War On Two Fronts

'According to the young Kaiser there,' Jahreszeiten began, 'Ten years ago, all the dragons suddenly sprouted wings and began to attack humans.'

'Dragons are the children of Vulkan, right?' Rory interjected. 'What are they like?'

'Hm. Picture a lizard as big as a house. They have hard scales, sharp claws and fangs, and they can breathe fire.'

The human paled. 'What kind of monster is that? You must be joking.' Unfortunately, it didn't end there. 'On top of all that, now they're hostile and can fly? A flying, fire-breathing lizard the size of a house?'

A moment of silence passed as both spirit and Druid let things sink in.

Well, not truly silence. Cecilia was still offering her expertise as a sorceress to help the lord come up with some way of clearing the skies.

'What follows is conjecture,' Jahre said, 'but I think it is worth sharing. I think what happened is that Luft, the wind spirit Vulkan adored either woke ten years ago or was never sealed in the first place.'

'Never sealed?' Rory asked, his eyes widening slightly.

'She is a wandering spirit. It would be difficult for a Druid to chase her down to seal her. It's possible they managed it, but it's also possible she was merely elsewhere in the world until this decade.'

Rory nodded slightly. 'Alright, continue.'

'After she awakened or returned here, she must have tried to check on Vulkan and noticed the clouds separating them. She then empowered and incited the dragons to exact her revenge on the people of Pompeii.'

'So the problem is that flying dragons are going to be hunting us from now on?' Rory clarified, biting his lower lip.

'That is half of the problem,' Jahre said.

'Half?!'

Here the spirit paused, and Rory saw his gaze drift toward Cecilia and Lord Octavian pointedly for a moment.

'The other half is that clearing the skies will allow Luft to see and reach the city herself.'

Rory felt his stomach churning, but he pushed back his anxiety for now. 'How much damage could a wind spirit do? She doesn't sound as bad as a fire spirit.'

'… You are wrong.'

The forest spirit protested with only three words, but the weight behind them was enough to convince his Druid completely.

'Then what can we do? If we clear the skies, the city will be destroyed by Luft, and if we don't, the same tragedy will be committed by Vulkan instead. All of this while flying dragons are gathering in force.'

Aurelius reached for his mouth, as if to hold back his next words. But he thought them anyway.

'This is impossible. We've stepped into the middle of a war.'

'… Perhaps there is—'

"You're quite expressive, Druid," Sir Kaiser said in a low voice, trying not to interrupt the highly technical debate between the lord and the sorceress. "Has the spirit told you anything regarding… the dragon issue?"

Rory fled his cheeks flush slightly. Even if his conversation with Jahre was entirely silent, his face had apparently made it obvious they were discussing something serious. And of course the dragon-slaying knight would be interested, since it directly involved him!

But he was embarrassed, worrying he'd made himself look foolish. He tried to compose himself quickly and at least reply like a calm and rational person.

"You've brought a serious concern to our attention. We're debating what to do about it," he whispered back.

"May I be included in that debate?"

Rory bit his lip and struggled to answer.

'As I was saying, there may be a slim possibility to avoid disaster, but it would require the young Kaiser's cooperation,' Jahre interjected.

That convinced Rory to nod.

"Alright." He raised his voice and interrupted the other two as well, "A moment, please, it has just come to our attention that the dragons gained the ability to fly ten years ago and became hostile to humans."

Lord Octavian turned to look at Rory with raised eyebrows. "Yes. Is that important right now?"

The Druid pinched the bridge of his nose, "How would something bad unnatural as that not be important? It's a sign that Luft, the wind spirit who Vulkan used to court, is awake and hostile. So if the artificial clouds clear, this city would lose its only shield against her."

Cecilia and the city lord froze, slowly realizing that their debate had lost all meaning.

The sorceress reached over and tugged Rory's sleeve. "Wait, then what's the plan?"

He did his best to look confident for her sake, while internally, he asked, 'What is the plan, Jahre?'

'Travel to Vulkan's core in the ancient caldera, sneak past the dragons, and wake him prematurely. From there, we must negotiate. You and the young Kaiser must be present for that part.'

'How are we going to negotiate? Everything you've told me so far sounds like Vulkan will unlease his fire the moment he notices the cloud cover!'

'That knight you fancy might get upset with you if I tell you his secrets. You should discuss it with him later.'

Rory resisted biting his lips and tried to sound assured. "These recent revelations tell me there's a chance to negotiate with Vulkan. I'll need you to guide me to the caldera, Sir Kaiser."

The knight pondered for a moment before nodding. "Very well."

"Hold on, what if the negotiations fail?!" Lord Octavian asked.

Rory looked at him with some measure of sympathy. "Then evacuate everyone to the forest. Jahreszeiten will protect you there. You know how long it will take us to travel to the caldera: this is the warning you were so desperate to have. Flee, wait for a few days, and then return. If the city is still intact, you'll know everything is resolved." He narrowed his eyes, "Just make sure the factories keep pushing out smoke, or you won't have a city to return to even if the negotiations succeed."

The Arc Knight folded his arms across his chest. "Or, you can gamble on our success, my lord. Just sit here and wait for this all to blow over."

"… We will evacuate," Octavian sighed. "As much faith as I have in your abilities, Sir Kaiser, I cannot risk the lives of everyone in this city. I'll have a few volunteers stay behind to keep the factories running and guarded."

Cecilia reached for Rory's hand, but stopped just shy of taking it. "I want to come with you," she said.

Aurelius looked at her and shook his head. "No," he said.

"Why?! I can help! My magic can at least buy time against a dragon!"

The Druid took in a deep breath and said, even though it pained him, "If you really think so, can I ask you to stay here and guard the factories?"