C13: Battle Plans

With a torch in hand, Melissa stepped down the stone stairs holding me by the hand.

The stone walls were darker as they went down, and it seems the tower had more underground floors than I expected. We have already stepped down deep below the tower's ground floor.

"How much further Mother?" I asked, getting a little out of breath from the walk.

"Only a little more," she said with an exhale. It was clear that she too was tired.

'Why would they even have this room so deep into the ground?' I pondered.

Melissa noticed that I was wondering about something, and she giggled.

"Hm? Wondering why we have this many secret chambers deep into the mountain?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"This is our main stronghold dear… maybe, our first castle of our ancestors. They believed this would be our strongest castle, and now, we can see that it is true. This is where the first dragon king reigned, so to keep the secrets hidden from the world, we have so many chambers inside this stronghold."

"Wow, the first dragon king?" I asked, amazed.

"Yeah, the very first."

Drrr!

Suddenly, the wall beside us moved out of nowhere, and I jumped back, thinking that it was a trap. However, Melissa did not even flinch.

"Chloe? There you are. I was calling you through the pipes. Could you not hear?"

Chloe stepped out of the wall and pushed a brick into the wall. The stone wall moved back into place and sealed the hidden room.

"Yeah yeah, I could. I was experimenting on –" Chloe suddenly paused upon seeing me behind Melissa. "Oh, little brother! What are you doing here??"

She grabbed me by the waist and lifted me, getting me into her arms and pushing me against her fluffy mountains.

Melissa furrowed her eyebrows. "Hm, we just came down here to see our Battle Tactics room to Xar."

"Ooo, is that so? Then let me come along," Chloe smirked.

Melissa huffed and continued to walk down the stairs. I wondered what this drama was about. Maybe Melissa was jealous of any other woman holding me? Even if it's her own daughter? I wondered.

Finally, we came to a large wooden door that Melissa pushed open with ease.

"Ah, here we are… Thank God Sylvie is keeping this clean, or it'll be dusty," Melissa uttered as she entered the room.

Chloe raised me and sat me down on her shoulders, hanging my legs around her neck. She was the tallest member of our family. I felt like I was taller than anything when I was seated there.

Melissa pulled a lever at the side, and all the torches and chandeliers that hung on the roof magically lit up with fire.

The fires in the torches and chandeliers were blue. It gave the room a mystical feeling.

In the middle of the room was a large rectangular table with an enormous map with Mount Darkness in the middle. There were small figures that resembled dragons, knights, and fortresses lying on it.

However, what caught my attention at first was the set of armor and swords that hung on the wall.

"Woah…" I gasped, gazing at the wall filled with unlockable armor.

<Level 20: Wrath's Dragonite Armor>

<Level 21: Helm of Wrath>

<Level 50: Broadsword>

<Level 35: Silverblade>

So it went as I gazed at each of those weapons on the wall.

"Hm? Interested in weapons, little brother?" Chloe asked, gazing up at me.

"Yup, the armor is cool," I replied.

Chloe stepped closer to the Level 20 armor of Wrath. As I took a closer look at the armor, it reminded me of the late Dragon King… and the battle I fought with him.

It's as if his soul was gazing at me through that helm still. I felt sad. If I would've known that I would be born to this great family, I would've saved him instead.

"That is your father's armor… his Dragon form was Wrath, you know," Melissa said, stepping closer to Chloe.

"He was a great man," I replied to Mother.

"Yes, he was…" Melissa added.

"Could've been greater," Chloe added hastily. Melissa groaned upon hearing this.

Chloe kept me on the floor afterwards for Melissa to take me and show me the thing that I begged her to show. That's the reason I came down here anyways.

The table where the battle tactics are explained. The Strategy table is where all the generals gather around to discuss their coming attacks or defenses.

"That table is where we plan our battles, King Xar," Chloe teased as she kept me on the seat in the middle of the table. That's where the king was seated probably, and being here felt pretty powerful indeed. Moreover, it felt comfortable even.

Melissa stood at the opposite corner of the table and raised the two dragon figures remaining on the table.

"And these… are our family's Frost and Nightmare. Frost is your aunt's dragon form and Nightmare is your Mom," she smirked, keeping the figures at the place where Mount Darkness was marked.

"Nightmare?" I asked with surprise. "Damn Mom… cool name."

"Isn't it, my dear?" she pushed back her hair with pride.

Chloe huffed when she saw Mom pull back her hair. "Old woman," she whispered to herself.

Mother frowned with clear annoyance. I smiled upon seeing these two act this way. They had a remarkable relationship with each other, which was fun to look at.

However, I did not come here simply to gaze at the map. I climbed onto the top of the stone table.

I took one knight piece lying on the map, crawled over to Mount Darkness, and placed it right in front of the marked gorge.

"Mother, the Divine Five will commence their attack right here," I began, crossing my arms and pondering about where to place the other pieces.

"If we're lucky, there would be no hindrances to our battle." As I continued, Chloe and Melissa gazed at me with astonishment.

"What? I read a lot of books about battle tactics," I lied.

To be honest, I was the one who told the Divine Five to always make their approach from the front to make the world see our power and fear us at our sight. We already had the best witch to defend us if a rain of arrows came crashing down towards us.

Mother and Chloe stood beside the table, letting me continue my plan.

"Hm, and… if there are hindrances that'll attempt to join the battle, we need a dragon in the sky to observe. For that, Crystal would be the option. And as for you, Mother," I said, raising the Nightmare piece and placing it in front of the knight piece. "You shall face the Divine Five head-on since you'll be using the Dragonstone…."

"Mm, well planned, my dear. Well planned." Mother approved.

"However, Mother. Can I request one thing from you?"

"Of course, my little king. What is it?"

"I want a front view of the battle with you next to me, Mother."

Melissa opened her mouth in shock. "Bu – But that's –"

"You're strong enough to protect me, aren't you?"

"I –" she gulped, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. "Of – Of course, I am!"

Chloe gazed at me, impressed by my tactics. "Oh, little brother? Aren't you a sneaky one now… You even know how to play her dirty," she smirked.

"What – what does that supposed to mean, Chloe? You stay out of this!" Melissa snapped at Chloe.

I grinned and crunched the bones in my hand.

'My work here is done… and now – we just have to wait till the Blood Moon,' I said inwardly. 'Can't wait to see those faces again. The good old Divine Five.'