Disciple of War Disciple of War (Art of the Adept #4) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,159

air. The casters were ground-bound, and they tailored their illusions accordingly.

The first illusion Will had ever seen had been Arrogan’s, the day his grandfather had used it to conceal a road leading to his mother’s house. This illusion was similar in some ways, but the big difference was that it closely matched the natural turyn of the area. A regular illusion was impossible to spot with the mundane eye, unless it was poorly crafted, but it stood out easily to the turyn-sensitive eyes of a mage.

This one had been put together in an incredibly sneaky fashion. Demonic turyn, being antithetical to life, generally stood out even more sharply, but the Shimerans had found a way to use it to their advantage. The base spell seemed to draw the vital forces from anything in the area, primarily the plant life, and some of that turyn was used to produce the illusion, but a tiny portion of the void turyn was used to cancel out the turbulent flows that bled out around the edges.

The net effect was to make the illusion very difficult to spot at a distance, though it became easier for Will once he got a feel for its strange and particular patterns. His biggest question was whether it had been crafted by humans working in concert with demons, or whether the demons had simply done it themselves.

Once he realized he was about to blunder into the enemy pickets, Will froze in place and took several minutes to study his surroundings, trying to discern the enemy layout around him. The nearest sentry post held two men, and fifty yards along in either direction were two more. Will could either move along the line to try and find the end so he could circle past them, or he could slip between them and attempt to pass directly through.

He was confident enough in his skills that he decided to push straight through. Not only would that be the fastest course, but it would give him a close look at the enemy forces. It was riskier, and if the enemy soldiers were densely packed, it might wind up being disastrous, but he liked his chances. Will knew from his own time in the army how they would likely be arranged. Even if they were set for an ambush, they wouldn’t be holding a perfect shield wall while they waited. The men would be resting in place, sitting or standing with their respective units arranged in a rough order.

The lines wouldn’t form until the final horn was sounded. Then, assuming they had a similar level of discipline, the men would step up and form lines, shields, spears, reserves, and skirmishers. The reserve lines could be two or even three deep, depending on the relative length of the formation. The skirmishers usually stood at the rear, though they were frequently the first to see combat, for they would slip forward to harass the enemy before solid contact was made, throwing their short spears or javelins before retreating to the rear again.

At least that was how the Terabinians organized themselves, and while they hadn’t had an open-field battle with the Patriarch’s army yet, Will knew the Darrowans followed similar principles.

Unfortunately, his short period of self-education hadn’t dwelled much on the Shimerans, so if the soldiers here were actual mercenaries, they might use an entirely different setup. He hoped it was just the magic users that had come from Shimera, for that would mean the overall troop numbers were still in their favor.

Walking slowly, Will passed between the sentry positions. He had to stop twice, when something snapped under his feet. The silent armor spell didn’t do anything for sounds emanating from contact with objects beyond the user, such as the ground. There were higher-order spells that did, but it had never been enough of a problem for Will to invest the time in learning one. Fortunately, the sounds weren’t enough to stir the sentries from their places.

Once he was past them, Will slowed and finally stopped when he could see the main body of the enemy. Definitely not Darrowans, he decided with a grimace. Dark robes and void turyn caught his attention here and there—Shimeran priests, with their attendant demon familiars.

The soldiers were geared differently. He didn’t see anything like the skirmishers he was familiar with, but there was an abundance of crossbowmen. They were lightly armored, relying on boiled leather cuirasses on their torsos and similar greaves to protect their legs from the knee down.