was building a thick sandstone wall inside the wooden ones in each of the defensive structures. Gary and I did one better and built it away from the wooden ones and then filled it with number ten potion.

It was going to be quite the surprise for the enemy when they discovered the change, which would happen when they finished gathering together and started their counter attack. The Colonel expected it soon and had the troops prepare the best defensive line that she could with what resources she had available. It wasn't much, considering how much the brigade had burned through to accomplish what it had in only a month.

The Colonel had sent off several messages to her father, the King of the Gulf Kingdom, as well as messages to her brothers near the front and the generals involved in the war effort. She told them of her accomplishment and warned them that her offensive was stalled and she needed more troops. I had seen that part personally, because I was reinforcing the office wall with sandstone. We all knew that if they didn't reinforce her as soon as possible, her accomplishment might become a massive defeat.

“You know they aren't going to listen to you.” I said when the message mage left.

“Shut up.” The Colonel said and glared at me. “Get back to work.”

“I haven't stopped.” I said and put another brick down and used a few drops of number ten to secure it.

She sat there and kept glaring at me. “Why do you think they won't listen?”

“You're too pushy and arrogant for your position.”

“Excuse me?!?” She gasped and stood up.

“I've had a lot of experience now with how things work around here. You should be asking for reinforcements and not ordering them.”

“I need them now and they better send them!” The Colonel said, her voice deadly. “If my brother...”

“We're coming up on your deadline for that. I completed the plan and got you here well before it.” I said and her face lost the stern look. “It's not going to matter, though.”

The stern look came back. “If he dies, I'll hold you responsible!”

“I'm not forcing him to be on the front lines. Your father is. Just like you're forcing me to be here.” I said and she leaned away with a surprised look on her face.

“I... I'm not... I'm just using a resource to...”

“So is your father.” I said and finished the wall, then waved out through the door of the office. Two construction workers came in carrying pots of potion and we poured them into the wall. It filled up quickly and I nodded. “Thanks, guys.”

“This was the last retaining wall in the buildings, so we're heading over to the mess tent.” One of them said. “I'm sure Gary's there waiting for us.”

I smiled slightly and nodded. “We better not keep him waiting.” I said and walked with my uneven gait behind them and we left the Colonel's office.

“I heard that the locals offered up a couple of cows for the troops.” One of them said. “As long as they share some after it's cooked, of course.”

I smiled fully this time. “Free butchering and cooking by the army and all they have to do is eat it.”

The two guys laughed and we dropped the pots off in my potion making area and went to the mess tent.

“Guys! Over here!” Gary said loudly as we entered into his view. “Just finished up, did you?”

“Yeah, now it's just the bunkers on the east side we have to reinforce.” One of the guys said and we sat down to eat. Gary had already filled trays for us and we all started eating.

“David, we can't thank you enough for showing the cooks how to cook.” One of the other guys said.

“I only showed them some tricks.” I said.

“Delicious tricks! Ha ha!” Gary shoved a forkful of meat into his mouth. “Ohhh, that's so good!”

That made all the guys laugh and we all kept eating. After the meal, we went back to work reinforcing the bunkers for the troops and then moved on to the barricades. This part was a little dangerous because we were exposed and out in the open in front of the main defensive position. None of the army scouts had reported any enemy movements in the area, so we were relatively safe.

I say relatively, because it wasn't long before I heard a whistling sound. I had trained my vigilance technique to the point that I could use it all day without detriment and I knew that was an arrow sound.

“Everyone get behind the barricades!” I said loudly and grabbed the guy beside me. I didn't have a real foot to run with and that didn't stop me from darting out of the way.

*Thunk!* *Thunk!* *Thunk!* *Thunk!*

“ARRRGH!” Someone yelled from the next barricade. He had an arrow sticking out of his shoulder.

*Thunk!* *Thunk!* *Thunk!*

A horn blew nearby and I saw all of the soldiers as they scrambled to get into position. They were the first line of defense for the forward base and they readied their own arrows and crossbows.

“Is this really happening?” The crewman with me asked as a bunch of troops gathered around us.

_______________

You have a critical choice to make. Will you make the right one?

A) Stay still. B) Run away. C) Help. D) Yell. E) Talk. F) Stay silent. G) Choose two.

Well, considering the arrows haven't stopped, running away is not a good idea at the moment. I thought. I've worked with this man for quite some time now. Not answering would be impolite, so I'll choose two. A and E.

_______________

“If you mean we're under attack, yes. If you mean we're stuck here until it's safe, yes.” I responded.

“Oh, no.” The man said and pressed his back to the barricade. “I need to get out of here! I can't die!”

“Stay still.” I said and he looked at me with a scared face. “If you leave, you die.”

The man looked over at the other barricade and saw a soldier step out to fire his bow and arrow. He let the shot go and then took an arrow into his thigh. He let out a yell and as he fell, another soldier caught him and dragged him back behind cover. The arrow was removed, a bit of potion was poured onto the wound, and then some was drunk.

I was glad to see that the new protocols for potion conservation had been disseminated to all of the troops already. The soldier stood back up, pat his friend on the shoulder, then readied another arrow. He told them how far it was to the enemy and a dozen others stepped back away from the barricade with him, aimed up, and let loose their arrows.

Screams of the enemy troops and the sound of horses neighing were heard not long after, then all of the soldiers behind all of the barricades did the same thing. They knew how fast horses could run and aimed accordingly, then let loose their arrows. They kept shooting and reloading and the enemy's arrows reduced in both frequency and numbers.

It didn't take long for the first few horses to reach the barricades, then they fell into the covered traps and both the men and the horses died. The lure had worked perfectly. The perceived weak defense and low shooting attacks on our part, drew the enemy troops into a false belief of superiority, and they paid for it with their lives.

“Form up!” A staff sergeant yelled and the troops behind the barricades formed three firing lines. One knelt, one stood, and one was behind to pass them arrows. A few seconds later, thanks to a replacement scout's instructions, it was our side's turn to unleash an arrow hell. The enemy never saw it coming and the first defensive battle was completely one sided.

“Maybe we'll get a chance at close combat next time.” One of the archers commented.

“I hope not! I'm an archer and I suck at hand to hand.” Another archer said.

“Sir!” Someone said as they approached the staff sergeant at a jog. “The surviving scouts claim they were ambushed and report that there's a large amount of enemy troops amassing on a farm near the town's border.”

“Well, you might just get your wish, archer.” The staff sergeant said to the man that had spoken before, then looked back at the messenger. “Get over to HQ and let them know the situation. We need to mobilize to counter them.”

“Let's fix the barricades.” I said to the construction man next to me. He startled a little and then sighed. He nodded and we went around to the front to remove all the arrows that had been lodged into the thick wood front of the barricade.

“Try to save as many as you can.” An archer said and we nodded as we piled the intact arrows in one spot. The broken ones we tossed into a pile to let the metal tips be harvested by the archers when they had the time. Once all the obstructions had been removed from the barricade's front, I poured dabs of number ten potion into the holes and they formed up into a solid piece of wood again. Only a few of the arrows had made it all the way through the wood part and had broken themselves on the sandstone reinforcement.

By the time all of the barricades had been repaired, a thousand troops had been assembled and they marched out of the defensive position with two catapults and two squads of mages. When they passed, a woman that I had become quite familiar with came over to me.

“There you are, David.” Mage Henrietta said. “We're locking everything up for the battle, so we can continue your reading lessons in my chambers.”

A few of the construction crewmen let out whistles at her words.

Mage Henrietta laughed. “We aren't married yet, you dirty minded men!”

That made the men whistle more and a few yelled encouragement to me.

“Go get her David! Show her that you don't need two feet to have sex!”

“I've got a foot where it counts.” I responded and they fell silent for a second, then they all laughed.

Mage Henrietta's face flushed red as we walked towards the mage's designated area.

“It's not actually a foot long. I was just joking with the guys.” I told her.

Mage Henrietta's blush deepened as she gave me a searching look, then she looked down at my crotch. She was a strong lady with an iron will, because she didn't ask me how big it actually was or even tried to grab it to see for herself.