Books of Flame

Tranquill

"What?" Alivia asked in surprise. The administrator pulled his sword out of the stone floor. It felt like every time the administrator did anything, it had to be done by bragging about his abilities. The council was frozen in shock. 

"I'm sorry," the administrator said in a calm voice "I quite overreacted, I quite apologize". He then exited through the door quietly. "That was a lot," one of them said. "Alivia are you alright after that?" 

Alivia nodded. She couldn't speak after all of well, that. "I'm... okay, I think. But the administrator is not okay... I should do something about it but I just don't know what." Alivia said, stuttering a bit. 

"I'm Krager Delreren, I haven't introduced myself properly but we have met before" Krager introduced himself to Alivia. Alivia looked at him to see he was the same man who she had won against in the duel. 

"Nice to meet you, Kraiger. I hope your ideas have changed." Alivia said to Kraiger.  

"Yes, they quite have. I was arrogant and stubborn, like the rest of us. I hope you didn't take that personally. I apologize for all of it. I should've been welcoming a new member yet I took it as something not good. I doubted the administrator, forgetting all of what he did for everyone" Kraiger apologized to Alivia. 

"Well, it is nice to see that your ideas have changed," Alivia said with a slight smile that almost seemed fake "I'm worried for the administrator, He seemed stressed out and paranoid during the entire meeting" she worried. 

She quickly exited the room. She knew the war was going to happen so she should probably gear up. She didn't know when it would happen, but it was pretty clear it was going to happen soon. As a council member, she had a lot of access to all sorts of weapons. 

She decided on bringing one or two bows, two swords and a couple of daggers. She applied a number of effects by mixing the Diploticus Poiswrath with a few other ingredients to make several sorts of effects on weapons. She packed a bottle of water and a few "Elixirs" which were beverages used to strengthen the user and increase their energy. 

Around two weeks later, a letter was delivered to Alivia. It was guaranteed that it was from the administrator. She opened the letter to find everything she expected; a date, time, location and information about the war. The war was in a week, she got nervous as the day got closer. She packed everything into a bag, wore light durable armour and got on her horse. She approached the location. It was a desert. She stopped her horse when she saw the administrator in the distance. He was standing in the desert, arms crossed with the same firm grip he always had. 

"Greetings Alivia" The administrator greeted Alivia.
"Hey, When is the battle beginning?" Alivia asked, unloading her backpack. 

"We can't just charge in, there are innocent people here. We must slowly stake out the kingdom, and figure out its weaknesses. After such, slowly the army will one by one come here. After everyone finally comes here, we simply attack the castle." The administrator said, sounding a bit disappointed. 

"Oh," Alivia exclaimed. 

"Take off your armour and come with me, we need to stake out the entire kingdom." The administrator said as he went near the gate of the castle. 

Alivia did so and followed him. As they approached the gate, the guards stopped them. "Wait, who are you?  We do not allow just anybody here!"  one of them said.

"Oh, scrumptious! you must be mistaken! I am a regular traveller, I've travelled here quite a lot. I'm Pedro Santiago This is my wife, Valentia Santiago. We trade a lot in the bazaar." The administrator said in a different accent as he opened his bag to reveal a clutch of tomatoes. "I see, you seem to be one of the tomato traders, they don't come very often! Go on!" The guards happily let them through.