fifth day."
"That is sufficient. We will see you then." Anastasie gave Erik and Solomon each a look in turn, one promising death while the other promised violence.
"Phenomenal." Mathieu rolled his eyes and turned away from her, snapping once to get Vincent's attention. "Everybody, load up!" He took Solomon's hand and headed for the boat at the front. His unit climbed into it, Jo sitting at the back with the small motor. It wasn't silent, but Mathieu would be able to wrap them in energy and dull the sound.
Once his squad and Avanon's started the attack, silence wouldn't matter any longer. "All right, forward we go." Mathieu sat back and leaned against Solomon. He had never been on a boat, but the moment it pulled away the bank, swaying slightly, he knew that he hated it.
He groaned as it rocked, closing his eyes. "Sol, tell me when I need to work."
"I've got you." Solomon's arms tightened around him. "No worries."
Mathieu was quickly discovering that whether his eyes were open or closed, his was equally nauseated. Taking deep gulps of air, he did the math and realized that he'd be on this boat for nearly an hour. If that wasn't making him panic, the realization that the invasion was actually happening, and the sheer impossibility of it would. In his infinite wisdom, he had decided that Zurn was the best place to start because it was accessible by river, isolated by the dense forest around it, and was the main supply line for the officer outposts in both resources and people. What he hadn't thought of was the practicality of it. Zurn had the second largest population in Unith, it was an impacted city due to the restrictions of the forest and river, it had one of highest concentrations of military personnel. Taking it with only seven fighters would be completely undoable; but they had to.
Turning slightly in his seat, he could see Avanon's group in the boat behind them. While they waited for the suns to rise in the forest, the forward group would use the cover of night to approach Zurn while Avanon’s unit would position themselves around Dirve with a group of Anastasie’s fighters. A separate force of Anastasie's would take the lower guard posts. In theory, all three attack points would be hit at once, crippling Unith's military force and leaving their rear flank relatively secure against surprise or retaliatory attacks.
Solomon touched his shoulder as the first guard post came into view.
Mathieu nodded and stood, lifting a hand into the air to signal Ayame to cloak the boat he was on, then planted his feet, wrapping their boat in protective energy. They moved against the far bank, but slowed slightly to help dull the motor further.
The guard post was about halfway to their disembarking point. Fortunately, this level of energy manipulation was simple and mind-numbing for Mathieu now, making it easy for him to stay alert as they passed. Enak reached out and put a hand on the boat, muttering softly under his breath. Mathieu wasn't sure what the boy did, but the boat began to cut through the water faster with no change in the noise level.
They kept the boats cloaked until they were a fair distance passed. Sighing, Mathieu sat back down beside Solomon, still not liking the way the boat swayed.
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Mathieu sat on the floor of the Forest of Zurn with Solomon. They had scratched out a rough map of Zurn from his memory, even though he’d only visited once. It had been during the time he’d spent with Avian, but he could clearly recall how at the center there was a large, square building with a courtyard; it was the building that the military force lived in, making it the primary target for the attack. The rest of the city was a giant shanty town of share-walled houses and chain link fences. He was pretty sure that if they could get passed the shanty town without getting boxed in, they could use the courtyard in the military compound to their advantage, drawing the forces in without hurting any civilians.
Sitting back from their makeshift map, he looked over at Solomon who had been sharpening his hooked swords as they spoke. He smiled softly and lay back on the ground, closing his eyes; there was only a limited time to sleep before the invasion started, and not hurling while on the boat had taken a monumental effort. Yawning widely, he reached out with his mind to