Another Friend in Amphibia

Chapter 73: Mountain Crossing

Marcy watched as the toads descended upon the small town. Of all the experiences she had expected since she warped into Amphibia, she never thought she would see toad soldiers destroying a defenseless town.

It was just like Vagabondia Chronicles except she was seeing things from the perspective of the villains. That couldn't be right, could it?

Anne, Sasha, Drake, herself... they were all supposed to be the heroes of this world. Now Sasha was leading an invasion with Drake by her side against the benevolent King Andrias.

Then again, here she was complicit in oppression against frogs who had ultimately done nothing wrong. It was a very different feeling, being there to see and smell the smoke from the town, compared to reading about it.

Marcy pushed those thoughts aside. They needed to win this war and maybe this was necessary. She had ran through the numbers multiple times and every time she came to the same conclusion. Without extra supplies, they'll never make it to Newtopia.

Marcy looked through a set of binoculars. Some toads were throwing dead frogs into a massive bonfire, others carried away boxes full of presumably supplies. On any other day, she would see this and immediately believe the toads were nothing more than raiders.

Bog wasn't kidding when he said he would make Grime look like a big softie.

Marcy put down the binoculars and turned away from the town. She couldn't look at this anymore. Marcy retreated into her tent and began to cry in her sleeping bag, still trying to figure out where everything went wrong.

Far away from the camp, Drake was looking through a telescope. Although most of the army had left, there were still too many soldiers guarding their camp.

A vulture squawked and drew lines on the makeshift dirt map.

Drake looked and understood what it meant. The toads were beginning their mountain crossing. "Nyx! What does the path on the other end of the mountains look like? Maybe we could ambush them on their way out."

Nyx started hissing. Then she looked at the rest of their force.

"I understand we're a small group but our orders are to stop the enemy from leaving the valley. We only need one more day," Drake said.

Nyx drew an "X" on the map where the Southern Toad Army was expected to march.

"I agree. They probably won't make it to the other side but even if we don't engage them. We shouldn't take any chances," Drake suggested.

Nyx nodded.

"Alright, wait for me on the other side. I have a plan to slow them down. I will go through the mountains by myself. Hopefully I can get ahead of them." Drake jumped off the tree and started walking towards the mountains while giving the enemy camp a wide berth.

Then he was stopped by Nyx. She looked at him with some worry.

"I'll be alright. If the weather gets too bad, I'll leave immediately. You have my promise," Drake reassured her.

Nyx still looked worried but allowed him to pass. She nuzzled him once as he walked by.

Hours later, Marcy rode in one of the stolen wagons. They were running out of time. The mountain was going to close and if they didn't hurry, they would all die during the crossing.

She looked towards the mountains themselves. She never really had time to properly appreciate this place since Joe Sparrow was so fast. Luckily, he finally had an opportunity to rest after being awoken in the middle of the night.

Suddenly an explosion shook the cliffs and rocks were falling. It was a landslide and they were caught in the middle of it! The rocks descended upon the column, crushing some of the toads under its weight. The whole army stopped.

"Damage report!" Jacinda yelled.

Marcy looked back. "Some of our troops are stranded behind the rubble! We need to go back for them!"

"No! Keep moving forward!" Bog ordered.

"What? What about our men? We can't just leave them behind!" Marcy protested.

Bog looked at Marcy with the same threatening glare. "Yes we can. Do not stop! Keep this column moving!"

Marcy wrote down some notes into her journal. Shortly after his appointment as head of the Southern Toad Army, Bog had quickly gained a reputation as being one of the best toad captains in history due to his ruthlessness. However, Marcy was starting to question if that was a good thing. She had seen firsthand what that ruthlessness meant for the frogs of the valley and even the toads under his command. He cared little for the lives of those he commanded and his "strategy" or as Marcy would call it, "tunnel vision" involved toughing out whatever situation he stupidly marches into. All with the goal of outfighting his enemies in a straightforward slugging match he didn't really prepare for.

"Alarm!" a toad named Fens yelled.

Marcy looked up from her journal and saw a crossbow bolt sticking out of Jacinda. A pool of blood was forming from the wound. The royal newt guard assigned to protect her were on high alert.

A crossbow bolt appeared. This time hitting Bog in the chest. His armor caused the bolt to bounce off harmlessly.

"Incoming!" the toads either raised their shields or took cover.

Another crossbow bolt was launched. It hit Bog again, knocking him down but it bounced off his armor as well.

Marcy ducked behind one of the wagons that survived the landslide. She looked at where the bolts were coming from. There was definitely something in the distance, but she couldn't quite make out what it was.

"Don't just stand there! Shoot back!" Bog yelled.

A large group of archers launched arrows at the general area where the crossbow bolts were coming form. They launched volley after volley, hoping a stray arrow will hit whoever was attacking them. After the fifth volley, the arrows stopped.

"Did we get him?" Fens asked.

Everyone remained silent, expecting another crossbow bolt to arrive but it never did.

"Get this column moving again," Bog ordered.

"What about everyone else stranded on the other side?" Marcy asked.

"They're on their own," Bog coldly said.

Marcy knew better than to protest further. The toads on this side of the landslide began marching again. By the end of the day, they would make it out of the valley with only half of their troops remaining.

Author's Note

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Hey I'm back. Looks like Bog has made it out of the valley. What do you all think of how I portrayed him as a military leader?

Anyway, the Siege of Newtopia is progressing smoothly. The Southern Toad Army is looking tough.