Tang Yin ventured an answer. "A couple of red mana crystals would be great…"

"We don't have any of those. Blue is as good as you'll get and only a few are on hand." George grimaced.

Tim spoke up. "I have some, but we'll have to fetch them from Fal'Herim."

"That would be great." George said, in relief.

Tim nodded and sent a message. "Then there's the other question."

"What question?"

"How long would it take?"

"Four hours? Give or take." Tang Yin suggested.

"Give or take what?" Gary prompted.

"Give or take another four hours."

Faces fell. The mood, already gloomy, dropped further.

"Are we going to have to go through that again?" George groaned.

"No, the scanning is already done. We don't need those delicate intruments any more." Tang Yin a.s.sured him. "You just need to get me there alive and able."

"In other words… we sneak through on land." George rubbed his hands. "Four man adventurer squad should do the trick. A front line fighter, a long-range shooter, a mage, and a healer…"

"Five man squad. Those four, plus Tang Yin." Tim threw in. "And a few other squads spread out to draw attention. How many adventurers does the guild have now?"

"Well over a hundred." George mused. "More than half of whom are in recovery or unavailable. I think we can call on thirty, maybe forty of them at most."

"Five squads ahead, keeping in close contact. They should help you feel your way through." Tim planned out. "Arrowhead formation with Tang Yin's group in the center. Three more squads to cover your rear."

"Isn't that going to be obvious? To have them right in the middle of a formation of squads… it's clear as day that they're an important group being protected." Darian pointed out.

Tim shrugged. "To a human, it would be clear. But Spectres?"

"They might. We don't know for sure how intelligent they really are. Just because they fight like a ma.s.s of insects it doesn't mean they're entirely thoughtless." Darian shook his head. "I'd rather just grab Tang Yin and fly him over by myself. If I'm fast enough and quiet enough, they might not even notice."

"If you want quiet, we may as well ask the lynxmice to tunnel through all the way there." Tim snorted. "They'll never see us coming."

"And how long would that take?"

"Three days, maybe?"

"What if we used a river? Went partway underwater?" Gary queried.

"That would be nice if a river went the way you want to go. As it is, that idea wouldn't even get you halfway there." George pointed out.

"We could all wear bushes and pretend to be trees." Siti snorted a laugh.

Abruptly, she stopped laughing when she saw their faces.

"You're not serious!" Siti protested.

But they were. They totally were.

***

An hour later, it started raining trees and bushes.

"What's going on?" Marcus had to ask. "Did we run out of ammunition? Is that why the airs.h.i.+ps and the dragons are throwing trees at the Spectres?"

"Not sure. It's something about sneaking people to the Gate disguised as trees." Joshu said. "I wasn't entirely clear on how it worked, but the point is to make the Spectres think less of random trees and bushes appearing out of nowhere."

"By throwing random trees and bushes at them?" Marcus marveled. "Whose idea was that?"

"Tim's, I think? This is exactly the sort of sneaky thing he'd think up."

"Well, if it's attention they want, they certainly got it." Marcus grimaced. "The Spectres are moving."

"Moving?" Joshu turned. "Oh, cripes."

What was meant to be a diversion had totally gained the Spectres' full attention. For some reason, they did NOT seem to like having trees thrown at them.

"Is it just me, or do they actually seem… angry?" Joshu gulped.

"It's not just you." Marcus said even as roars began to rise up from Spectre after Spectre. Within seconds, the sound began to thunder across the entire horizon. "It's definitely not just you!"

The roars were so loud now, it seemed the very air was shaking. How did this happen? How did a bunch of branches and leaves cause so much ruckus? Marcus wouldn't have believed it if he weren't seeing and hearing it right now.

The Spectres were really, really mad this time.

"Sound the horns!" Marcus shouted. "Red alert! All forces to battle! Everybody watch out!"

But then again, there was no need for him to tell them. They could all hear it themselves. If anyone had been sleeping in before, they were definitely woken up by now.

Even so, the horns were sounded for war, and the alarm rang out through the camp.

"Formations!" Marcus called.

"No time! They're charging! They're charging now!" Joshu blurted.

"Hold! Everyone, just stay alive!" Marcus scrambled to put on his armor.

The defenders had never really let down their guard, being on the front as they were. One third had always been on guard, and one third on stand by, with their weapons within each reach. Only the last third were allowed to properly relax and recuperate, and therefore in this sudden charge, almost two thirds of the defenders were able to respond quickly enough to face the incoming horde fully geared up.

"Call for reinforcements!" Marcus instructed Joshu. As time went by and the war raged on, exhausted warriors would retreat from the front and rest at Three Pines. In a pinch, they could be called upon for emergency a.s.sistance though it would take them some time to deploy. It was for those warriors that Marcus now called.

"Blast it, why now?" George stomped out of the command tent fully geared in his Frame. "Tim, how long would it take for the crystals to arrive?"

"A day, at the least! Even the eagles can't make that distance so quickly!" Tim protested.

"So we can't start the Sealing Plan now?"

"Not without the crystals!"

"Where's Mindy?" Darian asked.

"She's… still in recovery." George grimaced.

Darian glanced to Tang Yin. "Go join her. We won't be able to spare any strength to guard you. The safest place you'll be is by Mindy's side."

Or in other words, because none of them had the heart to urge her to battle, they'd give Mindy the excuse to sit this one out by having her 'guard' Tang Yin. n.o.body even breathed a word about Spectres not targeting Tang Yin specifically in the first place.

"Everyone, if you have friends you can call on for help, if you're religious and you have a G.o.d you can call upon, now's a good time to call them! Call them all!" Marcus shouted.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Father Kairos doing exactly that, speaking into a crystal while at the same time, kneeling down to pray.

Marcus raised his sword and glanced about at the tattered remnants of the Iron Legion. "Legionnaires!"

"Ho!" Tired and wounded and spent as they were, the Iron Legion responded with a shout.

"To arms!" Marcus once more led them to war.