LEGEND OF THE GODDESSES
eastern wilderness, 233 years ago
A legion of tents was set up in the forests east of Westeroceros. Groups of soldiers trotted around this large encampment in formation, and others raced through training courses and practiced combat. Song Li and Minister Giorgi walked side-by-side through the camp, matching each other perfectly in step. The great blue deer was dressed in a suit of regal golden chainmail.
"Well, you've certainly proven yourself a good trainer," Giorgi said pleasantly. "I await seeing you in combat. You and your troops. If you even need troops, hehe…"
"I'm sure I do need troops, sir," Song Li said anxiously. "You wouldn't send me into combat alone, would you?"
He smirked. "I was joking."
"Oh… okay," Song Li said in relief. "Sir, if I may ask, why is the camp divided according to species?"
"Oh, that's just common tactics, the way warfare has always been handled," said Giorgi. "We use each species' strengths to the benefit of the entire army. Moose are durable and strong but not particularly agile, so they form a phalanx, both for defense and to gain ground. Should that defense be broken, elk are better at skirmishing, while little deer serve as stealthy scouts who pass unnoticed in or out of battle. And caribou, with their boundless endurance, work the edges of a battlefield, outflanking and tiring out the enemy, picking off those who would flee. It's worked that way for centuries, with frequent success."
"I see," said Song Li. "When your kind was plentiful, what was their role?"
Giorgi raised an eyebrow at her, but shrugged it off. "Well, they did what I'm doing. They led from the front. With many times the fortitude of any of the others, we can charge in first, focusing all the enemy's attention, shrugging off assaults that would fell the other species."
"Oh my," Song Li said with little inflection. "How courageous."
"Yes, that's the idea," Giorgi agreed. "I'm trying to do that myself. Now would be the time, being the last of my kind and entering into old age and… so on. Whether I survive or fall, it's sure to be a great way to be remembered."
"So, after our training period is finished, does this mean each of my friends will be transferred to the platoon of their respective species?" Song Li asked in concern.
"No, I don't think so," Giorgi said with a confident grin. "I think you and your friends are at your best when you're working together."
"Truly?" said Song Li in surprise. "That is a very generous concession."
"It's no concession," said Giorgi. "It's to the benefit of the campaign, after all. All's fair in love and war, and with the special treatment you've been giving to your friends whilst training the troops, you've definitely formed them into the most efficient fighting squad in this army."
"Oh my," said Song Li, slouching in embarrassment. "Thank you so much for saying so, Minister."
Giorgi smiled, and his only reply was "Hrmmmm."
They stopped at a tent near the center of the encampment, where Tron, Dustin, Boomchukka, and Airball were performing combat moves against each other and some practice dummies, all of them wearing leather armor and checkered green-and-white tunics.
"Did you hear?" Song Li said to them eagerly. "Minister Giorgi is giving the five of us our own squadron!"
"Is he really?" said Tron. "Sir!"
Giorgi winked at him. "An elite fighting force needs a name. What shall you call yourselves?"
The five of them thought about it for a moment.
"Hey," Dustin said suddenly. "How about the Tines?"
"The Tines?" Tron repeated blankly.
"Yeah," Dustin said eagerly, his green eyes unusually wide and clear—the shaky elk was clearly more sober than he had been in a long time. "If that little white pixie pony guy hadn't sent us back onto school grounds, we'd have been in town when Minister Giorgi came looking for army recruits—it's because of him that we joined the army. And his name was Fork, right? So maybe we can—oh look, there he is."
They all followed his gaze. Fork was standing on top of their tent. "The Tines are named after me?" he said with a wide grin. "Oh, this just gets better and better." He vanished in his usual puff of blue magical energy.
"What in the world was that about?" Giorgi demanded. "Is he of your world, Song Li?"
"No, sir," said Song Li. "I know nothing of him. Only what Dustin said, that he urgently sent us back to the school when you were there recruiting."
"Well, that's… awfully suspect," Giorgi growled.
Suddenly, something massive and blue passed overhead, flying just over the treetops, bypassing the camp before it could be glimpsed clearly.
"His course will take him to a village outpost," Giorgi said instantly. He raised his voice to an immensely high volume that carried through the entire camp. "RIGHT THEN! I WANT ALL TROOPS IN FORMATION, WITH ME, TO INTERCEPT THAT DRAGON AT THE VILLAGE OF OUR PEOPLE! ALL RECRUITS NOT DONE WITH TRAINING SHALL HOLD OUR POSITION HERE AND ANSWER TO SONG LI! CLEAR?"
"Sir?" Song Li said in alarm.
"The griffons don't know we've gotten this far into the territory they've captured," Giorgi said sharply as the troops started rushing into formation. "The dragon will be caught off-guard, and likely defeated with my experienced troops. Your troops will simply guard our position and continue your training exercises, nothing more. Is that something you can do?"
"Yes, sir," said Song Li, dipping her head.
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The troops took several tension-filled minutes to assemble into their perfect formation. Once they had been gathered from around the camp into their even columns, Giorgi took his place at the head of the formation and they all marched out.
Song Li watched them go until the tail end of the army was out of sight. She was motionless, only the quivering of her eyes betraying any feeling at all. She heard a small pop, and turned her head to see Fork hovering in place alongside her head.
"It's sad, really," the pixie pony said with a mocking pout. "He obviously knows that the dragon would do far too much damage to that village before his troops ever got there. The place might have been decimated in the time it took the troops to just get themselves assembled."
"Indeed," Song Li said sadly. "Such is the price one pays."
"Yeah," Fork said casually. "Good thing, then, that the dragon's not really going after that village. He's just diverting them."
"What?" Song Li demanded. "Wha… what?"
"Oh, the griffons know full well that you've regained this territory," Fork said cheerfully.
"How?" Song Li squeaked.
"I told them," he said smugly. "I've arranged this little conundrum for you, to separate you from your commander-in-chief. Let's see how you and your green troops handle battle, eh?" He vanished, leaving behind the sound of his wild cackling.
"What is happening?" Song Li demanded. "What evil is this?"
Song Li froze in terror as the clouds above parted, and a huge battalion of armored griffons came screaming down from the sky in formation.
"No," Song Li squeaked. "This can't be."
The griffon formation flawlessly broke off into two sections, encircling the small portion of the camp where all the soldiers were training. Panic started breaking out, soldiers running around uncontrollably.
One griffon rose up above the rest, a petite female with yellow fur and feathers. She wore black and brown leather armor, a set of wingblades on her primary feathers, and similar blades over her front talons. "Our regards from General Brandeberg," she said smugly, before swooping in and grabbing a single deer, digging her steel claws into its neck. The rest of the army started charging in for the slaughter.
Song Li was frozen in shock, completely unmoving amidst the chaos around her.
"Song Li?" Tron said frantically, coming up alongside her. Getting no response, he raised his voice. "HAVE SOME INITIATIVE, PEOPLE, WE TRAINED FOR THIS, LET'S GO!"
At those words, a group of moose stood shoulder-to-shoulder, forming a wall that charged through the griffon lines. Rallied by Tron's cry, other soldiers started fighting back in cohesive groups, though not all of them were recovering from their panic. Song Li herself was still stunned and stock-still.
"Song Li, FOCUS!" Tron snapped, lowering his head and ramming his horns into her legs.
"Focus?" she exclaimed, suddenly snapping to attention. "I can do that. Yes! I know what to do." She gasped excitedly, her eyes widening. "I can turn the tide in the most amazing way!"
She activated her jets, taking to the air and barreling down as many griffons as she could, slamming and shoving them down to the group, and occasionally shooting one down with a blast of energy from her hooves.
When the sky was clear of griffons, she started flying inches away from the ground, continuing to mow down the enemies one after another. She wasn't able to save every one of her allies she came across while travelling the battlefield, but those she could, she gently knocked to the ground and whispered, "Stay down and don't move."
At last, she spotted the blade-wielding leader, who was viciously dueling a moose, slicing neatly through the soldier's armor and straight into his flesh. Song Li jetted through the air and slammed headfirst into the griffon's chest.
The griffon instantly got to her feet, her steel claws digging into the ground, and the claws on her hind paws exposed themselves menacingly. The griffon's intense orange eyes met Song Li's warm brown ones, but the armor-clad creature didn't waste a second, jumping atop the griffon and pinning her to the ground.
"Look around you," Song Li whispered, pointing the griffon's face at the camp where the battle had been raging only a few minutes earlier. "What do you see? All of the soldiers who brought with you, defeated… most of them by me… and just me. But not killed. Not a single one of them killed, at least not by my hoof. What is your name?"
"Jules," she growled. "I am the right talon of General Brandeberg, and he will not be pleased by your actions against me."
"Spare me," Song Li said dismissively. "My name is Song Li, and I too serve from directly beside my leader. You are clearly a fighting creature, Jules, so consider this: It is much easier to indiscriminately cut a swath of destruction through the enemy forces than it is to carefully disable each individual opponent without doing them any serious harm, is it not? And how long did it take me to decimate your side? Barely a minute and a half. Consider what would have happened had I not been acting with such precision and care. Why, you and all your griffons would have been obliterated in seconds.
"Such is the power the folk of Westeroceros command. They won the loyalty of a mighty alien soldier." She paused for a moment. "That's me," she added.
"Yes, thank you," Jules sighed, rolling her eyes.
"At this moment, I chose to take the difficult path, to exercise restraint and subtlety," Song Li continued. "But that was a one-time offer, I assure you. I'm going to release you now. You will take all of your griffons back to your General Brandeberg and tell him what you have seen here. And tell him, from me, that the next time I am called into combat, I will not hold back as I have today. Warn him that I, Song Li, shall fight to kill. What path do you choose, Jules? I would say your troops are still well enough to follow your commands…"
Jules growled furiously, and finally called out, "Retreat! Griffons, retreat! To me!"
They obeyed, most of them wearily hauling themselves upward, few of them able to fly and all of those who were walking doing so with some effort. Song Li nodded and stepped aside, allowing Jules to stand up. The vicious griffon joined her troops, glaring at Song Li all the while.
"You remember what name to give to General Brandeberg?" Song Li challenged.
"Yes," Jules said bitterly. "Your name. Song Li."
Song Li beamed. "That is correct."
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Giorgi slowly marched back into the camp, his battalion following him. Boomchukka anxiously rushed forward to meet him.
"Blasted dragon didn't go after that settlement at all," Giorgi said darkly. "He just looped around once and returned to the enemy camp…" He glanced around at the disorganized mess of the encampment. "What happened here?"
"We were set up, sir," Boomchukka rumbled grimly. "Dozens of griffons attacked our camp while you were going after the dragon."
"Casualties?" Giorgi said promptly.
"Fourteen of ours… three of theirs," Airball called over. The bodies of the slain deer and griffons were laid out in a line.
"Damn," Giorgi growled. He looked at the bodies with regret and sorrow until the expression was slowly replaced with one of confusion. "Is that all? What happened? Why did they retreat?"
Without a word, Boomchukka, Dustin, and Airball lifted their hooves and pointed to Song Li, further into the camp. Giorgi approached her cautiously, then cleared his throat and straightened up. "Song Li, report."
"I defeated them all, sir," she said graciously. "I sent them off with a warning to pass along to their general. I could have killed them all, but I was very careful not to. I warned them I would not be so precise next time. I thought a display of my capabilities with minimal bloodshed would be a sound tactical decision."
Giorgi smiled. "You impress me, Song Li. But I doubt that fear can win against the warlike griffons as easily as that."
"They will not get a second chance, I assure you," said Song Li. "I merely felt that offering them a chance was worth the attempt."
Giorgi nodded. "You impress me very, very much."
Song Li giggled, then hastily forced herself to become solemn. "We shall honor our dead now, yes?"
"We shall indeed."
"And wait and see what the campaign brings us next," she added. "Let it be said, Minister, that I am prepared for anything that may happen."