“Damn them...!” He muttered furiously, pulling the thin dagger that had stirred Dawson’s brain out of the knight’s face.
“Sorry, Boss. We tried to stop them.” A middle-aged swordsman who had been along on the previous expedition sighed and made an excuse for himself.
Wyatt nodded, resisting the urge to grimace. It was vexing, but this adventurer had no authority over the others or any real duty to him. The one who’d had the authority was the knight currently lying at his feet. Not to mention it was Wyatt himself who had tried to exploit the adventurers’ greed on this mission.
“How many squads... no, how many men entered the forest?”
“More than eighty, I’d guess.”
This time, he couldn’t hide his grimace.
Reflecting on his earlier mistakes and making sure his forces on the mission included troops with a variety of equipment had backfired. In the last battle, when the chain of command had been interrupted, the adventurers had all become a mob in the blink of an eye. With that in mind, Wyatt had thought to make use of adventuring “parties,” or teams consisting of individuals who often worked together. They often had fixed members with dedicated roles and operated as a cohesive unit, trusting and cooperating with each other. Adventurers generally opposed one another as business rivals, but they were close with the others within their own party, and party leaders understood their groups and how to command them. Wyatt’s aim was to have as many of these autonomous groups as possible, even though it would be harder to manage mixed groups of support units and fighters all battling together. His plan was to treat his men like skirmishers or small platoons instead of having them fight in a close formation or a line like had been common until recently. It was a smart way to work with what was available to him, but in this case it had worked against him. Rather than an error in judgment, it was more apt to call it simple bad luck.
“This isn’t over yet...” The guildmaster in red armor grasped his jaw in one hand, covering his mouth in thought. Ever since the Five Year War, he’d preferred not to wear helmets so as not to obstruct his field of view. It was a dangerous practice, but he stood by his preference.
Gazing at the healers tending to the injured and the adventurers waiting for orders, he quickly gathered his thoughts and called together the remaining four knights, Seligman, Ashcroft, Humphreys, and Heatley.
“Seligman, Humphreys, take a hundred seventy of those remaining and continue along the river to the kobold village. If our information is right, the path should be flat, so it shouldn’t be a hard march. The enemy will likely try to lure your men into the forest again, so be prepared for that. You can proceed to attack the village when you arrive.”
“Sir!”
“Understood.”
“Ashcroft and I will take thirty and go after our diverted forces, reorganize them, and head for the village from the forest. I’ll leave thirty with you as well, Heatley. Stay here and command our rear forces in Dawson’s place. You’ll relay messages and treat the wounded here.”
Heatley looked a little miffed at being left with the rear guard, but all the young knights replied in the affirmative to Wyatt’s orders.
“The kobolds are clearly trying to pick off smaller groups of us in the forest, so Gaius Beldarus is likely waiting where they’re luring our forces. We don’t have anything to fear from anyone other than him and that woman with the black hair.” His subordinates’ expressions darkened when the name “Beldarus” came up. “I know I’m repeating myself, but Beldarus is our first priority. If we don’t take him out, all of Lady Keighley’s plans will be for naught. Any plans we have of advancement go up in smoke.”
“Is there no chance of him abandoning the village and fleeing?” Ashcroft raised his hand and asked his superior. He was growing a beard to try to hide his baby face.
“I’m afraid that’s impossible.”
“Is there some strategic reason for that?”
“No, it’s just what my gut tells me.”
“Your gut?”
“That’s right. But I’m as sure of it as I am that if I spit it’ll land on the ground. He won’t abandon those dogs. That’s not the kind of man he is. That’s why he won’t just ignore us attacking the village.” He took a breath there. “So I’m changing strategies now that the situation has changed. We’ll attack the village from two places at once with a main force and a detached force led by me. No matter where he shows up, or where he’s hiding, or what his plan is, if we attack the village, he’ll be forced to appear there.”
They were destroying the village largely because of Wyatt’s personal feelings towards Gaius. None of his subordinates knew that, though, and his new plan was sound, so the young knights all went along with it. With the number of knights they had, there was no way for them to execute any tactics more complicated than this, and if they stuck to their original plan of waiting until their full force arrived at the village before launching their attack, the over eighty soldiers that had been lured into the forest could all be killed or at best would simply be useless to them. He couldn’t just throw away a quarter of his full fighting strength before even getting started.
Having foreseen the possibility that they might have to enter the forest, Wyatt had also thought to bring along rangers, scavengers, and hunters who were familiar with the Greatwood. “Hubert’s crew are here this time too, yes? Send them with me. They should know some shortcuts from last time. Also...”
“Him?” At Seligman’s command, a small man in shackles was thrust forth out of the troops. He had a rope around his waist as well, like a criminal.
“You’re going to do some work too, Cyril. And don’t think you’ll be able to get rid of me like you did Hubert.”
The former hunter shrunk under Wyatt’s reproachful eye, trembling and nodding desperately.
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