DragonFire

Chapter 30 - Demetrius

Chapter 30

Demetrius sighed, and rubbed the spot between his eyes, painfully aware of the headache brewing. He just needed a break, he needed rest. Yet, there he was, sharing council with the other four major leaders of the Kingdom in the blistering heat. He could feel the sweat as it dripped down his back, he wiped his brow.

Could it really be so hot?

He drank from his goblet of chilled wine, which helped to steady his shaking hand.

The Lords of Houses Kalt, Edgar, Dai and Trela sat around a table. They were the governing Lords of the cities Ao, Ea, Ahi and the fallen city of Wai. Demetrius was of course, the governing lord of Pa.

All those cities, with all those people, and hardly anyone remained loyal to him. Even the soldiers would not obey him. Some people had gone so far as to attempt to end his life. They were dealt with, as all traitors were to be dealt with.

Was that why people would not follow him? Was it because of the justice he had served? The 'slaughter in the streets' is what the people were calling it. He didn't know.

He took another sip from his wine, and let the fluid dance around in his mouth before swallowing. He regretted that he could not taste, he was too distracted for that.

"Demetrius?" Lord Edgar called. "Demetrius are you paying attention?"

Demetrius blinked, it took him a while to process what had been said.

"Yes, I'm listening." He said hesitantly.

"Good." The Lord replied.

He liked Lord Thomas Edgar, he had remained loyal to House Aranor all this time. He was the closest thing to a friend in the room. Save maybe Talya, but even she had changed somehow.

He glanced over to her direction. She seemed to attract darkness. Her dark hair hung over her even darker eyes, as she sat quietly at the table.

No. She's definitely not the same.

He found the eyes of the Lords in the room on him. Suddenly flustered, he sat up straight.

"Sorry." He said.

The Lord of house Kalt shook his head disappointingly.

"I said." Lord Edgar continued. "What is next for the Kingdom? Thanks to the Dragons, the war on Vulca has abruptly ended, cutting our resources short."

"I guess we'll just have to rebuild in the mean time, and spend some time thinking of another way to gather resources."

"Rebuild?" Lord Kalt said. "With what? Rusted nails and broken tools? Without the tools, there is no more stone. And we can't rebuild Wai and Pa without stone."

"We could try using wood? Harvest from the forests?" Lord Dai said.

"No." Demetrius said. "We tried that, the wood is weak and soft. Unusable."

"Plus we don't have the money to hire enough workers. " Edgar said.

"What would you suggest then?" Lord Kalt asked.

"There's only one thing left we can do." Demetrius said.

"No." Said lord Of House Navia. "We will not trade with surface Earth. We've gone thousands of years without exposing our existence."

"Yes." Demetrius said. "But we've gone thousands of years without a crisis like this."

"That's true." Lord Edgar said. "I believe trading with surface Earth is the only thing left to do."