The Legend of Lemur (Book 3) - Rise of The Desert Queen

Chapter 12: Course of Action

"Took them!?" Lemur exclaimed.

"Maybe we should discuss this somewhere more private," Lillian replied, "but first, let me heal your-"

"I don't deserve your grace," Cedric interrupted, "Please, my Queen, tend to Polar first."

And thus, Queen Lillian Galaxy embraced her scepter tightly, channeled Achelois' soul, and began healing Polar with her divine light.

"There, all healed," Lillian stated affirmatively.

"Thanks... Queen Galaxy," Polar said softly.

"No problem," Lillian replied, "You should take it easy though, just to be sure. Now Cedric, you know I can heal you too, no problem."

Lillian, due to being in her Goddess form, could hear the buzzing in Cedric's mind, and added, "I understand if you feel undeserving, but I want to help you."

"My choice could waver later," Cedric stated, "But for now, it's still no."

"Alright," Lillian replied, "Juniper, do you have a place we could discuss in private?"

Juniper sighed heavily and answered, "Beyond the gravesites is a room we could discuss privately in."

"The... gravesites?" Cedric said melancholically.

Lillian, Juniper, Lemur and Cedric had entered the cave where the funeral had been held mere minutes ago to reach the backroom Juniper had talked about. Cedric, upon noticing fresh burial sites, couldn't help but to cry silently, knowing that even more comrades had died to this fiend. They had finally entered the room and inside grew bioluminescent lichen, and a beautiful bonsai tree.

"What is this room?" Lemur asked kindly.

"This room... is where I pay homage to my husband." Juniper clarified.

"Oh, my bad," Lemur said.

"Alright Cedric," Lillian started, "If you would please tell us what you mean."

Cedric wiped tears from his eyes and replied, "It was my fault. I got ahead of myself in the scouting mission."

"What!?" Juniper exclaimed.

"Juniper, please," Lillian said calmly, "He's been through a lot. I can tell."

"She has every right to express her anger," Cedric reassured, "I entered the Desert Kingdom walls, which was against General Jackson's orders... and now he's."

"So wait," Lemur acknowledged, "You discovered the kingdom's location?"

"I almost wish we didn't," Cedric said, "The kingdom is much larger than the Lapis Kingdom even, but I went inside despite that. I wanted to get as much intel as I could so we could end this."

"It's alright Cedric," Lillian stated.

"I'm sorry, my Queen," Cedric answered, "It's not. My foolish acts caused these consequences. Queen Nile said so herself."

"QUEEN NILE?!" Juniper exclaimed, "YOU'VE MET HER FACE TO FACE!?"

"PRINCESS JUNIPER, PLEASE!" Lemur yelled.

"Guys, calm down," Lillian said calmly, "Cedric, could you share with us what you have found."

"Alright," Cedric wept, "She had the entire kingdom under her control. At first, when we entered, everyone appeared to be any innocent civilian you'd see on the streets... but once controlled, the entire kingdom was one whole army, that worked in such wicked harmony. When we were confronted by her, herself, she had taken Jackson. Once they made physical contact, he was hers. I tried to escape with the others, but she could hear our thoughts. She sent the entire kingdom after us. Jayden had gotten separated from us as we retreated. We tried to save her, but they were so strong. Polar got beaten up badly, and I-"

Cedric began to cry again, and continued, "I had to leave her behind. I didn't want to, but... but."

"You did glorious deeds Cedric," Lemur assured, "You made the right call in bailing, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten this information, and you wouldn't have made it here to tell us."

"It should've been me," Cedric sulked, "Jayden, and General Jackson didn't deserve this... they didn't deserve the punishment for my selfish acts."

"We'll save them," Lillian affirmed, "While you may have had poor judgment upon entering the enemy kingdom, you're judgment and decisions in the end were entirely just, and the result was potentially the most optimistic one you'd get in a situation like that. Please do understand that Cedric."

"I guess you're somewhat right," Cedric said between sobs, "But my Queen, I do apologize when I say, there is nothing you can say that will change the inevitable. I messed up, and now I have to deal with the consequences. If I can, no, my Queen, please allow me to prove myself."

"Prove yourself?" Lillian said, being partially confused.

"Please grant me the chance to make it up to you all... to them. I know my actions don't deserve such trust, but I... I want to make this right."

Juniper sighed and shook her head before replying, "I may not be your ruler, and my trust does waver with you, I know deep down we will need everyone to pitch in... that includes you."

"Cedric," Lillian added, "I do grant you this chance. Only one chance. If you fail, I will have no other choice but to be slightly upset with you."

Lillian smiled at Cedric, and Cedric couldn't help but to smile faintly back... knowing that she made that ultimatum in response to his thoughts.

"Thanks, my Queen," Cedric said thankfully.

"Alright," Juniper said, "So then the plan of action?"

"Based on Cedric's findings, Queen Nile can hear anyone's thoughts and can control minds," Lillian stated.

"But if that's the case, then she should be able to hear our thoughts now... even control our minds," Lemur said dreadfully.

"No," Cedric said suddenly, "her ability to hear thoughts is limited to range. She said she could hear us the moment we stepped foot on a sand dune outside of the walls. I'd say the clear range is roughly a couple hundred kilometres. As for mind control, she could only control Jackson after she touched him, so I think she can only do it when she makes contact with the victim."

"Excellent deductions," Lillian said.

"Well if that's the case," Juniper replied, "Then ranged attack seems to be the ideal plan."

"What about the controlled allies?" Cedric asked.

"There is a chance that the mind link can be broken if the Queen is killed," Lemur said gruesomely, "Think of it. She can't tell her puppets to do her dirty work if she's not alive to do so."

"So then what you're saying," Juniper checked, "We will most likely need to fight the enemy, but also our controlled allies. We will need to refrain from killing our allies, but we need to somehow land the kill shot to Queen Nile to rescue them? Forgive me for saying how IMPOSSIBLE this sounds."

"She just needs to be lured out in the open," Lemur assured, "Once that happens, anyone with range could land the shot... though an aerial strike could be proven more useful, as we haven't seen any flying enemy yet."

"So then that's the plan," Lillian said, "We need to lure out and kill the Desert Queen."