Chapter 49: Smiling in the Face of Danger

 

“Star! I’m glad to see you are fine!” Leida yelled out in excitement to see her God-daughter doing well for herself. The moment that she saw her, she immediately leapt at her and gave her a big hug. A smothering embrace which was berated by her younger sister Samiyadare for being so unsightly.

Cera however, didn’t give Leida back the affection that she wanted, only a monotone response. “...I’m glad to see that you are alright as well, Lord Leida.”

“Bu bu bu, would it kill you to be a little bit more relaxed,” Leida let go of Cera before poking her in the nose.

“It is you who I think is too relaxed, Lord Leida,” Cera said to her, scratching her nose. She then looked around the meeting room. She could see the various looks of frustrated people in said room. “Maybe read the mood a little bit.”

Leida had wanted to say something back to Cera, a witty retort, but Klauna’s appearance in the area caught her attention. She immediately turned around to face the only other strong person in the room. 

“Hey, Ticah! Long time no see!” Leida waved at her excitedly. She finally got to see Klauna after a few long months of continuous campaigns against the Alliance.

“...” Although Leida’s greeting was met with silence from the Analyst. She walked to her seat, not paying attention to her surroundings. Her hand permanently below her chin. She was thinking about something. Harbin, who was behind Klauna, however, did return a small wave at Leida.

“...What’s wrong with her?” Leida questioned Cera after seeing Klauna’s attitude.

“General Klauna has been like that ever since we blew up the Grand Bridge. She’s been staring into the distance a lot recently. It’s like she’s not even paying attention to things,” Cera replied.

“So the pressure has got to her as well huh… can’t say I’m surprised,” Leida replied back.

"I won't say it's the pressure or anything. It feels more like… she's in a slump or something. There's something clouding her mind. Or at least that's what it feels like to me," Cera explained to Leida about Klauna's condition.

Cera then took a look at Harbin who was trailing behind Klauna. "Harbin has been staying by her side a lot ever since the event at the bridge. I can tell she's very concerned about General Klauna. Even she couldn't tell what was going on with her." 

"Hmm, I think she's just having a bad day. A little joke and she'll cheer right up, don't you think?" Leida let out a soft laugh.

Samiyadare heard this and cut in on the conversation, letting out a sigh in the process. "Please don't do such a thing, Big Sister. Things are very dire, this is not the time for jokes."

"Nonsense! There is always time for a little bit of a laugh," Leida let out a smile and a small chuckle. 

She then shifted to a very serious expression and tone, completely at odds with how she was acting just a moment ago. "As a matter of fact, This is the best time to have a little laugh if anything."

"... I don't know about that," Cera said before looking around the room once more, just gloomy faces all over. "But perhaps, you are right."

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*Clap!

 “The meeting is about to start, everyone! Please attend to your seats,” Saladis spoke to the room and everyone got into their positions. Leida herself, in particular, gave Cera another hug before running off to her big seat, much to the Warrior’s dismay.

For the first time in months, all the generals of the Kingdom have gathered together again in Dragonsmourne. After months of long gruesome campaigns against the alliance, they finally managed to evacuate the citizens and halted the Alliance’s advance enough to give them a small breather. If one were to look at the results of the campaign, it was a massive success. But if one were to look at the big picture as a whole, it was a massive disaster for the Ak’hims. 

Sure, they may have gotten quite the number of decisive victories and evacuated thousands of Ak’hims. But when compared to the number of civilians that died due to their lack of intervention, it can only be described as a massive failure. For every civilian that they saved and escorted, about six more died in the hands of the Alliance. 

Klauna had sent scouts to observe if there were any prisoners of war or any refugees being held by the Alliance. Results were rather disappointing if not outright depressing. The Alliance in their hatred and zeal had killed every single Ak’him that they came across. And not just Ak’hims either, allied races like the Merpeople, the Lamias and the Minotaurs were being killed by the thousands as well. Civilians or Soldiers. None were spared from the slaughter. If it wasn’t obvious before, it’s obvious now that the Alliance was exterminating them from the continent.

The enemies have caught on to the Ak’him’s overall strategy as well and had started to double their detachments. Before this, the Alliance was about two thousand to five thousand strong per army. Now they are at least over twenty thousand per army. Just one army can already match their current numbers in Dragonsmourne. 

Morale was needless to say, very low. Things were starting to look hopeless to them. Nothing they do seemed to even hurt the enemy’s overall strength. No matter how many the Ak’hims killed, it didn’t make a single dent in their numbers. No matter what they do, the enemy can just throw more numbers at them. It wasn’t just weak fodder either, they were actual good fighters that can last quite a while in battle. 

At first, the Ak’hims tried to make do with what they have. Eight thousand against twenty thousand wasn’t easy, but it was doable with the right plan and strategies. Results proved alright for a while until the Alliance realised that the Ak’hims only really have two proper forces and started to push more aggressively— even outright zoning the Ak'hims out. This eventually caused the Ak’hims to lose ground and fall back to their main base of operations, Dragonsmourne. 

“...I think everyone should be aware of what the enemy is going to do now, right?” Aberanis said to everyone in the room.

Everyone just nodded in grim silence. 

“Having been pushed back this hard only meant that the enemy has one place left to go. The enemies are converging onto our position as we speak. My scouts have told me that they will be here in three days."

“Three days?!” Vargus, the Minotaur general yelled out in shock. It was followed by the sounds of whispering among the officers.

“Are you ssssure of your sssssscoutssss information?” Shieska, the general of the Lamias, followed up with a question to Aberanis.

Aberanis brought his head downwards. “I confirmed the whole thing with my own two eyes. Three days is all the time we have. I wish I could deliver better news…”

“Don’t be, tis is not your fault," Saladis the mermaid queen replied.

The room went into silence yet again as the various generals and officers consolidated the information that was given to them. Taking this time, Leida took another look around the room. She then noticed something was off. “Where are the Familias? Are they not informed about the meeting?”

“...the Familias…“ One of the mercenary representatives mumbled.

“Hmm? What about them?” Leida asked again.

“The cowards have deserted us. Left Dragonsmourne with their petty army,” Blackmask responded.

“Deserted us…? All of them? Where did they go?” Parash asked.

“All of them. West. They decided to leave the country while they could. I do not know what their fate is," Blackmask replied.

 “I see…” Leida’s face contained a look of disappointment and anger. If it was the one thing she expected out of these ‘nobles’, was that they actually stand and fight. It was their duty to do so, yet they were the first to run away. “I guess you could say they aren’t Familia with war eh?” Leida let out a joke. Her face turned into a mischievous smile.

It was not received well by the crowd who ignored her and continued discussing among themselves about the Familias. Samiyadare who stood next to Leida hung her head in shame.

“It doesn’t matter. They were never useful in the first place. For all we care, they could be dead by now. Let us discuss the matter at hand,” Klauna raised her voice and shifted the topic.

“Come on? No reaction at all? Bu bu, you guys aren’t fun.” 

Hearing Leida’s words, Klauna slammed the table before giving her a glare. “If you want to have fun then go elsewhere, Lilliel! I expect you of all people to take this matter seriously.” 

Everyone could be seen taken aback by the Analyst’s sudden outrage. Klauna is usually calm and collected during these kinds of meetings but today she just went full rage mode.

“...relax, Ticah… I’m only trying to lighten the mood. God knows you folks need it. I apologize, I guess it was out of taste. Even for me," Leida said to Klauna, wiping the smile off her own face.

“... No… I'm the one who should be sorry. I went a little bit too far...” Klauna said before looking away, noticing what she has done.

“It’s okay really," Leida accepted her apologies. She then shifted to a more appropriate mood. Her face frowning as she asked everyone in the room. “So? What are we going to do about this situation?”

Nobody answered. They only murmured to each other, still discussing the things that they could do to solve the problem at hand.

Nobody except Klauna that is. “I’ve already ordered the evacuation of Dragonsmourne. There is no defending this place from those numbers. This place hasn’t been fortified enough to defend with the manpower we have. I suggest we retreat as well to—”

“I absolutely object to that notion, Ticah. If we don’t hold down this ‘fort’ then there will be nothing left for us to fall back to. We would just get picked off by then,” Leida responded back to Klauna’s suggestion.

Klauna looked at Leida before pointing at a city on the map. “There is still a place where we can fall back to. The great city of Divinatus.”

"Divinatus? What's the point of retreating so far? It makes no difference, it's not like Divinatus is a great place to defend either," Leida argued back.

"The point is that we buy enough time. We can use that time to fortify and mount a real defence at Divinatus," Klauna explained.

"Results are going to be the same there, we are still going to lose and then we have nowhere to run to. We should make our stand here. No, we have to make our stand here. While we still have the grounds to do so."

"Making a stand? Didn't you hear me? We won't win this fight, there will be no 'stand'," Klauna said to Leida, her voice raised slightly higher than before.

Leida too raised her volume to match Klauna's. It wasn't to the point of yelling, but it was reaching there. "Then tell me, if we retreat to Divinatus. What is our plan to end this war?" 

"The same plan as always. We kill off as many of them. Too much loss and they will retreat eventually. We just need to hold off until then."

Leida’s eyes widened at her answer. Her face went into a frown and her hands shook in anger. It was as if she was just mocked. "Are you making a fool out of me? Out of everyone here? Retreat you say… What are you even talking about, Ticah? Can't you see that the Alliance will not stop until every single one of us is dead? Your plan is nothing but just a bloody dead end!"

"..." Klauna couldn't muster up a response. She looked downwards, averting her eyes from the Dragonicia.

It wasn't just Leida who was surprised at Klauna's answer, the entire room was. The brightest and the most unorthodox of generals, the one who brings victory at even the worst odds. That Klauna… didn't have a plan to end the war. Even worse, what she was saying basically meant that the Ak'hims were completely under the mercy of the Alliance. That there was nothing they could do to change the outcome. That the best of their efforts all boils down to 'I hope the enemy gets tired of killing us'.

"We need to defend this fort. We can't just keep running away," Leida said to the room, this time in a calmer voice. 

"Just say I agree to this. Just say we win against their first wave. Can we defend against the second wave? The third wave? How long do you possibly think we can last?" Klauna asked her question. Just like Leida, she was calmer now.

"For as long as we can, obviously," Leida answered.

"That's not good enough, Lilliel."

"To be completely honest. At this point in time, nothing we do is good enough. It's either we do this together or we fall divided, Ticah."

The two met at an impasse. Klauna turned around to look at her subordinates. Harbin, Yuupiecca, Cera, Kazakiel, Medica, Lina, Blackmask, the Watchtower Warrior,  and the other captains and officers of the Seventh Army. They all have this look on them as if expecting some brilliant plan out of her. Klauna then thought about the others that were not in the meeting room. Balestra, Poi, Yuuka, Yuuko, Yuuki, Aki, Sladar, Pringgar, and all the other soldiers in the army. They too must have the same expectations out of her.

Simply put, she didn't want them to die. But more than anything, she didn't want to let them down. Closing her eyes, Klauna took a minute to think about things. The whole room kept quiet and gave her that time.

Once done, she opened her eyes and stared at Leida. "...alright. I'll join you in defending Dragonsmourne, Lilliel. Out of respect for you. But we—"

"—do it your way?" Leida cut Klauna off.

Klauna couldn't help but chuckle at her statement. "Yeah. I got a plan. We'll mount the best defence we can. But I want the whole place to be rigged so that the enemy may not chase us if we do have to retreat."

Samiyadare and the other Dragonicias were a little bit angry at her decision to rig the place. To tarnish their beloved village in such a way. Though their anger was quickly quelled with Leida's response to the matter.

"So it is, I guess. My great village to go down in a big bang. Won't have it any other way,"  Leida spoke in a lighter tone, exaggerating her body language as if she is in an opera house, trying to bring up the mood.

This time, however, it worked.