“To think they would stoop so low…” Nyx muttered under her breath, shaking her head in amazed dismay.

  Off to the side, the pacing figure of Bleddyn let out a bassy, realistic snarl. “I ain’t surprised,” He growled, flexing his fists as he strode back and forth. “It’s just like a pack of beasts to ally with more o’ the same.”

  I sighed lightly at the visible alarm on the faces of every single person in the room. I couldn’t blame them, though.

  The idea that the Principality of Velancia had formally entered into an alliance with the Elves was…deeply unsettling, for a variety of reasons.

  After hearing exactly why I was brooding alone in my quarters, Sylvia had rightfully kicked me into high gear. I had intended to let the leaders of the flotilla and our officers rest for the evening, after the battle, but Sylvia had told me that was foolish. While we’d had minimal casualties, considering the sheer disparity between our forces and the Dwarven patrol flotilla, those who were still injured were well cared for without the direct attention of the leadership. At my lover’s insistence, I had sent messages to the other Captains to assemble our full council for an important meeting aboard the White Gull. It was the largest ship we had, after all, and the room we typically used for such things aboard it could accommodate everyone who needed to hear this. Once sent, I’d rounded up everyone aboard the Astray that typically came with me to these things and set off.

  Initially, I’d been greeted with a fairly grumpy atmosphere upon arrival. I’d never called such a meeting this late at night, and certainly not while many of the men were celebrating a successful victory.

  But that annoyance had swiftly changed to dismay at what I’d told them. All around the room, I could see nothing but frowns, and in some cases, anger.

  Marcel, seated almost directly across from me at the table, drummed with clawed fingers upon the table. He either chose not to acknowledge or didn’t care about the narrowed-eyed glance his drumming drew from Nyx, at the new scratches it was creating. The Gnoll was instead focused more on me, directing an outright scowl my way. “Those were this Bronzle’s exact words?” He said intently. “An alliance? With whom, exactly? The elves don’t even have a state in which to negotiate a formal alliance!”

  “Wait, yeah,” Gustave narrowed his eyes in thought. “Don’t they essentially function as a bunch of independent, well, tribes? Military intelligence tells us that individual Chieftains are both constantly warring with each other and raiding beyond their borders. Then, they’re supposed to present their trophies before the throne of the Mad God, in the ruins of Smaragd. That…doesn’t exactly sound like a stable nation that can barter deals.”

  All around the table, people stopped their internal dismay to instead directed somewhat…surprised looks at the young Captain.

  Myself included, honestly. That was a fairly insightful statement about Elven life. Honestly, I hadn’t known parts of that, and I had actually met some Elves before.

  Gustave flushed under the regard, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck nervously. “Ah…I nearly became an analyst in the Army.”

  Well then. I exchanged a quick, mildly impressed glance with Maria off to my right.

  Noted.

  “All good points,” I finally said, steepling my fingers in front of me on the table. “Captain Bronzle did, in fact, have something to say about that. Apparently, the Elves have unified.” I said, speaking over the gasps that statement caused. “Into a collection known as the ‘Confederation of Lasgach’. It was with this Confederation that the Savoy, the Venier, and the Luminari negotiated an alliance. Apparently…it was the Savoy who led this push, according to the Captain.”

  A troubled silence fell over the room then, as the implications of such a thing began to settle on them. I didn’t blame them. That was the entire reason why I had been brooding in my quarters.

  This…

  “…changes things,” Nyx said grimly, echoing my own thoughts. “Massively. The Elves unifying into a single force is a deeply, deeply disturbing notion. Has…such a thing ever happened in the past?”

  Almost as one, all eyes in the room turned towards Gustave Wersk. Under the weight of our regard, the young Captain smiled nervously, but rose to the occasion nonetheless. “Ah…not for a very long time,” He said, fiddling with a quill on the table. “Not since the days of the Initialization Wars have the Elves been unified enough to present a force capable of striking beyond their borders in large numbers. Typically, the Dwarves of House Florens, within the city of Rhoscara, have done a great deal to keep the raiders hemmed in. Their Rangers are truly legendary for such a feat.”

  I grimaced for a reason I hadn’t yet told everyone. In the meantime, Bella spoke up for the first time, initially staring off into space as she puffed on a pipe.

  I hated the memories that the smell of her personal leaf blend brought to mind. She’d always shared it with me…after.

  Bella blew a smoke ring into the air and frowned. “Lasgach,” She mused. “Ain’t ever heard o’ that before. Where’d that come from?”

  Surprisingly, even though everyone turned to Gustave once more, I could answer that. “It’s the name of the old Eleven nation from the Age of the Gods,” I spoke, before he could. I shot the young man a brief smile at his obvious relief. “In those times, it was known as the Union of Lasgach.”

  Thank you for your history lesson, Alveron. At the time, it had kinda freaked me out, but it was turning out useful now.

  I…couldn’t help but wonder, just what it was that the old, dying Elf would think of this entire matter.

  “From a Union to a Confederation,” Sylvia said quietly, from her place to Nyx’s right. As the other Sculpted woman’s First Mate, she had the right to attend this meeting in the same way that Maria could, as my First Mate. Coincidentally, her position placed her to my left. “What an irony. Fitting, perhaps. But sad nonetheless.”

  “Continue, Marshal Hart,” Marcel said loudly, cutting through the low chatter that had filled the room in the wake of my words. “Did this Captain have anything else to say?”

  As all eyes turned to me once more, I took a deep breath. “Yes,” I said, a bit reluctantly. “Many things, mostly about the state of Velancia under the Skyfall. And…” I shot a glance over at Bleddyn, who had momentarily stopped his pacing to stare at me with unblinking eyes. “And the revolt. Bleddyn, the Unchained isn’t really operating in the country anymore. As best as Bronzle knew, they’d been confined to Rhoscara almost entirely. With the conditions of the countryside, it’s…not really feasible to go from plantation to plantation. They still exist. But they’re not moving.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Bleddyn relaxed somewhat, letting out a sigh of relief. “It’s enough to know they’re still alive.” He said, massaging his forehead. “I thought…maybe they’d all…” He stopped, then, because I held up a hand.

  “Which…leads me to arguably the most important thing Bronzle informed me of. The combined forces of the three slaver Houses of the Principality are currently amassing to attack Rhoscara as we speak. Apparently, there is going to be a significant contingent of Elves from this new Confederation as part of the operation as well. From what Bronzle told me, their flotilla was on the way back to port, so they could be drafted for the attack force.” I sighed. “I’m sorry, Bleddyn. Your people are probably not as safe as you hoped.”

  As Bleddyn froze in dread at those words, and the Captains grimaced, those around the room, among the additional crew, looked a bit confused. Which I didn’t blame them for, honestly. The Captains circle had been keeping a few things close to our chest, and the future of our plans here in Velancia had been among those.

  We had hoped to recruit more than a few of the Rhoscaran Rangers when it came time to assault Smaragd. There was no other force on the face of Vereden that knew the Barren Forest better than they, other than the Elves. It was going to be hard going navigating those massive woods, without maps and guides, especially considering the size of the force we intended to travel with in there.

  Of course, their importance had waned with the discovery of the massive ward shield that was apparently covering most of the Barren Forest now. But the importance of Rhoscara itself hadn’t, nor had the Unchained.

  Other than the Orsini, they were the only allies our expedition might find here in Dwarven lands.

  “Wait,” Nyx suddenly spoke up, furrowing her brow. “How are the Principality forces intending to assault Rhoscara? It’s a death sentence to march overland. They couldn’t even take the rivers, because those are still exposed to the corruption of the Skyfall.”

  “Wait, yeah,” Renauld said, furrowing his brow. He rubbed his furry chin in thought. “We’re only able to travel because of the wards of the Astray, and because of the APD’s. How are they…?”

  I shook my head helplessly. “That, Bronzle didn’t know. But he was sure that the Principality would be able to do it. We have to continue under the assumption that the forces of Velancia have figured out a way to block the adverse effects of the Skyfall. We’re not geniuses, after all. If Herztal can figure out a way to protect people, surely Velancia can as well.”

  That was…one explanation. I didn’t even want to think of any others.

  The implications would threaten to overwhelm me.

  Across the table, I noticed Bella studying me with a gimlet eye. Suddenly, she sighed. “Yer still intending to go to ‘em, ain’t ya, Cap’n Hart?”

  I met her eyes…

  And nodded.

  Bella still knew me, despite the gulf between us. She’d hit the nail on the head.

  Gustave straightened up in his chair. “Wait, are you talking about Rhoscara?” He said in disbelief. “You want us to march overland to Rhoscara?! That’s hundreds and hundreds of miles away from us, on the eastern half of the continent!”

  “Really more kinda…center-east, if’n ye ask me,” Bleddyn said with a shrug, immediately calmer after he’d heard my plans. At the incredulous look that Gustave sent him, the revolutionary werewolf just shrugged. “What else are we gunna do, boy? Just go back to Herztal? No, this is our only shot.”

  “Captain Hart, are you sure about this?” Nyx asked with a frown, as a low murmur overtook the room. “Marching across the breadth of the continent with our combined forces…such a thing would be very difficult indeed. We…do have the supplies for it, I suppose, but they’re spread across all five ships. We’d have to carry them with us if we intended to do this.”

  “Perhaps we wouldn’t even need to,” Marcel said interestedly, rubbing his chin. I couldn’t help but notice just how much it made him look like Renauld, as he did so. “The rivers were mentioned, yes? Why don’t we take that route? I must admit, the Throng is not overly familiar with Velancian lands. They’ve always been very…grabby with our people.”

  “Wouldn’t work,” Bella said, shaking her head sharply. “There’s only one river that leads to Rhoscara, a big bastard by the name o’ the Fiume d’Oro. None o’ the other tributaries are big enough fer our ships ta travel on. And the problem, is…”

  “That river is guarded by an enormous fortress,” Nyx finished, crossing her arms over her chest. “Perhaps the largest fortress in all of Velancia, in fact. It’s the location of the Velancian Army’s general headquarters, as well as their Navy. If they’re massing to assault Rhoscara, they’re doing it there. And even if there weren’t additional forces in the Fortress, we’d still need more soldiers to siege it. Many more. Something on the scale of fifty to sixty times more than what we have.”

  I frowned at those words. “Does this Fortress have a name?”

  “Incuderra,” Bella piped in. “Fort Incuderra. But most people just call it ‘The Anvil’. Because if ye assault it, yer gonna get smashed against her walls. No, she’s right,” The Pirate Captain nodded to Nyx. “Assaultin’ Incuderra is a fool’s notion, and I wouldn’t dare travel along the d’Oro either. That’s probably how they’re gonna transport most of their troops. However the hells they’re protectin’ them from the Skyfall.”

  “Wait! Wait a moment here!” Gustave piped up desperately, looking around wildly at the room. Judging by the look on his face, he had a hard time believing the considering looks on everyone else's. “What about the ships?! We can’t just leave them on some deserted stretch of shoreline! Five ships are far too valuable to just abandon like that!”

  I exchanged a glance with an indifferent Nyx, and almost in unison, the both of us shrugged. “I mean, why not? With the Skyfall, it’s not like the usual hazards are a problem.”

  “No bandits will try to steal the ships, monsters shall leave them alone, and I believe…I believe we might have some blank Ward Stones in the hold of the Astray, yes?” At my nod, Nyx continued. “Yes, then we can enchant one of them to repel animals, as well. They will hold up just fine, if we can find an appropriate place to store them.”

  As Gustave sagged in place, one of the other crewmen I didn’t know spoke up. “Ah…but doesn’t the Astray already have wards to protect the ships?” He asked tentatively. “Why waste a stone?”

  “Captain Hart, if I may?” Marcel spoke up. I gave him the go-ahead, the Gnoll puffed up proudly. “I’m sure many of you have been wondering just how we were planning to travel through lands blighted by the Skyfall in the first place, before all of these new barriers. Well, it’s simple. Captain Hart shall be removing the mobile Ward Stone of the Astray and installing it in the Ashen Bride, once we hit land. There, we shall furthermore convert my vessel into its land-based vehicle mode. With that combination, we shall have a method of safely traversing the continent.”

  The room went silent, then, as everyone considered the plan. While the Velancian forces were traveling down the trunk of the d’Oro, we would be taking the empty flatlands of the countryside on foot and by massive barge-wagon. To the best of his knowledge, the Principality had only just started to amass forces for the riverine assault of Rhoscara, and it might take them weeks to finish.

  Weeks which we had to cross the massive, well-paved merchant roads of Velancia, suddenly wide-open and exclusively for our use.

  It would be a race against time, yes.

  But I believe we could beat the Velancians there and warn them before they were decimated by a surprise attack from their rear. Then, we could help beat them off and request their assistance in dealing with the shield now hiding the Mad God from our blades.

  Was it a long shot?

  Yes.

  Was it also insane to think we could meaningfully contribute to the battle, considering the forces at stake?

  Also, yes.

  But it was our best shot, and we had to take it.

  I was going to choose to be optimistic about our chances. I had to believe we could do this.

  “Ladies and gentlemen…” I said, glancing around the room. Encouragingly, I didn’t see much doubt on the faces surrounding me. Instead, an all too familiar greeted my gaze.

  “I believe we have a plan.”