Arthur's Point of View

Capital of Vithari - Dwardew

To her credit, Ventari didn’t break down. In fact, she continued her escort of us to the palace, where she made sure we were taken care of first. The Prince seemed hesitant, and many of the Druids steered clear of me. All in all, it’d been an interesting experience.

A lot of tip toeing was being done, and I won’t lie, it was kind of nice. Not the King being supposedly dead, but just being shown some manner of respect. Unlike two certain Priestesses, these Dwarves were smart enough to keep comments to themselves.

Typhon opened the door to the room where I was staying. “The Priestess has been given medical aid.”

“Mmh.” I hummed out an acknowledgment.

“Arthur?” I turned to him and waited for him to speak. “Why didn’t you heal her?”

“Her magic is gone, Ty.” He wasn’t expecting that. “For whatever reason, our Elves have lost their magic, and I’m not transferring anything to her for it to just disappear as it converts into magic.”

His brow furrowed in confusion. “Is that how it works?”

My response was a shrug. “No clue, but I’m not risking it either way.”

Typhon looked down as he went quiet for a moment. “Are…” He trailed off before he looked back at me. “Are we gonna be okay?”

“We just crash-landed in the middle of a war. Eh… Battle.” Then I thought about it for a moment. “Meh… War was right. They have been attacking more than just one place, I suppose, with a few battles scattered around Vithari. This is a siege, though.”

“What does that mean for us?”

“For us? Nothing.” I told him. “The Dwarves have enough food and water to last months. Provisions are holding up incredibly well from what I can see, so the Prince has done an amazing job. Him, or whoever is in charge of their supplies.” I then shrugged. “Morale is a little low, but with the loss of their King, that’s to be expected.”

“So, are we going to send out a request for aid?”

Moving to sit down, I gestured for him to join me. Resting Defiance against the table, I sat. The room was meant for larger guests, so thankfully, we didn’t have to sit on small chairs. Accommodations were likely meant more for ambassadors or allies and so on. Regardless, it was nice knowing I wasn’t going to be sleeping on a bed with my legs hanging off the end.

Resting one of my arms on the table, I looked at my student. “What good would requesting aid do?” I asked him. “And truly think about it.”

He frowned. “Are we not trapped?” Ty shot back.

Sighing through my nose, my expression made him more unsure. “Who would come?” My question got a confused look from him. “Lestrania has no standing army. Arceana would have to hold a draft or ask for volunteers, and then we’d have to wait for them to be trained.” I explained. “Our Town Guard forces, do count as military, but the ‘Lestranian military’ is a joke.”

“What about the Dragons?” My student pondered. “You seemed to have a positive relationship with them.”

“I’ve lost touch with them. Appearing and asking for their help overseas would be a stretch.” Then I gestured to him. “The only course of action is to solve this with the people we have present.”

“You mean you.” Ty replied instantly.

I nodded. “Yes. I don’t have the time or forces necessary to count on anyone else.” Then I pointed at him. “Which is why I am so desperate to make you stronger. Which brings me to my next point. As much as I would love to keep training you in these circumstances, I can’t. Do some personal training to stay loose.”

He seemed unsure. “We’ll continue after we win, right?”

The question was simple and straightforward, but it was obvious what he really wanted to know. “Yes. Once I take care of the Demons here, we’ll continue your training, Ty.” A knock at the door was the end of our conversation. “Come in.”

Low and behold, there stood Elincia in all her glory. “Arthur.”

“Wow. You look like shit.” I told her.

“Your honesty is always so refreshing.” Was her dry response.