The bickering of the two officials eventually came to a halt when Iora stomped the floor hard. The hall trembled.

  Henry was surprised. Iora didn’t look like much but that strength was comparable to Rayne’s when she was in her prime. “I suppose this isn’t something unexpected considering she is the protector of the Grand Priestess, the pseudo leader of the Lavans.”

  “Insolence!” Iora snarled at the two. “You are in front of esteemed guests and you have the galls to argue like children? Moreover, our enemy is at our borders and we are here, quarrelling among ourselves. Have you no shame or dignity?!”

  “My sister is right, my dear council. This is no time for internal conflicts. We can bicker all we want after the kingdom’s army has been dealt with. If you two have a pn, I would like to hear them now.”

  Leon and Mika exchanged gnces. They looked like they were about to start another fight but they only ended up taking a seat around the round table.

  After Iluna took her seat, Iora gestured for Henry and his women to also take their seats. Rayne and Sarynn sat on the left of Iluna while Yu and Ani sat to the right. Henry did not take a seat. Instead, he stood right behind Iluna, beside Iora.

  “It’s just us?” Henry asked in a low voice.

  “Just us. Were you expecting someone else?”

  “This kind of meeting usually has more people.”

  “Two people in a room can get more things done than a room with ten people.”

  Henry raised an eyebrow at that saying. It was quite a specific saying and he didn’t expect to hear it here of all pces. “Unless we’re moving a piano,” he added.

  Iora frowned lightly. “What’s a piano?”

  Henry smiled and shrugged. “Nothing. Just a slip of the tongue.”

  “Grand Marshall Leon,” Iluna began. The air around her changed. Her helpless damsel demeanour was nowhere to be found. “I would like to hear your suggestions.”

  “It’s simple, Your Grace. We use the terrains to our advantage. These here aren’t the mountains but we are still on hills. It would be an uphill battle for the humans, literally. We have plenty of arrows and other projectiles to spare. The battle will be a long one but I have no doubt our casualties will be kept to the minimum and our victory is assured.”

  “Foolish,” Mika scoffed. “You are assuming that our enemy forces consist of only their foot soldiers and calvaries. What about the war machines they brought and their mages? We don’t know what they’re capable of.”

  “Oh, do you have a better pn then?”

  “I do not. At least not until we have more information. Confronting our enemies with so little knowledge is just pin and pointless suicide.”

  “And how do you suppose we get more information? We have tried every way and method we know of but we barely got anything before the humans found out about them.”

  “Every way and method… until now.” Mika looked towards Henry. “My Lord, your presence is quite timely, I must say.”

  “You want me to scout for you?” Henry responded in a dry manner.

  “Not for me, but for us, the Lavans and Ulrum. The information you brought back could, in all likelihood, help us win this war.”

  Rayne snorted. “How sly.” It was an offhand remark but she made it as loud as she could without sounding like she was yelling.

  “Do you have a problem?” Mika asked.

  “What you’re suggesting is basically asking Henry to be a sacrifice.”

  “You misunderstand me, dear dy. I—”

  Rayne smmed the table. “Don’t,” she uttered. “Just don’t. I don’t know what you have against Henry but I suggest that you forget about it. The st person who tried to deceive him… didn’t exactly have a great ending.”

  Henry turned away, hiding his smile.

  “Lady Rayne, please.” Iluna interjected. “Mika is just looking out for the Lavans. Besides, Lord Henry is strong. If the humans are harbouring any surprises, Lord Henry will be the most capable one in handling the surprises.”

  “Her Grace understands me.”

  Rayne turned to Henry.

  “What?” Henry asked.

  “What do you mean ‘what’? It’s your life that would be put at risk here. It is your decision to make.”

  “I agree with him. Someone has to get information from the kingdom’s forces. I am the most suitable to do so. Who knows, if they’re weak, I may even get the chance to destroy them before they could unch their attack.”

  “As if it would be that easy.”

  “Never try, never know.”

  Rayne tutted. “Again with these weird sayings of yours…” she mumbled to herself.

  “Lord Henry. You are in agreement with my pn, I trust?” Mika asked.

  “There’s no pn to begin with. It is only the most logical course of action. I came to this meeting for something more… subsequent. Contingencies and such. What are your measures if the army is able to march uphill unchallenged and unburdened? What then?”

  “It will never happen,” said the Grand Marshall with all the confidence in the world.

  Henry stared at him in disbelief. “Like hell it wouldn’t. How do you people survive this long?”

  Iluna smiled wryly. “...We were simply fortunate. Fate has been kind to us. Never have we faced such a huge force. In the old days, humans were much more scattered, ununited. They came in small droves. When they started to band together, we knew we would not win against them if they ever chose to come at us with all of their forces together.”

  “That’s untrue, Your Grace,” said Leon. “The Lavans are—”

  “Silence, Leon.”

  The Grand Marshall immediately kept his mouth shut.

  “It is by luck that we have survived for so long. The monsters in Ulrum py a huge part too. They were deterrents to all the greedy ones. They believed if the Lavans fell, the monsters would be free to roam out of Ulrum.”

  “That belief seemed to have changed.”

  Iluna nodded. “We noticed. Their artificial soldiers, the Syers, were gradually becoming a significant threat to us and everyone. Perhaps they have finally amassed an army of Syers rge enough to conquer Ulrum. I can’t emphasise how grateful we are for your presence, Lord Henry. This war would have been a loss cause from the start if you weren’t here.”

  “Don’t celebrate just yet. Before anything, a good defence is a must. We need to know how to protect ourselves before we attack our enemies.”

  “What do you have pnned, Lord Henry?”

  “A fortress,” Henry answered.

  “A fortress? You mean, we should build a fortress?”

  Henry nodded.

  Leon bellowed in ughter. “You sure know how to jest, Lord Henry. But I’m afraid you picked the wrong time to do so. Our enemies will be upon us in just days. Building a fortress will take us months, if not years.”

  “That is true… under normal circumstances. Yu, show them.”

  Yu nodded and willed her shadows to lift the round table high into the air.

  Leon and Iora immediately jumped into a combat stance while Iluna and Mika stared in awe.

  “I can carry ten times this weight without any hardships,” Yu said.

  “As Yu had shown, manpower won’t be a problem. She will handle it along with some help. Besides, a fortress doesn’t need to be finished for it to be functional. A half-finished fortress will be better than none.”

  “But what about the materials, Lord Henry,” asked Mika.

  “You have the means to travel through the water ways, no? I see rivers running along the vilge.”

  “We do have the means but…” Mika trailed off as his gaze trailed over to Sarynn. “We have long abandoned that method of travel in fear of inadvertently incurring the Azure Serpent’s wrath once again.”

  “Then you will be delighted to know that you will never need to worry about that problem again. The waterways are yours.”

  Sarynn smirked. “Since my mate has decred so, the Lavans are now free to traverse the waters as they see fit, so long as they don’t use it for any purpose that threatens Henry.”

  “Since that is the case now, you may use your ships to transport the materials. If needed, Sarynn can also help. And in the meantime, I will try my best to stall the advance of the army and at the same time, I will find out whatever I can about the army. The best happenstance would be that I am more than capable of taking the army down.”

  “I agree with Lord Henry’s pn,” said Iluna. “Is there any objection?”

  Leon was about to raise his hand.

  “If there is, speak now and provide us with a better alternative. Otherwise, keep your objections to yourself.”

  Leon lowered his hand.

  “None? Very well. We shall proceed with this pn.”

  “Speaking of which, what of the other tribes?” Henry asked.

  “The Kivus and the Augru have promised to send some of their battle forces to aid us. It will be days before they arrive.”

  “The Zevas?”

  “...They have not given a response. I won’t assume their thoughts on this grave matter. But regardless, we cannot wait for them.”

  “So it is. Then, I’ll be leaving now,” Henry said and began to leave the hall. However, Yu rose from her chair and walked into his path, blocking his way. “Yu? What are you doing?”

  “I should be asking you that, Henry.”

  Henry made a stupefied face. “Huh?”

  “You have flown straight from Verugo to Ulrum without rest. And now, you want to engage with the kingdom army. Don’t you think you are overexerting yourself?”

  “Time is of the essence, Yu.”

  “That is no excuse for you to rush without getting at least some rest.”

  “I can go days without—”

  “Henry, please. Listen to me… I beg you… Don’t do this to yourself. You have no idea how worried I was when you left for Verugo. I have not had a good night's sleep ever since you left. The days were not any better. I forced myself to build things to take my mind off of my worries. You are worried for us just as we are worried for you, Henry. Please, don’t force yourself. If not for your sake, then do it for me, for us.”

  Henry stared into Yu’s eyes and then at his other women. They didn’t say anything but he could sense their concern and apprehensions. They didn’t want to burden him with their worries. As much as he wished he could just listen to Yu, there was truly no time. Every second counts. He knew the terror of war. It also happened to be the reason for his current circumstances. He could not dawdle.

  Perhaps his eyes betrayed him, Yu had a resigned expression as she stepped out of his way. “Just… come back, okay? Whole or not, unhurt or not, just come back.”

  “I will,” Henry said and gnced at his other girls. Sarynn had a wry smile. She was also concerned but she decided to believe in Henry’s strength. Ani was the same, worried but confident. Rayne was as usual, too dishonest with her feelings. She wasn’t even looking Henry in the eyes but her heartbeat told him enough. “I will be back soon.”

  Sarynn brightened her smile and waved. “Be safe.”

  Ani also waved.

  Rayne rolled her eyes.

  Without wasting any more time, Henry rushed out of the hall. The moment he was out, he took flight, soaring into the sky as he returned to his true form. He ascended until he broke through the clouds. Only then did he start propelling forward. The air rippled as he shot towards where the kingdom’s army was marching from.

  The kingdom’s army wasn’t difficult to spot. Their war machines were massive after all. Henry reached his destination in no time. As the day was a cloudy one and he was above the clouds, he was not so easily spotted even if one of the soldiers was to simply look up.

  “And to think I escaped one war just to plunge myself into another.” Henry sighed. “Well, it is what it is.”