If I’d been asked how I would travel with the army, considering speed was of the essence, I would not have thought of a litter. But apparently, whoever organized these things had. I disliked them more with every passing hour.

I sighed and shifted my weight a little as the conveyance swayed beneath me. Looking out through the curtain, I could see the landscape passing by quickly, although it hadn’t changed much from the last time I’d looked. We were surrounded by guards, and beyond them the bulk of the army. Most of the soldiers jogged, although there were a few wagons.

“I guess having spatial items really matters,” I said to Tenira. “I don’t want to imagine what our logistics would have been like without them.”

She looked up from the book she was reading and glanced out the window as well. “That’s true.”

I pushed another curtain aside. This litter was really more of a moving tent, with space for several people to lounge in comfort. I looked at the six spirits beasts strapped to poles that carried us around. They were massive, bigger than any horse I’d seen, and built more broadly, although otherwise they looked like draft horses with technicolor manes. They moved at a steady pace that would have exhausted any horse on Earth, but managed to keep up with the cultivators around us without a problem.

I sighed and sat back. I would’ve loved to have the whole army fly. Airships were vulnerable, as I’d experienced. We probably could have scrounged up enough mounts or flying swords for everyone. But that would’ve been a nightmare to organize with appropriate formations. It was bad enough in two dimensions.

“Not every soldier is good with a flying sword, Inaris,” Tenira said. “Not to mention the support staff like alchemists or engineers. Many of them aren’t even in the fourth stage — that’s why they’re on the wagons or being carried.”

I blinked. “Were my thoughts that obvious?”

Tenira smiled. “It helps that you’ve talked about it at least two times so far.” She snapped her book shut and shook her head. “Besides, we wouldn’t have been much faster in the air.”

Aiki Lis, who was sitting on a bench half-separated from the main compartment, looked over and smiled. “You can’t always be mysterious, my lady.”

I raised my hands in mock surrender, then looked back out of the makeshift window.

Behind us, another litter carried other members of my retinue for this campaign, mostly older people from the Leri clan and its followers. I knew some of them were here to keep an eye on me and the other young ones, not just to show the strength of the clan. They hadn’t concerned themselves much with the war, not even attending most of the meetings. I felt a bit like I was doing an evaluation with unenthusiastic graders tagging along. At least they’d be handy in a fight.

We were getting close to the enemy now, and the litter felt more constricting with every passing meter. So I pushed the curtain back and stood up. The guards didn’t leave enough space that I could jump down and walk alongside the litter easily. I poked my torso out and looked around.

Aston pushed through the crowd, until he was close enough to push me back if he dared. “Your Highness, please sit down.”

I focused my qi senses on his presence, remembering our journey back to the city and the fight with the raiders. “Aston, you have an affinity for air qi, don’t you?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Air and earth.”

“Then you can take me along easily, right?”

He stifled a sigh, then bowed his head.

I didn’t waste time, instead stepping out of the carriage. Instead of falling, my feet met a pillow made of air. As soon as I stood securely, Aston moved me away and upwards, until I floated above the marching guards beside the litter, with him standing close beside me.

For a while, I just enjoyed the fresh air, looking out over the army marching towards the nomads. Then I pulled out a telescope designed to function with light qi, and activated it. I sent a bit of darkness up to act as a mirror, adjusting both until I found the nomads’ force. They really were getting close.

Although I couldn’t tell much more than that. They were using a formation to counter anyone trying to scry them from afar, blurring the picture so much I could barely make out the size of their host. And this was using direct light reflected from them, it would probably be worse if I relied on a more aspect-based light qi technique.

I still felt stupid for not realizing they had to have something like this earlier. It explained at least part of why the military leadership had so little intelligence. I knew there were formations set up at the borders, but none to cover the area the nomads had moved through, and setting up one to combat their defenses took time. They still could have done it earlier, but I’d cut them some slack.

More importantly, we had similar formations covering the army. I’d participated in setting them up myself, since there were too few light qi cultivators with enough skill. And our plan relied on concealing our army’s strength.

“We’re getting close,” I said to Aston. “How is the other forces’ status?”

“They report that everything is going to plan so far,” Aston answered. “They’re building fortifications and stepping up their defensive measures.”

I nodded. Most of the nobles’ forces had joined the soldiers left behind last time. Many of them were local nobles’ hosts coming up to the sides of the invaders’ path, anyway. Now, they helped us box the nomads in.

“We really will meet them soon, my lady,” Aston added, a faint frown on his face as he looked forward.

“Then we need to put more power into the formation,” I said. “Give the signal to start the preparations for the battle.”

I watched as Aston sent out a few qi constructs. Maybe I should have called a meeting with the various commanders, but I wasn’t feeling like it. Although, I probably shouldn’t ignore them.

While the army slowed down, I got Tenira out of the litter and had Aston bring both of us a little farther ahead. Here, we met San Hashar and a few other officers on their flying beasts or flying swords. After a minute, General Wei and a few other commanders flew up as well. They probably didn’t want to be left out of the loop.

I greeted them with a nod. “Generals. Is everything ready?”

Wei looked sober, his gaze never straying from the direction of the raiders for too long. “Yes, Your Highness. We are getting close. If they don’t change course within the next ten minutes, it will be almost impossible for them to avoid clashing with the bulk of our forces.”

Silence fell as we waited for what was to come. Beneath us, the army shifted, soldiers moving into formation to prepare for a battle. Runners flew through them and up to the officers. Whispered conversations and the glints of qi constructs filled the air around me.

After maybe three minutes, one of those conversations cut through the bustle, the officer’s voice rising. When he turned to face me and the rest, his face was set in a frown.

“News from the east?” General Wei asked.

“Yes, General. Commander Huin says they’re starting to lose sight of the enemy. They seem to have turned, heading west.”

I gritted my teeth, cursing internally. “Well, do we have reports from the western side?”

A few other officers were sending and receiving qi constructs, and conferred with the man quickly. He turned back, looking even grimmer. “Your Highness, we received word from every group except for clan Lirta. According to our reports, the nomads seem to have turned roughly west-south-west.”

“They’ll come upon our forces if they haven’t already,” General Wei said. “Probably why Lirta didn’t respond.”

“They should have sent word as soon as they sighted them,” another general added. “Perhaps they thought they could hold the nomads back by themselves? Their young master is untried, but they insisted on putting him in charge.”

I rubbed my temple. Probably someone being an idiot, right. And this was going so well, too. Although the nomads might punch through in any case.

“Well, let’s not stand around waiting,” I said. Then I looked to my former guard. “San Hashar, scramble your people and reinforce our perimeter. The goal is to keep the nomads tied down, but don’t risk yourself or your soldiers if you’re outmatched.”

San Hashar saluted and flew away without wasting any time.

They were our fastest. Hopefully, they’d be enough for a bit. I watched her fly off for a moment, then turned back. Wei was already barking orders, turning the army around.

I didn’t know if we would be able to cut the nomads off, but they were certainly giving it a good try. The army shifted in record time. Then the soldiers started running faster. I watched while Aston sped our platform up to keep pace.

Still, there was only so much speed a group of thousands of people could muster. On their own, all of those soldiers could have probably covered more ground. But although the wagons fell behind, there were a few hiccups that slowed the army down. The terrain didn’t help, either. We had to cross a sharp gorge, rocky walls and steep, slippery hills rising before us. The plan had been to funnel the nomads though it, and help our efforts to box them in. Maybe that was a mistake.

I took out my telescope again, trying to get a glimpse of the enemy army. But I couldn’t. The terrain didn’t help. I could almost make out the fortifications the nobles’ forces had thrown up, though. My guts tightened as I considered that the nomads might have moved too quickly.

And we still had no word from clan Lirta’s task force. Maybe they’d been overrun completely, their communication device destroyed.

Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. I looked to the officers around me. “I’ll take a detachment of high-stage cultivators ahead, as an advance force. Aston will carry me along, and my guards should be able to keep up.”

They didn’t even look surprised anymore. In fact, I suspected Wei was glad I’d be out of his hair while he wrangled the army. He barked a few orders, and I quickly had a few officers in the sixth or seventh stage with me, scrambling their units.

The Imperial Guard surrounded me like a swarm of insects, until I could barely make out anything of the world beyond them. I grabbed onto Aston’s arm as he accelerated us rapidly. We shot higher into the sky, and sped ahead of the main body of the army. I could sense the soldiers in formation around us. They’d put my group into the center. A few guards escorted Tenira behind me. Soon, we had crossed the ridge, and I could feel a few scattered qi presences.

The guards around me slowed down, and Aston moved me forward until we came out at the front of the group, which opened to show me what lay before us. I sucked in a deep breath.

In the skies beyond, I could see a few figures darting through the air. A squad of soldiers I recognized as San Hashar’s flew just above the ground, spreading out over the location. I could see it had once been a fortified camp, probably thrown up quickly as soon as their commanders figured out where the nomads would move. A few ditches gaped open like scars in the earth. The earthen rampart had so many holes and indentations it looked more like a chain of hills. A few sheets of cloth flapped around, some of them burning. Wooden planks and the remains of low stone walls dotted the area, making the footing even more treacherous. All of them were still filled with qi. A few half-collapsed towers leaned over it all, probably built of materials taken from some spirit beasts.

“Aston, take me down,” I said.

We’re too late. There’s no mistaking that. The nomads are long past, and San Hashar’s people can’t fight all of them on their own. I guess they’ll return soon. Most of them.

On the ground, I pulled the hem of my robe over my nose to keep the smoke out. It pervaded everything, coming from smoldering cloth and wood. Worse, it carried the odor of burnt flesh.

I stepped through the ruins of the fortification, looking around with both my eyes and my qi senses. The guards joined me, shifting rubble and pulling out the occasional body. Some of them coughed or had still bleeding wounds. Some of them didn’t move.

After a few meters, I reached the remnant of one of the towers. I scrutinized it quickly, then bent down and pulled out the first plank, which I quickly tossed aside. Then I removed a few more pieces of wood, small boulders and the bones of some spirit beasts. Beside me, Aston and a few other guards helped in silence.

Finally, I found what I’d been looking for. Careful not to jostle him too much, I grabbed the man beneath his shoulders and heaved him out. Aston cleared a spot with a quick gust of wind, and I set him down, looking him over carefully. A redhead in the fifth stage who looked like he was in his twenties, wearing heavily embroidered robes now decorated with rips and dust. His left leg stuck out at an odd angle, and there was a lot of blood on his face, but his chest rose and fell with deep, steady breaths.

I stepped back to let one of the guards who worked as a healer take care of the noble. Water affinity qi flowed out of his hands into the man’s wounds. It didn’t take long for him to open his eyes, drawing deep gasps of air.

The guard stepped back as the man rose to his feet, swaying just a bit, and steadied himself. He looked around with wide eyes.

“Lirta Veno?” I asked, crossing my arms.

He gulped and dropped to his knees. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“The nomads overran your task force,” I stated the obvious. “Why didn’t you call for help earlier?”

He dropped his eyes to the ground, shame or grief twisting his face. “They were so fast, Your Highness …” He took a deep breath. “I thought I could take them, beat them back so the plan would still work. I thought I’d prove that I could do it alone, leading my warriors, not having to call for help like a wimp. My clan gave me this responsibility, I wouldn’t fail them.”

“But you did,” Aston said, his voice harsh.

Lirta closed his eyes. “Yes, I did.”

By now, most of the remaining soldiers had gathered around, standing around us in orderly ranks. Further off, I could feel the combined qi signatures making up the army approach. They’d be here in a minute.

I almost felt bad for Lirta. He’d just lost most of his warriors, and many of them had to be acquaintances or friends. But he’d been an idiot. I couldn’t just let him get away with that even if I wanted to.

“You didn’t just fail, you disobeyed an order,” I said, the words tasting like ash on my tongue. “All of the task groups were explicitly commanded to report in once they spotted the enemy, and if the nomads changed their course. If you’d raised the alarm quickly, then reinforcements may have been here in time to hold them long enough for the army to arrive. We may have still forced them into battle.”

Lirta pressed his forehead to the ground. “This one can never express the depths of his shame and regret.”

“The humiliation of this loss is not enough punishment for not following orders. A public whipping in the camp tonight,” I commanded. He’s in the fifth stage, that’s not going to bother him for more than a week even if they use special tools. “Hopefully, you’ll learn from your mistakes.”

Then I turned away and left him in the dirt as I walked out of the ruined encampment. I took out my flying sword and ascended into the air, flying upward far enough I could watch the army’s arrival.

We didn’t have to wait long for San Hashar to return. A few minutes after I’d rejoined the commanders at an impromptu strategy meeting, she flew into camp with most of her soldiers. Many of them sported some sign of battle. They couldn’t have much qi left.

San Hashar herself looked grim as she reported on her advance. It was pretty much as I’d feared. The nomads had overrun Lirta’s force, the fight not slowing them down for long. San Hashar had caught up barely in time to engage their rear guard. They’d retreated as soon as it became clear that there was little they could do.

“The nomads are scattering,” she concluded. “I stayed long enough to see most of it and left a few of my soldiers behind to watch.”

Damnit. I took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching my fists.

For a moment, I considered having the army chase them straight away. But that would be idiotic even by the standards of my decisions in this campaign. The nomads had obviously planned for this, were moving in prearranged groups. Even if we knew the details, it wouldn’t be easy to split the army well enough to chase them effectively. I risked defeat in detail, or whatever the term was.

But we were going to have to split the army, probably. I really wasn’t looking forward to fighting some inverse guerrilla war.