Sorcerer… Cyborg???

Chapter 167: The Fleet Launches

As the Nighthawks gathered in the forest that lay on the border of the Empire, and the two Storm generals marched their armies north. Far to the northwest of Aznur, the Ursten Army was beginning to stir.

Tam and Anteris were both looking at a tiny scroll, the message from Simon scrawled onto it. "The forecast remains true, I look forward to our reunion."

"He just loves to be cryptic, doesn't he? I've heard so much about this Simon, I'd love to meet the man who has been dancing all around the Isle, making all the mighty kings and rulers dance to his tune." Anteris grumbled, he was currently in a set of red dyed leather armor, his long silver hair in a braid behind him, his beard similarly braided. This revealed his aged and craggy face, his piercing blue eyes and pointed noise a mirror of Tam's.

"It's good he was, there should've been three of these messages, looks like the poor things friends either got shot out of the sky, or were dinner for a flying beast." Tam gestured to the bedraggled blue bird that was huddled in one corner of the command tent, tearing into a fish.

"I'm guessing that the Storm generals are both heading north, as planned. And it seems that he's still maintained his disguise, so he'll be waiting in Anzur or nearby. That'll be useful." Tam murmured, brushing his long black hair back, still damp from the morning bath that had been interrupted by the squawking of the messenger bird.

Tam wore a set of white training clothes, unlike Anteris, he hadn't had the time to prepare himself in his armor.

"I've got no clue how you got that from his message, I mean, now that you've said it, I can see it. But really, unless someone already knew what we had planned in advance then there'd be no way to understand this nonsense." Anteris frowned at Simon's note, before a look of realization dawned across his face.

"Oh! Nobody would be able to make heads or tails of it, either." Anteirs chuckled a little, but his serious expression returned immediately, and he turned to Tam, who was now staring at the map that was spread out on the enormous table that dominated the command tent.

"How soon can your ships be ready?" Tam asked Anteris, as his finger traced the sea route from the Multas Islands to Aznur, his other hand on the hilt of his sword, his brow furrowed, deep in thought.

"We could launch right now, as soon as I give the order, my men could be sailing out of here within minutes." Anteris grinned at Tam, then realized it sounded as if he were ready to leave the bulk of Tam's forces behind at any second.

"The ships are already packed with supplies, we only unloaded the bare necessities when we came here, and my men prefer to sleep on the ships. Besides, since my ships are mostly used for raiding *ahem* patrolling my waters, my men are used to having to launch at any time." Anteris realized what he was saying, as Grand Admiral of Ursten, he couldn't admit to piracy so casually.

"Anteris, there's no need to try and maintain appearances with me. And believe me, compared to some of what these nobles get up to, piracy is almost a wholesome hobby to have." Tam gave Anteris a reassuring clap on the shoulder.

"Alright, let's say we leave today. Staying out of sight of the coast, how long until we get to Aznur." Tam asked, as Anteris joined him in looking at the map.

"That complicates things. Ordinarily, I could've made the journey in a week, pushing my men to their limits, of course. But with your men on board, and all the siege supplies, and with us staying out of sight of the coast, it'll be about two to three weeks, depending on wind conditions." Anteris stroked his beard as he spoke, deep in thought, estimating the changes he would have to make and the additional men weighing the ships down.

"Alright, we leave before night fall, we'll leave a small unit behind to man the outpost and to make sure the locals don't get any ideas about trying to warn the Empire once we're gone." Tam said, striding toward the exit of the tent. Anteris shook his head and he followed, the two of them were supposed to be equal in status but most of the time it seemed to Anteris as though it was just natural to follow Tam's instructions, though he was far younger.

The day passed by in a blur, the Ursten forces, the Tribes people and Anteris' sailors all working together throughout the day to load the ships with the necessary supplies. Boson strode out with entire ballistas balanced on one of his enormous shoulders, and Shale and Slate levitated large flat rocks piled high with supplies in order to hasten the process of loading the ships.

Tam and Anteris watched with approval as the work proceeded quickly, with all the separate groups of soldiers working together seamlessly. It seemed that the time on the Multas Islands had allowed them to mesh together well.

"Hey, whose men are those?" Tam asked Anteris, as he spotted a group of men carrying a bundle of rune enchanted bolts for the ballistas to one of the waiting ships, wading through the water toward the ship.

"Hah, I'm surprised you took so long to notice them." Anteris laughed a little, a twinkle in his eye as he watched the men, clad in roughly spun clothing made of plant fibers, give all their effort in carrying the bolts.

"Those are natives of the Multas Islands. It seemed some of them have some grudge against the Empire, those men and the young ones who want to see somewhere other than these islands, joined up with one of my crews." Anteris smiled at his good fortune, the Multas were strong and well built and were hard workers also, they would be a great asset in the coming war.

By the time all the ships had been loaded, and all the soldiers were aboard the ships, the sun was dipping below the horizon. The enormous fleet of black ships floated, one by one, out through the narrow channels between the many islands, into the open sea.

They formed up into a roughly diamond shaped formation, and began their long journey south, all the men and women electrified with excitement, for even though they weren't sure of their actual mission, they were all certain, there was a great battle coming.