with non-fatal wounds had been lost while fighting to escape the Darrowans. The Third was in better shape, but their losses would still be considered a devastating blow in any normal world.
They’d been to hell and back, and now they were quick stepping through brambles and small trees to meet those who had meant to ambush them face-to-face. As he saw it all, Will’s heart surged in his chest and he couldn’t help but encourage them. Lifting his head to the sky, he sang out loudly, letting his magic carry the words out for all the world to hear, “March for glory, brothers! Live or die, we’ll make sure they never forget we were here!”
A shout echoed back from the lines, and the Terabinians began moving even faster, though they remained in step and in line. Will held out some hope that an answering shout might come from ahead, a response from the Second and Sixth, but his ear heard nothing in that direction. Even the Shimerans remained hidden, crouched in a low region where the ground dipped slightly. They wouldn’t be able to remain hidden, for they would be easily spotted at a hundred yards or so, but it was enough to be devastating for an unsuspecting opponent. Will hoped they didn’t realize their position was actually known.
As they marched, breaks occurred here and there, when trees or other obstacles intervened, but they quickly closed as soon as the soldiers passed them. Looking over his shoulder, Will could see that the Darrowan divisions had sped up considerably. As he watched, they went from a similar pace to an outright charge, trying to close the distance just before Will and his soldiers ran up against the unseen Shimerans.
He grinned. They were too late. There was still a third of a mile between them.
And then things went to shit, as another demon-fueled illusion dissipated, and Will saw what really lay in front of them.
A line of heavily armored men rose up from the tall grass, less than thirty yards ahead of the Terabinian line. The Shimerans had shifted their position during the night. Will’s mind shot into high gear as the world seemed to slow around him.
They’d make contact in ten seconds, maybe less. Adding in the change in location, the Second and Sixth were probably several minutes farther away than he’d hoped, and there was still no sign of them in the distance. Meanwhile, the Darrowans were about two minutes away from chewing into their flanks.
He’d planned on sending the skirmishers back to make a quick feint at the Darrowans, forcing them to slow temporarily, but that wouldn’t be nearly enough of a delay now. They could still handle the chaotic Shimeran heavy infantry, but only if they didn’t have to fight on two sides.
“Shields up, enemy to the front! Brace for it! Skirmishers, stay close; sorcerers, force-walls to the rear!” The orders tumbled out of his mouth in quick succession. They weren’t orders Will was meant to give. They were orders for sergeants and junior officers to relay after receiving the proper signals, but there was no time for that. Turyn shifted and shimmered as far as the eye of a mage could see, and Will’s commands reached every ear, friend or foe.
And the men of Terabinia took heed. They pushed forward while their sorcerers cast a long line of force-walls behind them to block the advance of the Darrowan army.
But the Shimeran priest also heard his orders. Seeing, and hearing, that the Terabinians were devoting their magical assets and defenses to the rear, they took it as a lucky sign. Will felt his skin tingle as power gathered, and a split second later, black flames exploded from multiple points along the Shimeran line, racing to engulf the front line of the Terabinian army.
The two forces were still ten yards apart, and Will knew all too well how devastating void-fire could be. Not only did it burn, like its opposite, elemental fire, but it was poisonous to living creatures. The smallest of burns guaranteed a slow, painful death.
Arrogan had spoken to him before, about shifting turyn and altering currents, causing enemy casters to miss their targets, but this was too close, too immediate. He could also absorb the flames closest to him, saving ten or twenty, but the rest would be devastated.
“—the limiting factor is the amount of available turyn.” Those had been Arrogan’s words, though Will didn’t consciously remember them. There was no time. He simply reacted. His