I still had no idea where I was, being mostly unfamiliar with the mansion's layout, but somehow I managed to find a maid that helped me find a bath. After that, It wasn't long before we were back in the war room, waiting for the other admiral that answered the signal.
Between and the other 5 commanders, we certainly made quite the sight… But he fit right in with his prosthetic left hand. "General!" He cheered with a gruff smile. Unlike the others that were all big boned and too lean to float, he was a bit stockier, although just as well defined. His baggy clothes were those of a sailor, dried with salt like his shoulder length wavy brown hair that covered massive red bite scars that went down to his shoulder under the color of his open neck shirt.
"Admiral Dorsa I take it…"
He smirked, walking right in and quickly making himself at home. "Everyone made it to the other side of the bay, and thanks to your dwarf friends working while we sailed, our ships are stronger than ever and immune to magic."
"Resistant… Not imune…" I said coldly. "But that's still good to hear…"
"Let's cut to the chase. You called for me when there aren't any empire ships in the bay, they don't even occupy the coast yet… That means you're after monsters."
I slowly looked through the reports that had come in during the day I was passed out. "Well, you're smarter than you look."
He bowed, his smirk widening.
'I like this guy way more than the other one…' "If you don't care about details, then that makes this easy. How hard is it to corral monsters towards the coast?"
His smirk vanished. "Towards the coast?"
"Yes…"
He swept his hair back and took a closer look at the map. "We regularly drive them away from the coast. They tend to naturally roam through the whole bay, but especially Krakens tend to gravitate towards the coastline because they follow the pattern of things that wash up on the shore. Most monsters have been taught to fear our vessels after generations of hunting, so it shouldn't be hard, but if we want them to go in mass, then we need to hunt the Blue Barron.
I learned from the chair I was standing on over the table in my hands. 'A named monster? Interesting…' "To be clear… Hunt, or kill… The last thing I need is a legendary fish turning undead and wrecking our whole fleet."
"Hunt. We need to hurt it enough to make it move. It lives in the underwater forest area on the south side of the bay. It's what you might call an apex predator. In other words–"
"Everything else runs away from it…"
"Exactly. So what we want to do is push it to the mouth of the bay. I've suggested this before, but if we place it right there, no empire ship will ever make it through."
"The only problem in the past was…"
"All the monsters in the bay would rush south in a panic. Mass migration towards the coast. Which has typically been seen as a bad thing, right? But not anymore sense it's what I actually want…"
"So Dorsa finally gets to hunt his dragon…" Sova said softly, stepping through the tent behind him. "But there's a reason we haven't just killed the bass–" He paused awkwardly, trying to play it off as if that was what he was trying to say from the beginning.
'He's still acting like I'm a kid… Well… I guess I do look like one… Whatever, that's not really a problem right now…' "Ok… So what do you need?"
He laughed. "How about 20 sailors as strong as me and an extra 8 ballista built to split a wyvern in half? Oh, and the rest of the fleet."
'20 men as strong as a commander… Well, actually with the Runeborn, that's not hard.' "We can do the first two. What are the odds you can convince the third admiral to join us?"
At first, Dorsa laughed, but once he realized I was serious, his face quickly turned to shock. "If you really have those things… Then we don't need the fleet… I have a total of 400 sailors across five boats. Give me what I asked for, and we can modify my flagship to hunt the beast… If Sova's fleet can keep the fishies off us while we're hunting, that should be enough."
'Well, at least one thing is looking like it might be in our favor…' I stood up straight and crossed my arms, raising a hand to my chin. "Right… After we drag the big fishy out to sea, then we will split the fleets between Nayana and Nayamere, placing enough boats to transport all of Riverhold's soldiers out in a hurry and provide support when the battle inevitably ensues."
I pointed down to the Riverhold on the map and looked up to find everyone staring at me blankly.
Sova smirked again as he headed out. "Right then, so we were hunting the big fishy, sounds like the name of a truly fearsome beast." He said smugly, patting Dorsa on the shoulder just before leaving the tint.
"It's not… But I…" I muttered, looking at the other commanders, all of whom were either turning away, hiding a laugh, or looking at me slightly red in the cheeks, as if they were embarrassed for me. "He called them that too…" I whined, pointing at the admiral
He chuckled. "Well, whatever its name, it will still be a worthy hunt." He said as he stepped out behind Sova.
"It's not weird…" I whined as the others still seemed to be acting the same way. "But… He…" My voice cracked. "It's not funny!"
Philly stepped over and lifted me up, setting me down on the ground which… I honestly did appreciate it since I was still a little unsteady on my feet… But… It really didn't help… "It's a bit different when you say things like Siya…"
"How!" my voice cracked again. "How is it different?"
"Right. We should get to work then, shouldn't we?" She said, turning away without answering. "I can get our horses to move the Ballistas to the docs. Obviously, Black Snake… Or the Runeborn are the strong men that will be on the flagship. Al, you should probably signal the third admiral to at least stay away from the… Big Fishy's territory."
I sighed, 'It's not that funny…' trying not to let it bother me, I grabbed my great sword. "Let's be quick… The faster the better. Signal River hold too, it's unlikely because of the strong current from the river, but monsters might attack them as well."
After taking a deep breath, he cleared his throat. "Yes… I'll be sure to let them know." Al said, finally becoming serious again.
"Is there anything else…" I grumbled.
Most of them straightened up again right away.
"Alright then. Let's go fishing…"
Philly, of all people, suddenly stepped behind me and pulled me close to her. "You're so adorable like this, General."
"I-I've been called worse… I guess…" 'That was a good line too… What a waste… I doubt I seem cool at this point…' I sighed. "Sense you're already acting like my mom… Help me change into my armor before we leave."