From that network, I get bits of information that Nessa and I piece together. There is guesswork, there is some wrong information, and there are plenty of holes. But we’re good at what we do because if we weren’t, we would die. Just know that this is my best guess, and things can change. Yes?”
Kingsley didn’t nod or comment, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Just keep going,” I whispered.
“Right. Yeah.” Sebastian started placing the pieces around the map. “I know what sort of magical shield they are trying to construct. I’ve heard of it being attempted before, but no one has ever gotten
it to work. They must think they’ll have all the time in the world with you, because that’s a massive undertaking for a territory this size. It makes me think they’ll have other, smaller shields to keep you guys at bay. Then again, they have an absolutely enormous host of mercenaries and their own ground troops. Maybe they think those’ll be enough. Broken Sue can attest that it was enough to take down his pack, the mercenaries creating a human wall that the mages could hide behind and fire magic over. It’s been done many times before.”
He worked around the map as Nessa stepped forward, rolling her shoulders and then her head.
She looked like an athlete trying to shake off a bad play. Behind her, Tristan watched her with sparkling eyes.
“You should be asking how we’ll disable that shield.” I pointed at Kingsley with a disarming smile. “But don’t bother. We won’t be.”
“No way,” Sebastian said. “We want them focused on that massive undertaking. We want it sucking away their energy. That only helps us.”
“What if it works, and they get it erected?” Kingsley asked.
“He said erected,” Sebastian murmured with a smile.
“Dirty boys, these shifters,” Nessa quipped, the two working off each other the way they did best.
“In order to erect the spell, it’s necessary to send magic from one mage to the next, each holding a rod that connects to the magical currents running through the ground—the spike. Once enough spikes are engaged, it’ll take powerful mages to send the collected magic over the intended space and connect with the mages on the other sides. Side to side, over and back. It’s seriously work-intensive. Right, Sabby?”
“Work-intensive and complex, and mages don’t work well together. There is a chance they could make it happen. They’ve been practicing in larger and larger areas—yes, I’d heard about this before today. But one little sliver in their network, and the spell will have to be started all over. Nessa may not be a powerful mage, but she can still be enough of a sliver to ruin their day. Jessie and I could blow their spikes out of the ground. So if none of us die, we should be fine.”
Sebastian stopped after he’d done a loop of the map, arranging his pieces.
“I am a little worried about the magical enhancements that were mentioned,” he said, studying his handiwork. “They do exist, but usually not in an outside environment like this. Maybe that’s what they plan to bring in over the river, I don’t know. I’ll do some research, but I’m wondering if it’s some backup mechanism of some type.” He tsked. “It would’ve been better if I’d been there with the mage.
I might’ve connected some dots.”
“Yes, it would’ve been better,” Nessa said quietly, her eyes flicking toward Tristan.
“Anyway,” Sebastian went on, “alpha, I don’t want to give you a false sense of security. But this is what I am guessing their positions will be. Roughly.”
I stepped closer to the map, finding a sea of board game plastic pieces spread around the board.
My heart dropped to my stomach.
“You’re sure about those numbers?” Kingsley asked in a subdued tone.
The change must’ve alerted Sebastian that something was amiss, and he looked up before straightening slowly, glancing around the room.
“That does look like a lot, Sabby—talk ’em through it,” Nessa said.
“Oh.” Sebastian put his hand out over the map. “It is a lot of people, yes. We’ve always known it would be. But as I’ve seen with Austin and Jessie’s team, the magical type matters a great deal more than strictly numbers. Bear with me.”
He went through all the pieces and what they meant. There would be scores of mercenaries in the
first wave—the human wall—followed by the more resilient ground troops, kind of like super mercenaries. We’d dealt with some of them in the past, and they were pretty hardcore. Some would have vehicles, and others would be on foot. After a delay, the mages would show up, likely on vehicles. Ultimately, though, they’d want to be on solid ground to do their magic.