Rallying Tenebris

“And that is what happened,” John finished retelling his tale of a draconic attack and trip to the underworld. He looked out to his people, a mix of humans, elves, and a few other Abyssal races that had pleaded fealty to him after a raid freed them from a crime syndicate’s cells. They all liked his idea of being free to live your lives as long as you did not harm the kingdom or its people. Plus, with his great power, they knew he would be able to stop any threat that would arise. However, this time was different. John could see the fear on their faces, the thoughts of if he could actually win a war against dragons if he was beaten so easily. He understood their fears, for he shared them. He promised these people protection, and now he was unsure if he could follow through with that protection. He looked around and saw his mother, the twins, even Gali and Idena, with looks of fear and terror. He knew he had to do something.

“I stand before you now,” John said, with a false confidence in his voice, “that I, your king, will not rest until I have found a way to stop these dragons! We will scour the entire world, follow every lead, look into any arcane art, any tech, and whatever else we can find to ensure our victory!” he roared to the crowd. He saw their dropped faces slowly rise up to look at him. So he continued, “We have the manpower to do this! We already have the forces of the underworld on our side! The gods of **** smile upon us! And if we can’t find anything to help you might be thinking?” John said, knowing some would be thinking that. “Then we will make our own magic and tech to beat them! For there is nothing that the Kingdom of Tenebris CAN. NOT. DO!” he practically yelled at the crowd. There was a moment of silence before the crowd roared in cheers. Chants of “All hail King John!” echoed through the courtyard of the kingdom, where all had gathered. John allowed them their reprieve for a few more minutes before he dismissed them all to go back to their daily tasks. The only difference is that now, now they were inspired to do their best work to prepare for their future victory.

“We’ll have our meeting on what to do in five minutes, my lord,” Brenda said to her son before she headed back into the castle to prepare for the meeting. The other girls slowly followed suit until only Idena was left remaining. She watched as John peered out to the empty courtyard, lost in thought. She silently made her way over to her master and gently rested her head on his shoulder. John continued to look out towards the courtyard but raised his right arm up so his hand could stroke Idena’s face. She happily nuzzled his hand. This simple act of love and loyalty was enough to calm John down and allowed him to relax a bit.

“Thanks, Idena. You’re a good girl,” he said as he stroked her cheek. Idena’s heart swelled as she received praise from her master.

“I’ll always be here for you, master,” Idena said with such sincerity that John could not help but let her know his affection for her known.

“I love you, Idena. Never forget that, no matter what I do,” he told her.

“I’ll love you no matter what you do,” she answered.

“I know,” John said with a sigh. “But let’s go. My mom’s meeting should start soon,” he said as he turned to head out but waited for her with his hand outstretched. Idena’s eyes lit up at the chance to hold her master’s hand, something which he rarely did with any of the girls. She gleefully grabbed his hand and almost skipped besides him as they walked. “Oh, and don’t forget to stop by my room tonight,” John almost ordered her with his tone. “Good girls deserve rewards,” he said with a smile. Idena said nothing except returning his smile.

The two walked hand-in-hand down the various hallways until they got to the doors of the Strategic Room. Idena attempted to move away from John, but his grip held firm. Idena silently panicked as John pushed open the door and basically dragged Idena along with him. She quietly followed him to the front of the table and then he let her hand go as she stood by his side. Everyone stood quietly at the two and stared at them, which caused Idena to blush profusely. She slowly scooted behind John as a way to get rid of the prying eyes of her fellow companions.

“My lord, we are all here and ready to go,” Brenda told her son.

“Good. I won’t lie, this is the worst uphill battle we’ve ever had,” John told his companions. “I simply do not have the power to beat a single dragon, let alone an army of them or their leader. I was not lying when I said we need to find anything and everything to help this fight,” John informed the group.

“That will be tough,” Mikuru said.

“Sis is right,” chimed Miho. “It looks like most guilds have either been captured, destroyed, or fled the Nazis when they showed up,” she told John.

“Yeah, that’s what the scouts seemed to indicate earlier,” agreed John.

“Your new spymaster is quite skilled. Her training has increased the scouts abilities 10 fold,” complimented Mikuru.

“My eyes and ears are only the best,” Sasha told the twins.

“I know. We are going to have to branch out from Springfield. Right now, I only have one lead: The Golden Rose,” John said in a curt tone. The group of gals let out gasps and mummers at the suggestion.

“John, son, you killed her father. She will be hesitant to see you,” Brenda told her son.

“I know,” John said.

“And I doubt that stuck up bitch will want to talk to a traitor like me,” Fran told John.

“I know,” agreed John.

“So, what are you going to do?” asked Brenda. John was not sure. He knew he had to talk with her but could not think of a way to approach Moira without her attacking him on sight, rightfully so.

“Perhaps I could be of assistance?” a voice came from the entrance to the room. The group looked up to see Mrs. Wentworth standing in the doorway.

“Mrs. Wentworth?” asked a confused John.

“I heard the news,” she told him as she closed the door and made her way to the table. “I am not a fan of dying in draconic fire, hence my helping the first time they were a problem. As such, I would be inclined to help stop them once again,” she told John.

“Understandable,” John deduced.
“What is your plan, witch?” asked Gali, in a cool tone. She was never a fan of Mrs. Wentworth or her type of magic.

“Simple, elf,” she started in a condescending tone, “Moira and I had a good relationship when she was a student. I will travel to London and speak with her. I need to speak to someone in the UK anyways, so it would be two birds with one stone,” she told him.

“That...may work,” John said in a hopeful tone.

“Yes, it will,” she told him. “Now, as for how to fight the dragons. You have two options: dragoon magic or dragon slayer magic. One may be hard to find, and the other impossible,” she told John.

“That’s not very helpful,” chimed in Tanya.

“I know, dear. But those are the two magics that were made specifically to fight dragons. There is one dragoon left. He lives somewhere in the United States. He is quite hard to find. Well, for anyone who looked for him, anyway,” she told the group with a smile on her face.

“And you never bothered to look?” asked Sasha.

“I never had a reason to. But I know of you and your abilities. If anyone could find him, it will be you,” praised Mrs. Wentworth.

“As for the second type, well only a dragon can teach dragon slayer magic. And they all want to kill humans. Well, except for one. But she is far too young, isn’t she?” asked Mrs. Wentworth. John knew she was talking about Yatina, but the dragongirl was an innocent, pure girl who knew nothing of fighting.

“We both know she’s never fought and probably could never fight,” John told her.

“Yes. If only she had a sibling. A big brother or sister. I bet they would teach you. Sadly, her family was all killed in the final battle,” Mrs. Wentworth told the group.

“Except they weren’t…” John said as he started to put the pieces together. “Yatina survived. The dragon clan that attacked me to find the key survived. There could be others!” John told the group.

“I’ll add that to the list of things I’m hunting for,” Sasha told John.