Chapter 242: Undercurrents (1/2)
A blast of Healing Magic was all it took to revive Sera. Evidently, the pressure caused by his spell was powerful enough to knock her unconscious. While Mike was relieved that she was alright, he had to listen to her complaints about his lack of mindfulness. Thankfully, the situation prevented her from giving him anything more than a cursory lecture. It wasn't long before they had moved on to a more important topic.
”Seriously, how in the hells did you do that?” She asked, once she'd spoken her piece. Her gaze was now fixed on the swirling wall of clouds that hung in a circle around the camp, creating a bizarre patch of calm sky where stars could be seen.
”It was Audra that taught me the runes, strangely enough.” He replied while eyeing the little dragon in his hands. She was currently fast asleep, and none of his gentle shaking proved capable of waking her. ”At least, I think it was her.”
Sera gave him a concerned look. ”We are still talking about the same dragon, right? Not two days ago, you had to stop her from trying to eat a candle, and now you're saying she somehow had knowledge of a powerful arcane ritual capable of altering the weather?”
”I know it doesn't sound all that believable, but that's what happened.”
She sighed, ”I suppose we don't really know enough about dragons. For all we know, this kind of thing could be completely normal. Alright, until we figure out what's going on with her, I'm just going to chalk it up to the usual crazy stuff that follows you around.”
”Hey! I'm not....that bad.” He protested, before trailing off into a mutter.
”Right...Anyway, you ready to head back down? I'm sure the rest of the coalition leaders will be looking for you by now.”
”I suppose I have to, don't I?”
She gave him a mildly sympathetic smile, ”Come on. The sooner you get it done with the better. Besides, we don't know how long that storm is going to hold them up. We'll need to start planning for the next step.”
He nodded while putting Audra back in her favorite pocket. They descended the rough-hewn staircase leading back into the the keep, then exited and started walking towards a crowd that had formed at the center of the encampment. It seemed that there was an argument going on.
”Which is why we need to fall back now, while they are still reeling from this blow! Who knows how much longer we will have to make a clean escape.” A bearded man dressed in an expensive looking suit of plate mail was shouting.
A voice he recognized as belonging to Morris answered him. ”As I have been telling you, Baron, we cannot retreat any further. This section of road is all that stands between the Lacotians and the rest of Almir. Should we abandon it for the safety of Almrin's walls, then nothing would prevent them from simply marching into the heartland of our territory. I think we both know how that would turn out.”
The Baron blanched, but kept going, ”You saw what the enemy was capable of! You know what sort of numbers they are bringing. Do you really think we will be anything more than a minor inconvenience to them? Whats to stop the undead bastards from simply surrounding us with a portion of their troops and marching on past us?”
”They would be fools to do so.” Emmanuel broke in, looking a little exhausted. ”We have enough combat power concentrated here to seriously threaten their war aims. Unless they leave the majority of their army here, we could easy break through the siege lines and go on the offensive.”
”Go on the offensive? Are you crazy? How can you possible think it is a good idea to attack an army like that? These aren't living troops we are talking about. No matter how many of them you destroy, the rest will just keep coming. There is no breaking an army like that.” Another noble looking man added. He seemed to be on the side of the cowardly Baron.
”Its true that the undead are a difficult enemy, but they have their weaknesses. Weaknesses that we will exploit.” Morris countered.
Mike could tell that his words were largely falling on deaf ears. It was clear that the dissenters had been shaken by the events of the day, and were set on saving their own skins in a manner that left their reputations intact. Continuing this argument would do little to change that.
”He's right. We have everything we need to deliver a devastating blow against the Lacotians and put an end to this war.” He announced while pushing his way into the circle.
The soldiers around him began to whisper, and he caught snatches of statements that were filled with awe, and a little fear. It seemed that his storm summoning had left an even greater impression than the rest of his actions up to this point. Not that he could really blame them. This was probably the most dramatic thing he'd done in quite some time.
”Mi..Sir Dragonknight. Thank you for your timely intervention with the undead bird swarm. If not for your assistance, we would not have survived.” Morris greeted him carefully.
[I don't think there is much point in trying to hide my identity anymore.]
”My pleasure. I believe we only have a short period of time before the enemy makes another move. We should work on our own battle plans now, while we still can. What do you have so far?”
Morris moved to speak, but the cowardly Baron interrupted him. ”We haven't decided on whether or not there will be a battle. It was a matter we were discussing before you arrived.”
He felt, rather than saw, Sera bristle at the man's dismissive tone, and raised a hand to prevent her from saying anything. ”The battle will occur regardless of your wishes. The only thing you can control at this juncture is how many civilians will die before you actually fight to defend your country. I, for one, want to minimize that number as much as possible, but I guess you want to do things differently? Perhaps the people of your domain are more willing to give up their lives, so that you might extend yours for a few weeks.”
The Baron turned red, ”How dare you? Do you know who I am?”
”No, I don't, and I don't see any reason to learn now.” He turned towards Morris, ”Do you honestly need this fool and his followers?”
His friend nodded. ”Ideally, we need every available soldier simply to increase the odds of our victory. However, if the Baron believes his troops are better used elsewhere, then I believe we can adjust to their absence.”
The cowardly noble had gone from red to purple by this point. His mouth flapped open and closed a few times, but he evidently couldn't think of a proper response. Finally, his jaw snapped shut with an audible click. Spinning in place, he marched away in a huff, bringing with him a handful of like-minded nobles.
Mike watched them go, before leaning over towards Morris. ”I hope I didn't cause you any problems.”