Strategy Meeting

We all laughed off the initial surprise, and Julius shook Jensen’s hand, saying, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Although, I am surprised you made it here so quickly. I figured you’d still be a day or more out, yet.”

“Under normal circumstances, you’d be right,” Jensen replied, frowning. “But we didn’t encounter a single bandit patrol the entire way here. It’s strange, but it made things a lot easier.”

“We?” I asked, looking around. The man had obviously come alone. Perhaps his crew had set up camp elsewhere?

Jensen’s eyes sparkled as he winked and patted a pocket of his tattered coat, explaining, “Fishbowl, remember?”

“Ah. That makes sense.” I guess there’s no reason the crew can’t live on the ship while it’s inside the fishbowl. I wouldn’t have thought of that, but it’s certainly clever.

Sarrah cleared her throat, stepping forward to introduce herself. Her voice was pleasant, but also a tad nervous as she exclaimed, “I can’t believe we have an actual hero joining us! Truly, it’s an honor to meet you, sir!”

Jensen gingerly accepted her hand as she stiffly proffered it in greeting, and Julius explained in a wry tone, “She always loved adventure and hero stories when she was a kid. Your heroic tales were always her favorites, albeit as inflated as I’d imagine they were. Are you familiar with Caryo’s works?”

Jensen laughed, “Familiar? The man actually managed to track me down and interview me, once!” With a wink towards Sarrah, he added, “And I can assure you that those tales are quite accurate.”

Stars in her eyes, the girl giddily exclaimed, “So, is fish really your favorite food? Because it’s mine! Oh, and when you fought Leista the Sea Serpent, is it true that –”

She was cut off as Julius cleared his throat loudly and told her, “There will be plenty of time to badger him, later. Right now, I think we should focus on more pressing concerns”

Sarrah paused, and sighed, crestfallen. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, I got carried away.”

To my surprise, Rill came up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder in an expression of commiseration, whispering, “I totally get it. The Legend of Zolaire was always my favorite when I was little.”

Zolaire? I wondered, talking to Rill through our bond.

He’s said to have been the first king of humanity, before mankind fractured into different kingdoms. Too bad my copy burnt up back in Layhaven, or I’d let you read it. I think you’d really enjoy it! I smiled, feeling her genuine excitement shining through behind her words.

Sarrah perked up a little at her encouragement, whispering back, “Oh, that was one of my favorites, too!” Seeing Julius’ stern gaze, she shook herself and continued, “R-right! The matter at hand. So, the reason you didn’t see any bandit patrols is likely because they’re all camped out with Marik himself, two ridges over from where we are right now.”

Julius raised an eyebrow at her remark. “He’s gathering a bunch of his men together? That’s rather unlike him.”

“Yes, that’s true,” Sarrah agreed, “But based on what I’ve been able to gather, it’s his way of showing respect to Umbra in preparation for her visit. He wants to put on an air of strength for her.”

A show of strength? As if he needs to put on airs! I thought, and Julius cupped his chin, musing, “He’s never bothered to do that before, even when he met with old king Harell many years ago. What’s he plotting?”

“Well,” I said slowly, shuddering as I recalled my own encounter with the man, “Based on what I’ve seen, I think he’s the kind of guy to respect strength above all else. If this Umbra really is as powerful as you claim she is, perhaps he simply views her as being worthy of his hospitality?”

Julius furrowed his brow as he considered my suggestion. “Perhaps. But from what I know of the man, Marik is a genius tactician in addition to his other qualities. He’s already paused his trip to eradicate Lakeside to meet with her. And now he pulls back all of his patrols, which were ordered to be on the lookout for you and Rill…perhaps it is just as you say, or perhaps he has something more in mind?”

Jensen laughed, grinning in my direction. “So, you’ve managed to pique his interest, too? You’ll have to tell me what you lot did to earn that!”

That’s right, he doesn’t know the truth, yet.

Picking up on that fact, Julius shook his head and gestured to the small campfire. “For now I think we should all get on the same page. There’s no time like the present for a little strategy meeting! But first, let’s make ourselves a bit more comfortable, shall we? I’m sure everyone’s exhausted from their journey.”

I looked up at the sky, only to see that the sun was close to sinking down over the horizon. Tark stoked the fire back to life while we picked out our seats, and as darkness began to fall, Julius led us in our first meeting on how to fight the Bandit King.

Looking around at the group, he said, “We all generally know each other, but not all of us have fought together, before. It’s important that we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses before we jump into a life-or-death situation, wouldn’t you agree? Let’s start by going around the group and explaining what abilities we all bring to the table. If you have any secret techniques, now would be the time to share them. I’ll start.”

The smokeless fire crackled loudly, sending a trail of sparks up into the night sky as he continued, “My main strength is with the sword, but I can also use a fair bit of offensive holy magic. But my greatest weapon, lies here.” He pointed to the black leather patch that covered his left eye. “I possess the Eye of Faithfire, an artifact bestowed by the goddess Mariah herself to my ancestors and passed down through generations of the Rembrandt family line. It’s a dangerous weapon that allows me to ignite the very soul of any living thing I can see. Except for fringe cases like demons and undead, it leaves no physical harm to the body, but once the soul is burned away, death will soon follow. It also takes a toll on my own body, so I've only used it as a last resort.”

Jensen whistled lowly, and commented, “So that’s how you earned your moniker. I’ve always wondered. Pretty nasty trick for a holy knight.”

Julius nodded grimly. “Perhaps, but I must admit that I’ve been itching to try it out on Marik himself. No matter how scary or strong he might be, I can’t imagine even he can withstand the Goddess’ judgement.”

As the others nodded in approval, I interjected, “About that. During my fight with Marik, I learned a few interesting things you should all be made aware of. The first, is that he is apparently immune to magic.”

I was met with shocked expressions, and Jensen exclaimed, “You fought him! And lived to tell the tale, I see. Incredible!”

“Barely,” I admitted, and continued, “I’m not sure if this defense of his works against holy magic as well, but it was as though my attacks were deflected by some sort of barrier. My flames parted around him without doing any damage whatsoever.”

“I’ve heard of mana resistance,” Julius mused, “but actual negation? I hardly think that’s the case. If I had to guess, he simply has an inhumanly high tolerance…the good news is, there should be a limit to an ability like that, if we can wear him down far enough to weaken it. Leo, since you fought him personally, why don’t you take the stage next, and enlighten us to whatever else you might have learned?”

As he sat down, I awkwardly stood and glanced around at the others. I haven’t agreed to join the battle, yet, but I’ll humor him, for now. “Well, most of you are already aware, but for Jensen’s sake I’ll reiterate; I may appear human, but I’m actually a dragon that can shapeshift.”

Jensen snorted loudly, “I knew you weren’t human! Still, a dragon…I didn’t expect that.”

“Is it a problem?” Julius asked, clarifying, “Because if it is, we need to know now. That goes for anyone else, as well. Speak up.”

Jensen shook his head. “You misunderstand. It’s surprising, for sure, but I’ve fought side by side with Leolyn before. I have absolute faith that I can trust him, no matter what he truly is. It’s no problem at all.”

The others all murmured their own similar sentiments, and I paused for a moment, overcome with a bit of emotion. They all trust me, despite what I am, despite centuries of animosity between our peoples. If we aren’t able to secure Umbra’s help…can I really talk them out of continuing this fight?

“Thank you, everyone. That really means a lot. The reason I originally took human form was to hide from the dragonslayers. All this time, I’ve been afraid of what might happen if my secret were to be exposed, thinking that everyone would hate me once they discovered the truth. You’ve all shown me that, perhaps, we can yet mend the divide between our peoples, as was the wish of my late mentor. For that, I am eternally grateful.”

Told you they wouldn’t mind, Rill teased in my head.

Yeah, yeah. You were right, I thought back, and continued, “When I’m in human form like this, my strength is limited to a fraction of what I can unleash as a dragon. But even so, when I transformed during my fight with Marik, it didn’t make a difference whatsoever. Magic and breath attacks couldn’t touch him and my nothing I did could even make him flinch. He fought me with his bare hands, and tossed me around like a toy! Really, his strength his unbelievable. I don’t think we stand a chance even with all of us working together. The best we could do was when Rill managed to take one of his eyes with a lucky shot.”

Rill scoffed loudly, a twinge of indignation directed towards me as she half-rose and argued, “Lucky shot? Please! That was pure skill.” I sat back down and grinned at her, thinking, Alright, your turn.

Why you…she grumbled, and stood fully upright, telling the group bashfully, “There isn’t really much to say about me. I’m Leo’s partner…I guess technically now I’m a dragon rider, not that it really means much. I’m good with a sword and a bow, but that’s about it. Honestly, I’m a bit out of my league here.”

The others then took their turns, with Julius listening intently while Jensen explained his fishbowl and the variety of weapons he had at his disposal, apparently being able to conjure them into thin air out of a similar artifact he called a tacklebox. Julius and Sarrah both gasped when he told them he was carrying along an entire ship and a crew of a few hundred in his pocket.

Lastly, it came to be Sarrah’s turn, whom I was most interested in. She hesitantly said, “I’ve already explained the basics to Leolyn, but I am a holy knight similar to my uncle Julius, although not quite as skilled as he is. I’m also a user of spirit magic. I can make nearby seeds and plants sprout, and control them to a limited degree. I can also produce blossoms that, when their fragrance is inhaled, can put people to sleep and dull their senses.”

With everyone having taken their turn, Julius rose again and clapped his hands together, the fire casting ominous shadows across his face as he said, “Now that we’ve gotten to know each other, let’s make a plan.”