“This is such a stupid plan.”
Spinner rolled her eyes at her friend’s grousing. “You don’t say, Shadow? I had no idea you felt like that.”
“Even a bad plan is better than no plan at all,” recited Mystaria, the lilting tone in her voice making it clear that she was quoting something. “So sayeth ‘The Opuscule of Precocity,’ which while not technically part of Luminace’s canon serves to introduce young readers to the basic principles and tenets that the goddess teaches in order to live a happy and fulfilling life. That particular lesson comes from a story where two fillies were tasked with cleaning their rooms, and while neither knew how to get started, one of them came up with a rather simple routine for straightening things up, while the other-”
“Had no plan at all?” finished Valor, giving Mystaria a wry look.
“That’s right!” grinned the nun in training, missing the indulgent tenor in her friend’s voice. “You see, the one with the bad plan was able to start realizing where she’d gone wrong and fix things, while the filly with no plan at all never got started-”
“Will you shut up already?!” snapped Solvei, teeth bared as she glared at Mystaria first, then at Shadow. “You keep speaking ill of Master’s plan, but it’s not like you have any better ideas! Do I need to remind you that everything that’s gone wrong has happened because you refused to follow his orders?!”
Shadow snorted. “I can’t tell if you really believe that, or if you’re just trying to get your belly rubbed later.”
The sneering jibe was enough to make Solvei bristle, turning toward Shadow with malice in her eyes, but Drafty spoke up before the winter wolf could say anything. “You’re doing it again.”
Despite the mild nature of the pegasus’ comment, Shadow groaned in exasperation. “Oh come off it!”
Shrugging, Drafty made a show out of looking around before holding up the rod she’d been carrying curled up in one wing, the faint quivering of the metal indicating that it had detected hostile intent. “I don’t see anyone else around, so yeah, I’m pretty sure this thing is reacting to you. Again.”
“Really?” scoffed Shadow. “Because I think you’re blowing smoke. Your boyfriend’s pet looks angrier than me. Maybe she’s the one who set your gizmo off.”
“That’s not how it operates,” intoned Lex darkly, coming to a halt as he turned to glare at Shadow. “The rod detects hostility directed toward the one who bears it. Solvei has none for Thermal Draft, but your outburst last night made it very clear that you do.”
“You know what?” huffed Shadow, staring right back at Lex. “You’re right, I do have plenty of hostility for your winged floozy.” She threw back her cloak then, raising a hoof to flash her dagger at Lex. “But that’s nothing compared to how much I despise you. Because despite what your lapdog thinks, every disaster that’s happened since we came here has been your fault.”
“You’re a fool for thinking so,” shot back Lex. “And my patience for suffering fools has been exhausted. If you find our alliance so untenable, then perhaps it’s time we dissolved it.”
“Are we really doing this now?” sighed Valor, glancing at the rest of her friends. But she received only a concerned look from Mystaria, one hoof coming up to touch Luminace’s holy symbol. Spinner looked equally unnerved, biting her lip as she brought her lute around, giving its strings a nervous strum. “Aren’t we almost to that shrine?”
Standing off to the side as she watched the confrontation unfold, Akna nodded. “We are. The river we’ll need to enter is just up ahead. A few more minutes of walking should bring it into sight.”
“I don’t care, we’re doing this now,” replied Lex coldly, keeping his eyes on Shadow as he changed into his umbral form. Next to him, Solvei grew to a larger size as she wrapped herself in black crystal armor, while Drafty started piecing together a spell. “The situation when we joined forces was already abysmal, and since then has grown steadily worse. I see no reason to allow it to continue festering. Better to bring it to a swift conclusion.”
Smirking behind her mask, Shadow drew her dagger. “Get ready girls!” she called over her shoulder as she flipped the blade around, bringing it into a ready position. “It’s time to finish what we started.”
The warning wasn’t needed, as Mystaria was already drawing a scroll from her saddlebag, tossing it to Spinner, who deftly caught it in her mouth and unrolled it, deftly strumming her lute as she worked the paper open with her lips and tongue, laying it on the snow in front of her. Valor was similarly making preparations, setting Littleknight down off her back as she brought her shield up. “Alright,” she sighed. “If that’s how it’s going to be, then let’s do this.”
Sighing, Akna moved closer to Lex, waving a hand as the nearby snow began to gather, forming into the same humanoid shape that she’d formed last night. “I suppose it’s better to have this out of the way now rather than after we reach the shrine.”
“Meep?” chirped Littleknight, blinking in confusion as he glanced at the standoff that was forming. “Meep meep?”
No one bothered to answer the almiraj, as the two sides – Fail Forward and Lex’s followers – stared each other down, unmoving.
A moment later, the spell Drafty had been constructing was finally complete.
Immediately, Mystaria and Spinner both began casting, their voices rising in tandem as they both chanted the words to the same spell; Mystaria casting it from memory as she drew a hooffull of powder out of a saddlebag and flung it into the air as she gestured, while Spinner focused on reading the scroll in front of her out loud.
A moment later, two large clouds of golden dust sprang into being. One appeared between two large trees a stone’s throw behind them, while another materialized in front a rocky outcropping a short distance ahead of them.
And in the middle of each dust storm were humanoid figures – their invisible bodies now outlined with golden speckles – who were hacking and coughing as they cursed, rubbing their eyes as they fumbled for their weapons. From behind them, Lex could make out the sight of a bald-headed figure wielding a hammer, next to whom was a lanky creature with a double axe. Up ahead was the crouching form of what could only be a manticore, and next to it-
“TRAP!” choked the grating voice of a humanoid holding a staff. “KNEW WE WERE HERE!”
Although he couldn’t smile in his shadow-form, Lex still felt a rush of spiteful anticipating run through him at that.
For once, everything had gone perfectly.
“They were spying on us through Littleknight?!”
Mystaria couldn’t have sounded more horrified as she glanced at the yawning almiraj for a long moment – the creature lazily reaching up with a hind leg to scratch one ear before settling back down to sleep – before looking back at Lex. “Are you sure?”
The unicorn nodded grimly. “I have some experience with scrying sensors, and with how those creatures that attacked us before were able to shut down my connection to Solvei, it wasn’t difficult to surmise that they might be able to do the opposite as well.”
Turning pale at the news, Spinner’s ears folded back as she lowered her voice. “Woodheart would never spy on us for those creatures. Not if she had a choice. Does...does that mean they’re-”
“Hey.” Going over to the bard, Drafty pulled her into a quick hug. “Don’t think about that, okay? I’m sure she’s fine.”
“But-”
“Listen,” interrupted Drafty before Spinner could protest. “I know what it’s like to be scared for someone you care about, and imagining what they’re going through doesn’t help.” Letting the filidh go, she clapped her on the shoulder. “The best thing we can do for Woodheart right now is figure out how to turn the tables on the people that kidnapped her; once we do, we can make them give her back.”
Swallowing her protests, Spinner managed to force herself to smile. “You’re right.” Taking a deep breath, she looked at Lex. “So, you’ve got a plan, right? Because I’m willing to bet my lute that you wouldn’t tell us this unless you had some idea what to do about it.”
But Lex didn’t have a chance to answer before Valor cut in. “Should we be talking about this here?” she muttered, looking back at where the almiraj was still sleeping near the edge of the dome.
The stallion shook his head. “After I noticed the scrying sensor, I made sure to confirm its presence by looking into the magical spectrum. The spell’s aura was active on the creature then; it’s not now.”
“Was that before or after you oh-so-casually revealed the exact location that we’re headed for?” huffed Shadow. “Because as I recall, Littleknight was right here when you said where the Shrine of the Starless Sky can be found.”
Solvei snickered at that. “You really don’t get it, do you?”
A round of confused looks were exchanged between the remaining members of Fail Forward then. “Get what?” asked Spinner, voicing the others’ lack of understanding.
“I revealed the Shrine’s location knowing full well that I was under observation while I did so,” answered Lex flatly. “Now, for the first time, we have the advantage of Grisela and her twisted family.”
“The advantage?” echoed Mystaria, looking aghast. “How does them knowing where we’re going give us-” She cut herself off as her eyes widened in sudden understanding. “You want to set a trap for them,” she breathed. “To draw them out so that we can get the jump on them when they come after us.”
“Precisely.” The corners of Lex’s lips turned up then, but the expression he wore was dark enough that it couldn’t have been called a smile. “These monsters have shown a proclivity for attacking without warning; raiding the village at night, ambushing us while invisible and leaving no tracks. This time, we’ll be ready.”
“Now this is a plan I can get behind!” Rearing up on her hind legs, Valor kicked her hooves in the air before bringing them back down in a heavy stomp. “Those ugly freaks aren’t going to know what hit them! By the time we’re done with them, they’ll be begging to give Woodheart back!”
Shadow, however, looked considerably less enthused. “Yeah, well we’re going to have a hard time with that if they’re waiting for us inside the Shrine,” she noted, her voice sour. “If the only way inside really is a river, then all they have to do is head in before us, and they won’t have much trouble picking us off while we’re climbing out of the water.”
“That won’t happen.” Lex canted his head at where the adlets were gathering their gear. Now that the sun had risen – the ambient light telegraphing that morning had come, despite the thick canopy of tree limbs and the perpetually overcast skies – the humanoids were preparing to depart, Akna leading several of them in what looked like some sort of service. “Akna informed me that the Shrine is protected by more than just its location. The odds of Grisela and the others lying in wait for us there are slim.”
“And you trust her?” murmured Spinner, giving the adlets a queasy look. “I mean, no offense and all, but you’re the reason they were chowing down on one of their own kind last night.”
This time Lex’s smirk was less wolfish, though the dark chuckle he gave then made it no less intimidating. “I have her under control.”
“...right, well, I do agree that they probably won’t attack from inside the Shrine,” ventured Mystaria. “Even if this is an antenoctem place of worship, the Night Mare’s temples aren’t exactly known for being undefended. And if they’ve figured out that you’re part of her clergy, they won’t want to face you on ground consecrated to your goddess.”
“So you’re thinking...what?” asked Thermal Draft, looking between Lex and Mystaria. “Right outside the place?”
“That’s probably their best bet,” muttered Valor, one hoof at her chin as she thought out loud. “The further away from it they get, the more likely that they’d miss us on our way there.”
“So we have a rough idea of where they’ll be, and since we have a guide we can judge when we get there.” Sitting back, Shadow crossed her forelegs over her chest. “That’s still no good if we don’t see them coming. Last time we were taken completely by surprise despite being out in the open.”
“What about using Solvei’s nose?” Spinner nodded at the winter wolf. “Even if they’re invisible, she should be able to sniff them out, and maybe Akna too since she’s-”
“First of all,” huffed Solvei, “I doubt some sheltered little shaman is used to detecting prey by scent. And second, that won’t work anyway; I sniffed all around the area where those creatures attacked Master before, and the same way they left no tracks, they didn’t leave any scent trails either. So that’s not going to work.”
“There’s a spell to see invisible creatures,” sighed Mystaria dejectedly, “but it’s not one that I know. Sorry you guys.”
“Don’t apologize Mysty, I don’t know it either,” confessed Spinner, before giving Lex a hesitant look. “I, um, don’t suppose you...”
Lex shook his head again. “That particular spell is not one which I’ve had a chance to study.”
“Of course not,” snorted Shadow. “That would actually be convenient. Actually, no, wait, I forgot. You wouldn’t be able to prep it even if you did know it, would you?”
Thermal Draft scowled. Solvei growled and bared her teeth. Valor and Mystaria winced. Spinner took a wary step back.
But surprisingly, Lex simply gave her a cool look. “...no,” he admitted after a moment’s hesitation. “I wouldn’t. But it doesn’t matter, because Thermal Draft can use it just fine.”
The pegasus in question blinked, looking mystified. “I can?”
“A modest enhancement of your visual acuity should be easy for you to create,” explained Lex. “There’ll be plenty of time to teach you how to use it while we head for the Shrine. Coupled with the divinatory item you’re carrying, you should be able to easily ascertain when we come within range of our enemies.”
The pegasus blushed at the vote of confidence, a nervous expression crossing her face a moment later. “Lex, I don’t know. I mean, I’ve gotten pretty good at using this thing” – she held up the enemy-detecting rod for a moment before lowering it – “but it’s been our number one way of staying alert ever since we entered the forest. If Grisela’s group has been watching us through Littleknight, they’ll know all about it, which means that if I start waving it around when we get close to them, the jig will be up.”
Lex, however, couldn’t have looked less concerned. “I know. And I have a plan for that as well. One that relies” – he looked at a different member of their group then – “on you.”
Everyone’s eyebrows rose at then, especially the pony in question.
No one had expected that Shadow Star would be the one he was relying upon.
Despite her initial skepticism, even Shadow had to admit – grudgingly – that Lex’s plan had worked to perfection.
Since Drafty’s magic item detected hostility, all she had to do was play up the antagonism she already felt towards the red-horned unicorn and his cadre of followers. “They know that it registers animosity,” Lex had explained. “But they likely don’t know anything more specific than that. All you need to do is make periodic displays of enmity, and Thermal Draft makes sure to state out loud that you’re what she’s detecting, they’ll likely assume that their antipathy toward us is being masked by your own.”
That would allow Drafty to use the rod without letting Grisela and her misbegotten collection of horrors know that they were onto them. At which point, the plan was to pretend to escalate the level of infighting. “The last time they attacked, it was during a period of intra-party conflict,” Lex had noted. “This time, we’ll use that to our advantage.”
To that end, he’d come up with a surprisingly insightful series of tactics. Specifically, that Drafty would use the “detect invisibility” spell Lex had taught her on the trip there to figure out exactly where their enemies were stationed. Meanwhile, Mystaria would use the blessing of telepathy to connect herself to Drafty – who would inform her of where she saw Grisela and the others – and relay that via telepathic connections to Shadow, Spinner, and Valor, along with Solvei, the wolf being explicitly told not to block the contact. That way, she’d be able to inform Lex, who would, after having turned into shadow-form, use whatever his “greater blessing” was to start pouring power into Solvei...and apparently Akna too; Lex had hinted that he could do that to her, though Shadow still didn’t understand exactly how. Either way, the other spellcasters would start getting ready as well.
Once they were done, Mystaria and Spinner would drop glitterdust spells on the baddies, breaking their invisibility and hopefully blinding them, just like they’d done to Toklo back when his group had ambushed them.
After that...
After that, decided Spinner as she raced toward where her enemy of choice – the bald human called Paska, who’d been responsible for Woodheart’s abduction – was stumbling out of the dust cloud, blinking and rubbing his eyes, we beat you within an inch of your worthless lives and GET OUR FRIEND BACK!
Roaring a battlecry, she leaped toward her foe.