“Elder Gwer, you do not need to provoke Elder Bov, you know the Bos Bov are quick to anger and slow to calm down,” said the blind elder with the turtle shell on her back. “And Elder Bov, must you fall so easily for Elder Gwer’s provocations? The Arkto Gwer are a newly risen martial tribe. They are looking for scuffles and quick victories. Getting you to lose your composure during this meeting could be victory enough. You would not want to lose before the fight began, would you?”

The two disgruntled elders looked at the turtle beastwoman, then at each other, before turning away. All the while, the snake and tiger beastmen had been looking at each other as if waiting for the other to intervene. If the Council was this badly divided, it was a miracle they’d managed to gather an army, let alone burned lands and evacuated whole tribes. I realized the Immortal of Madness must have done something to convince these elders to work together. Whether that meant they were under a spell or the Immortal had shown himself to them, I couldn’t be sure.

“Thank you, Elder Tortue, your diplomacy is unparalleled,” said the snake beastman at last.

“It is unparalleled because the four of you do not wish to parallel it,” said Elder Tortue.

“Can we please get on with the meeting already?” said Elder Panthera.

“Yes, yes, impatient as ever, my dear friend,” said Elder Serpe as he clapped his hands together. “As you all know, all of our most important martial tribes have already arrived at this location. The only tribes that are yet to join us are small and insignificant, and even they should arrive before the ceremony begins.”

“Do not delay, Elder Serpe, all of our tribes have our own information networks. We know how quickly our own people are arriving, that has never been of concern,” said Elder Bov.

“I am afraid I cannot say how far the United Army has come,” said Elder Serpe, with a strange look in his eyes.

“You mean you do not know where they are,” said Elder Panthera as he shook his head. “Why the Drak Serpe always refuse to admit when they don’t know something, is beyond me. None of us know how far the United Army has come. The only thing we know is that they too have a legendary elf on their side. The elf must be using his magic to hide the army somehow. We must be prepared to fight at any moment!”

Elder Serpe narrowed his eyes and gave the tiger beastman a cold look. “And why your Feli Panthera must always be itching for a fight is beyond me as well. You speak so confidently of that which you remain ignorant. When I say I cannot share with you the location of the United Army, I do not mean that I am choosing not to do so nor am I saying that I do not know where the invaders are at the moment. Lord Noel has given me the location of the United Army. She has also forbidden me from sharing it with you.”

I frowned. Sitting alone in the darkness in the corner of the room, my heart began beating loudly. Was this snake-like beastman telling the truth?

“How are we to trust your words if you cannot share them with us, Elder Serpe?” said Elder Tortue, opening her blank eyes and facing the serpentine elder.

“You may confirm them with Lord Noel,” said Elder Serpe.

“Perhaps I should ask our dear friend Elder Gwer instead,” said Elder Tortue.

“Me?” said the bear-like beastwoman, pointing to herself in an exaggerated manner. “Why would I know that?”

“Lord Noel is a legendary elf and the direct servant of the God of Music,” said Elder Tortue. “It is much harder to approach her than to ask Lord Alek.”

Elder Gwer frowned and leaned forward. “Then go ask him yourself.”

“I do not wish to speak to a demon,” said Elder Tortue, “even if we are allies.”

“I agree with Elder Tortue. I do not trust that demon prince, even if he is now a Lord serving under a God. If he can betray his own people, how can we possibly trust him with the lives of our own?” said Elder Bov.

“Trust? You say that as if we trust each other,” said Elder Gwer. “And you do not have to trust Lord Alek. Trust in the God of Music and you’ll be alright.”

“We believe in our God,” said Elder Bov, “but can the same be said about you?”

“You want to fight me, old lady?” said Elder Gwer, standing up from her seat.

“Anyday, shortie,” said Elder Bov as she also stood up.

“Calm down you two,” said Elder Tortue with a sigh. “If Elder Serpe says he knows where the invaders are and that we must be ready to fight at any moment, I do not think we can afford any quarrels within the Council. Isn’t that right, Elder Panthera?”

The tiger raised one eyebrow. “Elder Bov, do not worry. The Feli Panthera will help you put that cub in her place, after the war.”

“Do not worry, Elder Gwer, the first battle shall soon begin. We will have plenty of time to put those two in their place after the ceremony,” said Elder Serpe.

The two angry elders looked at their respective allies and sat back down again. Elder Tortue rubbed her forehead. The two male elders sized each other up a little before returning their attention to the table.

I had known their alliance was a fragile one, but their enmity seemed to be quite serious. There might well be a civil war in the Horde after the war, especially if one side lost too many warriors. This meant neither side would be too keen on taking risks in this war, and might not even trust one another’s commanders which could be a recipe for disaster. Combining this state of affairs with the United Army’s easily inflamed emotions thanks to the Simurgh’s emotional manipulation magic, and this whole war was sure to be a badly fought slaughter.

I looked at Elder Serpe and tried to figure out what he’d said. He said Noel had given him the location of the United Army, but could I trust what he’d said? He could’ve been trying to impress the other elders or lying to boost morale. After all, he refused to tell anyone else where the army was and his orders were pretty generic. Being ready to fight at any moment could mean the United Army was closer than I’d thought or it could also mean the serpentine elder had no idea where the United Army was and only wanted to keep the troops on alert. Considering how loose this alliance was, keeping everyone on their toes like this was probably the best way to prevent splintering and desertion.

But if he had been telling the truth, and he knew where the United Army was, then I had a difficult choice to make. These five elders were the leaders of the Council. If I took them out, either by kidnapping them and taking them away, or even killing them, I would destroy the leadership of the Horde and ensure the United Army won quickly and decisively. Doing so would probably force the Horde to surrender quickly, preventing unnecessary bloodshed and giving the United Army enough time to support our party at Mount Smoke. Then again, that would lead to a lot of beastmen deaths and perhaps even a loss of territory. I still wanted to prevent any large scale battles from taking place in the first place.

“I still think we should march forward and meet the invaders where they are. They will not be expecting it and we will not risk them getting within sight of Mount Smoke,” said Elder Bov.

“I sympathize with your words, Elder Bov, but the Lords have given us their instructions. We are not to move from this place without their orders,” said Elder Panthera.

I raised an eyebrow.

“And there may not be time to find a better defensive position, considering how close the enemy has come,” said Elder Serpe, hinting at the information he had.

“Elder Serpe, since you are the only one who knows exactly where the invaders are, do you wish to oversee our defensive preparations tomorrow?” asked Elder Tortue.

The elders agree to letting Elder Serpe take charge of their defenses, which meant giving him effective control of the army. There wasn’t much else the other elders could do since he was clearly being favored by Noel and through her by the God of Music, Madness.

I slipped out of the tent as the elders finished their meeting and followed the turtle beastwoman, Elder Tortue, to her tent. Grabbing a piece of paper from one of the supply tents, I scribbled something in her language and slipped it among the official documents that were going to be read to the blind elder before she went to sleep.

Afterwards, I fly up as high as I could and confirmed that the United Army was still at least two days away from this position. The ceremony would also be taking place in two days, which meant I was going to use as much magic as I could to get my party to Mount Smoke tomorrow. Still, before heading back down to Kelser and the others, I wrote a letter in the demon language and sent it to the United Army with air magic. Whether they would trust a letter like this even if it was signed with my name, was difficult to know. But I figured I would try to convince Bain Rusta to resist the Immortal’s magic and stay put. Would it work? Probably not.

There was only one way to truly prevent any bloodshed in this war and that was to stop it from happening in the first place. I returned to Kelser and the others and told them what I had learned so far. We had two days to reach Mount Smoke and take down Noel, Alek, and any beastmen they had guarding them.

This was going to be close.