Fearless (A Mulan Retelling)

Chapter Forty Eight

Erodyne sat in his chair, as per usual. In truth, he was slightly bored. Now that he'd sent the rest of his army out... well, there was nothing really to do. Sure, there were a few soldiers still in the fortress, stationed for protective purposes... but that was it. That and the women that lived in the East Wing. They were the entertainment, Erodyne supposed, but he hardly cared to pay them a visit.

A few more monotonous minutes passed. And then a few more. In fact, a while passed before anyone entered the room at all. But... finally, the main doors were opened. Erodyne watched them, somewhat greedily, to see who was visiting. It was a Token soldier. The Tokenmaster could tell that by the way he was dressed.

"Ah, and who are you?" he asked the man that was quickly approaching him.

"I am called Grenwid, sir... I keep eye over one of our watchtowers. I'm the one that has been watching the battle. I've come to you in great haste," the soldier took a deep breath, "As soon as I was sure, I rode all the way here. Day and night. I have some news that you might want to hear."

"Very well," Erodyne answered, "How goes things at the Caverns? I assume my other soldiers have arrived by now."

"They have, sir," the soldier answered, "That is what I have come to speak with you about. The Caverns... it isn't going well for us. Not that I can tell. Even with the new soldiers, the Eldians are still seemingly... winning. Somehow. Not by much, and their victory is hardly guaranteed... but there's a chance of this ending badly for us. The problem is, the plan didn't work. They didn't lose morale at the sight of the rest of us... in fact, I'd say that their confidence is now boosted somehow. They lead a death charge on your new troops on sight. Either way, their troops are killing faster than they're dying, and while it's not a big problem yet... it will be soon."

"Excuse me?" Erodyne's eyes flashed with a nodule of anger, "What?"

"We are going to lose, if we don't change something," the soldier said, taking a step away from the Tokenmaster.

Erodyne's eyes went back to normal after a couple of seconds.

"Well," he said calmly, "That just won't do, now will it?"

The soldier was unnerved by the way Erodyne spoke. He'd heard of the Tokenmaster's relaxed temperament multiple times. But the way he spoke, it was almost too tranquil... too serene. If he had to describe it, he would say that listening to the Tokenmaster speak had the unrelenting, ominous feeling of the calm that happened right before a storm. Grenwid had never met Erodyne before, and even after this small amount of time, he wished that he would never have to speak to him again. At least... not face to face. There was just something spooky about a man who didn't anger.

Especially at news like this.

"I don't know, sir," Grenwid said, taking another step back.

"You keep backing away from me," Erodyne observed with a smile, "I noticed that. Are you afraid of me? I assure you... I'm not going to bite."

This sent shivers down Grenwid's spine.

Erodyne noticed this too, but this time, did not say anything. He did not mean to scare his men, but if they were to be afraid, then that did not concern him. He wasn't trying to frighten. The Tokenmaster stood from his spot and began to pace around the room.

Grenwid stayed quiet as Erodyne sorted through his thoughts.

"What can I do? What can I do?" he murmured under his breath.