The five sleds were just as full as when they left. Even the empty ammunition canisters had been loaded full of spent shells so that no trace of their position was left after the witches departed. The Witches had also closed up the firing slots, leaving only a small cave, perfect for a monster den.
That way, if some mundane human scout did come by later and was looking for signs of the ambush, they were likely to find a nasty surprise waiting for them.
By the time the fight was over, the witches inside their bunkers on the hillsides could barely see the battlefield anymore due to the thick smoke, but when the barrier went down suddenly, they felt it and knew it was the signal to retreat even before their drivers came to inform them.
The ride passed in silence until the den was back in sight, and everyone finally felt safe to begin to relax.
The unit hopped out when they got close to the den, and their rides kept going, leaving a path toward a known undead infestation. If the humans wanted to follow the tracks, they could deal with the zombies.
“That was completely insane. How did we do? I couldn’t see anything through the smoke. I just sprayed rounds through the valley and hoped they got something.” Priya asked.
“We did pretty well. The army was in full retreat when I signalled the end of the battle. They lost almost all their tanks, as well as their stash of null stone. It’s a long way to anywhere from there if you’re walking, and most of them left everything to run away. I don’t think they’ll be back.”
The witches all breathed a sigh of relief. Unlike Priya, their positions weren’t directly downwind, so they could see a little, but in the chaos of explosions and lightning, it was hard to tell what was actually going on down in the convoy.
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“Not on that scale. Most convoys are twenty times smaller than that. What we spotted today was a main combat army before it could spread out and prepare to reinforce the front lines.
Their uniforms were also different than all of the others I’ve seen, so I think they’re from a different nation, and the fiasco today might be enough to make them reconsider their military situation.”
One of the witches started boiling a pot of rice and beans to make them edible, and another sliced monster meat for grilling while they waited for a radio transmission that would tell them what was going on outside of their limited intelligence network in the Wastes.
When the evening reports started to roll in, they realized that something had changed in Sylvan. Almost every location report was moving North of where they were yesterday as if the mundane army were retreating.
A few more days like that, and the mundane army would be back in the Wastes, giving up all the territory they had gained since the start of the hostilities.
But it would also move them closer to the formerly weakened villages that had been trading with Wolfe for enchanted weapons and armour.
Now that they had the means to fight back, they weren’t going to just let another army enter their territory. If they were pushed back to the Frozen Wastes, the humans would be surrounded.
They might not have a choice, though. It had been weeks since they got an intact supply run, and they were almost guaranteed to be running low on both food and ammunition.
The villagers reported that they intercepted four supply groups today, a new single-day record. That lent credence to the idea that depleted supply lines were forcing a withdrawal.
They wouldn’t have more information on unit positions until morning, so everyone settled in for the evening while Wolfe restocked their ammunition supply.
If the information they were getting was right, everyone he knew would be needing a lot more ammunition very soon.
The sun was just setting when a sharp whistle through the vent shaft that led out to the front of the Den brought everyone to attention.
“I’ll look after it. One angry demon won’t draw unwanted attention.” Wolfe whispered to the others, then ran out to the exit, grabbing his rifle on the way.
He burst out of the tunnel with his rifle levelled and was met with a panicked witch patrol in Sylvan uniforms.
“Wait, peace. Friends. You’re Snowman, right?” The senior officer among the witches asked.
“Wolfe Noxus, scout attached to the Priya unit.” He replied.
“We came from the gas treatment camp near the Morgana main line. We were told by some who fled from the Sylvan City camp to come this way and that the Snowman would help us if we could find him.” She replied.
“Well, you found me. How exactly did you do that, by the way?” Wolfe asked, not moving away from the entrance.
“The one you call Flappy Bird, the aerial recon unit, tracked you and your unit back here yesterday evening. We met them on our way up here today.”
He had forgotten about flying scouts. Even an airplane could have tracked them from above the clouds. They would have to be more careful about that in the future.
“You can tell the others to come out of hiding. How many are in your group?”
The witch frowned. “Eleven now. We lost two more this morning to the monsters.”
“Alright, get everyone inside, and I’ll get you fed and arrange a bed for you.” Wolfe agreed.
He turned his head down the tunnel and called to the group waiting around the corner. “Eleven witches are incoming. All of them are nerve gas victims.”
“Got it, boss. We will set them up.” Priya called back.
None of the witches that came by had much aura left, but fortunately, they all had some, so they wouldn’t need to be rebuilt from scratch like the Servants group had been.
Their dedication to getting everyone else out when the camp was attacked the first day the mundane army arrived was admirable, but it had cost them a lot, and they were still recovering.
“Can you really keep us safe?” The last witch to enter asked.
“Not only that, but we can heal the damage from the gas and get you back on track as a witch. I’m sure we have a lot to talk about, but first, how far west and south have the humans gotten?”
“They didn’t go very far west. The flank position that the Priya unit was at was the furthest western point in their attack. After that, they focused their movements eastward to attack the city.
The villages are gone, though. If they didn’t defect to the human side, they were wiped out. “
“No wonder the city had it so hard. The villages were supposed to be fallback positions for the monster tide defence teams. If they turned traitor, the defenders had nowhere to go.” Wolfe sighed.
“Not only that, the gas got so many of us before we could even respond. Without our help, the rest of the units were crushed in an instant. They couldn’t even fight back.”
