Here we go.

Cover Art: GWBrex

Chapter 70

The sun was dipping.

Jaune had, for the last two nights, been going out with a small group of his most trusted friends to fulfil his part in Weiss' plan. They had no idea if the Chosen were coming, or if the plan had worked, or if Weiss hadn't been interrogated and forced to tell the truth. All they could do was carry out the plan regardless and keep hoping they took the bait.

Nothing yet, but it was still early days.

"Jaune." Adam appeared at the flap to his tent, armed and armoured. "It's time."

"How many today?" asked Jaune.

"Myself, Blake, and Ruby. Pyrrha wanted to come, but I told her there was too much risk she'd be recognised, and that if they realise you can turn one Chosen, they might suspect the same for the Schnee. She'll be in the ambushing force."

Four of them, then. It wasn't much, but then they needed to look vulnerable. He just hoped they weren't pulling it off so well that they actually became as such. It would be a tragedy to die here because he underestimated the enemy. Strapping his sword belt around his waist, he swept a thick woollen cloak over his head and shoulders and moved out the tent, into the cool, crisp Mistral evening breeze. The faunus all around the camp were in rest, but they were watchful. Sienna had made everyone aware of the threat, and sentries were posted and rotated hourly.

Blake and Ruby were waiting with four horses, also cloaked like he and Adam were. They mounted in silence and gently trotted out from the camp, moving west, out toward where Weiss had requested he make a display of magic and madness every night. The plan had seemed so sound, around the table, with everyone in agreement, and yet now as they put it into action, he couldn't help but feel wary. There was a lot that could go wrong – from the worst-case scenario of Weiss not being believed, to the simpler but no less devastating one that they decided an assault was too costly, and they simply sailed back to Vale with Weiss, and forced her to give up information on their army.

"If this works," said Ruby, "then it's probably the last time we can count on Salem being too arrogant to take us seriously."

"Probably," agreed Blake. "This will be the second time she's made such a mistake. Common sense dictates she'll not make a third – or that someone will muster the guts to tell her she's being reckless. We can't afford to pass it up, though? Can we?"

"We can't," said Jaune. "One hundred Chosen. They're easily worth one thousand normal soldiers – and probably two thousand levied militia." More if they sat back and served as magic-based artillery, like trebuchets hurling great boulders. "We need Weiss back, too. Even if she's only one person, she's one of our best aura users alongside Pyrrha and Coco."

He was sure the three with him would catch up given time, but time was a luxury they didn't have. The three Chosen he'd swayed to his side had years of collected experience, and they knew better than anyone other than Ozma how the church operated and acted. Their insight into the church's structure and strategies was more important than their direct combat strength.

And they were loyal. Pyrrha and Coco had seen the truth, while Weiss had the cotton pulled from her eyes after the debacle with her mother and Mistral. Even if they took prisoners alive here, there was little chance they could trust them to join.

What were they to do with them, then? The obvious answer was that it'd be best to kill them, but he didn't want to be the one to order that. But making Sienna order it would be no better. Jaune gripped the reins and closed his eyes. It was cowardly, but he hoped they would choose to fight to the death and take the decision away from him.

They arrived at the pre-determined location within the hour. A shallow valley some distance from the camp, flanked by forest to the north and south, and ridges to the west, in the direction the Church would inevitably come from. The forests would hide their own ambushing force – and it did right now. Jaune couldn't see them, but he knew they had set out ahead of his own party, to get there in time to hunker down long before any Chosen might show up. They dismounted and leashed their horses a healthy distance away before continuing on foot.

The ground was already blasted and charred from his previous nights here, with grass scorched away and trees split and burnt. It had once been a fertile-looking meadow at the base of the valley, where a thin stream trickled through, but it was now a wasteland. Ruby, Adam, and Blake stood back, letting him walk out ahead. There was no pre-ordained spot for him to stand on, but he needed it to be clear who the Dark Lord was, so he walked out a hundred metres ahead of them. Enough for there to be no doubt in the minds of any onlookers.

Well… here I go…

The first explosion of magic lit up the valley, the trees, and the ridge in orange, as the fireball exploded several hundred feet in front of him. The second struck down as a lightning bolt, tearing up a gout of mud and soil. Fire, ice, lightning, he threw it out randomly and erratically, hoping it looked unhinged enough to suggest insanity.

His aura dipped as he did, but Ozma helped him keep half of it back at all times, rationing it out and ensuring he wouldn't be in immediate danger if someone attacked. He had to try and look tired, though, so he began to slouch, and he slowly increased the time between each spell as if he were running out of energy.

He didn't even know if they were here to appreciate his show.

How long was too long before they were allowed to suspect the worst?

"I would give it a week," said the old voice in his head. "Any less than that can be written off as justified paranoia on their parts. Though, in truth, you would be much better off if you had spies or scouts reporting on their movements."

"Those kinds of resources aren't exactly open to us."

There was no movement anywhere, so Jaune continued to waste energy on nothing, stretching himself further and further. The noise was deafening, and the air heated up. Fire licked across the ground, and his breath came out in harsh gasps.

"You're running close," said Ozma, after a good fifteen minutes of showmanship. "You might want to bring this to a close."

Jaune cut off his final spell and dropped to one knee, placing a hand against the ground. The hood covered his face, but, from a distance, he must have looked utterly spent. He held the position for a few seconds before standing, making sure to affect a wobble for good measure. Then, he turned back to Ruby, Adam, and Blake, and began to limp his way there.

"All this show," he grumbled. "And for nothing. Again. I wonder if they've called our-"

"LOOK OUT!"

Ruby's cry had him turn at the last second – in time to see the absolute cavalcade of magic headed his way. Not just magic, either. There were arrows mixed in. Too many to stop in one go. Jaune felt Ozma take control, aim their hands downward and summon a blast of fire. It tanked his own aura, but it launched him back and out of range of the attacks, sending him skidding across the mud as the area he'd been in was turned into a crater. Shapes charged out from the ridge, a whole lot of them, and their weapons glinted in the moonlight.

"Less looking!" barked Ozma. "More running!"

Right. Jaune sprinted away, back to the others. "It's an ambush!" he roared, mostly for the sake of the Chosen. "Run!"

They broke into a sprint ahead of him, back toward the camp. The Chosen hadn't been stupid with their attack, however. While most of them aimed for him, some had been tasked to deal with the horses. Two were dead, and the other two had bolted once they saw the others die, leaving the four of them to make their retreat on foot – an almost impossible task given the training of the force behind them.

"Keep running!" panted Jaune, reaching the others. "Draw them near the trees. We need them fully committed!"

Their own forces would be moving now, but they would need to close the distance between the trees and the enemy, and that would be a killing ground against competent aura users capable of magic like this. The faunus would make it, but they'd lose hundreds, and there was room yet for the Chosen to escape.

"Closer! Get closer! Right up to the trees!"

/-/

"He's trapped!" said Julianna. Her voice was flush with the taste of victory, and she boomed her laugh, sat upon her horse. "See that, Goodwitch? Watch the rat scurry away before Her divine judgment."

"I see him," said Glynda Goodwitch.

Everything had gone as Huntress Weiss Schnee had said it would, and the girl was with them, still bruised and too injured to battle, sitting on a white mare of her own to Julianna's left. The girl was silent, watching the scene ahead. Glynda would have expected more satisfaction from her.

"Your information proved valuable, Huntress Schnee," said Julianna. "We shall make sure the Goddess knows how your actions led to this moment. You'll be honoured for this, no doubt. Perhaps even made a superior yourself in a decade or so."

The girl hummed. "Thank you, Huntress Superior."

Too calm. Too steady. Glynda eyed the white-haired girl again. Had her time being tortured dampened her emotions? Did she feel nothing at this? The girl held her reins tightly in her left hand, while her right fiddled with the robes she'd been given.

"Does this not please you?" asked Glynda. "You seem tense, child."

"I—"

A gasp from Julianna tore Glynda's eyes away and back to the battle. Hers soon widened, as the charge of their Chosen halted. Arrows flew from the treeline, alone with javelins and spells, crashing into their charging lines and knocking several from their feet. Aura saved them from the worst of it, but the surprise alone was enough to kill a few.

Then, the trees lit with torchlight and shapes poured out from them in their hundreds. Weapons glinted, and battle cries filled the night, as an army poured out from the treeline and crashed into the stunned Chosen, engaging them before many of them could hope to react.

Julianna screamed, and Glynda too, as her horse suddenly collapsed under her, throwing her forward as the poor animal screeched. Her training kicked in, allowing her to catch her fall with her aura and land in a roll, but by then all she noticed was that her horse was dead with a huge spike of ice buried in its side, which had passed through Julianna's, and that a white mare and its rider were galloping away, quickly disappearing down the ridge.

"TRAITOR!" screamed Julianna, hurling a fireball after the girl. It was hopeless, though. They had made enough distance that the spell seemed to travel lazily, giving more than enough time for her to steer her horse out the way. "HEATHEN!"

Glynda focused on getting back on her feet rather than screaming at the treacherous young woman. Looking ahead, she could only feel her spirits plummet as she saw a wave of faunus encircle and envelop the much smaller force. They were outnumbered at least ten to one.

"I knew it," she said. "I knew this was a flawed plan from the start. Why didn't I say something? Why didn't I listen to my gut!?"

"Do not spout such blasphemy!" spat Julianna. She tore her sabre free, raised it, and charged forward. "Death to the dark lord! For the Goddess! Fight to the end, damn you! In her name! Chaaarge!"

The Huntress Superior rushed to her allies, fully prepared to fight and die with them. Glynda could only watch, feeling the rush of shame but also anger in her gut. She had been against this from the start, both coming to Mistral with so few numbers, and following up on this "oh so perfect" opportunity to ambush him. It had felt too good to be true, and it quite clearly had been. They'd been played for fools.

He isn't even insane, is he? He planned this. And the Goddess fell for it, the same as we did. Glynda released a shuddering breath. So much for her almighty wisdom. We are doomed, and they cannot afford to capture us or let us escape.

Already the army had encircled them. Huntresses were cut down in droves, and they fought on, refusing to budge. They had been selected for their fervour and devotion. It was part of why her attempts to inject some caution had gone ignored. They had all trusted the Goddess fully, and this was where it led them.

An arrow whistled forward and struck her in the chest. It bounced off her aura, but it drove her back a step and made her grunt. She almost wished she'd had the reactions to drop her aura and accept it. Either way, their numbers were dwindling so fast that the enemy had time to take aim at her now. Glynda closed her eyes, released a breath, and stepped forward.

At least when it came, death would be quick.

/-/

The moon didn't provide a full picture of how cruel the aftermath of the battle was, but if Blake's grim expression was anything to go by, then it was for the best he didn't have faunus vision. Weapons were sheathed now, the brim business done, and the survivors were seeing to their wounded and fallen. The sound of moaning and groaning from the badly injured filled the valley, but it was the silence of the dead that was worse.

"How many did we lose?" he asked.

"We don't have specific numbers yet," said Adam, "but I'd put our losses at close to two hundred and fifty. It might rise to three hundred before the night is through. No survivors amongst the enemy. They chose to fight and die."

That was good, at least. Jaune hated himself for thinking it.

"It pains me to say it, but those are good numbers," said Blake, her voice tired. They had joined the melee at the end, as had Jaune, but it hadn't changed much. They were bloody and tired, however. "By all metrics, we should have lost a lot more. The fact our ambushers could get on them before they could react made the difference. If they'd had times to bombard our line with magic, we'd be looking at over six hundred dead at a minimum."

"They were still fierce enemies in melee," said Ruby.

"Aye. Better than ours in almost every way, but then, they've had years or decades of training to our rushed efforts. That's why it's such a big win for us to take out a hundred of them here." Adam leaned heavily on his weapon, which he stabbed down into the soil. "Even if it doesn't feel like much of a victory from where we're standing, this will make a difference. A big one. That's a hundred of Salem's finest down. Given enough time and space, they could have killed ten times their number in a pitched battle. One of them for every three of us is honestly a bargain."

"Don't let them hear you say that," said Blake. "They lost friends and family."

"I won't. I'm only giving the cruel facts."

They were cruel all right. Jaune drew a shuddering breath and imagine telling this to Sienna. She would probably be pleased, at least from a strategic point of view, but the fact remained that one thousand people had trusted him and come out here, and around thirty per cent of them were dead or crippled. And this was nothing compared to what a real war would be like. Huge battle lines with thousands facing off against thousands, with cavalry rampaging down the flanks, and Chosen hurling magic, and Grimm in the background, just waiting for their orders to leap out.

"If we keep winning battles like this then we'll lose the war," said Jaune.

Adam disagreed. "It's not as bad as it looks. We can't take these odds against her main army, but if we could remove every Chosen from it at a cost of three men per? Then we'd take it. We'd have to. We don't know the exact numbers, but I highly doubt there are even close to a thousand Chosen before this. Maybe five to six hundred at best. We may well have taken out twenty per cent of their aura capacity with this attack."

Maybe. It had only worked because Salem still didn't realise he was sane, and still thought he'd fall for old tricks. That would change now, like Ruby had said. There would be few easy wins like this again. The clop of hooves sounded Weiss approaching, and fortunately their force knew not to attack her.

"It's done, then," she said, sitting on her mare. She was still bruised from Yang's beating. "I won't claim I enjoyed it, but it had to be done. They were zealots, even among other Chosen, and they wouldn't have accepted being turned away from this. They would have come and come until you or they were dead."

"I get it," said Jaune, sighing. "We did what had to be done. I know. I just… Didn't ever really want this." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Let's get the injured back and… and I suppose we can burn these bodies."

"It'd be best to strip them of weapons and armour first," said Blake. She quailed a little under his angry glare. "We can't afford to be nice about all this. This is war. People are going to die. A lot of people. But less if we can fit our troops in proper armour."

There wasn't really anything he could say to argue with that, so he surrendered it. "Fine. Just… I just need a break from this. Sorry, I'm not angry at you all. And I know you're not any happier about this than me. I must sound pretty whiny right now."

"Everyone copes in their own say," said Adam. "Some drink, some fuck, some become violent. If your coping mechanism is to complain and try to limit casualties, I don't think anyone will be unhappy about that."

It was good of him to say, but Jaune knew his complaints were weighing on them. No one here was what could really be called a professional soldier. No one here liked killing or wanted to see death. They were all like him in being normal people, and most of them were here because his presence on Menagerie had brought danger to their families. If anyone had the right to complain, it was them.

"I think I need to head back and rest," Jaune said. "My head isn't screwed on right and I'm overthinking things." He took a breath. "We did a good thing today. We won. And their supplies will rot if we don't use them. We can send people back to strip them tomorrow."

Adam nodded, satisfied. "That's all we ask. We'll stay and clean up here. You and Ruby get some rest."

It was a peace offering. A chance for them all to forget what had been said. Jaune appreciated it and went to find their two surviving horses along with Weiss. They hadn't gone far. Mounted, the three began a slow trek back.

"Do you think I'm being too emotional about all this?" he asked.

Neither knew who he meant it to, but Ruby answered. "I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

"Not in private," agreed Weiss, "but, in public, we're going to need you to be more decisive. Or at least appear it." The Chosen ignored the angry look from Ruby. "Everyone is having the same doubts you are, Jaune. Everyone is afraid, unsure, and asking themselves if this was the right idea. They need someone to stand up and roar that they're on the right path. They need someone who can take that fear away."

"And I need to be that…?"

"Yes. Is it fair? No. But Sienna is handling a lot of the strategic elements and keeping things in order, and you need to step in and be the spiritual compass." Weiss scoffed. "Like Salem, but preferably without the tyranny and short-sightedness. For all her many faults, you can't deny she unifies her people. With her at their backs, they are prepared to fight to the death. That is a strength of their army, and one we'll need come a proper battle."

"Weiss, that's not-" began Ruby.

"I don't care wat you think it is or isn't, Ruby. The point is that this will come to an open battle sooner or later, and that we, as we are, will be crushed. We're outnumbered – and numbers matter a lot in those situations. When the troops are wavering and thinking of routing, they'll need someone to inspire them back into formation. Someone larger than life. Someone strong and confident and brave." Weiss looked his way. "And if you cannot be those things, then you must at least pretend. That is what this army needs."

/-/

They were the first to return to the main camp, where news and perhaps sounds of the battle had been heard even from so great a distance. The lightshow, especially, must have shone brightly in the dark night. Faunus lined up outside tents in their hundreds, possibly their thousands, and although bonfires crackled, there was little sound or movement beyond that.

Instead, they watched him, staring. Wanting, perhaps needing, to know what had happened, and whether they were in danger. They were afraid, he realised, much like Weiss had said. He'd just been too focused on his own doubts to see it. Everyone here was on a knife's edge, and terrified of what might happen.

Teeth gritted, Jaune summoned a ball of fire into his right hand and thrust it up into the air. The entire camp flinched as it flew up and burst, startling the horses, and making them rear up. He clung on, keeping his seating as it steadied and stood still in front of them all.

With the fire lighting up the sky, Jaune roared out, at the top of his lungs, "VICTORY!"

And the camp exploded into cheers.

Next Chapter: 23rd July

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