The Princess turned to her, flashing a welcoming smile. Talk about python vs. rabbit. Taali was shrinking even as she walked. Her decisive stride wobbled, her flushed cheeks betraying her feelings. Finally, she lost her nerve and dived under my arm, mumbling something as she grabbed at me.

She rose on tiptoe to whisper in my ear, "Did you really need to bring her over?"

"Sorry, sweetheart. We do need more men if we want to teach the bastards a lesson. The Princess has kindly offered her troops. Plus, it considerably increases our share of the loot."

She didn't seem to hear, though. Her gaze wandered around. "Do you remember something you said about pheromones? " she breathed out almost soundlessly. "Do you think they work for... for women, too?"

Meeting my puzzled stare, she blushed, her hard slender elbow poking my ribs. "That's not a joke!"

I replied in mime, locking my mouth shut and throwing away the key. I didn't mean it as a joke. I'm not that stupid.

The Princess with her delicate Elven hearing must have heard every word of our exchange. She laughed in a soft, husky voice, startling both Taali and myself. A thousand gentle pins and needles pierced my spine. The woman was a love-beam generator on two legs.

I squeezed Taali's hand. "Take it easy, girl," I brought my face close to hers. "I'm in turmoil, too. I'm not sure about pheromones, but I do know that the sound frequency of 250 Hz can manipulate one's sexuality. Also, don't forget she's a Dark Priestess. She has to have some tricks up her sleeve. I think I need to do a bit of research—Wiki must mention some odd spell to counter her magic with. It's no good her trying to wrap me around her little finger."

Taali nodded, then stood up. "Sorry, I can't leave it like this."

She shook her heavy mane and slid to my other side, wedging herself between me and the Princess. Ruata smiled back at her glare, giving me a barely perceptible wink. Oh. About time I made myself a tinfoil hat.

So we walked to the small hall that housed our HQ. Its walls were lined with the floor plans of the Forest Castle. God knows how they'd managed to lay their hands on them. Another large map showed the surrounding area. An analyst was hurriedly adding detail to it—apparently following the reports of our stealthed rogues who were surveying the castle area under cover of night.

The General gave us a curt nod, then bowed to the Princess, thanking her for her troops. The officer on duty hurried to put us in the picture.

"Four rogue groups of five men apiece have advanced toward the enemy two hours ago. They've already taken up their positions around the castle. They've also discovered three enemy outposts and a chain of guard spells. They're doing nothing about it—no point in alarming the enemy yet."

A waitress who'd been doing her rounds with a trayful of steaming coffee had finally made it to us. Rubbing his reddened eyes, the officer nodded to her, taking a cup. We all followed suit, sampling the delicious drink. Gingerly Ruata took one sip and froze, concentrating on her feelings. She'd had coffee before, surely?

The officer piped up, "Unfortunately, the best bridgeheads for concentrating the attacking forces are all under surveillance. So it looks as if we'll have to move straight on. Two Wizard groups under invisibility spells and power cover are already taking up their positions about three hundred feet from the castle walls. On our signal, they'll create stationary portals opening directly onto the castle square. The first line should be fully deployed within ninety seconds. Max, what's your ability range?"

For a moment, I just stared at him absently before realizing what he'd had in mind. I leafed through the virtual spell book and found it. "One hundred and twenty feet."

The officer made a face, pouting his lips. He scratched his head and turned to Frag. "Problem, Comrade General. The Death Knight's range is a hundred and twenty. That's an extra minute's walk from the portal. Besides, that'll put him within range of their crossbows and glaive throwers, as well as magic. They'll break the spell."

Frag frowned, thinking. "Max, you move to your position in half an hour under your own steam. I'll give you eight Enchanters and two Necros as your batteries. Each can transfuse you about a thousand mana. That's not much but the transfer quotient is too steep. Still, it's good enough for a Bastion-class shield. I'm also giving you five of Lt. Singe's Wizards to cast a Minor Power Dome around you. I would have given a few rogues to cover you, but we have none to spare. Sorry about that. And... I suggest you take five of your cutthroats. Just make sure the invisibility is maintained."

An ash-haired humanoid with the rank of Lieutenant added nonchalantly, "Mana transfusion has a ten minute cooldown. We'll be out of circulation so don't count on us any further."

"I know," the General nodded. "How much damage can the dome sustain?"

"Thirty kee. Followed by a big bang with everybody lying flat on the ground watching snot fly."

"Not enough. We'll give you Brown's group. They'll cast a new spell if the dome drops below twenty percent. But that's about all I can do. I'm not going to lose my best-trained men. I'll need all of them when the battle enters its crucial stage."

Lt. Singe shrugged. "We can start by casting some mist," he offered. "Lots of it. It'll last three minutes or so. That'll force the Cats to spread the field of fire thinly, minimizing the damage."

"Excellent," Frag said. "That's it. Go to it!"

"Yes, Comrade General," the officer barked, noting his orders on his clipboard. "Max," he went on, "we seem to be clear on your objectives. Now for the big picture. Once the dome is down, we take out the main gate, it's about a hundred thousand hits, should take us a minute or so. The first special-ops vanguard will mop up the square, get to the teleport pad and take control over it in order to meet the enemy's potential reinforcements and any of the enemy's eventual malingerers. The second reinforced company will take the donjon and the control room. To bring the castle under our control, a group of forty men has to hold the central artifact for twelve minutes—quite doable. The cutthroats—two thirds of them, rather—will mop up the walls and the corner towers, mainly against NPC guards. They're perfect for the Drow and will give them some XP into the bargain. The remaining one-third will move to reinforce the HQ group. The General's priority is to take the basement dungeon before the enemy has had the chance to destroy evidence or move the prisoners. So that's where the HQ group and the Drow will be heading, followed by the HQ staff and a dozen reserve guards. We need to exercise extreme caution. We must capture as many targets as we can alive and hand them over to the second wave. Keep your eyes and ears peeled, listen in to all communication channels, stay put if you're killed as the clerics are under orders to reincarnate all corpses within two minutes of death. That's more or less it. Now," he looked me and the others over, "hurry downstairs and join the raid, then form a group with several support teams. Lt. Brown is in charge during the first stage. Once he's gone into battle, you're responsible for yourselves and the cutthroats."

They refused to take Taali along. Instead, they entrusted her with the equally important but safe task of monitoring real-world newsfeeds as well as the Cats' and Olders' guest forums. We needed to know how fast they'd react and who would be the first to start making waves.

Everybody had something to do. I received two invitations, to join the group and the raid respectively. I accepted both. I spent the following ten minutes on my feet in a solid shoulder-to-shoulder formation as the wizards cast buffs on the entire raid. Their spells had doubled my power: hits, strength and magic resists of all levels. Perfect time to do some solo leveling! I got a word that the total cost of the buff ingredients was about thirty thousand gold.