Chp.34: Darbi's plan

While Haku was facing Carrion and destroying his army in the Arapaina Gorge, far away other events were being set in motion. As soon as Haku had told them that the battle was about to begin, Rhaegal and the others had also started their part of the plan. And, of course, Darbi had too.

After being contacted by his brother thanks to an avatar left on the ship, Darbi immediately gathered all the soldiers under his command. "Listen to me! The time has come. Bring me the map here!"

One of the soldiers handed him a thick sheet of paper in which Darbi had drawn the labor camp in detail. After spending four months studying it, he knew every single movement of the guards by heart and therefore knew exactly where they were at that moment. "When we get to the camp, if the march goes smoothly, the enemies will be here, here and here" he said, pointing to three specific points. "Therefore, we will split into three teams and attack simultaneously"

Darbi was a little annoyed: he would have preferred Haku to give him the green light towards evening or early in the morning, when the guards would have all been concentrated in one point and therefore he could have eliminated them easily. But after all, neither he nor his brother could predict exactly the time when the two armies would meet, so he couldn't blame him. That was also why Darbi had waited before communicating a plan to his subordinates: not knowing what time of day he was supposed to attack, he would have had to give them dozens of different plans and that would have just made a big mess. It was therefore better to wait to know when the time would be right and act accordingly.

"The first team will head to the armory" he said, pointing to the first dot he'd circled. "That's where they keep their best weapons, though they've probably all been taken away by Carrion and his men already. As a result, they'll also be the best armed. The first squad will therefore be made up of the strongest among us. Gunther, you will have the task of guiding it"

A well-muscled and handsome lionman nodded, puffing out his chest and waving his mane. "It will be done" he said proudly, clapping his hands so hard that it sounded like two lead balls hitting each other.

Darbi pointed to the second point. "The second team will head towards the administrative office. It is a shack built for the purpose of managing the whole camp. There are mainly bureaucrats, but there are also some guards who are intended to protect them. Although they are not really a threat, it is our duty to eliminate them. Since this is the least defended area, the second squad will be composed of, pardon the term, weaker men of our brigade. Zoto, it is up to you to lead them"

A rather short lizardman nodded. He wasn't offended by Darbi's comment as, with his level iron strength, he was effectively one of the weakest soldiers aboard the ship. He couldn't complain that he was sent to fight against not very powerful forces.

"Finally, the rest of the guards will be spread out in the labor camp proper" Darbi said, pointing to the last point on the map. "The task of the third team, which will be led by me, will be to eliminate them before they can take the prisoners as hostages. It will be the most difficult task and will require exceptional speed to execute it. If one of the guards manages to capture a hostage, blow a whistle so that I can hear you, and then try to buy time until I arrive"

If one of the guards captured one of the prisoners to use as a bargaining chip, Darbi would simply have to activate the rune of invisibility, sneak up behind him, and bite his head off. Simple, quick and clean. Furthermore, he didn't fear that eventuality too much: in fact, his soldiers had prepared for months for that day and had with them excellent equipment and even a bottle of dragon's essence, while the enemies on the contrary were probably only the remnants of Carrion's army, people who could not be called battle professionals. The fight was likely to end in less than a minute without a hitch.

However, there was still one problem that worried him. "But we have to take into account one detail" he said, pointing to a small building on the map. "This is where the children work. This is where they produce everything which is then used by the adults to build the fortresses. Well, I doubt there will be guards to watch them given the shortage of personnel and the fact that the children aren't so dangerous... but there is still the possibility that some fleeing guards try to enter this building and use the children as hostages, or that one of them is already there to guard them. me to intervene because of my size and someone could get hurt. Therefore, I need a volunteer who is willing to go there and protect the children until the fight is over"

The building where the children worked was very small and narrow and all the doors and windows were tiny. Darbi wouldn't have been able to enter it unless he broke through a wall, and certainly anyone would have noticed in that case. If a guard had been there and had hostages, he probably would have killed them in fear after seeing the dragon enter. Darbi didn't want to risk that day ending with a child's funeral or even more. While there was always the possibility of victims, it would be better if they were adults: the death of a child would literally bring down everyone's morale.

For a few moments after his request no one said a word; then someone suddenly raised the hand. "I'll do it" Misune said.

Darbi sighed internally. It had actually seemed strange to him that the slave hadn't intervened until then. "Misune, it's not necessary" he tried to say trying to dissuade her for the umpteenth time.

"Yeah. Stay here and clean the ship, you'll do a better job" one of the soldiers said, arousing the anger of the others. Darbi was tempted to slap himself in the face; damn, in this way she would have been even more enticed to participate!

But to his surprise, what Misune said was extremely rational. "It's necessary, instead. You said it, it will take exceptional speed to avoid accidents. You can't deprive yourself of one of your brave warriors right now. If there's no one among the children anyway, you might as well send us some trash like me, right? And even if someone were present, I'm part human and I'm weak; it will be easy for me to deceive him and get close enough to kill him. Leaving this task to me is the best choice"

Her words had clearly been designed to elicit approval from others; and indeed, the same soldiers who had laughed before now looked at each other as if they were starting to consider that a not so silly idea. Darbi wondered if Haku hadn't started infecting Misune with his logic and gab. "Are you sure you can handle this situation?" he asked her again.

Misune nodded. "I have all the necessary weapons, I have sufficient strength for this task, I will have a bottle of dragon's essence with me, and soldiers will easily be fooled by a woman. Yes, I can do it"

Darbi was silent for a moment, then he nodded. "Okay. Then it's decided. Pack only the necessary things, we leave in ten minutes"

The soldiers nodded and dispersed to get their weapons, their equipment and anything else that might come in handy. The journey from the ship to the labor camp would take a few hours at most, so if they left within ten minutes they could wrap everything up and get back to the ships before the sun went down. While the others were busy, Darbi approached Misune. "Thanks for volunteering" he told her.

"It was the best thing" the slave replied. "I'm here now, I might as well make myself useful"

"So, you decided to fight in the end?" Darbi asked in a questioning voice.

Misune knew the dragon was referring to the conversation they'd had a few days ago, in which he told her that it wasn't by fighting that she could recover from her trauma. Clearly, Darbi was thinking that she had chosen to ignore his words. However, that wasn't the case. "Yes, I've decided to fight, but not for the reasons I had before" she said. "You were right, mine was a foolish hope. It's not by fighting that I'll feel better. But I can make others feel better. With my current abilities, I can't help myself, but I can help innocent people, like you are doing. Haku trained me and made me stronger, and I want to use that strength to do something good"

Darbi was somewhat surprised by that answer. He was somewhat confused and didn't know exactly how to act. "Well... that is honorable of you" he said, not knowing what else to tell.

"I don't care about honor. I want no one to have to suffer again. I can't change what happened to me, or to you, or to everyone on this ship… but I can prevent it from happening to others. I can make sure that children can live as children, not as slaves" Misune replied with a determined look. "Haku has provided me with all the means necessary to fight. I just need to choose what to fight for, and I want to fight to prevent certain tragedies from repeating themselves and certain injustices from being perpetuated. This is my goal currently". She let out a deep sigh and clenched her fists. "I don't know what's going on in my mind right now, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to heal, but I don't care. I've been selfish long enough. I'll think about myself after I think about others. After all, I I have all my life to worry about my own problems, while people's lives in that horrendous labor camp are in danger of ending at any moment. Putting myself before them would be arrogant, not to mention cruel"

Darbi was silent for a few seconds, then he turned his head and let out a deep snort. "I admit it, I don't know what to tell you. After all, we dragons protect ourselves before anyone else" he said, then he smiled slightly. "But I've never been good at following this precept, so... I don't think yours is a bad thought. Even if I think Haku would see it differently... as well as almost all my family". After all, his siblings would never endanger their own safety for the sake of someone that wasn't part of the family, so from the point of view of Haku and the rest of the dragon's family Misune's behavior more than honorable would be considered self-harming and irresponsible. But Darbi tended to see (or at least, tried to see) things with a more open mind, and therefore he felt he could give Misune some credit.

Misune couldn't suppress a small smile. "Thanks for the compliment" she replied. "And also for your advice. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have understood this"

Darbi's smile widened slightly. "I'm glad to have been of service to you" he replied. "Now go get ready. You have less than five minutes left"

When all were ready, the group landed, leaving the ships anchored and well hidden where they had landed. The few ex-slaves who had come with them remained on them to check that everything remained in order and to be ready to treat the wounded when they returned with the prisoners. Darbi made sure that everyone was really there and that no one was being left behind, after which they left for the labor camp. The moment of liberation had finally come.