The day of our clash against the would-be invaders dawned dark and rainy, which suited our purposes perfectly.

  It had been decided that the front line of our conflict would be Nasha, Penelope, and Martha. The minotaur had pushed for her future underlings to be included, but Kiri had spent more time spying on the soldiers and insisted we avoid unnecessary risk. No matter how much we planned to weaken them, the Winter fae claimed they were too well trained and equipped to be taken lightly.

  Now the soldiers were only a few hours out from town. The trio had already taken the antidotes I’d prepared and sallied forth to meet them.

  Kiri’s surveillance was a terrifying thing. We already knew exactly what the soldiers were planning to do. They would separate into three groups, two of which would approach the town from separate directions and storm us before we could react. The final group would focus on me.

  I had no idea how they knew Alys and I lived outside of town. The elders claimed they hadn’t said anything on the subject to the surveyors. I would need to apply a bit of interrogation to confirm how that information had gotten out, but for the moment, this only played into our plans.

  The group headed my way consisted of the leader and two of his most trusted men. If anyone had all the information we wanted, it was them. Besides, capturing them was one of the most important parts of my plan.

  It was our knowledge of their intentions that had led to our having three separate frontline fighters. Penelope and Martha were in charge of leading the town-flanking troops through my traps, while Nasha would focus on the leader’s group.

  Alys grumbled a little, but though I could tell she wanted to ask us to let the leader’s group through, she didn’t. I liked to think it was because she knew the same thing I did: even if we were sure of ourselves and our ability to handle combat, it was better not to take risks when we didn’t have to.

  These were trained soldiers. While I would love to see how they’d fare against dragon fire, I wasn’t going to give them the opportunity to pull off any tricks.

  Doubly so because I knew what tricks I had prepared, just in case.

  All three of our fighters wore a small, inconspicuous pouch on their hips. I was hoping they wouldn’t need to use those, but if they were pressed into a corner, then I’d rather they did.

  I could clean things up afterwards.

  “They’ll be splitting up soon,” Kiri said suddenly, her eyes distant. “I will signal the others the moment they do. In the meantime, here.”

  The Winter fae focused, then slowly waved her hand through the air.

  Where her hand passed, snowflakes lingered in the air. They swelled a second later, growing and multiplying before separating into groups. It took less than five breaths for twelve mirrors made out of ice to hover in the air between us, each showing a different angle of the same scene.

  The images were slightly distorted. The colors were odd, and there was a sort of twitchiness to the perspective. I guessed we were seeing through the eyes of birds. Every tiny move on the soldiers’ part provoked a reaction as the birds heads darted around, struggling to keep track of everything.

  “How…?” I breathed, my voice hushed with awe.

  What Kiri had just done was extraordinary. Scrying mirrors, such as pools, were hardly rare. However, each one required some kind of focus, and only the best of the best could use multiple mirrors simultaneously.

  Kiri was using twelve, and she wasn’t simply scrying a location. She had obviously bound the perception of her familiars to the scrying mirrors she’d literally conjured out of thin air, so the difficulty was considerably higher.

  “They are mine.” Kiri shrugged, yet pride faintly colored her voice. “Flesh, mind, and soul. This is the least of what I can do.”

  The declaration sent a small shiver down my back.

  This entire time, I had been under the impression that Kiri’s familiars were impressive in their numbers, but nothing particularly special. After all, every skilled mana-user could claim a familiar. It was as simple as establishing a mana tether to an animal. One could sacrifice a part of one’s mana pool by permanently tying it to the upkeep of the bond, and in turn, one had a completely obedient animal to use as one’s eyes and ears by tapping into that bond.

  What Kiri was suggesting, however, was a much deeper process. To bind a familiar so tightly to herself would let her bypass the mana requirements, but it would put a strain on her mind and soul instead. At that point, the trick would be shutting out the feedback of senses and instinct she was getting from the animal, instead of having to tap into the bond to borrow from them.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  With the number of familiars Kiri has, how in the world is she even functional? I wondered. She should be more animal than fae at this point.

  I was staring, and judging from the twitch of her lips as they failed to form a smile, Kiri had noticed. How she managed to look faintly smug when her features couldn’t even form normal expressions was beyond me.

  “It is starting,” she said. “So you should probably pay attention.”

  The Winter princess motioned at the panes of ice, and I finally tore my focus away from her so I could study the stunning detail afforded to us by the scrying mirrors.

  The soldiers looked… well, miserable. They were all wearing bulky clothing over their armor, and it was now drenched. After several days of continued rainfall, the ground was muddy and sucked at their boots. I relished in their suffering, even as I enjoyed the patter of rain against my skin.

  We were standing just outside the forest on the far side of the village from Alys’ house, where the most obvious road to the town led. In fact, we were near the spot where I’d first emerged from the thicket and met Nasha, before she led me across the bridge and into town to introduce me to the elders.

  The soldiers weren’t aiming to emerge there, from what Kiri had overheard, but it was the best spot for us to react to any developments quickly. We would be more or less equidistant from all three groups.

  In the mirrors, we could see the soldiers gathered at the end of the dirt path I’d traveled all those months ago, right where it led into the forest. The lead soldier was addressing his troops. It was an elf who looked far too young to be worthy of his rank, though it was hard to tell with elves, considering how young they looked for most of their lives.

  Then again, I was one to talk. A fae’s age could only be deduced by the feel of their mana.

  To this elf’s credit, his soldiers looked respectful and attentive, which made me think they either feared his influence or he had actually earned his station.

  “What are they saying?” I asked, glancing at Kiri. She either couldn’t or simply hadn’t bothered to tie her familiars’ sense of hearing to the scrying mirrors.

  “He is reminding them of their objectives and what they are allowed to do. He’s been emphasizing that there should be no looting, raping, or pillaging.” She paused, her jaw tightening visibly. “For now. Apparently, rewards and permissions will be doled out after the mission is accomplished.”

  Alys reacted even more poorly to this than I did. Her scales visibly brightened as the rain began to hiss and plume away from her as mist. The chill in the air, which had been bordering on unpleasant, was replaced by waves of warmth. Small licks of flames escaped her nostrils.

  I caught her hand and gave it a little squeeze, though it felt almost uncomfortably hot to hold. That changed quickly as she got control of herself, but the apologetic smile she gave me still contained a hint of unmistakable malice.

  The soldiers were lucky we had counted most of them off as acceptable casualties. My plan only required the command group. If any others survived our traps and ended up in our hands as prisoners, they would strongly regret every choice that had led them to us.

  I had just enough time to give them all one more hateful glance, taking note of their species. Three-fifths of the troops were elves, the rest being predominantly human with only a few beastfolk. As I watched, they broke apart and ventured into the forest.

  Two groups of twenty-six entered the forest in separate directions. Each group consisted of twenty-five regular soldiers and one officer, from what I could tell. The final group hung back for a short while before finally picking their own path to advance.

  The owls serving as our eyes broke apart as well, with three birds per invader group and the final three birds scattering to locate Martha, Nasha, and Penelope.

  The birds found them quickly. Each member of the trio was lingering near one of the large areas where I’d grown our poisonous defenses, waiting to see if the invaders would head in their direction or if they would need to move to lure the soldiers into the traps.

  Penelope’s group seemed to be headed straight for her, from what I could tell based on her bird’s flight path. Martha’s group, too, wouldn’t need too much correction on her part for them to bumble right into their trap. The final group with the leader, however, seemed to be following a far more circuitous route than we had anticipated.

  Kiri’s bird must have done something to catch Nasha’s attention. She suddenly looked straight into the mirror, nodded, and then broke into a sprint. Our view shifted away as the bird took flight once more.

  Nasha was now headed straight for the leader’s group, but that mirror wasn’t the one holding our focus. Our eyes were all fixed on Martha’s mirror, because the minotaur was gesturing wildly at the bird watching her.

  Kiri let out an annoyed noise as the mirror’s view shifted and that bird took flight as well.

  “Martha demanded I immediately lead her to the group she’s supposed to intercept, even though I was still waiting to give her the signal,” Kiri explained when she caught my questioning look. “She could have waited for quite a while longer before she would need to catch their attention.”

  I sighed. If I had been mildly tempted to have Martha’s soldiers test themselves against the invaders, then Martha herself had kicked up a truly inspiring fuss over the subject. Of course, she had been rejected in the end due to Kiri’s information about the soldiers, but that had only stoked the minotaur’s anger at the invaders.

  Now Martha was dashing through the forest, occasionally overtaking the bird she was following as her gait devoured distance.

  “I have a feeling she is going to do something foolish,” I muttered.

  “I have a feeling you are right,” Alys quipped, equal parts amused and worried.

  I had trained with Martha myself, back when I’d been giving people lessons on handling poison. Because of this, I knew she was skilled. Far more skilled than most of the townsfolk, including Nasha. The beagle could handle weapons proficiently, but she relied more on her natural speed and physical prowess.

  Martha, on the other hand, while also possessing might and endurance in spades, could claim mastery of multiple weapons. Currently, she was wearing simple gauntlets that covered her hands and climbed up to her elbows, providing both protection and clawed fingertips. She had considered using both a hammer and a greatsword for this particular occasion, but hadn’t wanted her maneuverability to suffer in the forest.

  Still, whether her weapons were suitable for close-quarters combat or not, I couldn’t help the feeling of mounting worry as our future militia leader charged closer and closer to the invading soldiers.

  Surely she wasn’t planning to start a fight then and there, was she?

  …was she?