Chapter 15: The Alliance

It was the young tribal chief who had first rebelled against King Hammer. He had denied to accept his sovereignty.

"How did you find me?" he asked.

"Because there was no other place to hide," Dyna said.

"Ah, right, hahaha!" the chief laughed awkwardly when he realized she was right. He then asked, "Why were you here again?"

"Jacos, I need you help," Dyna said when the chief faced them in front of the throne.

"Can I know what kind of help do you need?" Jacos asked in return. He was a young man with a sharp, clean-shaven fair face. He had long hair tied in a thick warrior braid. He was bare bodied but had a wolf skin around his shoulders and also wore woven pants. He had violet paint stripes on his cheeks, and also wore a lot of amulets, rings, and beaded arm bands.

"I am willing to form an alliance with you and the other rebel tribal chiefs against King Hammer," Dyna replied, and clenched her fists. "I want to bring the killer of my father to justice."

Jacos clapped while he laughed. "Hahaha! What would we do with this alliance? Would we fight a war against him? Majority of the chiefs are on his side."

"We can still win. We just need strong allies," Dyna said.

Jacos nodded, as he was willing to give it a chance. He took his place on the throne and asked, "Do you have a plan?" His sight then fell on Gilbert before Dyna could answer. "Who is this old man, by the way?"

"I am Gilbert, Chief Jacos," the old man answered. "I work under the command of Prince Colt, the youngest prince of Madmen."

"Oh, the runaway prince," Jacos reacted. "So, where is he? I heard the king is hunting both the princes."

"It is true, Chief, but Prince Colt and Prince Rozerd are the only ones who could defeat Hammer," Gilbert explained. "We will have to make an alliance with them to even pose a threat to the usurper."

"Why are they not here then if they want an alliance?"

Dyna stepped ahead. "Prince Colt is in the bordering castle of Wild. We have to take him out from there."

"Are you suggesting to attack the castle?"

Dyna said nothing and just stared at him. Jacos understood what her silence meant. He nodded and said, "Alright. I will think about it."

"We do not have time, Jacos. Hammer would attack the castle before us if we do not hurry," Dyna argued.

Jacos nodded again and said, "I want to talk to you alone, Dyna."

Dyna and Gilbert glanced at each other as they were unable to understand, but they had no choice.

"Okay, I will wait outside." Gilbert bowed and walked away.

Dyna and Jacos were now alone. The young chief stood up and walked down from his throne.

"How could you even be here?" he said. His eyes had some innate fury in them. "After what had happened, you should not have even showed your face. Let alone ask for help."

"Jacos, this is bigger than us. What happened between us does not matter in the face of this situation," Dyna said. "Forget everything and move on."

"Forget everything?!" he rebuked. "It is so easy for you to say."

"What do you want to say, then? Say it clearly. Do you think I was at the fault? What do you want now? An apology?"

Gilbert could sense the heated atmosphere inside. He wondered if everything was alright with them.

"I am not blaming you. It is just…" Jacos clenched his fist and grinded his teeth. His emotions were about to overflow through his eyes. "It pains me whenever you are in front of my eyes."

There was a silence for a moment.

"I am sorry," Dyna broke the silence. "I promise I will never show my face again once this is all over."

Jacos had not expected her to apologize so soon. He understood the situation was too big to handle. He sighed. "Fine. I am in."

Dyna finally smiled after she heard those words. It was the first time after a long while that there was a smile on her face. "Thank you, Jacos."

Jacos smiled at her as well. "I will get other chiefs as well. Just remember your promise."

"Is everything okay? I heard some arguments between you two," Gilbert asked when Dyna arrived.

"Yeah, we have got an alliance," Dyna said, leading the way.

"No, I mean... between you two."

Dyna halted her steps and said in a low tone, "Yeah. Everything is okay."

Although she had said nothing much but he could sense a deep sadness in her tone. "Alright. If we have got an alliance, there is nothing more that matters."

***

King Hammer was ready for the war as the tribal chiefs had assembled in his palace. The soldiers were lined and waited for the king to begin his battle speech.

The king was in his battle armor, admiring the crowd of soldiers from a raised platform. The tribal chiefs stood behind him.

He began his speech.

"Men! I took this throne from my father for only one dream. To unify every person on this land and make them my own. This place is torn by constant warfare. I have the dream to restore these lands to its full glory. I have the dream of providing your children a thriving place to secure their future. So that they do not have to die in fruitless feuds. Men! Did I not fulfill my promise and gave you back your lands which my ancestors robbed from you?"

"You did!" the soldiers said in unison.

"Men! I also promised that I would take you beyond our borders. I promised to make the entire world our home. But there are some thorns in the way. There are people who do not want to see us fulfill our dreams. Those people are the same as my ancestors who stole your land. Men! I want your strength! I want your limitless courage! I want your valour on the battlefield! So that our dreams do not remain as dreams. I want you to show your enemies your true strength, so that no one could dare go against us in even a thousand years. Men! We will take the first step to conquer the world! Are you with me?"

"We are with you!"

"I could not hear you!"

"We are with you!"

"Louder!"

"We are with you!"

"Men! Are you ready to crush our enemies?" the king cried again.

"We are!"

"Are you ready to fight alongside with me?"

"We are!"

"Are you ready to conquer the whole world?"

"We are!"

A soldier of Madmen cried. "Long live King Hammer! Long live King Hammer!"

Everybody else followed his voice. "Long live King Hammer! Long live our messiah! Long live King Hammer!"