Ruthless V5Ch47-Before the Battle

“Three days,” James said definitively.

The Council was gathered around James’s living room in person for their final meeting before the battle would take place.

It was the second night after his Dreamwalking experience with Doppelganger and Roscuro. He had just checked the locations of the Panther Army again. They had recalled their raiders from the surrounding countryside the previous day, so this had been their first full day of travel. They had marched at what Doppelganger gauged to be their fastest pace through the day.

And James had estimated, from their location relative to the battleground, that they would take three days to arrive.

“That’s not so bad,” Mina said, trying and failing to sound optimistic.

“You’ll handle it, right, sir?” Jeremiah Rotter asked nervously.

“You know it,” James replied confidently. He flexed a bulging muscle. “I’m finally fully recovered.”

It was true, too. Thanks to Luna. The Boundless Vitality of the Hydra Talent had really restored him to himself. Of course, James had performed all number of other preparations for the battle with the Panther Army. He had reshaped the environment within his territory to better accommodate his planned strategy,  But he felt much better about the prospect of fighting now that his body was moving as normal—with more power than normal, if anything.

“If you would like, I could go and take care of them myself,” said Luna, sitting up confidently and wagging her tail. Even without standing, she was now taller than many of the people sitting in chairs, their bodies upright.

Luna had not merely fallen asleep after her injuries. Rather, her defeat of the hydra, new Ruler status, and the levels she had gained since her previous Evolution, had rendered her eligible for a new and immediate Race Evolution, and her dream had ended in an embrace of that opportunity.

Now the Council sat eye to eye with the Great-Fanged Forest Wolf Queen.

The Wolf Queen was a foot taller than the Wolf Lady had been, and her fangs had grown to an intimidating size. She still had the three heads, but she was sufficiently bulky now that James had temporarily slid a wall out of place so that she could move from the bedroom to the living room, and he would have to do the same when she wanted to leave the apartment.

Luna looked like a saber-toothed tiger, to James’s eyes—except in wolf form. Her protruding fangs gave the impression that she was some more primitive offshoot of the wolf type of creature. Something that had perhaps gone extinct after the Ice Age, but not before hunting down the last of the mammoths and eating them.

That was the sort of image Luna resembled.

“I’ve got this,” James said confidently, giving Luna an affectionate pat on a head that was now large enough to bite him in half if he was not stronger than her. “Thank you, though. I need you protecting the people here.”

The Wolf Queen wagged her tail so hard that it whipped the floorboards, just the same as she would when James would pet her before she became a powerful and intimidating Subordinate Ruler, and James couldn’t help smiling.

“Any other news, sir?” asked Leo. “From the Army or the Expeditionary Force?”

“The Army is still marching East,” James said. “The Expeditionary Force stopped their march to Orlando. They stumbled on the Dungeon where Moishe was held, and my monsters destroyed it.”

“Destroyed it entirely?” muttered Angelina Zuccarini in a tone of disbelief.

James nodded, keeping his facial expression neutral.

The reaction around the table was mixed. A few people looked around uncertainly as if trying to get some idea of what that meant from the others. Most appeared to be impressed. Several simply accepted it and waited for the topic of conversation to change.

“Better not tell Carol you’re going around destroying Dungeons,” said Mina playfully. “You might scare her.”

There was quiet laughter from around the room, including from James.

“This evens out the score with the Chris—er, monotheists, correct?” asked Harry Luntz. “We don’t need to do anything more in their direction?”

“That’s right,” James said evenly. “Not unless they do something to us.”

It evens things out from my side at least, he thought. I will let them be the ones to make the next move, if there is to be further conflict in the future.

“Everyone there is all right?” asked Magnar of the Mole People in his surprisingly soft, gentle voice. The only nonhuman there showed more compassion than James himself had initially felt upon the fall of the Dungeon. To James, the Dungeon casualties were tragic on some level, but fundamentally an administrative problem that he immediately wanted to foist on someone else.

“Well, the Expeditionary Force has been dealing with the refugees from the Dungeon,” James said. “There were hundreds of them, some suffering from scorpion venom or sunstroke or severe burns. So the journey has been delayed a bit, helping them recover. There were limited numbers of Healers in the group, but as I understand it, everyone is pitching in, and they should be ready to march again soon. When that happens, the bulk of the Expeditionary Force will help guide the refugees back here, to safety. A small squad, hand-picked by Alan, will continue on to Orlando to find out what’s become of the city in the last month. They can already see bits of the skyline from where they’re camped out, so it would be a shame to just turn back without seeing the main destination they left for. Once this small squad scopes out the city, they’ll catch up with the slower moving main body of the Force.”

“Wait, why doesn’t the squad just go to the city while the Force is there camped out, waiting for people to recover?” asked Griselda Diaz.

“Our best Healer is also leading the squad that goes into the city,” James said. Alan had been insistent about this.

The Council meeting moved on to discussing more mundane matters, including how best to accommodate the recent arrival of a large group of tortoises and other creatures from an outlying area of Fisher Kingdom territory. Since they had come per James’s instructions, he already had a semi-formed plan for how to accommodate them.

Mainly, he let others talk and simply focused on feeling out the room, though. James sensed that although there were still some worries about the Panther Army, the Council mostly trusted him to deal with it. That was not quite enough faith, in his mind, but he would build on that foundation.

At the meeting’s end, James told them that he would announce a simplified version of what was happening to the citizenry, the morning before the battle.

The next two days passed quickly, as James and the others made last minute preparations leading up to the day when James expected that battle would be joined. The wall around the core region of the Fisher Kingdom was completed, and the Mages working construction had started adding in additional defensive features: towers, crenels, mounted weapons, and whatever they could think of.

James was confident none of the fortifications would be put to use and that he would resolve all the fighting alone. He had even invited the Council to follow him and look on, though not all had agreed to take him up on the offer.

On the final peaceful morning, James ate a last breakfast with his family, took a good look at his wife, Yulia, and all the children, and embraced them in a final bear hug. Even if he felt supremely confident, he was risking his life. He would never want to leave them without letting them have the chance to feel his warmth one last time.

When he judged that virtually everyone in the Kingdom would be awake, and that many might be taking their lunch break—when the sun was highest in the sky—James donned the Royal Aeromaster Cloak, and he flew over the Fisher Kingdom until he floated in midair in the center of the inhabited area, high above anyone else who might pass by.

Even before he spoke, a few curious passers by turned to look up at him. To James’s pleasure, he saw looks, not just of curiosity and recognition, but of genuine relief and joy, as they took in the sight of their King.

Without further delay, he began to speak, broadcasting his words throughout the territory of the Fisher Kingdom.

[Hello, to all my dear citizens. It’s been a while. I know many of you have been worried about my health recently. Have no fear, for I have fully recovered in the aftermath of the recent attack. You can look up at the sky anytime while I am speaking, and you will see me standing proudly there, as strong as ever—no, perhaps the strongest I have ever been.]

Below, more onlookers began to gather, and windows opened, as the citizens of the Fisher Kingdom looked up at the face of their Ruler for the first time in weeks.

[I have some good news to share. Our army continues to march successfully. They have nearly reached the East Coast of Florida. Soon, we will extend our Dominion to the extremes of East and West and restore order to the entirety of what was once Central Florida. While the Army marches East, the Fisher Expeditionary Force has moved West. Since it has a non-violent, reconnaissance mission, the members of the group have been exploring and mapping the path from here to Orlando, and they have also been making friends. As a result of both the Army’s and the Expeditionary Force’s efforts, we have some new arrivals in the Fisher Kingdom. You may have seen some of them. Mainly humans coming from the East, while a parade of new monster comrades have joined us from the West. Please be kind to all of the new arrivals. If you have any concerns about the tortoises or any of the newcomers, Jeremiah Rotter will be available to field complaints.]

Rotter was perhaps the most useful man in the Kingdom when it came to one of James’s critical concerns: avoiding having to deal with too many boring matters himself.

[In slightly less positive news, we have been targeted by the leader of a mixed group of monsters and forcibly conscripted humans. It’s called the Panther Army. I am not concerned. We have a strong plan in place to deal with them. First, I have to thank my friend and constant companion, the spider named Hester, for her assistance in infiltrating their dreams and sabotaging the Panther Army on a deep level. With her efforts, I was able to drastically reduce the odds that any citizen of the Fisher Kingdom dies in the fight to come. Thanks to my and Hester’s efforts, the enemy are lost, confused, afraid, and vulnerable before they’ve even set foot on the battlefield. Rather than a war for our survival, I anticipate that this will simply be a hunting expedition for me.]

There were some cheers from below at those words of bravado, and James took that moment as an opportunity to pause and do something else. He would resume his speech in a moment.

First, James reached out, pointing an index finger at Hester, where she sat on Mina’s shoulder, waiting for the speech to be over. He had not warned the spider that she would be mentioned in the speech, because it was meant to be a surprise. He knew that, on some level, she wanted to be a bigger part of his legend. And this was the greatest gift he could give her.

Precision Gravity Control!

Hester’s body was suddenly pulled toward James, up in the sky.

The spider muffled a quiet cry as she floated rapidly away from Earth, up to the Fisher King. She finally slowed and then stopped a foot below him.

[Please give Hester a round of applause, everyone. This little spider has a big heart, and she has made herself indispensable!]

The gathered crowd dutifully clapped, though James felt the skepticism in the gesture. How could this little spider make such a big difference?

But that was not today’s question for him to answer. All that mattered for now was that they understood that she was important.

James continued speaking, gathering power from within himself and pointing a palm at Hester as he did so.

[As the Fisher King’s power insidiously takes hold of his enemies’ hearts, so shall you be the instrument of that shadowy grip. As the terror of a dream endures beyond the waking moment, so shall your power and image remain a fixture of the world of dreams.]

As he finished speaking the blessing, James felt the usual sudden, temporary loss of strength, and he saw Hester begin wiggling all her limbs in excitement—to no effect, since she was floating in midair, purely under James’s power.

“Sir, I—I have a Race Evolution available!” Hester exclaimed quietly. “Thanks to your blessing. And, I think, thanks to your public acknowledgement of me, too, if I had to guess.”

“That’s wonderful,” James replied, speaking off the public record, his tone too subdued for most of the people below to pick it up. “I’m very happy for you. Make the best use of it that you can. For yourself.”

I hope it helps you live longer, Hester, he thought. That had been his main, but quiet and unspoken, goal in training Hester to Dreamwalk and involving her in his efforts to undermine the power of the Panther Army.

[While I am gone, we have another key player prepared to step up and defend the Fisher Kingdom alongside Chief of Police DaSilva and the other worthy members of the Council: Luna, newly promoted Wolf Queen. After fighting alongside our army in enemy territories again and again, Luna successfully slew a Ruler in single combat and thus attained the qualifications to become a Ruler herself. Despite that, she decided to remain loyal to the Fisher Kingdom, and she will defend you as my Subordinate Ruler. She is the equal or better of the average Ruler out there, and any who try to mess with this Kingdom while either she or I are present will regret it.]

Luna stepped forward—she was beside Mina—and let loose a single howl from all three heads in unison, then simply stood there, looking menacing.

There were whoops and shouts of glee at sight of her. Post-Evolution, Luna was so much larger and tougher looking than before that James could easily understand their excitement. She gave off the impression of being the most intimidating guard wolf one could ask for. It was not an inaccurate impression, either.

[All I ask of my loyal citizens for now is that you continue your productive efforts to rebuild civilization here, and wish me luck in my panther-hunting expedition!]

James managed to sound much more excited than he felt as he finished his words, and the crowd below gave him respectable applause. He could tell they still did not fully understand what was going on, and that was just fine with him. He had given them all the information that he wanted them to have.

With the speech done, James took Mina, floated up into the sky, and headed West. He was ready to meet the Pantherfolk.

With Doppelganger able to give him real time updates on their location, James knew exactly when he would be able to meet the Army and give them a greeting they would never forget. All of the hours until then would be filled with his final preparations.