“You sound like you’re planning to bring the unit back here. You know this location was way in front of the line, even before the front line was gassed, right?” Wolfe asked.
“I do. And I also know that the army won’t stop, and the city won’t take the infected inside the walls. If the attacks reach the walls of Sylvan or Myrrh Covens, the wounded will become expendable. We just have to find a way to let them know to come here.”
“If we can get through on the radio, I can pass a message using the Noxus Family Cypher. That relies on someone who understands the code hearing it, though. I’m working on the Familiar Bond as well.
I could summon my Familiars and the ones who are bonded to me here. At least, I think I can if I have enough mana, but that’s only a few, not the whole unit. Or I could go to them, but that leaves you here alone. Not a great option either. If nothing else, they can vaguely sense my direction from them, and they might come looking for us.”
Without any real answers, they settled in for the evening, and Priya started making plans to expand their bunker into a village, so they could shelter either their unit or the nearby villages of mutants in case of emergency.
The next day, Wolfe relaxed and fed mana to Priya to expand the bunker and build the air circulation enchantments, as well as the barriers on the air vents that would prevent harmful gases from entering.
It gave the complex a slight breeze of fresh air and made it quite comfortable, especially in the new lower level, which was even warmer than the one above it, nearly at summer temperatures.
The day after that, the green-robed Fox Demon came looking for Wolfe. Their scouts had found a huge group of mundane infantry moving through their territory, and she was more than a little excited to have him turn the [Fireball] machine gun on them for the loot.
“That sounds like a big deal. Priya, inform the Sylvan forces, and I will go thin out their numbers. If this location is right, they’re nearly at the old main line, even though intelligence said they probably wouldn’t move until spring.”
“Maybe they decided the Wastes are too dangerous? They’ve lost two units this week just in this area. Who knows what else they have suffered.” Priya suggested.
ƥαṇdαηθνε|
“How is your mana storage?” He asked, handing a third pistol to the green-robed girl.
“Female Demons don’t store mana. The energy imbalance would prevent us from conceiving. But I can use enough for emergencies.” She shrugged, giving up the helpless mutant act as soon as she realized that Wolfe knew she wasn’t one.
“Good enough. I will lead. You watch my back. Do you want me to give you an armour spell?”
“Oh, that would be great. You’re really good at them. Make it a Snow stealth pattern so we can sneak up on the humans. I will hide our heat and sound. That’s what my gift is. We will be right beside them before they can see us clearly.”
Wolfe wasn’t entirely certain what she meant by ‘Gift,’ but he assumed that it was like the innate magic that lesser Demons got, a handful or a category of spells that they could use even though they were blocked from most sorts of magic by their curse.
Priya went out to make radio contact, intending to warn the city about the invasion force, with a spare radio from the mundane army in her pocket in case there were more of their units in the area.
Stephanie went with her for safety, leaving the bunker totally empty for the first time.
Two motorcycles were waiting outside for Wolfe and his furry companion, along with a small group of mutants. There were no cute dog girls in this group.
They were the much more common sorts who had been human before spending generations in an irradiated and cursed wasteland but who hadn’t been here at the start when the collapse of the original spells merged the species together to create the hybrid mutants.
Extra eyes, deformities and genetic defects were visible everywhere, reminding Wolfe that the chances of actually mutating into something stable and viable were incredibly small.
They knew this too, and they had prepared for the raid with explosive vests for one final surprise.
“Someone needs to watch the den. Can they do it? Wolfe asked. They might not have long to live, but they probably had longer than one day.
“That’s fine. You heard the demon. Protect this place. We will be back soon.”
Wolfe and his partner kicked the dirt bikes to life and headed out into the hills, preparing to take out as much of the army unit as possible.
“Stop the bikes. There is trouble.” The Kitsune signalled, leading Wolfe to a stand of trees.
“I see four columns of dust coming towards us near the horizon. There isn’t only one unit, and as soon as we attack, it will alert the others.” She explained.
“I suspect that your people really need the food from these convoys, don’t they?” Wolfe asked, and she nodded.
Then we will pass by the first group at full speed and go for the second. If they leave anything behind to chase us, your team can rush for it. How far away are they?”
“All around us. They’re in all four tree lines. Just say the word, and they will join us. The tanks and monsters ruined the crops. For the villages, it’s either capture these supplies or starve.” She replied.
“Can you hide the sound of the bikes? I want to ride by while shooting. If it works, it will be glorious.”
“I can’t hide that much noise. But if we’re on foot, I can blur our image if you want to get close and get away.”
It was worth a shot. “Alright, hide us as well as you can, and we will attack, then run back here and ride to the next group and do it again. Someone will have to leave their gear to chase us.”
The feeling of her disguise spell settled over Wolfe, and he crouched, then began to jog toward the enemy. The closer they got, the more Wolfe could sense something very wrong inside the army unit. It felt like a bubble of nothingness, and its very existence disturbed him.
“They have recreated the null stone. It’s not as deadly as the original. This is just an alloy that distorts mana. Weak spells will fail, and strong ones will behave erratically. But they will also use it in bullets to break armour spells.” The Kitsune whispered, looking horrified.
“We can’t let them bring that to the witches. I know you don’t all get along, but this would be a disaster and send millions of refugees running everywhere.” Wolfe whispered.
“I will tell the others to steal it all. Can you stop the convoy?”
Wolfe nodded. “Just keep us hidden.”