“From up there, the landscape looked infested with ants, and you just could not see the end!” yelled the scout, shivering like a man who had just seen a ghost.
“How many were there?” asked Michael.
“Maybe one or two million? I would give us about four days before they reach,” responded the scout while his hands were trembling.
Shivers ran down the soldier’s spines, but Michael was unfazed. Michael’s face didn’t shed one layer of his outer emotion. Seeing his mild and dull reaction, the soldiers were comforted, and this drove them to admire him even more. It was like they were shivering from fear, and Michael was like a blanket that comforted and heated them. However, Michael was not the same on the inside.
Later that night Smaug landed beside Michael while he was strategizing how they could possibly use psychological factors to distort the enemy or make them retreat. Even though Michael knew they would not win in this state, he did not lose a gram of hope.
“The south,” heard Michael.
Michael heard Smaug’s voice, but Smaug did not say a single word. Michael then heard the voice again:
“The south!”
Michael was dazzled because he never encountered anything remotely close to this before. However, he quickly discovered that Smaug could telepathically communicate with him.
“Yes,” replied Smaug, “I can access your mind. We have a bond strong enough to talk to each other through our minds.”
“Great! Why now though?” thought Michael.
“You know why; We can’t defeat the army of the Northern Berserks in this state. We need more people!” replied Smaug.
“So we need the south? Are you suggesting an alliance? Wait… That is perfect; We can contact the Southern Sardarks! If we can contact them in time, we can set up an ambush! The mountains will be too harsh and dangerous to climb, so the northern tribes will push through the middle. That is perfect for us to ambush them from the west and east with dragons. They still don’t know of our dragons, so they will think that we would be crazy to attack from the mountain sides. Then both the southern Sardarks along with us can push forward!” said Michael.
“What will our people here do while we are in the South?” asked Smaug.
“Leave the general of the sacred knights to guide them while we are gone,” replied Michael.
“I will let them know right now of their new responsibility. Adding onto your plan; more specifically, we dragons could also create avalanches and landfalls to disorientate the enemies. Then we will attack with our powers. After that, you Humans could attack. This would minimize casualties,” added Smaug.
“You never stopped once to amaze me with your astounding levels of intelligence, Smaug,” replied Michael, ending their current conversation.
Smaug jumped vertically and took off in a blink of an eye, causing a strong current of air able to cause trees to be obliterated. Then, it was as if he just froze in front of the moon. Smaug spread his wings fully. The moon shone on Smaug’s red and gold scales and orange semi-translucent wings. His vibrant orange eyes glowed, and his rows of meter long teeth glistened. He smirked, for he knew that he could accomplish his dream of decimating entire armies of Humans, revealing his full potential to everyone. It has been a long time since he had this opportunity. He clenched his claws and flew off towards the general of the sacred knights. Michael decided to get some rest and sleep for once.
In the morning, Michael was greeted by a welcoming tremendous force of warm air. He jumped and grabbed his blanket which would have flown away. His tent would have also flown away if Smaug didn’t land softly. Michael found the source of this shockwave of air; it was Smaug landing near his open tent.
“Are you done sleeping?” asked Smaug, almost staring into the soul of Michael.
“I am now…” replied the tired Michael.
“We must set out now. There might not be enough time for us to arrive back here from the South before the Berserks attack,” said Smaug.
Smaug effortlessly swung the half-awake Michael onto his back as if he was an ant. The beast spread his wings and took off as fast as a bullet. Michael was awakened by this nightmare and hung on for his life. After sixty seconds, they were above the cloud level and the nightmare was over; in fact, it was very peaceful. It was the first time Michael felt warm and comfortable in a long time. It was both the peaceful and relaxing rays of the sun shining on the clouds and him, and Smaug’s self-heating system. Smaug’s wings were fully extended, relaxed, and they glided through the warm air. It was impossible for Michael to comprehend how fast they were going, but he definitely realized it when Smaug dived down past the cloud level. The Southern cities of Sardark was visible to Michael’s eyes. He wondered if he was hallucinating since he just traveled hundreds of kilometers in less than half an hour.
“No, it isn’t a hallucination,” responded Smaug to Michael’s thoughts.
Smaug slowed down by transferring from his bullet shaped body, to a more vertical shape increasing drag and slowing them down significantly. Michael sent a message before sleeping; it notified the Sadarks of their arrival and set up a meeting time. Their futuristic cannons and weapons weren’t active and the gates to the meeting hall opened before them. Rows of the king Trajan’s most highly decorated knights stood in rows guarding the meeting room. It seemed like the word of Michael’s victories spread across the globe.
“You stay here. I will attend the meeting, and we can telepathically communicate and strategize,” thought Michael.
Michael with a puffed up chest arrogantly walked down the red royal looking carpet. Some knights were terrified while others just stared at Michael; they wanted to take a good look of the warlord before them.
Soon the two oak doors similar to the ones behind him opened up. He would soon enter a spherical room; he would be located in the middle of the sphere while the leaders of Sadark would be seated on pads connected to the outside part of the inner sphere. They were often accompanied by two guards. When Michael entered, Michael was faced by an overwhelming number of political leaders of different regions of Sadark. The hoard of leaders silenced when Michael stepped foot into the room. He walked on the holographic looking light blue bridge which led him to the center. Once he reached the center, the holographic bridge disappeared, and the fence closed connected to it. It was dead silent. However, unlike the knights outside, the leaders had good poker faces which didn’t reveal any opinion or emotion to Michael. He took a deep breath and kept his arrogant look before breaking the silence.
“I seek an alliance,” Michael said. “We, the Conquerors, have been allies with the Sadarks for centuries, and we need your help up north once again.”
The leaders remained unfazed, and a cold moment of silence diffused across the room.
Michael explained, “The Northern Beserks heard of my campaign up north and felt threatened. They forged an alliance bigger than anyone had seen before, and this is why I need your help. Once we defeat them and conquer their land, each one of you will be able to keep a sizeable portion of their land.”
The once colourless and silent room became colorful, and the leaders broke the silence immediately and discussed the terms with their emissaries. Each minute the room became quieter, but the color still remained. It wasn’t long before one of the leaders accepted the offer. A voice was heard from the other side of the room.
“My people will fight courageously for that land!” exclaimed one of the Sardark leaders.
A chain reaction was precipitated, and Michael eventually got all of the Sardarks to fight with him. Michael activated the hologramm and explained the plan.
“The Beserks will not climb the mountains of Leviatha, so they will be left with the option of going in between a tight gap where two mountains reside. Our dragons will then ambush them from the two mountains from the side, and our troops will then approach them head on after an intentional avalanche is caused. It sounds easy, but the number of troops they command is unimaginable,” Michael clarifies. “We shall leave right now! Their troops are advancing at a breakneck speed.”
The Sardarks gathered their troops and used their swarm of dragonfly-like vehicles to fly towards Michael’s settlement. However, once they ascended above the clouds, they saw a distant cloud of pitch-black smoke. Michael knew what it was; they all did.
