Pre War Council

Chase stepped into another tent, which he had been doing a lot of lately.

Ricky was waiting silently, as he quietly sat on his bed for what could have been hours on hours of patience.

His face was somber, but his eyes told of a much worst affect that the war had tolled upon him.

Chase stood, leaning against one of the tents inner pillars.

"That armor suits you..."

Chase nodded.

"Any armor should if it can deflect a blade aimed at the heart..."

Ricky let out a laugh, but it was quite obviously a fake one, and the man was trying way too hard.

Chase sighed.

"Go home Ricky, I will tell them that you had died on the battlefield with honor if I live through this."

Ricky shook his head.

"I cannot do such a thing, how could I live with myself...?"

"How could I live with myself if the trauma that I am at fault for is what gets you killed?"

Ricky looked at the floor, his eyes dark and empty.

"I was supposed to be the shield of Task Force Unity..."

"And you served as a great friend, and someone to lean on in dire times. Destiny plays out much differently than we come to believe..."

Ricky looked up and into Chase's bright emerald eyes, that he had not realized gained twice as much life as before he hit that dark place.

Ricky squinted for a moment, and then shook his head.

"My dear friend, you shouldn't hide your lineage..."

Chase was caught so off guard, that he choked on nothing but air and saliva.

"How?"

"Those flames burn with a far greater intensity than the fire element that I know all too well..."

He paused.

"You are the only surviving heir of the continent that we live on, and only you can lift it from the hell that has corroded it..."

"I am no heir..."

Chase assured.

"Although I carry the blood of the Phoenix, the Aries clan has wiped my kind out and fully seized the throne, I doubt that I will be strong enough to kill a grand paladin, before the king can find a suitable heir."

"Then why hide it? They have came for you countless times haven't they?"

"A couple of times..."

He sighed.

"Then why hide it? Embrace the name that has been given to you..."

Chase thought in silence for a moment, and then shrugged.

"What will you do?"

Ricky shrugged as well.

"I always have wanted to rebuild the outskirts of Rider's Kingdom, and that hasn't changed no matter how many demons live within my mind..."

...

Chase stepped into once again another tent, but this one carried a great pressure.

He had been invited to the war council, since he was technically a squad captain.

Walking into a bitter argument between King Rider, and Headmaster Leander, he sat down at one of the farthest chairs from the council table.

Next to him was Justin of House Pice.

"You should come by this tavern in Rider's Kingdom sometime, great establishment, plus I think we could get alone quite well."

Chase raised an eyebrow and scooted his chair slightly away from the strange general.

"I am not old enough to drink."

Justin sighed.

"Old enough to fight wars for a crippled kingdom, but to young to have a good night."

Justin sighed again, and stretched his arms behind his head.

"What corruption has Vallmora ensued over these past years?!"

He complained, but then lifted a crimson dagger from his belt.

"And Tis was not to drink my underaged friend."

He grinned.

"I have heard plenty of stories of your strength, and I plan not to let it go to waste in the purification of the twelve kingdoms."

His grin grew wider, as his voice raised from its whisper.

"Come on dear friend, after this battle if we live to tell the tales, we should share a drink. Bring your team!"

With a wink, he turned back toward the council table and acted as if he cared for the Paladin's ongoing argument.

'Strange guy, right Spark-'

His thoughts were cut off by the emptiness of his soul.

'Oh right, I haven't gotten used to this silence yet...'

Sparky had indeed left a void within Chase's soul, and he doubted that it would ever get better.

At first he thought himself weak for thinking this, but then as time went on and old wounds began to heal, he realized that it was not weak. Sparky had saved him from death's door countless times, and had aided him in surviving the most treacherous place known to many as The Dark Forest.

"If we attack from both the West and the South we can take their army by surprise, why waste troops by going all out from the south?"

Leander growled at Rider like a wild dog.

"They are mere tools, and our tools span over three times as many as Frostfang, there is no point for complicated orders, when we have no reasons to lose."

Chase raised an eyebrow and failed at biting back his words.

"Can you kill the queen of Frostfang?"

Chase asked, with a disrespectful tone.

Justin snickered from under his breath, and several other generals grinned.

"I am a Paladin, boy? Do I look like I can't kill another of my kind?"

Chase grinned.

"You look like you have never led a group over four people before..."

Justin of House Pice couldn't help but laugh quite loudly, drawing even more chuckles from the other members of the war council.

"Then tell me brat, what would you do?"

Chase stood up, with a strange amount of his own energetic pressure, which caused both Leander and Rider to recoil back quite a surprising bit.

He pointed at the map, where a river ran through the East, the same river that the frost serpent had awakened from its hibernation only recently.

"We have three armies do we not?"

"I have three armies."

Rider scowled with the unnecessary correction.

"Then we come from the West and the East, as well as the South."

Everyone looked quite confused, so Chase began to explain his reasoning.

"The South leads, and the West follows, but the East halts. Frostfang's armies will be able to push the South and West armies back slightly."

"How do you know of this?"

Rider questioned, with a vein beginning to show on his forehead.

"Just a feeling, as well as the fact that I have seen the strongest of Frostfang's soldiers before and you have not..."

He pointed at a small break in-between two of the North Eastern mountains that covered Frostfang.

"They will push our main armies back, and the Eastern armies will begin to draw fire from their archers in the break between these two mountains."

Pointing at the path in-between the mountains, his finger dragged across it leading toward the Southern River.

"The pressure of being attacked from nearly all sides, will force one of two things. First, it will either force Frostfang to retreat slightly, which will be a great boon as it can lead to a ceasefire and both sides can regain stamina. The second possibility, and most likely based on the unusual amount of confidence from the Queen of Frostfang..."

He paused, taking a deep breath.

"Go on..."

Leander suggested, seeming quite interested in the boy's strategy.

"Frostfang will try to go in through the break of the mountains, and try to end the war with one swift move. You must keep the Eastern army small in size, so that you can cross the river swiftly."

Pointing at the sigil of a serpent resting on the map, he grinned.

"Their confidence will get them killed, as it nearly got me killed. As their army focuses on the Eastern army, they will retreat through the break of the mountains, and follow the army across the river, where they will be met by the Serpent of Frost..."

It was simple strategy, use your enemies egos against them... And the simple use of the terrain you have been blessed with.

Leander smirked.

"So the beast has awakened."

"Impossible!"

Rider yelled.

"It's not... When strong signatures of power cross the river, which mind you is the home of a powerful snake- It tends to want to protect its home..."

Rider sighed.

"Then we will go with this plan, but I have no generals who wield bows and don't have a strong energy source..."

"I do..."

Chase's grin grew wider.