45: Making A Deal

"Wait you're kidding, right? You mean to tell me there's another faction who's taking advantage of the commoners?" Layla asks her voice full of disbelief.

"I'm serious I saw it with my own eyes. This situation isn't as black and white as we originally thought." I reply as I hold my head from a searing migraine.

"Woah, you don't look so good Crow! You sure you don't need some rest? We can talk about all of this tomorrow." Mari suggests as she puts a cold wet cloth on my head.

"No, it's fine! I'm just a little overwhelmed with everything that's happening. I can't slow down right now, we've got a big meeting tomorrow and people are counting on me to figure something out!" I insist as everyone stares me down.

"Ugh, stop trying to take the burden all on your own! You know we've got your back too right?" Jack asks his voice full of annoyance.

"He's right, we all went into this job together! We aren't going to let you sink on your own." Sachi reassures as she drinks a cup of tea.

"Seriously who do you think you are trying to do this without us?" Mari asks as she flicks my forehead.

"Sorry, all of you are right! Let's get through this together!" I concede as I slowly get up from my bed and walk to the dinner table.

"This Master Elce you told us about sounds like she won't be easy to please, we all need to come up with a plan so Crow will be as prepared as possible!" Layla commands.

We spend the rest of the night thinking of a good plan until we all inevitably fall asleep. After a long day of school the next day, we see Feno, Rena, and Urmac waiting at the front of the school.

"Wow, I feel like I'm having a weird dream! I never thought I'd see you three together." Layla jokes as Urmac and Rena both look very awkward standing next to each other.

"This is a temporary ceasefire for the moment. If things don't go well you can bet that you'll never see me around him again!" Rena reminds.

"Don't worry Rena, you're not my type anyways! I've already found a girl who stole my heart, you better hope you can find another mutt who can put up with your brashness." Urmac snaps back as he smirks at her.

"What did you say, Noble? I oughta–" Rena shouts as she clenches her fist.

"Ouch, is it always this bad?" Layla asks.

"Yes, yes it is… " Feno replies as he facepalms.

"Anyway, there's not too many places in the capital where we could have a meeting with this many people. Therefore in an hour, we'll all be meeting in our hideout in the underground district. Also, be sure to come unarmed! Master Elce needs to be sure she can trust you all!" Rena explains as everyone has mixed reactions to what she said.

"Wait a second, you attacked us! Why should we come unarmed to you? If anything none of us should have any reason to trust you!" Jack calls out his voice full of confusion.

"The oaf has a valid point! Your group has been the one causing mayhem in the capital! Whether the nobles are guilty or not the fact remains that we're the ones that are putting ourselves in danger!" Urmac argues.

"Either come unarmed or the meeting is off! I'm not a fan of doing this either but I will stay loyal to my Master! I owe her that much… " Rena defends as she folds her arms.

Just great, I've never had to deal with this type of crap my whole life. Now I'm in the middle of a conflict that I never had anything to do with. Ugh, I can't keep complaining though. I'm in too deep now so I have to take responsibility. Everyone's just being too prideful.

"Okay enough, I think it would be in everyone's best interest to just go with it. Throw your pride out of the window for a second and think. There are people suffering right now and there's a way we can put an end to it! If Silver Fang really wanted to try to kill us they would've already done it by now. We can't keep spending time on petty arguments!" I point out as everyone grows really quiet.

"Fine. I'll tell my friends to come unarmed, you wolves better not hurt any of them! They have nothing to do with this, they're innocent!" Urmac cautions as he stomps off towards the school.

"You have my word. We'll see you guys there!" Rena assures as she and Feno walk away towards Orym district.

A couple of hours pass and we all make it to Silver Fang's hideout where chairs have been placed in a circle for all of us to talk. There are also three large podiums in the middle of the circle. On the left of us, Urmac and his party are here with at least 100 more nobles who all look very skeptical of the meeting. On the right of us, there is Silver Fang with over 500 members who all look battle-ready at any moment.

"So many people… " Sachi observes her voice full of nervousness.

"You think we might stand a chance with this many people?" Jack asks as he's admiring all of the warriors in the room.

"Hard to say until we're out on the field. Mercenaries are no jokes, Kira actually used to be one so that should tell you all we need to know." Layla adds as she leans back in her chair.

"The real question is can everyone really come to an agreement? I can feel the tension and hatred in this place, it's palpable." Mari notes her voice full of worry.

"We just need to stick to the plan, hopefully they'll understand. You sure you got this Crow? I can handle this if you want?" Layla asks as she's clearly concerned for me.

"That's okay, just leave it all to me!" I promise as internally I feel really nervous.

Out of nowhere all of the Silver Fang members start chattering as a tall Windian woman enters the room and goes straight to the podium.

"Haha! This is such a strange day, isn't it? We have the Chosen Children, a group of nobles, and lastly a group of demiwolves! Almost sounds like the beginning of a joke or something!" The Windian woman teases as she has a very playful voice.

"She's strong, I'd hate to see what her transformation is like." Layla whispers as everyone in the room grows quiet.

"Ah, my apologies! I haven't introduced myself! My name is Elce of Midori, I am the leader of Silver Fang. I now ask that representatives of each group go to the podium so we can begin this strange meeting." Elce commands as Urmac and I walk up to the podium.

"My name is Urmac of Umbra! Son of Uryon and Mana of Umbra. I will be representing the nobles!" Urmac states as he looks furiously at Silver Fang.

"By Adora, with a look like that on your face, I'd almost think you wanted to kill me." Elce teases as it's clear she doesn't take Urmac seriously.

"I'd say it would be fairer to worry about your troop of ravenous monsters that seem keen on making the capital burn in flames!" Urmac snaps back as all of the nobles stand up looking ready for a fight.

"Ah, is that a challenge I hear? That wouldn't be very wise considering that everyone here is unarmed." Elce responds her voice full of poise.

"Ugh, damn wolves... "Urmac mutters angrily.

"Uhhh! Hello! My name is Crow of… Well, I'm kind of new here actually! I'll be representing the Chosen Children!" I declare as I cringe at myself internally.

Everyone starts laughing really hard as it seems my awkward disposition has eased the mood.

"So, you are Crow? I've heard a lot about you since you've arrived here in Goliath. You've been really busy trying to help this land and I know what you did in Tario. One of my comrades claims I can trust you and I'm inclined to believe them. However, I'm the type of person that doesn't believe in pretty words. My question to you Chosen Child, is do you have a plan? If you don't have a solid plan then I'm sorry you can count my wolves out of the equation!" Elce replies to me bluntly.

"I was told you wouldn't be easy to please, so my friends and I have devised a plan that I think could benefit everyone!" I announce as everyone darts their eyes at me.

"Very well, let's hear it then." Elce insists as I let out a huge breath.

"We originally thought that Silver Fang was the true enemy of the capital but as I saw with my own eyes The Hawk is the root of all of this chaos. I think everyone here agrees that what they're doing is evil and they must be stopped! So… I suggest that all three parties form a truce in order to bring peace back to the capital!" I propose as everyone in the room starts chattering.

"Forming a truce sounds nice and all but what do you plan to do once we form it?" Elce asks her voice full of skepticism.

"A raid. If we raid The Hawks hideout and free all of the commoners I think that's a win-win for everyone!" I respond.

"Now wait a second, you saw the security there Crow! We can't just walk in there and hope to succeed, they'll send the guards and the mercs after us and we'll be overwhelmed!" Urmac points out.

"Thankfully, we already considered that! Urmac, you and the rest of the nobles should infiltrate their hideout and start name-dropping! I'm positive if you throw your status around that they will definitely let all of you in! After all, The Hawk seem to care about the nobles the most." I explain as the nobles seem to nod their heads in agreement.

"I see… That's actually not a bad plan, we should be able to manage that!" Urmac confirms his voice full of confidence.

"Okay, well where do we all fit into this?" Elce asks as her tone is a little bit more relaxed now.

"It's simple we have Urmac and his group send us a smoke signal and we attack their hideout while their guards are down. In short, we'll have a two-way assault that they'll never see coming!" I answer as all of the Silver Fang seem to think the plan is pretty good.

"Well, you've actually managed to impress me Chosen Child! Still one last thing though. What happens to Silver Fang once this operation is over? Do I have your word that none of our members will go to prison?" Elce asks as all of the nobles gasps.

"What? That's utter nonsense! Your little group murdered people! Whether they were or innocent or not is another discussion! But the people are going to want answers! What you did was a crime and someone has to pay for it!" Urmac shouts his voice full of passion.

"Urmac! Shut your mouth! You have no idea what you're talking about! We had to take matters into our own hands, I thought you understood that!" Rena yells her eyes full of fury.

"ENOUGH! Regardless of how we might personally feel, the boy is right. Crow, can you at least manage to keep our young members safe? The rest of us won't mind taking the fall if it means they can live successful lives… They didn't murder anyone so they don't deserve to deal with the consequences of our actions. " Elce asks as she hangs her head low.

"I'm sure I can manage that! If I tell Master Elyon that you're the leader and that Silver Fang has disbanded, we'll make sure that the rest of them won't be outed." I reassure.

"What! This isn't fair, Master you're not seriously going to give up like this are you?" Rena asks her voice full of sadness and her eyes filled with tears.

"We're all past our prime, anyone who we wanted to save is already dead! But for the rest of you, a lot of your families are locked up down there right now! You're the future, we are the past. I want every single one of you to live happy lives and help more commoners while you're at it. If that means prison time for some of us then so be it." Elce argues her voice full of conviction.

"Yes… Yes, Master." Rena replies as she wipes her tears away.

"It's settled then, when do we launch this raid Crow?" Urmac asks.

"Tonight at Twilight! We'll all meet at the hill above their hideout!" I inform.

"Alright Silver Fang! Prepare for battle!" Elce commands as all of the members start scrambling around their hideout.

"Good job Crow, you handled that like a true leader!" Layla compliments as she slaps my back.

"Oww! It was more stressful than anything, managing that many egos can be such a chore. It makes me wonder how Kira does it." I reply as I hold my back in pain.

"I really hope our numbers will be enough." Sachi notes as she starts checking her bow.

"True, even with our two-way assault we're still dealing with professionals." Mari worries as she lets out a huge sigh.

"Things will probably get dicey but we gotta save all of those commoners! They don't deserve this crap, I'm going to beat the bricks off of all of those stupid Hawks!" Jack shouts as he flexes his muscles.

We managed to bake up a decent plan but will things actually go our way?