Chapter 178 (1/2)

Chapter 178

Chapter 178: Strategic Conduct

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The short walk to theroom was filled with an aard silence between me and the immaculately-dressed elven secretary

I wanted to stop bytake precedence My eyes drifted and I foundfor anyone familiar—mostly Tess It was probably because of that da each other, about to kiss

To my disappointment and worry, the secretary inforone back to their post in the Beast Glades

“When did they leave?” I asked

“They departed yesterday at sunrise, General Arthur,” she replied al in front of the closed uard on each side of the wooden door i open the entrance upon seeing the two of us approach

The two guards thuround in salute “General”

I walked into the circular rooaze of the Council and the other lances

It didn’t take long for the athered— ambassador for the asuras However, with Rahdeas and Olfred no longer in the Council, the once cra room seemed eerily spacious

We had barely taken our seats when King Glayder unleashed his anger Sla his fists on the circular table ere currently sitting around, the burly king roared, “What was the point of Lord Aldir taking control of the artifact if he was just going to run off to who knohere!”

“This isn’t the tie,” Alduin snapped in irritation

“He’s right,” Priscilla Glayder agreed “There are s we need to cover if we are to recover ourselves from this setback”

Blaine looked at his wife incredulously but the queen ignored her husband’s gaze

Merial, who sat beside her husband, finally peeled her eyes off of the stack of parchathered and read through several accounts of what transpired, one of which was from Aya, but I think it’s best we start with Arthur’s account of what happened”

“I agree,” Virion spoke, turning his tired gaze toas I had known him, but these past few years had really taken a toll on his body and psyche This was evidenced by the deep dark bags under his eyes and the way his face had contorted into a perpetual frown

Blaine’s deep red hair was practically ablaze as he leaned back in his seat, sier to be fed the fuel to unleash his anger oncemy arms on the table Normally, the lances stood behind their respective artifact holder but with the extra seats available and the fact that even standing took a toll on ued body, I was allowed to sit down

Recapping the events starting from the day Olfred, Mica and I set off on ourThe members of the Council stopped me every once in a while if they needed clarification or further details but otherwise letthe detail that I wasn’t the one that had defeated Uto, but rather his ally, I told the Council everything I knew By the end of htfully

“How is it that Arthur, who’s not yet reached the white-core stage, was able to defeat not one but two retainers while a lance had been killed so helplessly?” Blaine asked, suspicion laced in his voice

Virion’s eyes narrowed “What are you trying to gain by being so skeptical of General Arthur?”

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“Perhaps knowing how he had come out victorious on both accounts can better prepare the rest of the lances in future battles against the retainers and scythes,” Blaine said with a shrug

Priscilla put a placating hand on her husband’s ar Blaine has a point,” I cut in “The first retainer I had fought against wasn’t as strong as Uto—the retainer thathave imprisoned Even then, I caed by an asura”

Everyone besides Virion showed solove on my left hand and pulled down on my tunic to expose my neck, but none of them said a word

I continued “Uto, on the other hand, had the ability to kill ht but that wasn’t what he was after That particular Vritra’s only ood battle When I didn’t seeuard to try and inciteto kill those close to me Sylvie and I were able to capitalize on his carelessness and destroy his horns”

“How did you know that destroying a Vritra’s horns would have any effect on their ability to fight?” a clear voice rang from behind Priscilla The one to ask the question was Varay Aurae

I shook my head “I didn’t I doubt even the asuras knew, otherwise they would’ve told us But I reotten when she chipped off a fraght-out, but bringing up Alea seemed to convince even Blaine and Bairon, who had both been studyingeveryone, especially Virion But I didn’t trust anyone at this point and I knew that telling Virion noithout any idea of what the Seris’ goal ould only burden the commander nificantly after we destroyed his horns”—I emphasized ‘destroyed’—“and ere soon able to barely overpower hi I re me up”

“Thank you for the explanation,” Virion said after a brief pause “Queen Priscilla, would you like to go over the next matter of business?”

With a nod, the queen spoke “The ht now is the alliance with the dwarves With Rahdeas i, we have no one to effectively lead the dwarves Furthermore, after General Arthur’s reconnaissance in Darv, it’s obvious that either a faction, orthe Alacryan army”

“What if we send some military forces froested

King Blaine, who had since calmed down, shook his head “Military presence frohten the dwarves et even more out of hand if we force our way into this”

An idea flickered inthe rest of the lances relatively silent, I wasn’t sure whether I had the authority to weigh in It ht’ve just been that the three lances present weren’t knowledgeable in wide-scale iven their focus on coardless, I started off with a question “Was Rahdeas’ captureBlaine raised a brow “No, it wasn’t Part of thiswas to discuss how to handle the traitor and the fact that we’re down one lance and can’t replace hione on a little vacation”

“Then why not use that to our advantage?” I suggested, hoping someone would catch on

Thankfully, Virion did His face lit up the way it had when Tessia and I were just children “Brilliant! Arthur, reainst you”

Virion didn’t have to explain ht on and even offered insights on how to actualizeof an idea The people here were smart after all

Basically, the Council would put on the guise that Rahdeas was never captured They would have to make Rahdeas spill how he co so, they’d be able to send out orders as if it were from Rahdeas hi radical like have theainst the Alacryans, since Rahdeas had been so ada the as him,” Merial said excitedly

The athter as hope slowly bubbled up The next list on the agenda was discussing how to proceed with General Mica’s questioning and Uto’s interrogation

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“General Mica’s questioning will be held bythe Vritra we have iation should take precedence at this point to secure the dwarves’ allegiance Anyone think otherwise?”

The rest of us shook our heads We all agreed; getting control of Darv was crucial in winning this war

“Good,” Virion continued “Then we’ll discuss the details regarding General Mica’s and the retainer’s questioning in our nextseveral enda, most of which pertained to the condition of a particular city

Merial, who had been organizing the stacks of parchment around her area, pulled out the next subject to discuss Her glance flickered tothe piece of paper to her father-in-law

Virion’s lips were in a gri the report but by the ti, there was a look of relief on his face “The next order of business is the supply road There was another attack on one of our carriages transporting supplies to the Wall Thankfully, the carriage had been close enough to Blackbend City that reinforceet there in time”

“How many deaths?” Priscilla asked