Theanore read and reread the letter that Diana had sent her, but she couldn’t believe its contents. “Oh, no…” She said for the tenth time. The letter read:

Dear Theanore,

There is a war brewing on the horizon, Thea. Emperor Casimir wants his land back. A lot of your subjects have renounced you. Call Esmer and grandpa Thinker and start making mobs capable of defending you.

Stay safe and prepare,

Countess Diana Raskovic.

A tear came down Theanore’s face. Her subjects have renounced her? But she liked them very much. She did everything for them. How could it have gotten so bad? And what sort of mobs could she conjure up?

They had to be mean, Theanore supposed, but not too mean since they would be living at the grotto even after the war. They had to be smart and resourceful. And most importantly, good with children.

“Tania, I need smart, good and strong mobs to defend me. Do you know of some of them?”

Defend, Thea?

“From Emperor Casimir. He wants to steal my land and burn my apple sapling.” Said Theanore, another tear running down her cheek.

Don’t cry, Thea. It will be costly, but you can summon dragons and sent them towards the Empire’s borders. That way you will scare the Emperor, and he will not attack.

“For real?” Asked Theanore as she wiped her tear-streaked face.

Yes. You will need to promote one of the dragons to the status of a Boss. That way, he or she can give orders to the rest of the dragons. We can do this, Thea. We can defend your claim to the throne and your family.

“How much will it cost me to get 10000 dragons?” Asked Theanore.

Well, the boss will cost you a million mana, but that is because he or she will be very strong. The rest could add up to 10 million mana. In eleven days, you can have your army.

“What if I don’t have this much time, Tania? And I need towers and castles to protect my citizens.” Said Theanore, determined not to have a single human or elf casualty in this war.

Order your court wizard to put up an elemental barrier around your borders. That will hold back the enemy’s mages for some time. Elmar is strong. Trust in him.

“Ok, I will write him a letter.” Said Theanore as she got a sheet of paper and a quill.

Dear Elmar Denrivir,

I hereby politely ask you to place a barrier over the borders of my Kingdom. Moreover, your expedition to the capital of the Empire is cancelled. I can’t trust Duke Orlock with either yours, or Sir and Countess Raskovic’s wellbeing.

If you can, come home. If you can’t, prepare to order dragons around and for the front lines. Your house by the lake is not ready yet, but I have already had the ants build the foundation. Don’t take unnecessary risks, Elm.

Be safe and good,

Theanore the nymph, First of my name.

Then Theanore send the letter, and she sat down to wait as the first dragon of the apple grotto roared in the skies.

Elmar received the letter seconds after it was sent. He sighed when he saw that his expedition was cancelled. But he figured that he could still go to the forest of plenty.

That left Lucius as a loose end. Now that they couldn’t count on the support of Duke Orlock, they didn’t need Lucius anymore. So, Elmar decided to let him go home before he erected the barrier.

And there was one more problem, the barrier itself. Elmar had never made such a thing. And he would need to travel to the mountain range that separated the Empire from the Kingdom.

He turned to Lucius and pointed at the open road.

“Lucius, we are enemies now. Emperor Casimir is moving against my Princess, Theanore. Still, you have done nothing against either me or my friends. Go home and tell your father you were allowed to do so without any conditions.” Said Elmar. Lucius stared at the road and lowered his head.

“If it wasn’t for your friend, the Countess, I would still be a frog. There must be something I can do to help you.” Said Lucius.

“Try to stop the war then.” Said Elmar. He took a coin purse from his dimensional bag and handed it to Lucius. “A little something for the road. Stay safe, Friend.”

Lucius took the money and headed towards the stall. A horse later and he was out of Mirstone.

Elmar looked for Dereck and Diana and found them at the bakery. They were buying bread as if they have never seen the stuff.

“We will be going behind enemy lines.” Said Dereck as he paid. “It is better if we don’t shop for provisions there.”

“Besides, we already were at the dairy store and the butcher. Dereck got us a sled and four horses to pull it. Where is Lucius, Elm?” Asked Diana as they were leaving the bakery.

“I send him back home.” Said Elmar. He noticed Dereck’s frown.

“We could have used him as a hostage.” Said Dereck.

“Dereck!” Exclaimed both Elmar and Diana at the same time.

“He has done nothing to us.” Said Diana.

“We are at war.” Said Dereck slowly. “And bad things are done during wartime.”

“We can’t sink to this level. Our Princess is Theanore, and she is a beacon of goodness.” Said Elmar. They had to stand for what was right and fight this war with honor. That was what Theanore would want from them.

“You both do know that all the orphans at the grotto are going to end up dead if we don’t win? They are her inner court.” Said Dereck. “Probably the nearest village to the grotto would be burned too.”

“The people there were citizens of the Empire.” Said Elmar, disbelieving.

“So? They turned their backs on Emperor Casimir. Do you think he will forget it?” Asked Dereck. Why couldn’t these two see things his way?

They saw a crowd at the entrance of the town. They made it to it and asked the nearest woman what the matter was.

“The Dread is coming here. Marferik himself. We are all going to burn.” She said as she kept on pushing her way to the town’s gate.