The Dragon Tamers

The Dragon Tamers [22]

I reached The Great Mother Tree without a problem. Citizens waved and greeted me but none slowed me down on my important task. The stairs did slow me down though. I grunted and groaned as I reached the final few steps of the spiral staircase. I had changed into a red silk corseted gown with a long flowing train, it swept over the stairs behind me so elegantly it looked like I was floating. I don't know who thought stairs would be a good idea, but they should be fired. The council members rose and bowed as I entered the chambers. As per tradition, two guards stood by the door inside and out maintaining the sanctity of our chamber.

"Gentlemen, as per my messages, we have the support of the Orcs and the Shapeshifters. At best we have a combined force of roughly seventy thousand soldiers not including the sheer force of dragons and wolves."

"M'lady, this is not enough to take down an army of one hundred and fifty thousand uck driven dwarves and men." A brash council member stated the obvious. I almost launched myself over the table to punch him in his stupid face.

"I am well aware of that council member." The rage was evident on my face. He slunk back into his chair and didn't say a word for the rest of the meeting. "What we have now is much better odds than what we had."

"My Queen, there have been developments. The Humans have been spotted lurking near our border, intimidating citizens that live and work near our edges. We unanimously voted to send dragon tamers out there to scare them away and it seems to have worked. The Humans also returned once during your time away, they gave us a chance to surrender, but again we unanimously voted that we would not, as per your orders. Their threat is ever looming though, we fear for the next attack, how will we defend ourselves against more stealthy attacks?" A frail councils members croaky voice struggled over each word.

I nodded in acknowledgement. I was pleasantly surprised by the backbone the council suddenly grew, but hot damn they always had to end good news with something negative. Thank you utterly useless council member, I am well aware of how cunning the Humans can be and I'm also well aware of their trickery and mastery in stealth. I mentally rolled my eyes at him.

There was a map etched into the table we sat around, it had our current borders and no mans lands.  I waved my hand over the table and muttered a small incantation. Two tiny armies materialised on the table. One Purple, the other red. The red army,the human army, was a lot larger and the comparison became more obvious as the two lined up opposite each other.

"Lets factor in the dragons, we'll have a more accurate number tonight." I waved my hand again but only over the purple army this time. Dragons materialised, soaring above the tiny battlefield with tiny dragonriders upon them. "It doesn't look overly bleak." The optimist in me tried her best to crack a smile.

"Let us not forget the Uck." The nasally voice of another council member shattered any scrap of confidence I had left. He was right, they all were right, we can't do this, we're just delaying the inevitable. Oh Goddess, what will happen to my people?

A fire ignited somewhere deep in my soul, refusing to accept damnation. The fire spread rapidly through my whole body, it warmed my chest and tingled my fingers, it tickling my neck as it spread to my head making me dizzy with rage. My body shook uncontrollably as I fought back the urge to scream at these fools. I can't give up on my people, our way of life, and most importantly our home. They're relying on me, they're all looking at me, they're not looking at these decrepit men who have no idea of how to stand up for what they believe in, if they believe in anything at all. They always take the easiest path of least resistance, and they've resigned themselves to defeat

I slammed my hands on the table and stared down every council member sitting around it. Utterly shocked, no one said a word, they even flinched away from my sudden outburst.