Spark of War (Progression Fantasy)

With the staging area secure and free of the Depths – for now – the generals sent scouts out across the island to identify what the offensive would be up against. Meanwhile, Sol and a pair of the cannonbulls dismantled the nearest small ring with extreme prejudice. As best they'd determined, only destroying the big rings carried any real risk with it, and they couldn't afford to leave the Spark-sucking things in the midst of their troops.

Laze watched the destruction from where she hovered in the air. This town – what was left of it – where they gatewayed in was one of the same ones they'd passed with El the first time they'd been to Wirock. Now, with groundies stomping around to clear out the few buildings still standing, and Firestorm spread across the sky keeping watch, it was an entirely different scene than before. If she remembered correctly, they were about two-thirds of the way from the shore towards the central city where the Fathom's ring lay protected.

"How it's looking?" Nidina asked as the other woman glided up to hover next to Laze.

"The resistance coming through wasn't bad. Minor injuries, but no casualties," Laze said. "Those first few wings of Firestorm punched through and gave the groundies the breathing room they needed. From there it was just mop up."

"No clickers then?"

"None. Which the generals are saying isn't surprising. Why would they need their leaders deep in their own territory? They probably went out with the forces to intercept the ships on their way here."

"When do you think they'll notice it's a feint?"

"Hopefully not for another hour or two, at least," Laze said. "Firestorm could reach the big ring, but our groundies will take longer, and… hold on. Info coming in." Laze held up a hand for Nidina to wait while she listened to the reports from different scouts.

"I don't like the look on your face," Nidina said.

"The Depths that went out to intercept the ships didn't go as far as we thought," Laze said. "Seems they're waiting for the ships to get closer to Wirock before they attack."

"That could make sense," Nidina replied. "If the sacrifices are coming to them anyway, why waste effort going out to meet them? Our own ships would save them trouble transporting the prisoners…" even as she said it, both of the Firestorm looked down at the thousands of Sparks below them.

"They may've also noticed no Firestorm escorting the ships," Laze said. "I should've thought of that. The hangnails and seawyrms don't seem too bright, but the clickers would figure out something was strange."

"What about in the other direction? Do the generals have orders?"

Laze sighed. "We're going ahead with the plan. The road ahead is relatively clear. A few packs of the Depths to cut through, but nothing outside what we expected."

"We need to destroy the ring," Nidina replied. "But, you don't agree?"

"What you said about the Sparks coming here on their own, it rings a little too true. Once we move away from this gateway, we lose our exit. Sure, the Firestorm can escape, but the groundies and Pilish? They don't have that luxury. We know the Depths out to intercept the ships will notice what we're doing, eventually, and come after us. The whole point of the ships is for us to get a lead.

"But, I thought they'd go further. What if they're smarter than we're giving them credit for? This could be a trap."

"Or it could be your imagination," Nidina said slowly, though the tone of her voice suggested she didn't really think it. "Thoughts?"

"The generals are right," Laze admitted. "We need to push ahead. Trap or not, this is our chance to slam the door shut on the Fathom. Besides, Nexin and El are already on the way to the northern ring to deal with the avatar."

"How long until we move out?"

"Less than two minutes," Laze said. "Are the wings ready to go? Sol?"

"Ready here," Dayne responded.

"Mine is too," Nidina said.

"The ring is destroyed, with no cataclysmic repercussions," Sol added, swooping in to join the two women.

"Cataclysmic repercussions were a possibility?" Nidina asked quietly, looking a little nervously at how close they hovered to where the ring had stood.

"Okay, people," Laze said over the open channel to the three wings under her. "Form up on Sol. Remember, our priority is keeping him safe no matter what. Scouts are only seeing hangnails and seawyrms, but that doesn't mean clickers aren't out there. It's going to be a running fight, so don't let your guard down."

"And," Nidina chimed into the public channel. "Keeping Laze safe is our second-most priority. Not only is she our commander and El's best friend – yeah, that El – she's also important to Nexin. Unless any of you want to get on his bad side…"

Laze punched her friend in the shoulder, causing the other woman to waver a bit in the air before several chuckles sounded over the communication magic.

"Everybody other than Nidina's wing can and should ignore what Nidina said," Laze said. "Protect Sol, then protect each other. In that order."

Almost four dozen salutes snapped towards her in unison.

As if that was a signal, the ground forces began moving out, the troops quickly picking up the pace to a spirited jog as the lines stretched towards the west. Artillery and cannonbulls followed suit, the weapons at the ready for the first sign of the Depths.

"Will the Pilish troops be able to keep up?" Nidina asked.

In response, Laze pointed towards boxy vehicles with open backs, a hundred Pilish soldiers packed into each one. "Their Sparks aren't strong enough to maintain the groundie pace," Laze said. "So, they brought those personnel carriers. Once the fighting starts, they'll have to leave them behind. But, until we need them, they'll be traveling in practical luxury."

Nidina actually scoffed at her. "Luxury for groundies is marching to battle. I was talking to some of them as we were forming up, and you'd be surprised how many were looking forward to a bit of action."

"Yeah, I can see that," Laze said, then opened up her channel again. "Loose spread. Sol in the middle. Eyes out."

The three wings followed her orders with practiced, military precision, while other wings fanned out in every direction. It would be impossible to miss the hundreds of flaming wings dotting the sky, but the generals – and Laze – felt it would be better to see a threat coming instead of trying to sneak past it and stumbling right into its jaws.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Not even two miles outside of the town, the first message passed along the communication lines.

"Contact, north side," the unnamed scout said. "Hangnails only."

"Wings thirteen and fourteen," General Cannon responded. "Take care of them quickly. Don't chase any that flee."

"Understood," a new voice said, and the sounds of fiery ordnance echoed from the north.

"We've got our first sortie," Laze communicated to her wing-commanders. "North side. The battle is going to attract attention, but I don't want anything sneaking through. Nidina, you keep your eyes north. Dayne, I want your people watching the other directions."

"Got it," Nidina said.

"Understood," Dayne added, and the two wings slightly repositioned.

Laze's wing, meanwhile, kept Sol in their center.

Less than a minute later, an all-clear call came over the communication line. The small group of hangnails and wyrms had been cleared out without much trouble. From the sounds of things, they hadn't even gotten close enough to spot the groundie convoy.

So far, so good.

Then another contact message came, again on the north side, and Cannon dispatched two new wings to intercept. This group seemed a little larger, though it was still mostly hangnails, and they died in droves before they had a chance to get within a mile of the convoy.

All the while, the groundies continued on at an incredible pace considering they weren't flying. The artillery cut a low profile while it wasn't deployed, and the soldiers ran along at a pace that was burning-near a full sprint for anybody without a powerful Spark. And they'd keep up the speed for days if they had to. The Pilish Ashes looked able to keep up for the time being, but bringing the transport vehicles for the regular Pilish troops had been a smart move.

Just as the most recent engagement was cleaned up, two more contacts came in. While both on the north side, they were spread out, with one closer to the front of the line, and the other nearer the back. As Laze considered that, she spotted a change in the terrain ahead, the relative plains they'd been crossing getting replaced by a thick forest.

Laze had passed over such forests on her initial visit to Wirock with El and the others, but passing over was very different from passing through. General Cannon seemed to have similar thoughts, his orders coming out a few seconds after the engagement reports.

"Forest limits air support and these northern sorties could just be a coincidence, or they could be a distraction," Cannon said. "Wings one and two, head in low through the forest to scout ahead. If you encounter serious resistance, disengage immediately. Groundie forces, continue ahead with ambush protocols in effect.

"Wings nineteen and twenty, northwest. Seven and eight, you've got northeast. Wing ten, I want you scouting further ahead along the north side. We're seeing too much activity from that approach, and I want to know why."

"Yes, Sir," a chorus of responses came through the communication magic, and the seven wings moved to their assigned tasks.

Just like that, almost half the Firestorm force had been deployed from the central group. It was a lot, but the core was nowhere near defenseless.

"Rest of you," Cannon continued. "Stay well above the canopy. We don't know what's hiding in there, and I want us past it as quickly as possible.

"Signs of Depths' presence within the forest," the sergeant of Firestorm wing one said. "No heavy resistance encountered, but it'll draw attention."

Almost as if on cue, a small section of trees went up in flames, one of the wing's explosive arrows practically incinerating it. At that point, the groundie force had started entering the woods, and Cannon split two more wings to parallel the road and prepare for carpet bombing. They had gotten decent maps of the area from the Vestis library – though there could be alterations – but combined with the intel from wings one and two, they'd partake in some large-scale deforestation if they needed to.

Cannon kept those tactics in reserve for now, and the sounds of gunfire and combat began ringing out from the trees below Laze.

"Should we help?" Nidina asked.

"Hold position," Laze returned. "Wings have already been deployed for this. "Let's get some additional altitude though. Seawyrms could be hiding in there, and I don't want to give them an easy target."

Arching her back slightly, Laze led her wings higher into the sky, about halfway to the dark clouds rumbling above. Lightning sparked between them, but none fell towards the ground yet. Even the rain seemed to be holding off, though the humidity in the air had steadily climbed. There was a storm coming, and it was going to be a burning-bad one. Luckily, the wind picking up didn't much affect the magic of the Firestorm, and her flame armor kept her relatively comfortable.

Which almost made her feel guilty as she looked down at the woods, flashes from the Pilish weapons and bursts of flame signalling the ongoing combat. From the sounds of the unit commanders, though, it all seemed to be well within expected parameters, and very much under control. The two wings that had scouted ahead scythed through the few groups they'd found on the open road. The groundie troops, meanwhile, had made short work of the stragglers coming out of the literal woodwork.

Even if there was an army of the Depths hidden within the woods, they were coming so infrequently they posed more of a target-practice challenge than a threat. Quick reports signalled both the appearance and utter destruction of enemy forces as the group passed through the miles of wooded area. The near constant fighting – disparate as it was – slowed the convoy slightly, but they made it back out into the open without taking any major losses. All the while, more groups were spotted and eliminated along the northern edge of the procession.

They'd only been traveling for about an hour, but they'd eliminated hundreds of hangnails, and more than a dozen seawyrms – though all of those had been in the north. Everything was going according to plan.

Which, quite frankly, made Laze nervous.

"It's going well," Nidina said on a private connection.

"It is," Laze agreed, even as three more northern notifications came across the scout line. Cannon had moved to only sending one wing each to engage, the firepower more than enough to overpower what they were encountering. And, with the sheer number of groups they were running into along the northern line, they couldn't afford to send two for each.

Then a new message came over the line – the advance scouts had found a force of hangnails and seawyrms dug into defensive positions. The terrain would slow the groundies and make the fighting brutal… except they were almost entirely exposed from above. A few wings of Firestorm could devastate the Depths before the convoy even arrived. There were a number of seawyrms to make the aerial bombardment a bit more difficult, but the advance scout team was confident in a Firestorm offensive coming out clearly on top.

"Any sign of clickers?" Laze asked over the scout channel, her first time asking anything.

"Just swarms of hangnails and near two-dozen seawyrms."

"Hrm," Laze said without closing off the channel.

"Problem?" Cannon asked, his deep voice practically vibrating the communication magic.

"Maybe. If they're dug in, that suggests planning. Planning means clickers, so where are they?" Laze asked. Unfortunately, nobody had an answer.

"Keep an eye out for the leaders," Cannon finally said. "Wings five through ten, move up to join the advance squad. Eliminate all opposition before the convoy arrives. Permission to use PICs granted, dependant on Sergeants' judgement. Go."

With that, dozens of flaming wings shot ahead to engage.

"Since we're seeing increased seaywrm presence below, I want you higher up again," Cannon's voice came over Laze's direct comms.

"Yes, Sir," Laze said, again leading her wings closer to the hanging clouds, even as three more contacts in the north came across the communication channel.

"You have that look on your face," Nidina said. "I can see it from here, which means something is really bugging you."

Laze could feel herself grimace, even though she was trying not to. Nidina was right, something was bothering her… but what was it?

"I don't know, it's just…"

"A gut feeling?" Nidina interrupted in her best El impression. It was actually pretty good.

"Yes," Laze said. "What does El do when she gets one?"

"Hits things, usually."

"Not a lot to hit up here. Don't think punching clouds will help us," she said as she looked above her. The dark clouds were so close now, a small burst of speed and she could be up and through them before anybody even noticed. If plans were going the way they were supposed to, that was exactly what El was doing to hide her movements from the Depths below.

… hide movements…?

Burn it!

"Nidina, take you wing and check above the clouds," Laze said, ice crawling up her spine. "We've been assuming we had the high ground the whole time, but the clickers can fly too."

"I… oh burn it," Nidina said, then went silent before her whole wing flashed with power and shot up through the clouds. Almost immediately her voice came back over the open channel, a hard tone lacing her words. "Incoming from above! I repeat, incoming from above! Clickers."

"How many?" Laze asked.

"… hundreds," Nidina replied.