Chapter Sixteen
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AT LEAST A HUNDREDmages were lost because of the dragon. The bastard had been on the battlefield for less than fifteen minutes and most of their casualties were from him. The Hollows had taken out maybe ten to fifteen mages and wolves but that was it, despite fighting for hours while Carlo, Lennox, Kallan, Teague, and Nanshe were gone. It surprised him to see time in Encantado had moved far faster than it did in the In Between. What was only hours for them ran a couple of days in Encantado itself.
Now Carlo understood what Heath had meant when he thought he’d been gone for such a short time yet Isadora had grown so much. None of this made sense. Carlo was pretty tired of time and how it affected all of them.
They needed to regroup. Luckily, the dragon hadn't created another area of Scorched Earth, but they could still see its effects. So many had been burned and some businesses would not be reopening anytime soon due to time needed to rebuild.
Carlo was sickened by what Skuld was willing to do in order to get her way. Now that the battle was over, he had obtained an earpiece so he could connect with the others. Nanshe was given one as well.
“We lost five wolves here,” Arturo groused over the comm.
“We lost seven.”
Carlo could understand Dominic’s rage. The younger Alpha cared deeply for his pack, which was smaller than others.
“The Moonstone lost two,” Adonis added.
“The mages seem to have had the highest number of losses because they were covering the area of Scorched Earth where the dragon came in. A fucking dragon. Whoever would have thought we’d see one again?” Dominic seethed.
“Well,” Carlo began, “it’s better than what happened in Boulder, Colorado. That entire city had to be rebuilt after the dragon nearly wiped it off the face of the earth. I guess we can be thankful for that. Kalinda, how are you handling the mage losses?”
Romano’s voice came across the comm instead. “She's handling it as well as any of us, I suppose. Since she gained the highest number of losses, the mages are changing their way of attacking. They were effective against the dragon with the help of Nanshe and you guys, but they're going to be more prepared for future battles. We need them protected better if we don’t want some sort of revolt.”
Carlo nodded, even knowing the men couldn't see him.
“Then we will,” Arturo said stoically. “We will have to get wolves from every pack on patrol with the mages. They can face the Hollow threat first, allowing the mages to properly arm themselves.”
“Kalinda has already said she will make sure all mages have blades. Some are not natural fighters,” Romano explained. “She would like for them to be trained by Silva in smaller groups in order to have more basic self-defense, but the wolves will have to make sure they're covered.”
“Then, if I may, without stepping on any toes,” Adonis said, “I can attach more men than any of the other packs. Let my men be the numbers you need.”
“I appreciate that, Adonis. Thank you,” Arturo added.
“Well, the Renegades have been on overall patrol around the outside areas.” Alexi finally chimed into the conversation. “But we are spread thin. If it is possible, we can concentrate the Renegades on the areas where the mage districts are and then we can spare the extra men for each individual pack to better contain their areas. That way we're not all on outside patrol.”
“I can run with that,” Arturo replied. “You proved yourself in this battle. Because of that, I believe we can use you in this way.”
“Then I will have my men receive their new orders,” Alexi agreed. “Who was the wolf that helped with the dragon?”
“We cannot speak of her. She came to my aide. In essence, she is my familiar,” Nanshe responded over the comm.
Carlo looked to Nanshe, tasting the lie in her words but figuring she’d said it that way for a reason.
“Your familiar. Hmm.” The tone of Alexi's voice said that he didn't believe it either, but he allowed it. “We saw her before in Scorched Earth when we had to help Silva and Kalinda. It seems you have been helping us for some time.”
“Yes, I have,” she added, leaving it at that.
“Fine. Gather up the dead and triage the wounded. Get everything as cleared up as possible. We need men working rebuilding what has been lost, but our primary concern is going protection,” Dominic said, adding his orders to the list of things to be done.
“We have to make sure we don't have a mass exodus from our borders because of what has happened,” Romano added with a sigh. “I'll pass on to Kalinda that you will be making sure her people are protected.”
