The WARD had to be restored a few times, and my MANA twice, before things were ready. At least my pool was full again. Even if the thing attacked me, I’d last long enough to get another WARD up…if I was outside of it.

  My phone kept me in touch with Blaze, Sir Andrew, and a handful of others. Blaze had stuffed two of my spare batteries from the office into my backpack, along with the charger off my desk, so I didn’t have to beg anyone else for a recharge.

  The GRA ran an extension cord to a surge suppressor inside my circle. The army taped the cord flat against the tile floor with olive-drab army tape. The cord snaked past the soldiers’ rows of computers, their screens glowing green and blue in the dimmed room. The hum of electronics and the faint echo of voices carried off the high ceiling. I even managed two bathroom trips without being attacked.

  “Maybe it’s too busy watching what’s coming. Maybe I’m not important enough to notice. Can it even see me inside the WARD?”

  The army’s biggest headache at the quarry wasn’t logistics, it was people. Reporters, thrill seekers, hangers-on who wanted to watch but not fight. Security at the quarry was their show, but I told Lt. Marmari to allow anyone with a Presidential patch inside.

  Also, to keep out anyone who was Level two or below. That kept out most gawkers so they had to stay outside the perimeter they set up, but still gave Vaneski and Airmann access without forcing them onto the line.

  I wore almost everything but my hat and gloves. My baldric and sword lay on the cot within reach, my gloves draped over my belt for quick use. If I couldn’t be out there in person, I’d at least be wrapped in all the protection I had.

  I even pushed some MANA into the ring; in case the Dungeon wanted a word with me when I was outside the Ward.

  The screens at the end of the hall kept my eyes busy. One showed the tactical map, dots shifting for military units and guild groups alike. Another split the feeds from the two drones circling above the quarry, shaky at times, but steady enough to watch.

  The last carried Fox News 3’s commentary. Vaneski’s presence out there made them puff up the coverage about them being embedded with the military and Adventurers. She and her cameraman could both fight, which the talking heads treated like a novelty.

  The army set a small folding table just inside my WARD for their communications gear. It buzzed faintly at times with static, lights blinking like a nervous heartbeat. I could speak directly to the military, to guild leaders, even to the handful of military specialists watching from elsewhere.

  Captain Park was in the room, arms folded, speaking in a low voice to one of his staff before turning his eyes back to the drone footage. He told me earlier he’d handed Marmari command in the field and brought back heavier weapons for the soldiers at the quarry. Anti-tank rockets and grenade launchers mostly.

  They hadn’t told me exactly where the Guard artillery unit had set up, but the battery was linked in. I saw one of their lieutenants who’d been given a work station and communications gear with the rest of the headquarters unit. I heard him mutter that even the artillery battery was watching the internet feed, same as the rest of us.

  The pressure of what was about to happen, pressed down heavier on us than the buildings concrete roof. Half the country…and the government…was watching. Some commentator even claimed the President, the Joint Chiefs, and most of the cabinet were huddled in the White House Situation Room watching the same feeds we had here.

  “I wish I was there. Not stuck here playing general. They don’t need me. They all know what to do. All I can do is sit here and watch and pray our spells bite when their small arms don’t. Maybe the bigger ones would?”

  My internal pity party came to a rude halt when I heard someone calling out to me.

  “Mr. Brinsford?”

  The voice came from behind me. I turned to see a middle-aged man in a slightly rumpled jacket, phone raised like he was recording me.

  “Who are you?” I demanded.

  “Alex Denton. Fox News 3. The station sent me to cover the other half of tonight. Mz. Tarcheski suggested we send someone here for your side of what’s happening.”

  “You know I don’t give interviews.”

  “Yes, sir. But Vanessa hoped you’d let me record what’s happening. I’ve been told not to film the military computers or screens, and I’ll do my best to stay out of the way.”

  “Then why were you recording just now?”

  “So that your answer, and my reason for asking, would be on the record.” He hesitated. “Mz. Tarcheski also wanted me to add…if you want to address the people before the fight, like you did at city hall…we can broadcast it. Live. Phones, apps, anything that’ll carry it.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “And what do you get out of it?”

  “The Game is the biggest story in history. You’re part of that. You’re the First Mana Mage. And…” He faltered, like he just blew his chance, then pushed through. “They’re your people out there. They want, no, they need to hear from you.”

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  “Damn, he’s good. Worse than that, he’s right. Hadn’t thought there’d be a way of doing it.”

  I let silence stretch, watching his face. He didn’t flinch. “Fine. You’re right. It worked at the last battle. It’ll help here. But not until it appears. Then I’ll talk. If you want more, ask me after this is over. Right now, we’ve still got planning to do. And too much waiting.”

  He nodded, relief on his face.

  The clock ticked down. Less than 20 minutes to the earliest spawn time. I checked the sheet…NEXT satellite pass in seven minutes, another one sixteen after that. Give or take a few seconds.

  I picked up my phone. “Blaze? How are you doing? Are you ready?”

  Her voice came through, steady but tight. “We’re good. Boss Fights are in the Game Rules now. 50 people per raid group. We’ve got several army groups, two and a half guild groups. We’re short on Healers. Very short.”

  “How about Holy types? Blessings, curses?”

  “Same shortage. We’ll be BLESSing the line and by raid groups. We are saving HOLY SHIELDS for front lines and Healers. Gaylord’s got a few other Bards together. They’re rehearsing ‘We Will Rock You.’ Each raid has at least one Bard. Army too. Harry’s out here with his guitar.”

  “Good thinking. Thank him and the rest of them for that.”

  “That’s his doing. They’ll lead the groups in.” She paused. “We can patch your phone into Gaylord’s portable speakers. The people out here want, really need to hear from you.”

  I sighed. “Not sure what to say.”

  “You said that at City Hall too. You’ll do fine.”

  “I hope so.”

  “That fire you lit under SandB. She said you told her to take your place in shielding. She’s talking to men she doesn’t know and telling them where she wants them and what to do. And that she’s to take your place in our party and not with her guild. Did you do that?”

  “I think I did. I was tryin’ to encourage her. Did I go too far?”

  “Too far! Will. She’s ready to level. All that Enchanting gave her experience and another level of Enchanting. She’s on the edge of leveling again. She’ll be Level 5 at least when this is done. Maybe more. She’s checking everyone in our two guilds to make sure their gear has at least four enchants, and adding them if they don’t.”

  “They found a Ley Line a half mile down the road from here. PokerRun’s taking her back and forth on his bike. She told me that was the first time she’s ever been on one. One of the female soldiers loaned her a helmet and you know how he drives.”

  “Yeah, I’ve seen him.” We both laughed.

  “She has issues with being near men. Touching them is worse. She’s hugging him as tight as she can so she doesn’t fall off. I worry about what will happen to her after the adrenaline wears off. Her wife does too.”

  I laughed. “I can think of a few things that could happen. If she wants her own bike and leather jacket, don’t stand in her way.”

  “Will!!!” Blaze shouted at me through the phone loud enough for others in the room to hear her. I heard laughter from both sides of the room.

  “Be serious,” she said.

  “I am. From what you said, she’s interacted with more men today than she has in I don’t know how long. Physical contact, too. Now she’s been up close and personal with a gun toting biker, and when this is over, she’ll either go into shock, or things will change for her.”

  I took a deep breath before continuing. “It might be somewhere in between the two. Make sure there are people who can stay close to her in addition to her wife. But the test will be tomorrow, after she sleeps it off and comes down from this high.”

  “Right. I’ll do that. Back in a few minutes.”

  “Uh, Mr. Banister?” I heard from nearby. It was the reporter, Delton.

  “Yes?”

  He politely told me he’d muted the audio when Blaze and I were talking. Considerate of him.

  “She hasn’t given us permission to interview or record her. The woman you were talking about. As a human-interest story, well, I’m sure many would like to hear it. Both sound like amazing women.”

  “They are. A few days ago, the one we were talking about couldn’t have done what she’s doing now. There’s a lot of trauma in her background. Tarcheski has met her.”

  “Right. They would have met when the President was here. She’s part of that guild?”

  “Yes, she is.”

  “I’ll pass it up. It’s something follow up on after the battle. Thank you.”

  “Thank you for being considerate.”

  “Mr. Banister,” came from behind me. It was Captain Park.

  “Yes, Captain. Sorry for kind of taking over your operations, but how can I help you?”

  Captain Park surprised me with an apology for when we first met. We both admitted we’d gone too far the first time we met. He even smiled…first time I’d seen it.

  He paused for a moment, “While I still believe this should totally be a military operation, my superiors disagree. As more of my soldiers are using their game abilities, I’ve been forced to admit we have to change what we do and how we do it. We must integrate both systems so they work together.”

  “Thank you. You have my apologies as well.” I said. “I went too far as well, and so did Shadow. I let my distrust of some people cloud my reactions with you.”

  Then came the real shock: “General Hallick has informed me that a Warchief outranks a Captain for this engagement only. You have fire control authority. Targeting and fire control for our platoons are at your discretion, sir.”

  My eyebrows nearly shoved my hat off. “So, I get to tell them when and who to shoot?”

  “Within the mission parameters, yes. We don’t expect you to have us shoot anything other than the World Boss we’ve identified.”

  “It would take someone being controlled by the Boss for me to do that, and even then, only as a last resort to protect others.” I saw Park nod in agreement.

  “That’s what most officers would do,” Park told me. “Should do.”

  We talked through security, screen access, workarounds. Soldiers scrambled to adjust monitors where I could see details without the reporter’s camera catching them.

  And then all there was left was the worst part…waiting. The quarry lay gray and empty on the drone feeds.

  Blaze said something I couldn’t quite hear. I picked up the phone. “What was that?”

  “The Holy Clerics are about to Bless the line. I’ll get close so you can hear it.”

  “Good. Make sure they hit as many soldiers as possible. We need all the help we can get.”

  I stood, speaking louder so everyone nearby heard. “The Clerics are about to bless the troops. If we can get a feed on this phone patched through the screens, everyone here should hear it. At the Battle of Edington, it gave us the buff we needed. Maybe it’ll carry us through again.”

  I told Blaze we were going to feed it in here as well, and handed my phone to someone else until it was over.

  You can say this for the Army. Tell them to do something and they get it done fast. Cables clicked, screens shifted, and even the GRA pitched in. I watched as they rigged the feed into the speakers. They even included a switch for the mic so I could talk privately, or send it to everyone. The faint hum of electronics gave way to faint sound of talking voices.

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