Location: The Great Northern Peninsula.
POV: Lilith.
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"I'm gonna freeze my tits off in this weather," I grumbled while scratching my ass.
Ren stood beside me in a massive fur coat.
He didn't wear any armor because he was one of those people who preferred to live like his enemies.
It's a shame because I was really hoping to steal his combat armor if he died. It would've looked great on Lafayette.
Ren pressed a finger on the map that sat between us. It was at the base of the great northern peninsula. And packed with marshes.
"A battle here isn't ideal for our infantry. The elves specialize in guerrilla warfare and with this new 'ghost of the north' running around, I'm not eager to give up an advantage."
The other officers around the table stared at the map with hesitant expressions.
Ren moved his finger to the 'golden path'. It was a wide, unbroken stretch of land that connected the northern peninsula to the main continent.
"This would be better for our infantry, but it's also the route the elves expected us take. I do not doubt that they have gathered the majority of their forces here."
He looked up from the map and around the tent. "I want to hear why we should take either path, maybe one of you can come up with an alternative."
One officer raised his hand. "Sir, what if we wait for the marshes to freeze?"
Ren sighed, his breath visible in the frigid air. "That'll take two months, I don't want to be here that long."
"Besides," I interjected. "I don't think we'll need to wait."
Ren raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"
I grinned. "It's simple, I fly over their battle lines—"
Ren frowned and cut me off. "If you're ignorant enough to believe they haven't prepared for an attack from above, I don't need you in this tent."
I ignored him. "I'll sack their closest village. Think about it, we massacre a few civilians and put their army in a lose-lose situation. Either they abandon their choke point or let their children drown."
Ren shook his head.
"We need those villages just as much as they do. They can provide food and shelter."
I groaned. "You're overthinking this. I didn't ask to burn down every single village. Just one, the closest one they can see. What do we have to lose?"
Ren fell into a contemplative silence as his hand stroked his chin.
I placed a hand on the table and leaned close. "Worst case scenario, they expect me and I have to turn around. Best case, I save hundreds of lives and time."
"No, the worst case scenario is the ghost finds you," Ren replied. "In case you've forgotten, he's the one who killed Triton."
He leaned close. "The same man who had 60 years of experience and mastery over all bloodline techniques.
I scoffed. "Triton was an old fart who believed in honor and fairness. He probably challenged that elf to a duel and lost. I don't plan on doing that."
Ren stared into my eyes for a long time, before eventually raising his hands. "Fine, go. But know this, no one will attend your funeral."
I laughed as I turned to leave. "Please, I know one man who'll attend." Outside of the tent, I was greeted with the biting cold of our camp.
Imperial soldiers marched in uniform while eating shitty rations and making jokes. I marched past them into the dragoon's section of the camp.
It was much quieter here.
"Captain." A sergeant raised his hand.
I stopped before the sergeant. "Find Pixie, Dan, Reaper, Jax, and Julie. Tell them to join me at the launch point."
The sergeant saluted with a hand across his chest plate. "Ma'am!"
He marched off.
I watched him go with narrowed eyes, before continuing towards the launch point.
It was a large clearing. I stepped into the center and raised my hand. A sphere spun in my palm before growing into my mouth.
"Captain, you called for us?" Five dragoons stepped into the clearing. I glanced over my shoulder.
"I did, we have a mission." I climbed onto my mount. "Summon your mounts, I'll explain on the way."
The dragoons nodded and raised their hands.
Five water mounts were summoned. They were slightly smaller than mine, but still impressive nonetheless.
"Hup! Hup!"
I launched myself into the gray sky, and my unit followed closely behind. Once in the sky we formed a V-Formation.
"Our target is Jalak village!" I explained, my voice cracking through the commutation runes on our collars.
"The goal is simple, break them. Cause as much destruction as possible. Kill, steal, hell even fuck a few if you think it'll get the job done. By the time we're finished, the elves either fall back to defend their homes, or their families are left to our whims."
I looked over my shoulder. "Understood?"
"Ma'am!"
I grinned.
"Now keep the chatter to a minimum. We don't want the elves to pick up our conversation on their stones."
"Aye!"
This was the only time I truly felt alive, when there was adrenaline in my system and blood on my blade.
Well, this, and when Lafayette is staring at me like I'm a piece of meat. I wonder if that boy knows what he's doing to me.
No matter, we'll revisit the subject when he's older.
We must've been flying for 10-15 minutes when I finally saw smoke rising from deep within a forest.
A village.
My heart began racing. This was it.
I banked hard to the left. "Target spotted! Dive, dive, dive!" Our formation descended towards the village and it was exactly as I expected.
Women, children, and the elderly. They stared into the sky with fingers pointed up at us, at me.
Then, the screams followed.
*"They're here!"* One of the women shouted as she scooped up her child and ran into a longhouse.
*"By the goddess, Gen was right!"* Another shouted.
She raised her hands and fired a beam of spirit magic towards me. I banked right and smashed my dragon into a longhouse.
CRASH!
Wood, charcoal, and water went flying in all directions. I rolled through the rubble and jumped to my feet.
The other dragoons descended on the village and soon the snow ran red with elven blood.
I summoned a whip of pressured water from the remnants of my mount and fired it into the support beam of an adjacent building.
The roof fell in on itself and crushed any unfortunate souls inside. "Spread out!" I roared with a laugh, "Don't leave a single building standing!"
An elf rushed at me with a pitchfork, and I sliced her head from her shoulders.
Pixie and Jax were laughing as they chased a few children into a crumbling structure. Reaper, sliced through the village militia with a cold proficiency.
It was a massacre, a beautiful, bloody massacre.
This was exactly the kinda moral booster we needed after spending so long in this frozen wasteland.
I cornered a young elf armed with a long bow. He was dressed in thick furs with short white hair and deep blue eyes that glowed. *"Stay back,"* he whispered with tears in his eyes.
I raised an eyebrow. "You know If you spoke imperial, I'd actually understand your pathetic cries." I drew my blade. "Instead I'll just have to kill you, it's a shame really."
I raised my blade.
The boy shook with fear but held my gaze. It was strange, why wasn't this kid scared? Why wasn't he screaming?
Wait a minute, why isn't anyone screaming?
I looked over my shoulder to see that the village had fallen silent. Behind me were five heads.
Pixie, Dan, Reaper, Jax, and Julie.
Dead.
What has it been, ten seconds? Ten seconds was all it took for five dragoons to die? That's impossible.
And that's when I saw him.
A figure standing in the snow with a child anchored to his leg. He was dressed in heavy furs, with long pointed ears sticking out the sides of a featureless mask.
He spoke while caressing the child's head. "You humans can be quite heartless.
I smirked. "Hey, I can help you lose yours too, just stay still." Ouro flooded to the surface of my skin to act as a shield.
The elf tilted his head. "No fear? Then you will die braver than most."
I laughed.
War really does help a girl feel alive.
[End of Arc 1: New world New me]