~ Chapter 65: War Meeting ~
[Feryumstark’s point of view]
Ever since Alkelios returned from the Seculiar Forest, I have been more active and so has my wife, the Queen. From just occasionally visiting the throne when there was only something important that need to be solved to spending at least one hour per day here listening to various complaints and proposals of respectable nobles.
In short, our lives as King and Queen of Albeyater Kingdom were returning to how it was so many years ago before that accursed event took place. Almost losing my best friend and my wife in the span of a few decades because of betrayals and plots against the crown wasn’t something I could easily deal with. As for the ones behind all of this, it still remained a mystery. After all, the assassin had to have had someone inside who made sure he could get past our defenses. The attack on the former Draketerus land was also planned out almost perfectly. They knew when and how to strike.
As a King and a military tactician, I found the strategy to be almost perfect. The reason why I thought of it as ‘almost’ was because the enemy never considered the true might of Brekkar. He was the only Breakthrough-er who participated in that battle and by the time the others arrived it was already too late. Alkelios called it a Blitzkrieg, a lightning-fast war which spanned over several days not months or years.
Today, as always, I arrived in the throne room not long after I had my lunch and drank a cup of tea together with my wife. I sat down in my throne and took the stack of papers Elovius had prepared for me. Those were the reports he had compiled, which I was supposed to read today. Normally, this job was meant more for an office or a study room, but I did not feel like sitting in front of my desk today.
As I read through them, my face turned into a frown. When I was done, I put the stack of papers on my lap and looked at the Prime Minister, who was standing next to me.
“Have you made sure the information written here is true?” I asked him.
“Yes, your Majesty.” Elovius replied and made a bow.
“Then... this means that Draejan is a traitor.” I let out a sigh.
Someone of my own family betrayed me. It was not unthinkable, but for dragons it was an extremely rare event. In the case of humans, however, I heard that their Kings did not even trust their own wives let alone their children or nephews.
“It would appear so. Prince Kryogan, who is currently an Ambassador of Albeyater in the Embryger Empire, has sent a report within which he claimed that one of the Empire’s political factions was making a move outside of their authority. It would appear they are trying to win points in the favor of the Princess they are supporting to rise to the throne. At the same time, Princess Saluka Fer, who is married to the ducal family Bryghtanar of the Embryger Empire has sent a report with her husband’s signature warning us of this possible movement and that we shouldn’t be quick to judge it as being the Empress or Emperor’s direct command.” he explained.
“Hm, a faction, is it? Are there any factions within our Kingdom?” I asked him out of curiosity.
The main difference between a Faction and a Party was the fact the first aimed for the throne, while the latter focused on the political games within the Kingdom, fighting over land and authority while holding their loyalty towards the current King and Queen.
“None of which I am aware off. However, as I have mentioned, I personally believe Prince Charmeill to be a strong candidate after your Majesty retires. Although recently I’m seeing Princess Elleyzabelle and Princess Josephine catching up. They, however, have a lot more to learn, and unfortunately, Princess Josephine is too stubborn in regard to finding a way to end the war against the humans and if put on the throne might neglect our own draconian politics.” Elovius explained.
Although Charmeill was the first prince and he was the second, he had no interest in the throne and currently enjoyed his position as a Prime Minister. If it was up to me, I would think Elovius was far better than Charmeill, but the latter was a Breakthrough-er as well. Regarding the dragonesses, only the First Princess Natalia was the one who achieved one. Unfortunately, she had no interest in politics and would prefer to spend her time on the battlefield.
There was also Baluth who achieved a Breakthrough not that long ago, but his aim was to become a General like Brekkar, whom he revered as a great teacher and model.
These children of mine made me worry about the future of my Kingdom and also kept me away from an early retirement.
Letting out a sigh, I looked back at Elovius and asked him “So we are to expect a possible gathering of enemy forces within the next months?”
“Yes, my estimates are sometime within the following six to eight months, depending how long it will take for those troops to arrive at our borders. As for a possible number of their force, I’m guessing somewhere around two Breakthrough-ers and 40000 soldiers.” he said while showing me the report of the estimated combat power of that said faction.
“Hm, so Duke Hallagan, Marquise Fervanis, and several Barons I have never heard off... No dragonesses?” I asked raising an eyebrow.
“None, your Majesty. This is an all-male faction which supports a Princess.” said Elovius.
“Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?” I asked him as I lowered the report.
“Yes, your Majesty, and that is why neither we nor the Empire itself believes they stand a chance at winning the throne. Unless... of course, they manage to conquer Albeyater by themselves.” said Elovius.
“Hm... In that case, they can either declare our land as a part of the Empire’s or rule it entirely by themselves as a vassal state.” I said while nodding.
It was a rather dangerous situation, one in which we could be targeted like a tasty piece of raw meat in front of hungry sheep.
“This also means that your estimates are wrong. They have no chance of winning with such a force.” I said as I hit the paper with the back of my fingers.
“I am aware of this, but the reports confirm those numbers, your Majesty.” he replied with a bow.
Letting out a sigh, I began to think about how Draejan came into play in all of this.
At this moment, however, a messenger entered the throne room and knelt in front of us. His breathing was rough, showing that he ran all the way here without stopping. I took this as a sign of the message being rather urgent.
“Your Majesty, I have come to report that Duchess Marchialle has been assassinated by unknown wingless dragons not that long ago.” he said in one breath.
“WHAT?!” I shouted and got up the throne.
This was dire news. The Duchess was a close friend of my wife’s, and she was also someone with close ties to the Merchant Guild within the Kingdom. To hear that she has been assassinated made my blood boil, and I could only imagine the pain my wife was going to go through after this.
Then, another messenger entered in a similar fashion.
“Your Majesty, I have come to report that Viscountess Mercuria has been assassinated by unknown wingless dragons not that long ago.” he said in one breath.
And another entered soon afterwards.
“Your Majesty, I have come to report that Duke Galbarian has been assassinated by unknown wingless dragons not that long ago.” he said in one breath.
After him, I saw another one entering, and I gulped while wondering what was happening.
“Your Majesty, I have come to report that we just received word of Melles Town coming under siege by bandits. The same is happening with Naver Town, Ugen City, and Unvar Town. Within the report, it was written that Onias Town, Nalta City, and Nezv Town have all come under siege by bandits.” he explained.
I gulped when I heard this news.
Looking over at Elovius, he was shocked by what he had just heard as well. For a town to come under siege by bandits nonetheless was absolutely ridiculous. They could never hope to gain or win this battle, however, on the long run it meant forcing the military personnel to stay within the settlement to protect it. The merchants were also forced to stop from advancing with their caravans, which meant a loss of profit and goods, which meant a direct hit to the Kingdom’s economy.
“Your Majesty, this...” Elovius was at a loss of words.
I quickly dismissed the messengers and told them to see what other reports were coming in.
“Call Brekkar and see if any other assassination took place today. Make this a priority.” I ordered.
“As you wish, your Majesty!” he bowed and then left.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I leaned back in my throne and looked up at the ceiling. In my mind, I repeated the words spoken by the messengers and pictured the map of my Kingdom. With these attacks and the threat of the Embryger Empire’s faction making a move on us, I was beginning to see the connections. IF they won this upcoming war, then these bandits who besieged my cities and town at the same time would become heroes of the new age.
It was all very troublesome and worrying. My Kingdom’s army was already crippled and most of it was on the Western Front under Charmeill and Natalia’s command, making sure the Humans did not attack.
However, if I sent Kataryna and Alkelios to those settlements, those sieges would end in a matter of days. This, however, did not mean that my troops would not suffer from exhaustion and reduced morale. If this was the purpose, then it was highly likely that the few months Elovius had estimated may have turned into a few weeks. Because otherwise, there was no gain from besieging all of those settlements. In a few months, all the losses could be recovered.
For the time being, I got up and ordered that all urgent reports to be brought directly to the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, I went to see my wife and check up on how she was doing. I also had to break the news in regard to the death of her friend.
This isn’t going to be easy... I thought to myself as I left the throne room.
Elliessara took the news of the assassination of Duchess Marchialle without breaking down into tears or anything like that. If someone saw her just then, they would have thought she was a cold dragoness, but I knew her better than anyone. The news hit her hard, but this was not the first time she lost a friend or family. It was not going to be the last time either. Throughout the past centuries, we both have lost many of those who were dear to us. It was maybe only through pure luck that only one of our children had passed away so far. Although, we both would have preferred for all of them to have survived, but maybe that was asking too much, and the gods took Coshun away from us as a result?
For now, I comforted her as best as I could and then several hours later, I returned to the throne, where I sat down and waited for Elovius to show up with his report.
The first one to enter, however, was Sir Seryanna Draketerus, the wife of Alkelios Yatagai Draketerus. She was dragging with her an unconscious naked dragoness tied up with the rope in a way that none of her private parts could be seen. It would better to say that she literally wrapped her up in the rope from the neck down, all the way to her ankles.
“Your Majesty.” she said and knelt before me.
“Sir Seryanna, what’s... that?” I asked pointing at the one she brought with her.
“An assassin.” she replied calmly.
“Huh?” I raised an eyebrow.
Then, while she was explaining how the attack on her life took place, the doors opened again. This time it was Kataryna who entered while dragging behind her two frozen dragons. They were inside two big blocks of ice, and I could see that the freezing process took place in but a split second.
“Your Majesty.” the dragoness showed me a smile and then looked at Seryanna. She nodded and said “Good day, Seryanna.”
“Good day, Kataryna. Assassins?” Seryanna asked while I was looking at their ‘catch’.
“I have a bad feeling about this...” I muttered.
At this moment, Kleo entered the throne room and greeted me with a bow and a smile.
“Your Majesty.” she said.
“Kleo, is something the matter?” I asked of her, seeing how not too long ago I saw her with my wife, acting as a guard.
“This.” she said.
The shadow at her feet expanded in front of her and made a perfectly black disc. From within it, four black hands pulled out four wingless dragons who were scared stiff. They looked as if they had been tormented with pure fear by devils and unspeakable monsters.
“And they are?” I asked pointing at the poor bastards.
“Assassins who thought they could take the Queen’s life.” she showed me a calm smile.
When those four met my gaze, three of them fainted and the last one soiled himself.
I had every right to be furious and mad. Although this change in my expressions was instantaneous, with everything that was happening, no one could blame for being a bit on the edge.
Not only are they aiming for important nobles, they have the guts to go after my WIFE?! I screamed in my mind while I bombarded those four with killing intent.
At this point, the door opened again, but this time, it wasn’t a messenger, it was Elovius.
“Your Majesty, I... erm... what’s happening here?” he asked when he saw the scene.
“Assassins.” Kataryna shrugged.
“Ahem... Yes... that.” I said and tried to regain my cool “Is my wife alright, Kleo?” I asked the necromancer.
“She didn’t even know they were there. I took care of them the moment my Black Hounds sensed their desire to take her life. Then, I just summoned the dark fiends of the underworld and sent them loose upon them. I made sure their souls remained intact, but I won’t vouch for their sanity.” she spoke in a calm tone of voice while showing me an innocent smile.
When she reaches a Breakthrough, she’ll be one scary dragoness... Sooo, I’m going to do my best to be on her good side. I thought.
“Thank you, Kleo. I appreciate it.” I nodded.
“You’re welcome, your Majesty. I’ll just hand these four over to Elovius for questioning.” she said and then looked at the Prime Minister.
“Is there anything left inside those things that can answer my questions?” he asked pointing at the four.
“Maybe? I don’t know.” she shrugged “I’ll give you a Darkness stick to poke them around and see if they move.” she giggled.
“Sure...” he blinked surprised then looked at me. “Ahem. Your Majes...” before he could finish his words, the doors opened again.
This time, it was Alkelios who came dragging two dragons beaten until they were all black and blue.
“Let me guess... Assassins?” I asked with a sigh as I shook my head.
“How did you know?” Alkelios asked blinking surprised.
“Because today of all days, countless assassins apparently chose to go after the important nobles in this Kingdom, a bunch of bandits decided it was the ‘Siege the Town’ day, and all of this at the same time. What I want to know is why are you bringing these assassins before me?” I asked trying hard to control my exasperated tone of voice.
I didn’t even want to think about what all of this meant when put together, but I never felt so strong the urgency to prepare my troops for war.
Then, Sir Brekkar also entered the room, bringing with him, six tied up assassins.
“You too?” he asked as he looked around.
They all nodded.
“I believe the reason we brought the assassins here was because the Prime Minister knows how to handle them the best.” Sir Seryanna answered my question in a polite and knightly fashion.
“In other words, they have no idea how to do a proper interrogation.” Sir Brekkar said with a snort.
“Neither do you.” I squinted my eyes at the dragon.
“Ahahaha! Hey! That time was an accident! I swear!” he defended himself.
“You sent a dragon flying to the other side of the capital and made him lose ALL of his memories because he hit his head!” I retorted.
“Like I said, it was an accident.” he showed a forced smile.
“Yes. Yes.” I waved him off then looked at Elovius “You heard Sir Seryanna. Can you do it?” I asked him.
“Of course.” he nodded and showed me a kind smile.
I was beginning to feel pity for these poor bastards. Maybe this frightening side of his was also the reason why I favored Elovius as a possible next King more than I did Charmeill. That boy was a bit too soft, but the dragoness he picked was not that bad. Although, she wasn’t what I would call Queen material either. In any case, I could always arrange a political marriage for him, so that he had someone by his side with these skills. Or, I could have Elliessara give a crash course to his chosen dragoness.
“How did you all come about to capturing them? I heard Kleo’s story and a part of Sir Seryanna’s story. They attacked her on the shore of the Golden Scale River. She fought back and brought the one survivor here, which is the tied-up dragoness over there. Going by the order, Kataryna, what about you?” I asked.
“Oh, I was just about to head out with Princess Elleyzabelle when I saw these two idiots entering through the window. I flash froze them and then I was about to shatter them, but the Princess told me it would better to bring them to the Prime Minister, who will know how to get any information he desires out them.” she said in a calm tone of voice.
“Alright, what about you Sir Alkelios?” I asked.
“I was at Viscountess Reyazes’ place when three assassins came crashing through the windows and attacked her. I stopped their attacks and then turned one of them into mush. I captured these two, and I sort of flew a bit too low to the ground and accidentally smacked them into trees and rocks because they were being annoying.” he showed me a smile.
“How is that an accident?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Then they smacked themselves into trees and rocks while I had absolutely nothing to do with it?” he asked pointing a finger up.
“Sigh, no need to tell me more. Brekkar, what about you?” I asked shaking my head.
“They attacked me and Iolaus while we were training, so I used Iolaus to beat them up.” he nodded.
“You what?” I blinked surprised.
“I grabbed the boy by the feet and used him as a club!” he showed me a thumbs up.
“Hey! Don’t break my future husband! I’m supposed to do that!” Kleo complained, and I let out a sigh.
At the very least, this bunch had no problem in handling the assassins, but the others...
“Elovius, who died today?” I asked.
“The reports I received so far speak of the following successful assassinations: Duchess Marchialle, Duke Galbarian, Marquise Behavialla, Marchioness Veronique, Marchioness Massaria, Earl Hoghiannis, Countess Mariella, Countess Yehevajere, Countess Mafvajra, Viscount Morus, Viscountess Mercuria, Baron Elforan, Baroness Mejeve, and Baroness Helberya. These being the nobles, but mercenaries and craftsmen have been targeted as well. There are many others who are gravely injured or suffered many losses while fighting back against the attackers.” explained Elovius.
“How is it even possible to attack so many dragons at the same time? This level of organization isn’t normal.” Alkelios pointed out.
“It’s not...” I let out a sigh. “Please, everyone, follow me to the War Room.” I said and got up from my throne.
When he heard this, the first one to react was Brekkar. His smile turned into a serious expression. The only reason why I would invite them there was because there was a chance that we were facing a war-like scenario.
“What of her Majesty, the Queen?” asked Elovius.
“I will inform her of everything that transpired there afterwards.” I told him.
“What of the prisoners?” asked Seryanna as she looked at the trembling assassin from Kleo’s shadow.
“Elovius?” I asked as I looked at my son.
“If the Duke and Duchess Draketerus would be kind enough to remove any poison pills and hidden blades from them, I will order them to be taken to the dungeons so that I may begin interrogation as soon as possible.” he suggested.
“Fine. Do it quickly.” I said as I nodded.
“As you wish, your Majesty!” the two of them bowed before me.
While they began working, several guards were called in by Elovius to take the prisoners to their new ‘home’.
The whole thing didn’t take long, just a couple of minutes, afterwards, I made my way to the War Room. I walked at the front while everyone else followed behind me.
[Brekkar’s point of view]
For centuries, the War Room of Albeyater Kingdom has been used only and only when war was imminent. While Seryanna, Kleo, and Alkelios were probably too young to know and understand the meaning behind it, I who have been called here countless times in the past was well aware of what this could lead to.
In essence, all War Room summons ended either with a sortie order or a written peace decree. In order for either of the two to be given, a few conditions had to be met.
First of all, the King and Prime Minister had to be present. The Queen didn’t need to attend, but she would later give her final approval of any decision they agreed upon here. If she declined, she was going to participate in the next meeting.
Besides the two, a General had to be present at this meeting together with at least two other Breakthrough-ers who were loyal to the crown.
Presently, all of these conditions were met at a bare minimum, and the King could give out the order for gathering the troops and setting a strategy in motion. After this first meeting, he would appoint various other military commanders to different posts. He would call the Merchant Guild to discuss the necessary supplies that could be bought, and he would even go so far as to call upon the Adventurers within the Albeyater Kingdom to participate in this battle to defend their land. The Minister of Finance and the Ministers of Naval and Aerial affairs would also be called for a meeting.
However, all of these would be based on the initial discussion that took place in the War Room. A second meeting here would take place only in the absurd event where we had been pushed back and a talk about surrendering was necessary. Of course, in case of an all-out war against multiple enemy forces, this room was used almost daily by his Majesty and the Generals who followed him.
In other words, being called to the War Room meant that his Majesty, the King, had enough reasons to believe that the Kingdom of Albeyater was in danger of being invaded by a military force.
When I entered the room together with everyone else, memories of times long past awoken within me. The ridiculously huge table in the middle with a sculpted map of the entire Dragon Continent’s geographical formations on it. In the far-left corner was a big bookcase filled to the brim with various maps drawn for specific areas and with certain purposes in mind. To the far-right corner of the room were two bookcases containing scrolls with Treaties and Decrees given by their Majesties ever since they got on the throne. To my left as I entered the room was another bookcase, but this time it was filled with small metal statues meant to depict various troops and battalions. They were the chess pieces used on the big chess board called the Dragon Continent.
Even though this wasn’t the first time I entered this room, I still stood there in wonder of how meticulous that map was designed. It was said it took the artist 17 months to make it, most of which was time flying about the entire continent together with several Breakthrough-ers from different countries to act as protection. The artist made seven copies of this map and gave one to the most influential dragonesses at that time, one of which was of course Queen Elliessara.
Alkelios was looking at the map with big eyes, and my granddaughters were trying their best to abstain from ogling at it, but I could see their tails wagging. It was that beautifully made.
The only ones who were indifferent to it was the King, the Prime Minister, and Kataryna. I could understand the first two but not the icy dragoness.
“We are now beginning the official War Preparation Meeting.” his Majesty declared as he took an enchanted pointing stick and filled it with magic.
He used it then to draw in the air red X-es over several cities and towns on the map.
“War Preparation?” asked Alkelios confused.
“Boy, this place is never used unless his Majesty has sufficient reasons to believe that our Kingdom may come under attack by an opposing military force.” I whispered to him.
“What? Are you serious?” he looked at me with big eyes.
“Ssh!” Seryanna glared at us.
I showed her a wry smile and then we turned our gazes to the map. Almost all the border towns had been filled with X-es, including the capital, but there were none on the Eastern border.
“Prime Minister, show me what settlements are currently under siege by bandits.” his Majesty asked as he gave the pointing stick to Elovius.
“Certainly.” he nodded and then turned towards the map “First we have the villages: Pertiko, Myuer, Venya, Samaz, Somber, Essey, Ilvan, Nanera, and Rovie. I received news of this from the scouting unit before coming to see your Majesty. There aren’t as many individuals as there are besieging the towns and cities, but enough to keep the merchants and soldiers from departing in case of a sortie call.” he declared.
“Hm...” I scratched my chin.
Not bad. I thought.
“Then we have the towns Melles, Naver, Unvar, Onias, Nezv, Ihe, Pustia, Andruka, and Azuvian. Afterwards, we have the cities Ugen, Nalta, Verona, Uhasah, and Nomora.” he said as he pointed them on the map.
“Hm, are there any settlements that haven’t been hit yet? Oh, wait, Andromeda and Tomeron are still safe.” Alkelios scoffed.
“The boy is onto something.” I said as I pointed out.
“Please elaborate.” his Majesty asked, and the Prime Minister offered me the pointing stick.
“Well, almost all the settlements past the Great Chasm have been hit by either an assassination or a siege. It is highly unlikely that the bandits wish to take over these settlements, but they are keeping our economy and military might at a standstill. They didn’t even make an effort to stop the messages of their actions from reaching us, which gives to show that this may also be a bait.” I said and nodded.
“A bait?” Alkelios asked, but it was clear he didn’t see the strategy at play here.
“Look, if we are to look at the map, we can see that some rather important locations from the border with Embryger haven’t reported anything unusual. The city of Leone, the town of Luka, the city of Elden’bar, the town of Tes, they are all important economical and military locations, but neither of them sent a report or...” I said as I pointed them on the map.
“They couldn’t.” Kataryna continued my words.
“But some of the coastline settlements and even those near the Seculiar Forest around Tomeron haven’t been touched either.” Alkelios pointed out.
“There was no need to.” I said.
“If you look at the map, Alkelios, you will see that only the center settlements have come under attack, but a border town like Royar hasn’t been met with either an assassination attempt or a siege from bandit forces. Actually, I find the latter to be rather suspicious. Bandits aren’t that well organized. Keeping them out of a village or town they know they could conquer is like trying to keep a pack of starved sheep from jumping on the piece of juicy meat in front of them. It’s simply not possible.” said Kataryna as she shook her head.
“They aren’t bandits, they are soldiers claiming to be bandits.” Seryanna pointed out, but she was only half right.
“I think they are a combination of bandits, mercenaries, and soldiers. The soldiers act as the leaders, the commanders. The bandits are the muscles, and the mercenaries are the leash for the muscle.” I said with a smirk.
“In short, our troops can’t move, and the economy is halted.” said his Majesty with a nod.
“Hm, I may be wrong, but were those dragons and dragonesses who were killed important for the Kingdom?” Alkelios asked scratching his head.
“Yes, very. Be it a relationship with an important foreign commercial group, a renowned commander in the army, or a political figure spoken about at the parties for dragonesses, they all had an importance in the well being of this Kingdom. Even those who have survived today’s attempts were important in one way or another, while at the same time being a piece capable of reinforcing our might. Take Viscountess Reyazes for example. Although she is a rank lower than a Countess or Marchioness, she is a renowned authority when it comes to cartography. If she were to have died, we would have lost someone very important from both a military and economical point of view.” the Prime Minister explained in a calm tone of voice.
“More than that, we would have lost her information network, which is equally valuable in a time of war.” said the King.
“So they are trying to cripple both the economy and the military of this Kingdom in an indirect way?” he asked.
“Rather than cripple it, I would say they are trying to stall it. Merchants are sly creatures. They will make a profit no matter with whom and where, but if you stop their caravans, the gold and goods doesn’t flow anymore. This could lead to a late sortie of the army or... as it is in this case, a complete failure of assembly of our defensive military might. The ‘bandits’ are taking care of this as it seems.” I said with a smirk as I crossed my arms at my chest.
“Is it possible that Draejan is a part of this plot?” Alkelios asked as he looked back at me.
The boy’s words surprised me, but it wasn’t like I haven’t thought about it already. The only thing I wanted to know was if there was something to gain for the dragon? If there wasn’t, then his possible betrayal was just a wrongly placed accusation. At a time like this, such an accusation could easily lead to the downfall of the Doesya house or the death of that dragon.
“Reports show that Draejan Andrakaryus Doesya may have in fact betrayed our Kingdom for a faction in the Embryger, which is currently amassing its forces on this side.” the King answered as he pointed at the Eastern border of the Kingdom, the area we were talking about just a moment ago.
“Your Majesty, if I may.” the Prime Minister spoke. Feryumstark nodded and the dragon continued “Currently, our scout has confirmed the existence of a military force gathering and holding under its control the previously mentioned settlements. Those being: Tes Town, Luka Town, Leone City, Elden’bar City, and the villages as well as outposts between them.”
I gave him the pointy stick, and he used it to draw a line in front of these settlements.
“Is there an estimate troop number?” I asked curiously.
“Currently, we believe for the enemy to have gathered a force of at least 20000 soldiers if we are to include the bandit sieges and assassins as part of it.” the Prime Minister said.
His words had just turned the situation more dire. No, it was slowly turning into a check mate because while our first move was going to be liberation of all the besieged settlements so that we can gather our own forces, the enemy would have already amassed an army on our own territory.
20000... I doubt they gathered so few. I thought as I looked at the map.
“Does this mean Embryger wants to go to war with us?” Alkelios asked the one question we didn’t want to get an affirmative answer from.
“No. We have reason to believe it isn’t so.” the Prime Minister shut down this worry with his words.
“Why?” Alkelios asked.
“Prince Kryogan, who is currently an Ambassador of Albeyater in the Embryger Empire, sent a report within which it was written that one of the Empire’s political factions was making a move outside of their authority. It would appear they are trying to win points in the favor of the Princess they are supporting to rise to the throne. At the same time, Princess Saluka Fer, who is married to the ducal family Bryghtanar of the Embryger Empire has sent a report with her husband’s signature warning us of this possible movement and that we shouldn’t be quick to judge it as being the Empress or Emperor’s direct command.” he explained.
“Huh? They are some sneaky bastards.” I said with a smirk.
“Can we really trust those reports to be true?” Alkelios asked.
“What do you mean, boy?” I asked surprised.
“Isn’t it normal that at a time of war one of your objectives is to fool the enemy’s information network and lead them to think that your strategy and force are different from the actual ones?” he asked.
Indeed, he had a point. Considering how humans fought, it wasn’t such an outrageous thing to believe that there was the possibility of betrayal. Draejan right now was becoming a lead suspect as the perpetrator of such a disgraceful action, while those two children of his Majesty were, after all, deep within Embryger. There was no telling what the nobles there were whispering to them, or how they were trying to gain them on their side. Still, when I thought about the Empire wanting to fight against us, somehow, I found it hard to believe. A faction or two, maybe, but the current Emperor and Empress had absolutely nothing to gain from such an action.
Albeyater Kingdom was also one of the largest countries on the Dragon Kingdom, so a battle against us, who also strived hard to keep the humans at bay would have resulted only in losses for the Empire, and it would have also given our common enemy a reason to begin a second invasion and even succeeding with it. If you were to add the existence of the heroes like Alkelios, then the odds fell more towards our enemy’s side than ours.
No, if Embryger wanted to begin conquering anything, it would have went for smaller nations like Trusk, Shion, Otzir, Ozur, Novarak, Parand, and Olvia. Either one of them would have made an excellent target. Hm, maybe not Trusk, Olvia, and Ozur, I believe those two were vassal states.
“I understand your worry, Alkelios Yatagai.” his Majesty spoke up “Such things are common sense in the human kingdoms, but in the dragon kingdoms, they would be utter madness, especially when the said informants were my own children. Then again, the Crown Princess from the Embryger Empire seems to have fallen in love with my son, so she and her party would definitely oppose this movement. As for the faction acting independently, such things are far more common than what you have just implied.” he explained.
“What about Solustia Kingdom or Lorak Kingdom?” Alkelios asked.
“Neither are a threat nor have anything to gain.” his Majesty shook his head.
“This doesn’t mean that they don’t have a reason of which you aren’t yet aware off.” the boy pointed out.
“True...” the King nodded and closed his eyes for a moment.
Given how the situation presented itself, a sign of vulnerability from us could lead to another all-out war. However, there was still a matter of Breakthrough-ers present within the country, something which the boy hasn’t thought of yet. Albeyater had many more when compared to those two. This alone was a decisive factor which kept our nation strong.
Opening his eyes, his Majesty then said “If I wanted to conquer Albeyater, destroying its economy would be the first step I would take. If needed be, I would burn the fields as soon as the enemy’s army tried to cross them. Thanks to magic, this wouldn’t pose much of problem, but while the smoke was up high in the sky, it would become a cloak for an aerial assault. Looking at the map, I would aim for an attack either from the south or from the east. The sea doesn’t make any sense, and the north is connected to a dessert. I would lose more troops crossing it than I would if I were to send them by boats from the West. Given the political and military circumstances of all the nations on this map, I would believe that sending all of my Breakthrough forces in one single battle or war would only lead to my own country’s downfall. We already know that a faction within Embryger is moving independently, so at most, I would guess we will face around four or five Breakthrough-ers.”
Indeed, it was a sound strategy. By destroying or crippling the enemy’s economy, one were to expect that they wouldn’t be able to supply their troops that easily. An army without any supplies constantly being brought in would sooner or later starve or fall in an attrition battle. The same problem was given to us right now. With our economy having come to a halt because of the bandits, we couldn’t gather our troops and provide them with supplies. Worse of all, if the humans attacked us, then the matter was going to end up in a similar matter on the Western Front-line as well.
“Then I believe it is safe to conclude that we should prepare for a defensive war. Sir Draejan still holds the benefit of the doubt. The blood running through his veins reserves him this right, but if we are to see him on the enemy’s side, then he is to be considered an enemy.” the Prime Minister said, reminding us once again of that scaled bastard.
“Ah! That reminds me, that dude who could teleport, erm... I forgot his name, but he was a human like me. So, if that guy offers his powers to the enemy’s side would it be possible for them to move their troops as they pleased throughout the country?” Alkelios asked as he struck his palm with the bottom of his fist.
I for one was surprised by his words. It never crossed my mind to add that fellow as a possible pawn in all of this. Certainly, with a teleporting ability then all of these strange movements of the bandits and assassins made sense, but... there was one thing that had to be made sure of.
“Are you certain his power can move around so many troops?” his Majesty asked.
“Maybe, I don’t know. Last I saw of him, he could freely teleport himself around. If he could teleport others or not, I have no idea.” Alkelios replied honestly.
“I understand, but even if he wasn’t used as a means to transport supplies and troops, there was still the chance of him acting as a messenger.” I said.
“True, this can’t be ignored, but even without his help, we cannot forget that’s it’s not at all impossible for everything to have been organized in one big strategy. All they had to do was to give their troops the time, the place, and the how to attack. Then all they would have to do was reach their destination, wait for the appointed time and strike.” his Majesty pointed out.
“Neither option can be ignored, but what has become clear of this discussion is that we have an enemy and a possible battlefield, which is outside of Pustia Town.” I pointed out.
“All that’s left is for his Majesty to give the order.” said Kataryna calmly.
Up until now the three dragonesses have been silent and watched the map while listening to us. Although I had no expectation of either Seryanna or Kleo to join in on this conversation, I knew that witnessing firsthand how it was done would offer them a bit of insight and experience on these matters. After all, declaring war wasn’t such a simple matter. When a nation did it, they had to be 100% of who their enemy and who their allies were. Making this clear beforehand with the help of treaties and hidden pacts was common sense.
In our case, we had confirmation that Embryger wasn’t the enemy, just a faction of it. As such, declaring war against the entire Empire would have been utterly foolish. The best move for now was to declare a Defensive War against an Unknown Enemy Force. This way, Albeyater made it clear that it wasn’t pointing at any of its neighbors for now, but at the same time, it wouldn’t have any problems not doing so.
“Politically speaking, if this war is won by us, then the neighboring nations may try to send supplies in order to gain favors from us as well as strengthen their bonds with our country. If we lose this war, then they might declare war and try to seize Albeyater’s lands for their own before the invading enemy claims the country.” said the Prime Minister.
“In other words, this could lead to either possible alliances in the future or the complete annihilation of our Kingdom.” said his Majesty.
“I honestly wish we won’t lose this war. More so, I wish Albeyater Kingdom won’t gain any new enemies as a result of this faction’s stupid movement.” Alkelios said with a sigh.
When we heard him, we looked at him surprised and then all of us burst into a loud laughter.
“Huh? What? What?” the boy acted surprised.
He probably said those words without even realizing it, but somehow, I regained both the courage and the hope I need in order to believe that victory was on our side. After all, he was the dragon with 100 Luck and a Breakthrough-er above all. With him on our side, this war was our guaranteed victory.
“Such a good wish! I like it!” his Majesty laughed.
“Then, your Majesty?” the Prime Minister asked.
This prince was the only one who didn’t laugh. Event that icy Kataryna tossed a giggle.
“I declare a Defensive War against an Unknown Enemy Force! I want all the reserve and active troops from within the Kingdom to be gathered at Pustia Town! Meanwhile, I want Alkelios Yatagai, Seryanna Draketerus, and Kataryna Greorg to go to all the besieged settlements and remove the bandits! If none surrenders you are free to kill them all! General Brekkar Draketerus will lead the army, and I will call to battle all the available Breakthrough-ers scattered throughout the Kingdom!” he declared in a powerful tone of voice.
“Yes, your Majesty!” we all called out from the bottom of our hearts.
It was an order to march to battle.
It was a declaration of war!
It made my old blood boil again with the desire to head off to the battlefield and unleash my wrath upon the enemy forces. I was getting a bit tired of beating up Iolaus too, and this would prove to be a grand training scene for him! I could not wait to see how much he had progressed in the past several months when compared to other Paladins.
[Feryumstark’s point of view]
With the declaration of war, everyone obeyed and headed out. I stayed behind in the War Room together with Kleo and the Prime Minister.
“Why was I told to stay?” she asked innocently.
“Fufufu! Starting tomorrow, I’m going to start training you until your body breaks!” I laughed.
“Ew... Your Majesty, I have a fiancé, you know?” she said as she pulled back from me.
“Huh?” I blinked and looked at her confused.
“Ahem. Not that kind of training, Kleo. His Majesty is talking about combat training, but the way he put it could have someone with your lewd mind think of other inappropriate things.” said Elovius while looking away.
“What are you two talking about?” I knitted my brow.
I had a feeling they were making fun of me.
“I wonder... ehehe.” Kleo looked away.
“Huh? What in the blazes?!” I was starting to get angry and glared at Elovius.
“Just... let it go.” he said.
“Let WHAT go?!” I glared at him.
“Well, I think the Queen’s calling me... I’m going to be off... See ya!” Kleo slipped away without explaining herself.
“Ahem! Your Majesty, let us proceed with the official documents. Salaries must be decided upon, letters must be written, and a lot of procedures must be done before we assemble our forces. Hopefully, faster than the enemy does.” he said and then let out a sigh as he avoided my question again.
Glaring at him, I decided to let it go and treat the matter as some youngling nonsense.
Then... not even a week after our meeting in the War Room, news from the Western Front-line arrived. It was a report written by my son, Charmeill.
“The Human Allied Forces are attacking... This means we can’t pull troops back from that front...” I said in a worried tone of voice as I was reading it again.
So far, no Breakthrough-er answered my call to arms either.
At the very least, Alkelios’ group managed to quickly and safely dispatch all the bandit forces across the map. The lad’s speed was outrageous and with each victory, he was proving himself to be a power to be reckoned with. On the other hand, dragons from all across the Kingdom were starting to call him the Black and White Knight, while his wife, Seryanna, was recognized as the Flame Knight. Kataryna apparently froze anyone who dared call her the Ice Princess or Ice Queen.
When I heard of these ridiculous names, I could feel the embarrassment they were going through. As for me, I was once called the Golden Disaster. Contrary to me, Elliessara was the Snow White Angel.
These were troublesome nicknames, but as stories of one’s deeds and might spread across the Kingdom, the commoners and nobles alike would pick a silly way to call us by. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didn’t, and in the case of the long lived there was the chance that it would change depending on their achievements. This was the unofficial title the young dragons and dragonesses could identify us by. Going against this flow was in the end... troublesome.
Although, in Kataryna’s case, it was understandable because with a nickname like Ice Princess or Ice Queen, she could easily be accused of lese-majesty. Or in other words, treason against the crown. Although what idiot would accuse the terrifying Kataryna Greorg of such a thing? I pitied the fool.
Still, seeing the situation of our current affairs, thanks to them, the armies were starting to move and gather, but this report from my son made it clear that I had to fight on two fronts. It was a terrible situation, one which pointed more and more towards the possibility of us losing. Actually, even with Alkelios’ luck I was doubting our chances of success. After all, he wished for us to win the war, but at what cost would it come? And how many battles would we lose before we would win the war? Such thoughts plagued my mind from time to time.
Putting down the report, I let out a sigh and leaned back on my throne.
The humans are attacking, an unknown army is gathering, a lot of the important nobles of my kingdom are dead, the Breakthrough-ers didn’t reply to my summon... and bandits besieging the settlements... What a complicated and troublesome situation. I thought as I looked up at the ceiling.
A few minutes later, I got up from my throne. With the report in my hand, I went up and visited my wife. She was the only one who could sort out this mess right now. Or rather, who could clear up misunderstandings and possible information manipulations.
I knocked on the door and then entered the room.
“Are you awake, my dear?” I asked.
“Yes.” she replied with a charming smile while lowering the book.
“Here.” I said and then handed her the report.
When she laid her eyes on the piece of paper, her gaze turned from one filled with love to an icy glare of a Queen who ruled over the entire Kingdom.
“The Breakthrough-ers didn’t send a reply message. Not even Charmeill or Natalia replied to my letters.” I told her.
“I see.” she spoke in a cold tone of voice.
“Someone is aiming for these letters, or to be more specific the outgoing ones. They are trying to make sure we can’t get in contact with our Breakthrough-ers while at the same time being aware of the situation on the front. By the looks of it, I would say they are trying to deceive us in thinking that our Breakthrough-ers are willingly ignoring my Call to Arms. Actually, I’m certain that if I didn’t send Alkelios’ group to handle the besieged settlements, the armies there wouldn’t have received the Call to Arms order either.” I said.
“I see.” she showed me an icy smile which sent a shiver down my spine all the way to the tip of my tail.
“Can you use...” I gulped “That?” I asked.
“Hm?” she tilted her head to the left while keeping that ice-cold smile of hers “So you are implying that a dead rodent not even worth being squashed by the boot of a commoner dared to betray us?” she asked.
I gulped. My wife, although as lovely as she was charming and kind had a bit of a dark secret. She was a dragoness who absolutely hated betrayals and showed no mercy towards them. All the nobles who acted against me or her, including the one who poisoned her, were now nothing more than bony remains scattered in a field somewhere even I didn’t know about. As for the assassins, they were still alive, but she never aimed her anger at them. An assassin, she understood. A mercenary, she understood. But a traitor who willing tried to foolishly go against her was a dragon who could only count the seconds until his decided moment of death.
There were a type of traitors she did pardon though, those were the misguided fools tricked by the real traitors. They still had a chance to survive when facing her IF they acted wisely.
“I’ll make the call.” Elliessara said with a nod. “Although, I really wish to find the one who kept trying to destroy my Kingdom. Huhuhu!” she showed me a smile that sent a shiver down my spine.
“Please, my dear.” I nodded.
One could say that it was also because I feared this side of hers that I did not want to find a concubine. I would rather try to have as many children as I could with Elliessara than see her plotting against the second wife. May the gods have mercy on me and keep me away from such a horrible future. Then again, I never could find a woman to love just as much or more than Elliessara, and I never bothered to either way.
Getting out of bed, I gazed at the curves of her slim body as they were given shape by the thin nightdress sticking to her.
“Breakthrough-ers of Albeyater, listen to my call!” she said as she began to focus her magic within a spell that sent out her voice towards those who had pledged their loyalty to us. No one else could hear it. “Our Kingdom is in danger. Your Queen is in danger. I give order to the Breakthrough-ers who lay in wait or who are traveling the lands to come to my side and lend me their strength in this battle! All but those who see the flames of the Western Battlefield march towards Drakaria at once! This is the order of your Queen! This is my Summon!”
With her final words imbued with Magic Energy, she cast the spell and sent it across the nation. In a matter of moments, all those whom she deemed worthy of receiving her call would hear this message. Then all that was left to do was to wait for them to arrive.
This spell was not something our enemies could block or easily detect and decipher. Because it took mere moments to reach its destination and wasn’t categorized as an attack spell by the magic armors or defensive equipment one may wear, there were no means of either blocking or repelling it. However, it couldn’t be used in war against the enemies. It was limited to how many it could be sent to and also how much it could be said through it.
Unlike my letters, which could have been intercepted along the way, this [All-Call] spell could reach our Breakthrough-ers without a problem. The fact that my wife, the Queen of Albeyater, made the call also showed the urgency behind it. This was not a simple tea party call. It was a call to war.
“You should take a rest now, my dear.” I told Elliessara as I went over and pulled her in my arms.
“Hm, maybe a bit later, right now...” she gazed at the door then back at me “Tell the guards not to disturb us... I wish to be embraced by you.” she then kissed me gently on the lips.