Discussions P.2

Eyes of confusion and distrust penetrated Zelphyr as he remained smiling without a care in the world. Many could not believe he had just proposed revenge without even making the first step in the war. Had it been any other, they would have immediately been executed by the warriors of the room. Those who had experience fighting the demi-humans, knew the talk of revenge was nothing more than sophistry.

"An era of revenge? You do realise that our nation can barely keep itself from falling in on itself, such irresponsible words are not very helpful Lord Zelphyr"

Draudillon stated with a stern voice. Despite her wariness and deep-rooted fear, as the leading figure of a nation, she mustered the courage to shoot down Zelphyrs words.

Nodding at her words, his opinion of Draudillon increased slightly, after all, it seemed she was not a pushover when it came to her subjects safety. Such a trait deserved to be admired by all, especially when faced with an adversary or situation that was much larger than the person.

"Your aggressors are aware of such a situation. Even if you manage to prevent their attacks and stop them, peace for your country will only last as long as it takes for them to prepare once more. Your battle is no longer a defense against a siege, your country no longer has the privilege to wait."

Zelphyr spoke with a monotone voice, reinforcing the serious nature of his points. Rather than act condescending, Zelphyr chose to speak bluntly so that the fragile egos of human nobility did not interfere with the discussion. After all, massacring the Dragon Kingdoms highest authorities is not the sign of an 'ally'.

"However, once this battle is over, the other human nations should be ready to lend more assistance and the Slane Theocracy should be done with their business. Therefore, how come you're so insistent on war, Mr. Ally?"

To his side, Narberals teeth started to grind loudly as she held back the urge to attack, her eyes were filled with unrestrained fury causing even the most prestigious of warriors in the room to start shaking and sweating slightly.

This time, Zelphyr did nothing to stop Narberal, trusting she would not go any further than intimidation. Having that little extra intimidation made the whole situation feel a lot more dramatic for those involved.

"War is inevitable, your kingdom will be plagued with war once more even if you try to avoid it. That is the reality of your situation, especially since the Theocracy is not much better"

An evil smirk crept upon his lips as he stared Draudillon in the eyes, enjoying the flurry of emotions passing across her face.

"What do you mean?"

Draudillon was aware that the Theocracys situation was not ideal, however her moles had told her that it was a war against the elves and they were winning. Such a situation was what she had expected from the Slane Theocracy and it's mysterious strength. No matter how hard she searched, she was unable to pinpoint the true strength of the Slane Theocracy thus she felt it was similar if not stronger than the Empires as even the Bloody Emperor has made no movements against them as of yet.

"You see, this time, the Slane Theocracy has picked quite the entertaining opponent. Their internal forces have weakened greatly for various reasons, meanwhile their external enemy being the Elves, are proving to be a lot more difficult than they anticipated"

Draudillon looked at Zelphyr with hard scepticism before she continued.

"What do you know?"

Zelphyr spoke with the same evil smirk.

"Their enemy this time is a power obsessed tyrant, completely devoid of compassion. Unless they send in their special scripture, the war will be prolonged to an alarming degree. Then again, it is no surprise you all are oblivious to this, they are fairly good at hiding their weaknesses"

The members of the Dragon Kingdom looked around in obvious discomfort as they heard Zelphyrs words. They did not want to believe his words, however they realised it was pretty pointless for him to lie right now. As newly made allies, there was very little chance of him pulling something so brazen. Even if he was the superior party.

Draudillon stared at Zelphyr for a solid minute before putting her face into the comfort of her own palms. Her mind was screaming for sleep and rest, despite not being in the meeting for very long. Her body had been tense since the start however, small cracks in her demeanour showed the accumulating fatigue she was feeling as every single word she spoke, affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

"Out of respect for our newly established relationship, I will listen to your propositions. However, depending on what is said, I withhold the right to deny or pull out of any plans you propose without repercussions. Is that fine?"

The other members of the Dragon Kingdom tensed when they heard their liege speak. They patiently waited for the discussion to continue with hopes that their Queen will come out with a solution to their problems.

'Such wishful people, honestly...'

A slight hint of derision tainted his thoughts as he watched everyone gathered. Despite being the heads of the country, only Draudillon showed the strength to oppose a bigger force without relying on others.

"I will allow it. I am sure that once reality catches up with you, everyone will understand the precarious situation of the Dragon Kingdom right now. As for the plan, please listen close. I do not intend to repeat myself."

His stern voice demanded the full attention of everyone, even Narberal who sat patiently with a smile filled with a strange look of pride, was watching her lord with undivided attention.

Time passed as Zelphyr went through plans for the future as well as listened to the input of the Dragon Kingdom party. It seemed that they had slowly loosened up slightly as he had continued explaining, allowing them to answer and ask questions without too much fear.

"Now then, that should be enough for today. I am sure you all have a lot of work to do, I hope our alliance stays strong."

Zelphyr stood up, followed by Narberal and turned around. As he did, he remembered a small detail he had almost forgotten.

"Oh right, before I go, Lady Draudillon, you really should remove the rats in your castle"

With those words, two men were flung out of Zelphyrs shadows, their bodies bruised and battered as their heavy breathing was heard throughout the room. The men gathered all gasped in synchronisation, all at once, they yelled the name 'Cerabrate'.

Sprawled across the floor was a man named Cerebrate, a high-ranking adventurer the Dragon Kingdom had been relying on to fight against the enemy.

"Sir Zelphyr, what is the meaning of this?"

Draudillon spoke with both confusion and hostility. Nevertheless, deep down, a cruel sense of satisfaction boiled as she saw the beaten state of one of the men she hated most. While many were unaware, Cerabrate was a man who walked the thin-line of a potential criminal. He had paedophilic tendencies and would often gaze upon her child form with a lustful gaze. Had it not been for his crucial role in the war, she would have had him severely punished immediately. Yet now, the very same man lay before her with a face swelled and bloody, clearly walking the boundary between life and death.

"Oh these things? Well, I will let the documents do the explaining."

Saying this, a thin arm of pure black shadow reached out to the Queen and presented her with a large pile of parchments, their conditions varying. As she started to look through the information, her expression twisted from pure bewilderment into unrestrained hatred. Unbeknownst to her, the draconic aura kept within her body slowly started to ooze out, causing the Prime Minister next to her to shiver in fear.

"You- Where did you get these!"

Draudillon spoke with a pant, her expression warped in hatred as she looked onward. Zelphyr simply pointed to his shadow, not minding her expression, after all, it was not meant to be directed towards him. The more observant members in the room had noticed that Draudillons gaze had turned even more hateful when she gazed upon Cerabrate.

"My subordinates here managed to catch the tail of a rat on our first visit, so I decided as an act of kindness, to deal with the rat itself. Of course, there are many others as there is one"

The Queen ignored the majority of Zelphyrs words, instead she focused on the fact that he stated there were others. Looking once more through the parchments, Draudillon quickly began to see more and more familiar names pop up. Most of which held influential positions within the country.

"My Queen, what is happening?"

The Prime Minister spoke up on behalf of the rest of the room. Their expressions were downcast as they theorised what happened. Nevertheless, assumptions were often more dangerous than the truth, thus they waited for their liege to share the information with them.

Without saying a word, Draudillon passed the papers over, her gaze never leaving the beaten excuse of a man on the floor in front of her.

"This- Surely... is this really true?"

The Prime Minister stared at Zelphyr with a look full of distrust, trying to gain even the slightest hint as to the validity of the parchments.

"These were gathered from the various residences within the capital, as well as some buildings purchased in the commercial district. It seems that many of these men had gathered in a few commercial buildings to coordinate in secret. Now then, I assume you understand now."

The Prime Minister tilted his head slightly at Zelphyrs words, unable to comprehend what he was referring to. On the other hand, Draudillon looked up from Cerabrates beaten self, gazing at Zelphyr with a look of understanding.

"You mean to say this is why our situation deteriorated so fast?"

Zelphyr smiled lightly at the Queen before answering her.

"Correct. While it is true that individual strength is a disadvantage for the Dragon Kingdom, in an all out war, your country statistically should have lasted for quite a bit longer however it seemed as though your enemy was a step ahead at each move."

Bitter expressions filled the faces of all gathered except Zelphyr and Narberal who looked on in amusement. The previously tense atmosphere was now filled with hostility, all aimed at Cerabrate and his associates.

"Well then, let us be off Narberal. Shadow Demon, pass the list to the Queen. Queen Draudillon, thank you for your time and I look forward to working with you and your growing Kingdom in the future"

With those words, Zelphyr and Narberal wasted no time and left. Everyone within the room was too preoccupied to escort them or even offer proper farewells. Their minds were fully focused on the new information they had received.

A couple of minutes had passed before the members gathered within the room awake from their thoughts. Draudillon being the first. As she looked around, she noticed the disappearance of their guests, causing her to look around the room. As she looked towards the furthest corner, she noticed a shadowy figure standing still with a parchment in its hand.

"I am sick of these parchments today..."

A tired sigh escaped her lips as she approached the shadow demon. The previous fear she felt was now replaced by exasperation as she felt little threat at this moment in time.

"Thank you"

Draudillon took the parchment and thanked the Shadow Demon as he slipped back into the shadow of of the curtains.

"What have we gotten ourselves into..."

Draudillon gazed out at the doorway Zelphyr had left through after reading the parchment. The Parchment was a long list of names of people involved with Cerabrate as well as places of interest. At the bottom of the parchment, a small sentence read:

'A gift for our continued friendship, Queen of the Dragon Kingdom.'