Stealth Operation

Kim didn't hesitate. As soon as she encountered someone in the camp, she waited until she saw an opening before making her move.

The first person they encountered had passed between two tents and Kim waited for him to pass before coming up from behind and using the hilt of her short sword, she quickly knocked them out. Though, as his body fell to the ground, she couldn't help but wince at the noise it made.

Then after a minute, when no one came to investigate the sound, she breathed a sigh of relief. While she wasn't sure exactly how many of the army had gotten armor rom the orcs, she at least was confident that it was over half of them. Not to mention she couldn't be sure at the moment how far it had spread since they fell under the enchanter's control.

She had contemplated using Elmo's magic to just put them to sleep, but as she thought about it, she had a feeling that doing so wouldn't help them out much. While they wouldn't ben under the enchanter's control when they woke up, provided they didn't end up losing before they were done, they wouldn't be available to help them either.

Knocking them out, while a little dangerous, given it could end with them dying before it was safe to have Elin healing them, it at least made it possible for them to increase their numbers. Which would make it easier to deal with those still under the magical control once the enchanter became aware of what they were doing.

Although, she hoped that it wouldn't occur too soon. It wouldn't be hard for them to be overwhelmed at the moment either. To end up being forced to wear a single piece of that enchanted armor, which would put any of them under that enchanter's control.

Pushing those thoughts out of her mind, Kim immediately began undoing the straps holding the enchanted breastplate on the soldier, taking it off before motioning for Elin to do her thing.

Elmo did his best to keep an eye out for anyone who might detect them, but Kim didn't really expect much from him. At least not with how dark it was outside the firelight. If he had some of Jonas' abilities in regards to the dark, then maybe she'd feel more confident in his abilities to spot danger right then.

Still, she had to admit that it was better than nothing. If he wasn't there, she'd have to just go on pure hope that she wouldn't be spotted. As she preferred to put her entire focus in this endeavor. That way she would be more confident in not making a mistake when it came to taking down another person to try and add them to their numbers. Otherwise she was sure that she might make a mistake, not knock the person out and end up with an alarm essentially being sounded.

Which naturally would bring all the others to where she was and pretty much overwhelm her. Even if it was merely and 'eventually' rather than right away.

Although, if that happened, she didn't plan on going quietly, and while she didn't want to kill the soldiers because it wasn't their fault for ending up like this, she wasn't going to go quietly. If it came down to it, she would kill them without a second thought if it meant that she at least had a chance to avoid ending up under the control of that enchanter.

When Elin healed the soldier that Kim had just knocked unconscious, they directed him to the tent where the man that Jonas had saved, as Kim didn't care to explain to him what they were doing or what had happened. Not only would it waste their time with each person that they helped, but it would also force them to stop each time. To the point where they might as well just have Elmo put them to sleep. At least then they could move a little faster than this method.

They worked quietly, not trusting to speak, communicating only with gestures and hand signals. Moving as quickly as they could, they were able to amass twenty people before Kim found herself with a problem

Kim wasn't really sure when the twenty people had started helping her, most of them had been people that they'd saved from the enchantment, although there were a few who hadn't been under then enchantment in the first place. Which Kim merely assumed that they'd either been overlooked or those spreading the enchantment just hadn't gotten to them.

Regardless of the reason, she couldn't deny that she didn't feel relief that she hadn't had to deal with all of them. Especially with what she currently saw before her.

Either this had been this way already or the enchanter really had noticed that at least something was happening to those they controlled. Causing them to have those under their control to gather here. At the edge of the camp, clearly ready at a moment's notice to do whatever the enchanter had in mind.

Kim was sure she should be able to figure out the reason, but right then, a wave of fatigue hit her, causing her mind to suddenly to go on strike and refuse to work the way it had been just before that moment.

While it was annoying, she couldn't do anything about it. Not right then at least. Not without being able to take the time to go to sleep.

However, she knew that if she did that right then, that she probably wouldn't wake up before she ended up under that enchantment as well. Which wasn't something that she was willing to let happen. That she would have to be held down before she would allow herself to end up under the control of anyone else.

While she would rather have avoided it, she recognized that it was time to have Elmo use his magic to start putting those under the enchantment to sleep. Not only would it reduce the numbers against them, but Kim hoped that it would also create some confusion for the enchanter.

While she was confident that they hadn't been noticed quite yet, she had a feeling that stealth was no longer going to really be an option for them. At least not a viable one.

Dawn was still a ways off, but she doubted that it would help them in any meaningful way, though it would likely help the ones being controlled.

"Ready, Elmo?" Kim whispered, hoping her voice didn't carry over the otherwise quiet night. She didn't want to give their position away that quickly.

"Ready," Elmo whispered just as quietly.

"It doesn't matter who you put to sleep. Just put them under randomly," Kim added as Elmo moved to the front of the small force that they'd been able to assemble.

Kim wasn't sure how long to expect before Elmo's spell would start having a real effect on their opponents, but as long as it reduced their numbers, she was confident that they'd be able to manage.

Although, with having to drop them one by one, it was painfully slow. Even as she heard Elmo call out very quietly, "Sleep."

Still, she could hear those in the darkness falling to the ground, as Elmo's spell hit them. She wasn't sure how much Elmo would be able to get, since she was quite certain that Elmo hadn't quite recovered from his barrage of spells at the charging orcs earlier.

Still, she wasn't ready for the enchanted soldiers to start moving forward suddenly. Although, as she thought about it, she realized that she should have expected this to happen. As they were clearly able to reduce their numbers even more when they had formed a defensive line.

As such, now that they had started forward, the battle was about to begin. Either they succeeded or they failed at this point. Provided Jonas didn't manage to deal with the enchanter on his own. Although, if Aquis was the one behind it, Kim doubted that Jonas would be able to handle it on his own.

At least assuming that the spell didn't have any other effect that Elmo hadn't quite discover. After all, he'd only cast his identify spell on a piece of armor. Not the spell itself.

Kim didn't get much time to think about that, as the soldiers that hadn't been put to sleep had already crossed the distance and Kim met the charge with the pommel of her sword. Striking the first soldier to reach the tents by her in the chin, dropping him cold with that single strike.

"Keep putting them to sleep," Kim commanded Elmo, not sparing a moment to look at him. She knew that she could easily have done that, but she wasn't confident that those attacking them wouldn't be able to get the upper hand over her if she did.

Aside from the first soldier, she couldn't see an opening to strike them down without killing them. Even though she worried that she might get put under that enchantment somehow herself, she resisted the idea of killing these people. They hadn't done anything to deserve to have that happen to her. It was the one who was controlling them that she wanted to kill right then.

"Elin, keep ready to heal us if we need it," Kim said, blocking the swing of a sword from one of the soldiers in front of her.