Serpentine Powder

A white bird akin to an owl flew above forest at the fastest speed it could manage, a couple of the owl's feathers were golden and shone like brass when the light hit them, its eyes were golden with some blue scattered in them and it wore a golden head piece with a sapphire in the shape of a diamond as it's centre piece.

The owl flew at impossible speeds as it passed forests in mere seconds, after it entered the borders of Iralah kingdom, it would occasionally stop, turn its head all the way round then continue on its way, it did this a couple times until it reached the forest outside the capital city, it turned its head again then headed in the direction of the campsite, as it got closer, it golden feathers turn into plain white feathers, every unusual part of its body slowly changed to resemble a normal owl.

The king was lost in thought when a white owl landed on his desk, looking up he saw a small pouch tied to the leg of the owl. He cautiously untied the pouch from its leg, as soon as he took the pouch, the owl flew out and was gone in the brink of an eye, it seems the owner didn't want an answer back.

Opening the pouch, he took out a jade token with an intricate G fused together with an F carved into its surface, he set it aside and took out the piece of paper and spread it out.

Disaster has hit the land, the people are displaced, Mauling kingdom attacks. Majesty must need a lot of resources at this time. That is my personal token, Majesty can use the token to take as much resources as you need from any of my stores, serpentine powder and weapons are also on their way.

Sincerely, Finlay

The king carefully folded back the paper and placed in into a small box, he sighed. He would record everything he uses and give it back later after this mess is cleaned. He sent a guard to call all his officials.

"Has Majesty decided to agree to the terms?" one official asked as they were on their way.

"I would not know, but we can't go into battle without provisions for the soldiers, the king will sadly have to part with his daughter," another official answered as he shook his head while sighing.

They greeted the king after entering, then became silent to listen to what he had decided.

The king slowly tapped the arm rest as he observed them, then he decreed, "We will fight."

The officials all knelt down and said in unison, "Majesty, please reconsider,"

The king silently gave the token to the servant beside him, who took it and went to show it to the officials. "Take a look before you start trying to change my mind," urged the King.

The officials looked up at the token in the servants hands and were shocked silent. They all recognized the token as the seal that the Royalty of Red Glabella Kingdom uses.

"With this token, we have access to as much resources as we need and serpentine powder has already been sent and is on its way here, any more objections,"

The officials said nothing, they were however giving their thanks to the Late Queen in their hearts, look at this, even after her death, the Queen's country men were still helping them in their time of trouble. Only the King thought otherwise.

Red Glabella kingdom wasn't feared only because some of its people had supernatural powers, the other reason was because it supplied major imports to almost all the other countries on Dunlin Continent. It was nicknamed the giant merchant.

The main thing that it sold to other countries was serpentine powder used to fire heavy metal shells in a cannon, without the powder, cannons can't be fired and they just sit and correct dust in the armoury.

Every kingdom had cannons but not serpentine powder. The powder was only made in Red Glabella kingdom alone, and even if other kingdoms had the money, there was no guarantee they would be able to obtain it. Since the powder was wanted by everyone, Red Glabella Kingdom was always very picky on which Kingdom to sell it to, knowing no matter how fussy the were or how pricey the made it, other kingdoms would still buy without complaining.

If they get access to serpentine powder, the strength of their army would double if not triple. An arm of fifty thousand would be able to fight an army double its size.

The King looked at the silent officials before handing out orders, he gave the token to the minister of defence and asked him to use it and collect enough provisions for the army, he also instructed that he should record everything that he collects. Then he asked the army general to assemble half of the troops guarding the capital city and prepare them to start matching towards the border by sun down.

After all the officials left, Dario asked the king to let him join the war.

The king narrowed his eyes as he leaned back into his chair and inquired, "Why do you want to join the war?"

"I want to gain experience and show the people that I can be a good ruler in both governing the country and leading the army."

The King's brows furrowed, "You don't have to do that, it's not like there are other prince's that you need to compete with, the throne is yours whether you have been to battle or not, besides, you are my only heir and it's too dangerous for you,"

Dario bit his bottom lip for a while, released it and clenched his hands as he insisted, "Father, I know that I don't have to do this, but this is a personal wish of mine, like you always say, the military and civil officials work as one body to keep the kingdom going, all these years I have fully understood the roles of the civil officials, I would like to also understand the roles of the military officials, that way I will be able to operate this connected body in the right way after knowing how it works," Dario took in a deep breath and let it out slowly and pleaded"So please Father, let me do this, I promise to be extra careful and not put myself in danger."

The Kings furrowed brows eased the more he listened, he smiled, his son has grown up now. He was still reluctant but how could he deny his son the very first request he ever made to him. He sighed as he let him follow the army into battle.