Muggy, warm, sticky, humid day. I miss when England was just a country of cold weather. Damage being done to the environment is turning us into a country which legitimately has to worry about mosquitos in summer now.

Cover Art: GWBrex

Chapter 69

Sienna almost didn't believe them when they returned. The idea of Salem sending a vanguard ahead was ridiculous, because no matter how good those hundred or so might be, they had to know he had at least a few thousand under his control, some of whom could use aura and magic at some level. Quality was good and all, but it didn't invalidate quantity.

"It's arrogance," said Taiyang, placing one hand upon the table. His daughters stood on either side of him, one a bandit and the other, essentially, his own first Chosen. "This is a decision made of a refusal to believe that she can be wrong."

"What if it's a trap?" asked Nora.

"You don't lay bait this valuable," he replied. "A ship full of Chosen would be a force multiplier on the battlefield, and they wouldn't want to risk losing that. And beyond that, they don't have their fleet ready. How can they trap us?" He tapped his fingers on the desk. "This is an arrogance play. Believe me, we dealt with enough of those in the tribe."

"Dad's not wrong," said Yang, speaking up for the first time. "Mom always said the best way to convince a castle to open its gates is to play the disorderly cowards trying to retreat. Then they'll open and sally out to finish you off – and that's when you turn on them. Arrogant nobles always get an inflated idea of their self-worth, and of their genius on the battlefield."

"But this isn't some duke," said Nora. "This is someone powerful enough to call themselves a god."

Yang smirked. "That's just several stages higher in terms of arrogance, isn't it?"

"Yang may have a point," said Weiss. Her eyes were closed, and a tired sigh escaped her. "As much as Salem likes to play the part of the all-knowing, the orders the church sends don't always make a lot of sense. Take our efforts to capture the Dark Lord in Mistral for instance. We were sent a pitiful number of Chosen and told to comb an entire country on the off-chance we ran into him. Salem also placed my mother in charge, who ran Mistral into the ground and lost it to a rebellion. Salem makes bad decisions, and no one dares question them because they are classed as divine wisdom. Being surrounded by people who just approve of your choices for thousands of years isn't going to do a lot for your ability to register poor decisions."

It was hard to argue with that. Salem was surrounded by yes-men and yes-women, and she had a huge hammer to swing at anyone who got in her way. Even when she made terrible choices, the sheer force of the church could usually make them work out by brute forcing them.

"This is her brute force solution," said Jaune. "It can't be to beat us with a force that small, so they must be planning to capture or assassinate me."

"They have to know he'll be at the centre of an army," said Sienna.

"Do they?" asked Weiss, waving a hand dismissively in the air. "He's shown himself a maniac raiding a coastal town – someone lost to insanity. If he was prepared to come out of Menagerie like a moron, then what's to say he won't roam from his army the same way? Or, better yet, that he won't launch another raid on a single ship that theirs can intercept."

"Does it matter either way?" asked Ruby, surprising everyone. "What they're here for isn't important. It's not like we can give up the chance to get rid of a whole bunch of Chosen in one go, and we can't leave them alone and let them gather supplies for when the main army arrives either. Whatever their purpose, we have to attack them."

Yang sniffed, rubbed at her nose, and said, "Heh. Spoken like a true Branwen."

"I'm a Rose."

"Yeah, and she sounds like she would have been a true Branwen too. I'm all for this. Better we attack them then they attack us. Those who only react are doomed to lose."

"We can also set a trap of our own," said Weiss. "We have bait they can't possibly ignore."

All eyes turned to Jaune, not to his surprise. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, ignoring the soft chuckles of Ozma in the back of his head. I should have expected this, but she's got a good point. If I'm seen on my own, or with a small party, then there's no way they can ignore that. It just wouldn't be a fun experience. Of course, they could also dress someone up like him, maybe Sun, but that would put them in mortal danger, and everyone in the army would see him as the kind of person who would sacrifice his allies.

"He'll need to lean into his insanity some more," said Weiss. "They expect a raving lunatic."

"I can play the part."

"Can you?"

"Ozma has memories of past hosts who went mad under his influence. I can do insanity if I have to."

"Then we plan for an ambush," said Sienna, taking control once more. He was happy to let her, and to leave all the hard work of organising the army to her. "I will have scouting parties drawn away from the western side of the country for now. Let's not give them any reason to think they've been caught. Our ambushers will have to be the best we have, our elite. It will take a day at least to pick those out. How big a force are we thinking?"

"They're one hundred strong," said Nora. "But they're also Chosen. Would they be the best Chosen, or ones she can afford to throwaway?" The question was aimed at Weiss and Pyrrha, the ones who would best know, and Weiss was the first to answer.

"It could honestly be either. Even low-ranking Chosen would be enough in these numbers, but there might be highly experienced ones leading them. Or it could be the best of the best. It really depends on just how arrogant she is, and just how poor a job the Church has done of thinking for themselves."

"This is a crisis situation for them," said Pyrrha. "How many centuries has it been since a Dark Lord did this much damage? Even if you didn't actually do any of it, both Mistral and Atlas have fallen, and faith in the church is likely dropping. I think they will have sent high-ranking Chosen. Maybe not the best, but certainly some of the strongest they have left. They really can't afford to be seen taking things easy after an attack on a Vale town."

"We assume high quality, then," said Sienna, frowning. "I don't know how that translates to our own troops. Probably poorly. To encircle and defeat one hundred of them, we might honestly need a thousand of our own."

"It won't be that drastic a difference," said Pyrrha, "but if we can afford to outnumber them that badly then we should."

Taiyang hummed. "Sneaking a thousand people into ambush positions won't be easy. Nor will leading them into an ambush."

Weiss cleared her throat. "I might have an idea on that front, but I will need Yang's assistance."

The bandit raised an eyebrow. "I'm not very good at all this planning shit. Just warning you."

"I guessed that." Weiss rolled her eyes. "But how good are you at beating someone black and blue with your fists?"

Yang grinned. "That? That, I think I can do."

Weiss sighed. "Wonderful…"

/-/

Huntress Superior Glynda Goodwitch was not as confident about their mission as she wished she could have been. It may not have been her place to question the wisdom of the goddess, and yet she couldn't help that she did. Perhaps it was a personal flaw of hers. If so, she would need to speak with a high priest about it back home and try to improve. Few others shared her concerns; they were eager and confident – cocky, she couldn't help but think.

Or maybe they were just more faithful than she.

Still, to be sent ahead to Mistral with but a hundred of them, to find and kill the Dark Lord? This was a plan that might well have worked if they'd been sent immediately after his appearance at the spring tournaments, but the goddess had been half-hearted about the pursuit. Mistral would handle it. Willow Schnee would handle it.

They'd all seen how that went.

"Huntress Superior!" Cinder Fall approached her. The girl, a woman really, clasped her hand to her chest and waited for Glynda to nod her permission to speak. There were some among the ranks who felt Cinder would make a fine Huntress Superior one day, and she might. But, for now, the young woman was a little too sure of herself and her abilities.

Either way, she had something to report, so Glynda nodded. "Speak."

"The camp has been erected. Scouts have returned and report that several villages nearby have been burned to the ground. Crops and fields as well. There was no one living in them obviously, but someone has come by recently and made sure we won't be able to gather supplies from them."

"Likely the forces from Menagerie," said Glynda, tiredly. They'd brought supplies aplenty for themselves, but she knew the main army would suffer for this. "An intelligent move on their part to rob us of supply. It makes me wonder just how far rumours of his insanity have been exaggerated."

"It could be someone else in the army making these decisions, ma'am."

It could be, yes, but it might also not be. Glynda was not one who liked banking on such uncertain odds, but then she wasn't the only Huntress Superior here. Huntress Superior Julianna strode into the tent, pushing the flap back. She was a militant woman who specialised in melee aura arts, a counter to Glynda's own magic. It was why they had both been sent – to complement one another – but that did not mean they got on well.

"No Dark Lord has lasted this long without going mad," she said. "Don't let your personal doubts influence the Huntresses, Glynda."

"I am not, Julianna. I simply feel it best we exercise caution."

"Those were not our divinely given orders. Do you think to question Her wisdom?"

"I do not. But we were entrusted with this task, and part of that trust extends to our ability to make our own decisions. The Goddess guides, but she does not lead us every step of the way. We must make the journey ourselves."

"Do not quote doctrine at me. I am no neophyte sister." Julianna dismissed Cinder with a wave of her hand, and though the girl clearly wanted to stay and see the argument unfold, she bowed her head and slipped away. Julianna waited for her to be gone before she continued. "Our first step is simple: we must find the army and where it hides. Given they need to feed themselves, and that they burned crops here, I can only assume they're on the other side of the country. That would make sense given it would be closer to Menagerie."

"A fair assumption," said Glynda, tempering her own dislike of the woman. "But we must also assume they outnumber us by many degrees."

Julianna rolled her eyes. "That goes without saying. I am hardly suggesting an all-out attack. We must-"

"HUNTRESS SUPERIORS!" A young woman appeared at the tent, letting herself in without permission. It wasn't the done thing, but, given the alarm in her voice, Glynda trusted there was a good reason.

Julianna as well. "Report!" she barked. "What is it?"

"Our scouting party of us found a wounded huntress in the wilds!" the girl panted out. She was covered in sweat. "We were patrolling as ordered when we saw signal magic used, a white spell cast high. We knew it was not one of ours, but investigated and found a huntress who claims she was kept prisoner by the Dark Lord! I was sent ahead to warn you of our return."

The girl broke off, heaving for air. It was obvious she'd come back as fast as her legs could take her.

"How injured?" demanded Julianna.

"How could she have escaped?" asked Glynda.

"Badly but not severely. She is badly bruised and battered, but there's nothing lasting. She spoke of being kept as a prisoner and tortured, and that they wouldn't take a blade to her and spoil the fun. As for how, I did not ask. Forgive me!"

"It's fine," said Glynda. "Get some rest. Which direction does your party come from?"

"East, ma'am."

"Julianna and Glynda swiftly made their way in that direction, allowing the tired girl to catch her breath and recover in the camp. A sole escapee from the Dark Lord's army? It all felt too convenient for Glynda. "They shouldn't have just brought someone to us. She could be a spy."

"Your paranoia does you no favours," said Julianna. "Let us see with our own eyes before we decide one way or another."

It did not take long before they saw the party returning. The reason for their slowness was apparent by the fact that two of them had hoisted a girl up between them, and were effectively carrying her. The girl's hair was white, familiarly so, and she realised why that was when they came closer. It was Willow Schnee's daughter. The youngest.

"Huntress Superiors!" said the women, failing to salute, but then their hands were busy so it was no concern. "Did Ellayne return ahead with our missive?"

"Yes. This is the one you found?" Julianna approached. "Your name, Huntress."

"W… Weiss Schnee, ma'am." The girl's voice cracked, and Glynda winced as her head looked up. Two black eyes, a split lip, and bruises down her neck and shoulders. Glynda could almost make out the finger-marks around her neck.

"Goddess," hissed Julianna. "What happened to you? How did this come to be?"

"Didn't you reach Atlas?" asked Glynda. "After the fall of Mistral."

"I did, ma'am." Weiss allowed herself to be carried to a rock and set down. The girl placed both hands down on it to keep herself upright. "But when the Grimm attacked, we were made to flee with the others. Our ship was attacked and boarded by what I assumed to be pirates, but which later turned out to be faunus from Menagerie."

Julianna sucked in a breath. "They were roaming our waters even then!?"

Weiss nodded. "We were taken prisoner. We were brought to Menagerie and, later, I was brought with their force when the Dark Lord split from the island."

"Split?" asked Glynda.

"He was… not banished, but he left." The girl struggled for the right words. "I did not see or hear everything, but what I gathered was that he wanted to attack Vale. Many faunus felt they owed him their lives and agreed, but many more refused, saying that they had no qualms with the church. It sounded like it might come to civil war, but then the Dark Lord decided to leave with those loyal to him. I was taken with him."

Interesting. Glynda had thought Menagerie and the Dark Lord fully committed to one another, but this did explain why he would leave the fortress island behind. He had been forced out, and he must not have wanted to risk his forces in a war against the islanders, so he took the safest option.

"How did you escape?" asked Julianna.

"A faunus took pity on me and unlocked my cage. A woman," she added, "who did not like hearing what was planned for me." Weiss closed her eyes and bit her lip. "There were rumours that I would be given to the men for pre-battle entertainment. That they should enjoy the chance to sample a huntress."

There were gasps and hisses from all within hearing. Such a fate might be called worse than death, and might well have led to death as well. "The monster," hissed Julianna. "And he did not stop you?"

"He was not there," said the girl. "He was out for the night siphoning his aura."

Siphoning? Glynda shared a glance with Julianna, but it was clear she was not familiar with the term either. "What does that mean?" asked Glynda. "He was out? And siphoning? Is that a spell of some kind that he was using?"

"What?" Weiss looked surprised. "It's – Oh, of course. Forgive me, I forgot no one would know. It has been a trying time for me. May… May I have some water?"

One of the Huntresses who had brought her rushed off and came back soon with a skin of water, which the girl first drank from and then splashed over her face. Mud had caked her, and she was quite clearly exhausted from her march across Mistral. Glynda was surprised she had made it so far at all.

"The Dark Lord… He is…" Weiss grimaced. "He fluctuates between sanity and insanity. It is like two sides of a coin. Sometimes he is himself, and more gathered and sane than I have ever seen, and at other times he is a raving madman. His most loyal attendants keep him away from the main army whenever that happens. The faunus only see him when he is at his most collected."

Glynda nodded. "Strange. It has always been that they are mad or not, never alternating."

"It is a way he has found to control it," said the girl.

"To control the Dark Lord?"

"No. His influence. His magic. I… I do not understand it all, but his sanity wanes as the day goes on, and then he travels out of the camp with a few of his most trusted allies. I heard from others that there is a great display of magic when he does. Bright lights, loud explosions and hurricane-force winds. And then he returns a few hours later, exhausted but calm, and gregarious. He laughs with his people, talks calmly, and is as sane as any man I have ever seen."

Glynda was shocked. It seems Julianna was, too.

"They call it siphoning, and I overheard that it is something about burning the Dark Lord's magic away so that he is not overwhelmed. I think… I think it is the aura that is corruptive, and that he keeps himself on low aura. That he uses it all up when the voices get too powerful."

It was an interesting theory, and new. Glynda, like any other in the church, knew that aura among men was poisoned with the taint of Ozma, the Dark God, the Dark Lord, and that aura among women was free from that taint thanks to Salem's influence. She had not thought it so literal that the Dark Lord's mind and influence would be kept within that aura, but it did make a strange kind of sense.

"Are you saying he travels alone to use up all his aura, and then returns to his camp with none?" asked Julianna. There was excitement in her voice.

"Not alone," said Weiss. "He has his most trusted allies with him. They all have aura, and some training in magic. I do not know how many he takes."

"Less or more than a hundred?"

"Less for sure. I've only ever seen him walk out with a couple at a time. I simply don't know if that means two people, ten, or twenty – but he certainly doesn't have a hundred considered that close to him. Not even thirty. There are many more who have aura and can use it – perhaps hundreds – but they are amateur. I have seen them. They are no better than a neophyte sister."

"When does this happen exactly?"

"Late in the evening. I don't know the time – after the evening meal but before they sleep. The exact time differs, I'm sure, but it is always when the moon is up. I'm not sure if that is for a reason. Perhaps he needs a clear mind before sleeping."

Julianna did not care for the particulars. Only the opportunity. "And can you guide us back to the camp you were taken from?"

Weiss nodded, tiredly. "I can. But, forgive me, I am exhausted…"

"Of course. Not tonight." Julianna gestured to the two huntresses. "Take her to receive medical attention, food and drink, and then find her a tent to share for the day. Make sure she gets her rest."

"Yes, Huntress Superior!"

Glynda waited for them to leave before speaking. "I do not like this. It feels too convenient."

"Too convenient? That girl's faith in the Goddess was rewarded with her escape, and our faith has been rewarded as well. The perfect opportunity to strike while he is not only away from his allies, but exhausted in mind, body, and aura. This is an opportunity we cannot squander."

"It feels too good to be true."

"Your mind is clouded with doubt, sister."

And yours is clouded with faith, she wanted to reply, but did not. It was no insult, nor a criticism, and it would just bring to light Glynda's own fears. Maybe she was being foolish anyway. The Goddess had not led them wrong in thousands of years, and yet, here and now, Glynda found room to criticise. That was arrogant of her, wasn't it? To just assume she knew better, when ten thousand years of history proved otherwise.

"Can we at least take care?" asked Glynda. "Let us scout this out first and see if it is true. One night. That is all I ask."

Julianna looked like she didn't want to give even that, but she eventually sighed. "Very well. One night. We shall move and let her guide us close, and then you and I shall move in alone to see this siphoning in action."

"We don't attack even if it is."

"Of course. We take no risks. We watch. But, if it is as she says, then there will be no hesitation the following night. Our force shall wait in ambush and take him. And we kill him," she snarled. "Capture is too great a risk. We end his life there and then."

Glynda nodded, accepting the compromise as Julianna had accepted hers. "I will support that plan."

"Excellent." Julianna smiled once more. "It is good that we are united in this. Come, let us prepare the women and gather supplies. The girl will need her rest, but come tomorrow morning we should be prepared to move out and begin our march across Mistral. This war will come to an end here and now, and we shall spare Vale the same fate that befell this sorrowful land. We will avenge the faithful who died here, and bring peace to their spirits, and that of Willow Schnee."

Glynda nodded, but could not help but wonder how "at peace" the spirits here would be if they knew Willow Schnee was to be honoured at all. The woman had been a tyrant. No. It's not my place to question. The Goddess must have had a reason for that decision. Everything has a purpose, and everyone has their place. If I cannot see the divine wisdom in this action, then that does not mean there is none. It only means I am not wise enough to see it.

There was no time for her to doubt. Instead, she resolved to spend the night in prayer and contemplation, to better accept her role and the wisdom of the goddess who had sent her here.

Next Chapter: 16th July

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