Broadswords - 36. The Preparation

Broadswords

Chapter Thirty-Six
The Preparation

Elan lay in his bed, listening to the description Daegon and Kep gave of the man they had caught at the cave. If he didn't know any better, he would swear it was the same peddler that had sold him the Sanguistis. But it didn't really matter. What mattered is that his theory was right: there was someone keeping the dragons fed.

Time was becoming short, too. They only had about a week and a half left before they would likely emerge. Then again, that was based on when Elan had thought them to be a known breed. If they really were some magically engineered type of dragon, any knowledge he had might be moot. They could be capable of flight already, just waiting to burst forth from the cave.

While Daegon and Kep had been staking out, Elan had the other slayers of the kingdom called to the castle. They had to formulate an attack plan.

Tayrick and Von, the second and third ranked, respectively, were the most apprehensive. They were seasoned slayers like himself, and they both seemed to be a little uncertain of the information he was telling them. Whereas the king didn't know a whole lot about dragons and hadn't questioned him, just told him to deal with it, the two slayers had experienced pretty much everything there was when it came to dragonlore. Elan had to admit, had he not encountered it firsthand, he would very likely be in the same boat as them.

However, they were also very dedicated and steadfast to their kingdom. When Elan assured them it was legitimate, they ultimately took his word and agreed to accompany them when the time came. With them secured, plus Elan and Daegon, they had four of the nine slayers on board.

The fifth-ranked slayer, Feodoro, was more unbelieving than the first two, but was also very competitive. He'd been hungry for growth ever since Daegon had passed him in the rankings. Even though he didn't necessarily believe what Elan was telling him, or at least felt it was exaggerated, he was easier to convince to join rank. That was five.

Finally, the last four slayers. Given their ranking, they weren't hard at all to get involved. Considering how much further behind the rest of the slayers they were, they likely knew that if they didn't participate it could only demote them down the list. The problem with them was that they were all rather useless. Hell, Elan didn't even know any of their names. But what they needed was numbers, and since he had to keep it in-house, any extra bodies could only help.

By the time Daegon and Kep had returned, he'd been successful in ensuring that the entire collection of Jhirdyrian dragonslayers was going to assist at the caves. Nine slayers. Twelve dragons. New species. Typically, Elan was a very confident man, but this situation was causing him to be uncharacteristically nerve-racked.

With the theory of the fed dragons being confirmed, though, Elan had to force himself away from the anxiety-ridden thoughts. A slayer never did well having doubts before facing off against the beasts. It especially wouldn't help in this specific scenario. And being the unofficial leader of what was about to go down, he couldn't let anyone see his doubts.

"Did you find out anything else?" he asked.

Daegon shook his head. "No. He appeared, went into the cave for maybe fifteen, twenty minutes. Came back out, looked around. Then vanished again."

Elan didn't respond to the revelation. He sat silent, losing himself in his thoughts again. It was great to have some confirmation on the matter, but it didn't really push them any further in any sort of direction. So the dragons were being fed from an outside source. But it got them no closer to an answer of how they were going to pull everything off.

It seemed Daegon and Kep were in the same mindset, because the two other men settled into chairs and the three of them remained unspeaking. It wasn't until a knock at the door quite some time later that they even stirred.

One of the castle guards poked his head in the room. "Sorry to disturb you sir, but Lana has arrived. Shall I send her in, or should I ask her to return at a later time?" The guard eyeballed Daegon and Kep, making it evident he was asking out of courtesy due to Elan's current company.

"No, I've been expecting her. Please, let her in," he said. Lana, his squire, had been with him since she was thirteen. She'd had a hunger in her eyes that he hadn't seen in any of his other candidates. He'd been twenty-two at the time she'd joined him, and had already gone through a handful of squires in the years prior. When he'd started, of course, he was bottom-ranked. But his drive had already existed. He pushed his squires hard, and most of them couldn't handle the pressure. He began moving up rather rapidly, but often without the same squire by his side. He couldn't honestly remember how many he'd gone through by the time he'd found Lana.

Several people had advised him against taking her on. "But she's female," a few of them had said.

His response was always the same. "And?"

The gender role had never mattered to him. She was twice as capable as any of the ones that had previously filled the position. While her slender frame and small stature had proven a hurdle in the beginning, he knew that with enough training she would be a force to be reckoned with. And he was right. Over time, she grew to impress even Elan. She was independent, which he appreciated, but she was also a devoted ally. He never once looked back on his decision.

As the guard opened the door further to allow her entrance, she strolled in casually. Her hair was tossed into a haphazard bun, the sandy-blond wisps mimicking a bird's nest about her face. But that was the only thing that appeared unpolished about her. Her body was toned and tight, a black suede ensemble adding to the appearance of how capable she was. Twin tri-forked daggers flanked her waist, a feature Elan knew was more about the image than anything else. He smiled at the vision of her. She was always a sight for sore eyes.

"Lana," he said, "thanks for coming. You may have met Daegon in passing before, and this is—"

"Kep," she said curtly. "We're acquainted."

Slightly taken unaware, Elan glanced at Kep. He could sense that he, too, wasn't expecting the statement. He watched as the innkeep's face changed from confusion, to piecing it together, to comprehension. The kid seemed to be connected to everyone.

"Alanna?" Kep asked, his jaw dropping quite noticeably.

Elan hadn't heard anyone refer to her by that name in eons, and his squire was quick to confirm. "I don't go by that name anymore. It was the old me, and I've changed exponentially since I was called that." She didn't seem especially surprised to see Kep, but that could have very well been the result of the thick skin she'd acquired over the years. Regardless, she seemed to find it fit to explain their connection. "We were friends in our youth. I've changed, as he undoubtedly has, and there will be plenty of time to touch upon that later. However, right now we need to worry about the cave."

With another quick glance at Kep, who now appeared more withdrawn than when he'd met Daegon, Elan was convinced that the man was at least not having a complete meltdown. Lana was right; they didn't have time for a reunion. They had to stay focused. And so he moved on.

"Gents, Lana here is just as integral to this as any one of us. She might be my squire, but I guarantee you she'd be the next in line for a slayer position of her own if Jhirdyr recognized the need for a tenth. Which, based on what we're facing, it just might."

And they talked. They threw out ideas, concepts, whatever came to their minds. At first it was just Elan, Daegon, and Lana. For a while, Kep didn't have anything to add. But after a bit, once the conversation began to flow, he also joined in.

The four of them said whatever popped into their heads, no matter how mundane it might seem. Somebody mentioned magic, which Elan reminded them that they had no idea how something like that would work. Considering they didn't know anything about the new species of dragon, it could cause any number of unexpected effects. Someone else suggested evacuating the kingdom, which Lana scoffed at. Elan even threw in the concept of causing a cave in, to which Kep pointed out that Elan himself had mentioned that wasn't a viable option weeks ago.

They weren't really getting anywhere, but Elan knew it was wise to keep the discussion alive. The best ideas often came out of conversations such as this one, with everyone mentioning anything and everything they could think of. Sometimes, a gem of an idea could come to light out of another thought.

He knew that he had the best core of the team with him to figure out what they should do. He trusted Lana more than anyone, and he still believed Daegon was one of the best slayers he'd ever encountered despite the fact that he was still listed near the middle of the rankings. And Kep was great for outside-the-box thinking. He had the least experience with this sort of thing, which helped in a way. He was able to throw out ideas that the other three would have never considered.

The only consensus they could come to, however, was that they'd have to do another stakeout at the cave when the time was near. Since they still didn't know exactly when the dragons would emerge, they agreed that they should send someone as soon as possible. While Elan has initially expected that they'd still have over a week left before they had to take action, there was still the slew of unknowns. Since he was still bedridden, they decided that Daegon and Lana would take first watch. At the first sign of activity, they'd alert the others.

Rounding everyone up was another matter. One of them coming back to the kingdom on horseback to get the rest of the slayers together would be time consuming, and they couldn't exactly bring a flight of messenger doves along for the ride to send to each of the others. Kep was the one to suggest that they brought one dove with them, and when they felt it was time to have everyone meet at the cave, they'd send it to Elan. At that point, Elan could utilize the castle's aviary to send out doves to the remaining slayers.

It wasn't much, but it was something. As far as actually combating the dragons, they'd have to resort to standard measures and hope it was enough. Broadswords, longswords, and whatever other preferred weaponry each of the slayers had would have to suffice.

They were sorting out all of the fine details when out of nowhere, a handful of guards ran past the door. It had remained open since Lana's arrival, and the clamor in the hall was prominent. Their footfalls echoed off the stone walls, their weapons clanging at their sides. Daegon stopped talking mid-sentence and the four of them looked toward the door, watching as the last of the guards passed by.

"What's going on?" Kep asked to no one in particular.

"Whatever it is, guards running through the castle can't be a good thing," Elan uttered. He didn't vocalize it, but he noticed that they weren't making their way toward the exit of the castle. They were heading toward the royal quarters. Whatever was happening was going on within the castle.