Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Valeria

 Val remembered the dragons that served her family fourteen years ago, though she was five years old when they were all killed. All of them had golden, shining scales that gleamed against the sunlight, and could breathe fire that was hot enough to melt armor, with jaws that could swallow tanks. Vhagar, Armagan, and Brightfyre were sixty feet long, with wingspans of twice that size. There was one of them that dwarfed them all, though. The biggest, and the most ancient one was Araxes, the Great Dragon of Sunlight. Araxes was twice the size of the other three golden dragons, and was the hardened survivor of countless battles. Gunnar Karvine himself was on his back when he struck down Kidar and Lazare Lysander, and was the mount for every Karvine King since the Dragon War. All four of the magnificent dragons were slain by Robar Busch at the end of his rebellion, and then half the army of the rightful King, Valeria's father, was smashed. There was hope that the dragons would eventually return, though. The four golden eggs that the Omura brothers gave her were giving off a powerful burning, radiant aura. All her life, she's heard that when the Great Dragons die, they don't stay dead, that they eventually reform again, after some time. Val thought it would have been centuries, but dragon eggs must have only taken little over a decade to hatch. Her unborn dragons weren't her biggest concern at the moment, though. She was in command of two armies that seemed to hate each other. As Valeria walked through her camp with Caira Vestarr, she could sense absolute hatred from the blue-armored mercenaries, as well as the golden-scaled Draconians. She eyed one mercenary throw a punch at a Draconian, but it seemed to barely even touch him. The Draconian then picked up the mercenary, who was half his size, by the throat, and throw him into a tent, collapsing it. It was clear that Val needed to get her army to trust each other if they were going to work together, and die together if they needed to.

"Where are Satoru and Michio?" she asked, to Caira.

"I believe they're gambling with Torinn, Your Grace," answered Caira. Val was somewhat confused by that. Torinn never seemed like the kind of person that would play games, especially not with strangers.

"How did they get him to agree to that?" asked Val.

"I've been wondering that myself," answered Caira, chuckling.

"At least they're getting along," admitted Valeria. The sun set by the time they found Torinn Bloodbane and the Omura brothers near the edge of the camp. The brothers were balancing steel blades with slight curves in their palms, while Torinn was balancing a whole glass greatsword in his scaled hand.

"How long have they been at this?" said Valeria.

"Since midday, Your Grace," answered Lady Caira. "At least."

"These mercenaries are stronger than they look," said Torinn. "I can see why they're the ones you wanted."

"Well, I'm flattered," thanked Satoru.

"The game's over," Val commanded. "I need to speak with all of you."

"Of course," said Torinn, and he stuck his glass blade into the ground, while the brothers put their katanas into long, curved sheathes.

"I have a feeling you've both noticed that your men aren't exactly getting along with mine," started Val.

"It was hard not to," agreed Michio. "I think one of the lady Draconians broke Jem's arm."

"He probably deserved it," said Satoru.

"Her Grace is right," blurted Torinn. "I've seen the way your comrades treat my soldiers, and I don't appreciate it."

"Well, no offense, Warchief, but the Draconians are doing the exact same thing with our friends."

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about," Val reminded. "Soon enough, they'll be fighting and dying alongside each other, and they need to understand that. I'm leading two different armies now, and they're at each other's throats. I can't have that, or else we'll get nowhere."

"Understood," agreed Michio. "What did you have in mind? How will we get our armies to work together?"

"Giving them a common enemy?" Caira suggested.

"Well, we've done that," said Torinn. "But they still hate each other." Caira, Torinn, and the brothers began to suggest different ideas, which no one else agreed with. No matter what they suggested, though, Valeria had the idea that they would only want to hear from the one that's been their leader her entire life, and the one that's paying them.

"I could talk to them personally," she said. "Make an announcement." All of them gave her looks on their faces that clearly said that it was a bad idea, but Valeria was the Queen they were fighting for. If they were going to hear anything, it would have to be from her. "I'm paying half of them, aren't I? Gather everyone on the edge of the camp, and try to keep them from killing each other."

"Yes, Your Grace," said Caira. It took a while, but Caira, Torinn, and the Omura brothers managed to gather the army in a space that faced the sunset, just outside of the huge camp they set up. There were nine hundred thousand soldiers in total waiting to hear what Valeria had to say, half of which were Draconian, and the other half which was mercenaries. Val was in the level of a watchtower just below the top, with her heart racing at the sight of the huge crowd that she was faced with.

"I can do this," she whispered to herself. Whatever she said, she had to be careful. She was speaking to the force that would give her the Dragon Throne. Val carefully thought about what she would say. It would have to be something that inspired them to put aside their differences and fight together. She gave it more thought as she climbed up to the top of the watchtower, where eighteen thousand eyes watched her, and she knew exactly what she would say.

"Everyone always says that Aetherian is united under the banner of a King, but nothing could be further from the truth," she began. "Aetherian was never united. All of the High Lords may have bent their knees to my ancestor, but uniting a country is different from conquering it. Aetherian fought under one banner in the final years of the Dragon War, but the banner didn't last long, but their unity won the war and saved Zenartha. Billions of lives were saved because six different Kings put aside their differences and realized a bigger threat to each other, that they would die if they didn't fight alongside each other. That's what we must do if we will win the war we're about to start and if we will crush every enemy that stands in our way. I don't expect every noble in Aetherian to swear themselves to me the minute we land in that country, but together, we can make them. Do this for me, and we will survive this war, and we will take what was stolen from my father!" The Draconians gaped their jaws and unleashed sky-shaking roars, while the Moonblade mercenaries threw their fists in the air.

I did it! Val thought to herself. At the base of the watchtower, Caira, Torinn, and the Omura brothers watched her, and they were all amazed by what she said.

"I don't think that could have gone any better," said Satoru. "She just united almost a million people."

"Kings are not the only one people unite under," added Torinn.

"If we're being honest, I'd rather follow a Queen into battle," said Caira. "She'll continue to inspire hope in the hearts of others, and maybe even spark rebellion in Aetherian."