The Final Storm (Part 3)

Lauri butts heads with the Commander-in-Chief

“Yes, I understand that I am not in control of your forces, as I have said many times before,” Lauri stated as calmly as she could. It was taking everything in her not to strangle the Commander-in-Chief’s hairy neck. “But I’m just trying to tell you that in order for our forces to work together we need communication. If you would have perhaps told me beforehand I could have had Thistle scope it out for you, give you a bird’s eye view of the situation. Or I could have told you this was an errikim idea!”

            The stone-faced Commander-in-Chief stood up from his chair, using his height as a primitive way to assert dominance. Lauri didn’t back down from the stare, her aqua eyes not leaving his for a moment. His thick brown beard rippled as he spoke. “If you haven’t noticed, not everyone speaks lizard tongue, least of all me. And a dragon flying around would do nothing for me. I have men who could do just as much as they could.”

            Vali growled deep in her throat, “You have no clue what a dragon can do, mortal. Your stuffy little brain is too narrow to even imagine how much dragons have built Baroke, defended it, nurtured it. You humans are short and short-lived. They get cut down like pawns on the battle-line. But I have lived through battles decades before your time, fought more than your nightmares can conjure. It is not wise to underestimate a dragon, Ripley.”

            Vali was the only one who the Army commander allowed to call by his real name. The whole meeting he had been avoiding her icy stare, vainly trying to pretend she wasn’t there. Even as she spoke, he did not make eye contact, for fear the rumors of dragon hypnotism were true. “Okay, so dragons may be worth many men, but what forces do you have? A small white one, the size of a horse. Then the green one, about the size of a loaded hay wagon. He impresses me, but just you three? Where is the secret weapon you have been promising us for months? If I remember correctly, you said that he would have the destruction power to take out Vulnaire in a one-man show. Where is it, again?” He saw some emotion flash in Lauri’s eyes and leaned in like a vulture over a dead cow. “Oh, right. You lost it. And now we’re head over heels in a war that will surely be the death of us!” He slammed his fist on the table. “Have you no love for our country, our people that you swore to protect? Would you so carelessly throw their lives away because of an old grudge and a new toy?”

            “I could say the same to you,” Lauri snapped back, her voice as cold as the Grundian sea. “What were you doing, sending over a hundred men to ‘intercept’ the Vulnairians as they gather their troops? Not only is that low, they are sure to be crushed! Do you even have any information on how many men the Vulnarian’s have assembled? Or were you leading them blindly to their deaths?”

            The Army General’s bushy eyebrow’s shaded his eyes as he glared intensely at his fellow officer. “I have spies amongst the enemy. They have given me enough information.”

            Lauri bit her lip to stop herself from screaming obscenities at him. “You…. You brickheaded man!” she yelled, “Have I not told you several time the possibility of Felinus in the army? Not only is it a possibility, it is a fact! General, fifty of your men wouldn’t last against a simple team of the creatures!”

            “My spy has not found any strange creatures in the midst of the recruits,” The general said, as if talking to a three-year old.

            Lauri clenched her fists until her knuckles were white. “Didn’t I tell you that these creatures have the capability to transform into the likeness of a man? They could be lurking next to your spies and they wouldn’t even know! I swear, I told you this, didn’t I? I made this clear at numerous meetings!”