31. Callum #2
“We leave in three days for The Rift,” Elion stated as he sat near the king.
We were in the war room at the Guild’s headquarters, sitting around the table alongside the top generals and soldiers of the King of Aurum’s army.
I’d attended too many briefings in this room during my time with the Guild, yet never with this many high-profile angels all sitting around one table.
“And this plan,” King Alarix interrupted. “You’re confident it will work? It seems fairly simple?” he questioned, and my eyes cut toward Axel, watching as he struggled to rein in the laughter I could tell was threatening to spill out.
Never, in the centuries I’d been working for Elion, had I ever dared to question a plan Elion had proposed. But then again, I wasn’t the King of Aurum, so it had never been my place.
“Simple?” one of his generals cut in. “We’ll be moving targets. If we don’t start on the offense, our numbers will be cut down instantaneously.”
“I am certain the plan will prevail,” Elion replied with the confidence only the master of the Aurelian Guild could muster when speaking with Alarix.
“Aeternus himself has given me instructions for how this battle is to play out, should we wish to take Solis Quarter and vanquish the corrupt darkness shrouding the land. And unless you lack faith in the Eternal himself, General . . .” Elion’s tone was sharp as his eyes cut to the male who contradicted his proposal.
“I suggest you simply take the orders and instruct your men accordingly.”
“Very well,” Alarix stated as he pushed up from the table. “I’ve heard all I need to. All final details can be discussed with the Commander.” He indicated to the male to his left. “I will get the information I need from him once details have been finalized.”
Elion nodded as Alarix walked out the door of the war room, four soldiers following after him as he exited.
Elion spun, tapping against the table, before a holographed map appeared in the center of the table for all to see. The map was filled with numerous entry points to The Rift, along with lines indicating the routes to be taken and the ideal locations to set up our base camp.
“All right,” he began as he motioned toward The Rift access closest to Guild headquarters. “Let’s go over the plan once more.”
The next few hours of our evening were spent poring over the maps, organizing flight commands, and discussing potential flaws in the battle plans.
The cohorts were assigned and numbered, the logic being that we would fly around The Wall in cohorts based on our affinities rather than our affiliations in Aurum, with our strongest affinity determining the cohort we were assigned to.
Which, for me, meant I would fly alone.
“I fail to see how you expect us to transport all units of soldiers over The Rift without being spotted and without losing any soldiers,” Alarix’s Commander, Drachen, stated for the second time, his eyes narrowing on the proposed flight path.
“The Rift is not merely a mist that we must fly through. It is a divide of nightmares and chaos, where angels have plummeted to their deaths by unseen forces.”
“Your soldiers all fly in tactical flight patterns, do they not, Commander?” Elion’s tone was unmistakable as he stared at the commander, whose eyes narrowed at the comment.
“They do,” he replied tightly. “You know the king’s angels are highly trained. The concern is not their training, but rather The Rift itself. Unless your Guild has discovered a safe way to travel the abyssal darkness that looms between our city.”
“We haven’t,” I interrupted as both males turned my direction.
“But the Guild has discovered that those who follow the Eternal all report seeing a golden light that guides them through the darkness. I’m not saying the journey is without peril or danger, but, it is how we’ve managed to travel The Rift on numerous missions, without losing a single spy.
” I emphasized the last words as I held the commander’s gaze.
“A light?” the commander stated. “That is the instruction I’m to give my men?”
“Only if you wish for them to survive The Rift,” I replied, my eyes narrowing on the male. “Should they have faith in the Eternal, they should make it across safely.”
He gave a single nod, and Elion continued to speak.
“Now, with that taken care of, the units will arrive, setting up the war camps in the deserts, here.” He indicated a spot far from the main section of The Wall.
“This area will provide enough ground to camp for the duration of the attack. Our soldiers won’t be visible, even with Solis Quarter monitoring from the tops of The Wall. ”
“And you plan for both the Guild and the King’s army to hold camp there each night, following the flight?” Commander Drachen questioned.
Elion nodded in confirmation. “The instructions provided by Aeternus were detailed. Our execution must proceed directly as instructed for the mission to go off successfully.”
Heads nodded in understanding around the table.
“Yes,” Drachen replied, his tone clipped.
“Our men will circle around The Wall once a day for six days. They are to fly in their cohorts, affinity by affinity, and circle The Wall once daily for six days, returning directly to the war camp once they’ve completed the singular loop around The Wall.
There will be no blood spilled during these days, no displays of power, no affinities to be wielded. ”
“Correct,” Elion confirmed. “We do not attack, we do not advance, we do not shed blood. We simply fly around The Wall once a day, letting the presence of our angels be seen by all in Solis.”
“We are simply to circle The Wall?” Axel questioned as he drummed his fingers on the table’s surface, studying the map of Solis Quarter.
“Yes,” Elion confirmed. “What Aeternus commands, we shall heed.”
“For six days, our men will circle around The Wall surrounding Solis Quarter,” Commander Drachen confirmed. “Flying through the desert sands, and alongside The Rift, displaying no signs of advancing or their affinities?”
Elion nodded.
“And on the seventh day?”
“Then we attack?” Axel spoke into the silence, and Elion shot my second a scathing look of reprimand.
“Not at first,” Elion scolded. “We will fly around The Wall seven times until Aeternus gives the land over to us.”