As I took control of my body again, everything felt hazy. A part of me felt like the only reason I could so much as stand was because I was in my dragon form. At some point, we had fully left Kasesh and made it to the port town of Elana, all according to a plan I had come up with… But I didn't entirely remember. Or in other words… All according to the plan Mr. Dragon came up with… And as the memories of those past days flooded through me I felt unsteady.
"Siya?"
I looked around, but my eyes couldn't focus on anything as tears streamed down my face, and I stayed completely motionless. 'Just how long have I been in this form? And now I'm back… Does that mean… Is Dragon gone now, too? I don't remember leaving Agis' side…' I continued to cry as I took in my surroundings, everything coming into focus but then fading out again as my heart felt like it was beating in my eyes.
The speechless commanders stood around me as we gathered around a war table. 'Right… I'm in the town hall… The war room… We were discussing our next move.' I slowly leaned forward on the table, staggering as I covered one of my eyes. 'Scouts had reported that the siege on the capital was taking longer than anticipated, and the king wasn't going down easy by any means. Furthermore, other generals had moved to reinforce them, such as my father, who had already arrived by boat. Not bad… Not bad.'
"Sorry… My body just… feels heavy…" I slowly pushed myself back up, wiping my tears. 'So the options are to move to help the king or fortify the defenses here and wait for the capital to fall? If the king was really winning, then wouldn't it be best to help him? Maybe we shouldn't have left Kasesh at all… Did I overestimate the empire's advantage of magic?'
"Siya?"
I rubbed my eyes again to make sure they were dry. "The capital faces… As many as three legions were sieging it… Do any of you think that we will really win that battle? This is a serious question…" I slowly raised a hand to cover my face, rubbing my eyes as I leaned on the table again, calmly shifting my weight onto my arms. '30 thousand empire soldiers…'
Philly placed her fingertips on the table, gently leaning in. "One of the sages is in custody, so even with two other legions joining, they would only have two sages. The fourth star, Rokai, is said to have been heavily wounded in combat before arriving at the capital, and the third and second stars are weaker than him. So… I think we have a chance, yes, likely a good one. Despite it being 3 legions, it is really only as if we are fighting two. The forces we faced at Kasesh were likely representative of their overall force, right? They wern't that strong, all things considered."
'That's a big iff though, isn't it? Would a country capable of producing enchanted equipment send so many soldiers that didn't have it? Maybe it's difficult to make? "Do you all agree? Al, and Elianara?"
They nodded. 'If only I could see the bigger picture…' "Most of our forces are gathering there as well, right? The capital?"
They nodded again. 'Then I guess… Moving there might not be a bad option… If we can add a few warriors like myself and my siblings to the battle… No… Even just me. With my magic, I'm likely the only one that can stand against the sages.'
"Urgent report! The capital has fallen!" A man suddenly shouted, bursting into the room.
"Ahg…. Well… That settles that then…" I sighed, pushing myself away from the table and crossing my arms. It felt like a sudden rush of air that shot past me as my consciousness expanded not only into a view of the city but beyond it to the entire nation. I could suddenly see everything from troop movements to occupied territory. Constructions, military power estimations, virtually everything. 'Oh… I like this…' "It seems our choice has been made for us. We fortify our position here… It's time I come up with a new plan… One that's fully thought out… Arden, what happened to the king?"
The messenger stared at me blankly for a moment, surprised I called him by name before responding. Thinking about it, I understood his surprise… But having a perfect memory meant all I had to do was look at his face once, and I knew it… There wasn't a soldier I didn't know, especially after the three days Mr Dragon was in control. "At the moment, it's unclear, but the king is either dead or taken captive."
"And all the generals?"
"They are the same."
'That explains it, doesn't it… Nearly every bit of our military was gathered in a lost fight where they were routed… That means every noble in the nation is effectively gone… Except me… Who just so happens to be an acting general… Self-proclaimed sure… But I guess it makes me the highest rank in the nation right now… In other words, I'm the king… That must be why my power expanded like this… Not how I envisioned it happening, but I'll take it, I guess…' I took a deep breath. "Thank you for the report… Git some food and rest…" I said calmly. "In light of this… And with the king no longer around for the time being… I will take command of the entirety of the war plan from now on. Any objections?"
No one said a word, most likely too shocked to voice any reservations.
'They said my father was there too, right? I wonder if he died?' "First, we finish evacuating this city. It will be the empire's next target… We need to leverage the natural choke points made by the landscape, as well as our naval superiority. The dwarves need to finish carving runes into the ships, which will ensure the empire mages can't sink them so easily. They have a large army, but the quality of their troops is actually quite poor as far as we have seen, especially compared to ours. First, we will fall back to Riverhold and fortify there. Once forced to leave, we will sail around the mountain pass to Nayamere and fortify that end of the pass. If we fail there as well, then we will make our last stand in Nayna… For now… I need to meet with the admirals. They shouldn't have been wrapped up in the castle sieges, right? And then all the commanders that are patrolling and suppressing monsters right now need to be gathered as well."
It seemed as though despair had crept over them, and not one of them said a word… Though, I didn't entirely mind. It meant I wasn't being questioned at least… 'Well… The mood certainly dropped fast…' "All our soldiers tend to come back from the dead… So, I imagine we have a bit of time before the empire actually makes it here from the capital. During that time, we must start our preparation." I slammed my fist into the table to snap them all out of it. "They haven't even taken a full province yet and have lost much more than we have. I estimate that we have over half our standing army left given the capital fell before most commanders could have possibly arrived, and they have no doubt taken far more casualties than us, if not from the battle of Kasesh alone… Are you suddenly not willing to fight anymore? Even if we are scattered… No, even better that we are scattered like this… They will spread out and try to hunt bears with dogs…"
Al let out a slow groan as he started moving around the table towards the exit. "Of course we are still willing to fight…" He sighed. "But not all of us can be so enthusiastic while grieving like you… Philly!"
She jumped as he called her name, the sudden shout startling her.
"Take care of the messengers. I'll signal the navy and start evacuation… Elianara… Please help keep your people calm and organized… Let the general get some rest… If she's admitting her body feels heavy, she's probably about to pass out standing up…"
'It's been three days, right? Oh… No… It's been longer… But there was a siege… Wait no… We actually had to defend this city and push them back already? I was fighting that long? With my claws instead of a sword… And fire breath… And I never slept either… Is that why I feel so tired? Must be… Mr… Dragon? You're not really gone, are you? Please… Not yet…'
After blankly staring at the table for a long time, I raised my eyes to see the others all gone. 'I can't rest yet…' "I still have something… I need…" My legs felt as though they would give out the moment I unlocked my knees. Each step, they just barely caught me as I walked away but quickly tripped and fell. 'I need to revert forms… Before it's too late…'
Focusing my energy, I felt the different parts of my soul repel each other until I was nearly torn in two and suddenly shrank down, feeling even more miserable. "Help…" I said no louder than my talking voice, unwilling to move anything more than my mouth. 'I wonder if anyone is even outside… Or maybe someone heard me fall? No, they all left to carry out my orders… Well… Here is as good a place to sleep as any… Oh… Am I… Still crying? I never handled loss very well… Or maybe my power wears me out more than I thought? Oh well, I'll think it over… After some rest… I hope mom wasn't at the capital too…'