Days soon changed into weeks, and soon shortly after the army marched to the borders to prepare themselves before the war officially begins. When marching from the capital of each cities, the citizens put up a grand farewell celebration on the streets, wishing them victory and safe return.
Another week passed with rigorous training at the northern borders to adapt to the cold weather and fighting in the snow. The week passed in tense atmosphere, dreading for the lives that will soon be lost, but everyone tried to cheer up and enjoy the time left fearing this might be their last. Many battle formations we're practiced and ideas to utilize the snow to their advantage. The army under general Andres split up in two and departed on their journey to find a good spot to hide themselves behind the enemy Blind spot and wait till further instructions to initiate a pincer attack. Timing was the key to win this war.
Rushing footsteps could be heard from outside the war base camps that was set-up during this week. A soldier barged into the tent looking all frantic and out of breath.
"Greetings to your highness the princess, a report has arrived from the watch tower, they're spotted the enemy between the mountains already set-up their weapons ready to fight" he said, after placing his right hand on his chest and bowing, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead, accompanied with a look of horror.
"I see, they must have used an area of effect camouflage spell to make them invisible for a long time. The fact that the watch tower failed to notice until now suggest they have some highly skilled and powerful mages to cast the spell for a long period of time, or perhaps they might have used an artifact " analyzed Derek.
"No, an artifact is out of the question. They wouldn't be that stupid to use an artifact before the war even begins. Their military actions were far too exposed as if they wanted us to notice, they gave away the benefit of a surprise attack right from the beginning" I said.
" There's more, the watch tower has also spotted hordes of demonic beast" the soldier said, slightly trembling from the horrific sight of the demonic beast.
"It seems your guess was spot on, princess Angelis" said general Logan. All generals were present here except for general Andres how has left with his army to take charge of the pincer attack. We were currently going through the war tactics in further details and doing a stimulation in different scenarios when the soldier barged in.
Another soldier barged in, carrying a letter with him. " greetings to your highness the princess, we have just received a letter from the enemy through a messenger eagle" he said presenting the sealed letter to me.
I gave a nod, beckoning him to hand it over to me. Upon reading the letter I gave a hearty laugh. "how nice of them, to notify us of their declaration of war just the day before they plan to attack " I chuckled some more before continuing "have there been any communications with general Andres and major general Feodore, to notify us of their positions"
"Not yet your highness, the last communications we had with general Andres was 4hrs ago when they reached half way through their destination, while we haven't received any news from major general Feodore's side" said the first soldier that came in.
"Hmm, that's troubling, did major general's party stumble upon some difficult situation along the way?" asked general Ephraim, to no one in particular.
"if both sides don't reach their designated spots for the ambush sooner it will put the mid Lane in a difficult situation and will be at a huge disadvantage. If this continues for a long period of time, will suffer heavy casualties even before we initiate phase 2 after the pins are attack and the soldiers will lose their spirits to fight " said general Logan, stating his concerns.
" it's concerning yes, but we can't ponder for too long at this critical moment " I said to all the people present at the moment. Then I faced the soldiers in particular "make sure this news doesn't spread, inform all those who knows of the situation so far to keep it under wraps right now until further notice, anyone who disobey my orders shall face military punishment given by me personally" they shivered visibly, horror filling their eyes as they imagined the agonizing screams of people who faced military punishment by me personally.
"yes, your highness!" they both saluted and immediately scurried out the tent to carry out their assigned tasks.
"major general Lewis, contact the mage tower and see if they can help reestablish communications with Feodore's platoon and locate their current positions" I said in a commanding tone. He seemed more tamed than the last time we met during the meeting, it seems general Logan really had some words with him to have this major chance in a short period of time. "the rest of you, rally your army and make sure all the preparation are done. I shall deliver a speech an hour before the war begins tomorrow" I said to the rest before dismissing them except for Derek who stayed behind.
He sighed "what do you think happened to them?" he asked, still seated on his wooden arm chair, overviewing the scattered maps and documents on the long table.
"hey must have encountered some unforeseen circumstances, Feodore is smart and talented at a very young age to be promoted to major general, let's have faith in him and general Andres because that's all we can do right now" I said, in deep thoughts thinking of all the possibilities of situations they might have encountered to put them in a grave position. "get some rest brother, you look exhausted"
"I can manage, it's you who needs some rest, you haven't slept much that those dark circles can't be covered with powder anymore" he looked distressed about my health. He wouldn't budge so had had to coerce him to leave.