Chapter 6
Battle Plans
Everyone was talking about Julio praising his ability to foresee an ambush on their headquarters. Janel felt proud until she realized he was nothing to her. Okay, he was her baby daddy but what was that? Nothing. Janel knew she was brooding. She’d missed the jerk and not seeing him at all wasn’t making the ache go away.
She was up and dressed for the fight ahead. Her magic thrummed through her body ready to be used to protect her people or kill the enemy. “There you are.” Pru declared as she moved closer. “We’ve been called to the meeting room for a quick briefing before we head out.”
“It still surprises me that Herk lets you fight in your condition.” Janel observed.
“It won’t be much longer, not for you either.”
“He needs us. There are several witches expecting and if he refuses our help, he’ll have a hard row to hoe.”
“We get closer to delivery, he’s not going to care. He already worries. Herk said if Julio knew about the baby, he’d strangle him for letting you battle.” Pru claimed.
“I’m not so sure. He’s never spoken about offspring, not even when we talked about mating.”
“Lots of males just do it instead of talking about it. Herk never said anything either, but he was thrilled when he found out.”
“They are only a bit alike. Herk was bad, but Julio takes the cake.”
“Stop it. You’re making me hungry. I love cake.” Pru insisted.
“I know what you’re trying to do. You want to cheer me up.”
“Is it working?”
“Maybe a little, but cut it out until the battle is over. We need to focus on the fight.” Janel directed as they entered the meeting room.
“Let’s get started.” Herk announced when he saw them enter.
“How will we be dividing our forces?” Jake, the human leader, asked.
“Same as last time. Those with me will be going to Juania while Julio leads the other group. The new people have already been told who they will go with. We leave in fifteen minutes. Good luck everyone.” Herk declared as the group broke up everyone heading their own way. “No questions, Julio?”
“Not really. I expected things to go like this. We will do our part.”
“Good. We may catch up to the enemy yet.”
“I certainly hope so. I must admit I don’t understand these people.”
“Me either. They are so easily frightened into risking their lives and their families. The people I’ve seen can’t see they are doing what they fear the most.”
Julio nodded and she could tell he was in full agreement with Herk. These people were too easy to manipulate and Hubolla was good at it. Everyone left in the room flashed to where the warriors gathered and prepared for battle. Their target was the easier of the two because it was smaller yet Herk had sent them more of the reinforcements. Janel wondered what that was about.
It was time and those that could transport themselves did while she and the other witches took the others there. They arrived moments after the others and she looked over the sleepy town they were about to attack as light began to spread on the horizon in the east. Dawn was arriving.
A blood thirsty war cry echoed through the night as her group converged on the town. Guards in charge of preventing an unexpected attack yelled out a warning too late. Some tried to fight while others ran away as fast as they could. She would try to save those she could. Janel sent a barrage of magic that disabled but didn’t kill.
The shame was she only had one such wave in her. It took more magic than killing. There was often more effort involved in doing the right thing which might be why few did it. Now the fight was truly on. Those willing to risk their lives against her witches and the warriors had all engaged them. A wave of protection for her soldiers emitted from her witches.
Next they sent out a harmful wave that hit the enemy hard. They seemed to have no witches or some so weak they had no worthwhile magic. She could see women with children trying to escape and she wished them well. In the world as it was she couldn’t imagine where they would hide.
Something caught on fire and it spread to the houses. The screams as the people inside burned were horrible. This war had just started and she’d had enough of it. Maybe she wasn’t much of a warrior after all. A male ran out of one of the burning homes on fire. Stop, drop, and roll! Janel screamed in her head. Didn’t anyone know that?
He finally fell when his terribly burned body no longer drew breath. A small child ran into the road right in danger from the fight all around her. Janel waved her hand and the child was brought to her. Yes, it had cost her some energy but she could do no less for the little one. The child clung to her leg and stared up at her with big eyes.
“Easy, little one. No one will harm you here.” Janel assured.
“My mama. My mama.”
“Where is your mama?”
The little toddler pointed at a burning house. Janel eyes filled with tears. The child was probably an orphan now. The fight continued as stragglers were rundown and prisoners were taken. Large pyres burned the dead enemies and the few dead of theirs were carried back to be burned in honor of their sacrifice.
“Go home and take the little one with you.” Julio said. She was startled not realizing he was right next to her.
“What of the others?”
“Take most of the witches with you. Leave me three just in case. Some of my males are going back too. The rest of us will leave when the fires have burned low.”
Janel nodded. She didn’t want to stay and the child needed care. “Gather everyone.” She directed her witches. Soon they were all around her. “I need three volunteers.”
Thankfully, Samia and her two sisters agreed to stay and the rest of them flashed away. It was a relief to be back at the compound. She dropped to her knees next to the little girl. “What’s your name?”
“Milly.”
“Okay, Milly. We’re going to get you cleaned up and fed. Are you sleepy?”
“I got woke up early.”
“Okay then. Once we clean up and eat, we’ll go to sleep.” Janel didn’t know why, but she was tired often. Some of it might be her pregnancy, but it might also be using her magic so much.
The only thing she knew to do was rest when she needed it. She and Milly cleaned up and dressed. Janel put the child in a T-shirt of hers and it looked like a dress. “Now let’s go find some food.” They headed downstairs where the staff was cooking food for the returning warriors.
“Smells yummy.” Milly said. Janel got them each a plate and filled them. Milly ate like she was starving. Once they were done eating they went back upstairs where they went to bed and both of them fell asleep quickly.
It was hours later that they woke. Seeing Milly staring at her reminded Janel of what had occurred only hours before. She found it odd that the child spoke English and didn’t asked for her family. They would have to look into things and find out if Milly had any living relatives. That would come later.
“Let’s get dressed and we can go downstairs. Would you like that?” Milly nodded her head vigorously. It made Janel smile. Children were a delight.
Once they were ready, they went downstairs where breakfast was being served even though it was afternoon. They had late breakfasts sometimes because it was a popular meal. Janel had fixed breakfast for supper at home once in a while.
In the middle of breakfast, she shivered and looked around. Julio was back and he was taking the seat next to her. “I’m glad to see you eating properly.” He looked at her plate. “Who is this?”
“This is Milly.” Milly shrank against Janel’s side.
“Hello Milly. Is the food good?” Milly nodded. “I’ll order some then.”
After a few minutes Milly relaxed. Julio got his food and sat back down next to her. His attention was on his food while they finished theirs. “We’re done now.” She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to tell him that.
“I’m glad I got to see you.” He admitted.
Janel took Milly’s hand and led her away. She went to find Pru. When she knocked on her door, it was quickly answered. “Hey there. Who is this?” Pru asked looking at Milly.
“Her house burned down so I brought her back with me. Her name is Milly and we need to see if she has any family.”
“They’ll need more than a first name.”
“Maybe one of the prisoners will know who she is.” Janel speculated.
“We’ll take a picture and have the guards show it around when they question them. You know we have several kids staying here right now. Maybe Milly would want to play with them for a while?”
Milly smiled and nodded. “I guess she would.” Janel waited as Pru got ready and they walked Milly to the other wing.
“This is the playroom, Milly. Why don’t you go inside? We’ll wait for a few minutes until you find someone to play with.” Pru suggested. Milly ran into the room and was playing with some other little girls right away. “Why don’t we go to the sitting room downstairs so we can talk?”
Janel nodded and that was exactly where they went. It was a solar room set up to relax and talk with friends. A bar area was along the wall that had no windows because it was where the room attached to the rest of the house. Pru fixed them each a glass of herbal tea.
As she set the cups down on the table, Pru took a moment to look at her. “What’s wrong?” She asked.
“I hate war. It just struck me hard today. The house was on fire and Milly came running out but no one else did. I think we killed that girl’s whole family.” Janel sniffed as she fought tears.
“You don’t know that. It also isn’t our fault. We are protecting our world. War is never easy, but sometimes it has to be fought. If we turn our backs and walk away, the fight will eventually come right to our door and we’ll lose.”
“You truly believe that because I’m not sure what I believe. We’re fighting a ghost we can’t see or hear and definitely not touch.”
”There are many things like that Janel that we all know exist. You’ve seen enough to know what we’re fighting. I believe your relationship with Julio is what makes you question everything. You’re also hormonal. I know because I am too.”
“I admit I’m getting emotional easier than I used to, but what’s happening each time we attack is horrific.”
“It is and I can agree with that, but if we don’t stop them it’ll be much worse.”
“What do I do? How do I go on?” Janel asked.
“You had doubts but you went on this morning. We all are just doing what we know to be right even though it’s not easy. Work through things in your head, but if you’re not a hundred percent, I’ll send you home. If you can’t believe in the cause, you make a mistake that gets you or someone else killed.”
“When is the next attack?”
“A week or less. Do what you have to do and let me know your decision. Are you going to leave the girl here? You can visit her whenever you like.” Pru observed.
“I guess I need to. She probably has family wondering where she went. I know I would be.”