CHAPTER 94: THE STRATEGY OF NUMBERS

"Have you never heard of the Dragon Rider?" King Rollo asked. "That is what many call him. Some call him the young dragon. Others call him the dragon reborn."

He leaned back slightly. "That dragon you all saw flying above... it belongs to him. I believe I have told you before that such a person exists in Aerthwyn."

General Amber nodded firmly. "Yes, you did, your majesty."

King Rollo continued. "Not only does he ride the dragon, but he also conjures fire. I saw it myself on my last visit to Aerthwyn. One thing is certain, this war cannot be won without his help. That is why, whether we like it or not, he has a voice here."

General Amber’s eyes shifted toward Aeron, who stood across from him at the round table. His tone softened. "Then I must apologize. I spoke too harshly earlier. Forgive me." He paused, then added, "Regarding your suggestion about attacking the Hydra directly, I must strongly oppose it, and for many reasons."

He turned to the table. "First of all, we do not know where they are. We do not know how they come about, how many there are, or when they appear. If we set out to attack, where do we even begin? And even if we do find them, how certain are we that we are not walking into our own death? That is why I said before, we must understand our enemies first before we make a move."

Aeron bowed his head slightly. "I must admit, I did not think about it that way. But still, General, you said before that there is no knowledge or record of them. And that is exactly why we must try to find them. We cannot understand them unless we face them. It is risky, yes, but I believe the risk is worth it."

Devic, who had been silent, leaned forward. "He does have a point," he said, nodding toward Aeron. "I have fought very few wars in my lifetime, but I have fought many battles. And there is one thing I have learned. If you do not know what move your enemy is about to make, you must make your move first. That is how you force them to reveal themselves. So this enemy that we do not know about, we have to move decisively before we see what they are up to and where they are.."

General Amber looked at him for a moment, and his face lit up a bit. "Seems like I am buying into this. Then tell me the move, Devic. Be clear. How do we make this decisive strike?"

Devic asked calmly, "At the last battle, they retreated the moment dawn came, yes?"

Amber nodded. "That is so."

Devic asked again, "Is this their way, or what?"

Amber replied. "That is what our reports say. Every kingdom and village they destroyed was attacked at night. By dawn, they were gone. No one has ever seen them in daylight. We do not know if they only exist at night."

"Then that means one thing," Devic said firmly. "They only attack at night."

Amber replied, "I am certain of it. That is why we are building as many torches as possible. We must have enough fire to fight them when night falls."

Devic folded his arms. "So then, the answer is before us. Since we cannot draw them out, we must hold out until dawn. And when dawn comes, we send men to follow them as they retreat. That is how we find their hiding place. That is where we attack them, and we must strike during the day. For if they never come out by day, it means there is a weakness they fear. We must use that against them."

The hall went quiet. Nyella, who had been listening closely, finally spoke. "That is only if we last until dawn. The last battle nearly destroyed us. We barely made it through the night. I fear this time, we will not survive so easily."

Then she looked across the table and fixed her eyes on Devic. "Ser Devic, you speak of attacking. But who says you will even join this fight?"

Devic frowned, clearly confused. "I do not understand, Your Highness. We were sent here by the king himself, to join you and assist in the war."

Nyella shook her head. "There are very few people I trust in the palace. Apart from my parents, the rest of those I trust are sitting in this very room. I cannot risk losing you as well. You are needed more in the capital than here on the battlefield. If you are there, then my heart will be at rest, and I will be able to focus on what must be done here."

"Still, Princess..." Devic began, but Nyella cut him short.

"This is not open for debate, Ser. You may help with preparations here, and for that I will be grateful. But when that is done, you must leave for the capital. That is my wish. Please." She turned her eyes back to the others. "Now, let us continue. The question remains, how do we survive the night? Is it even possible?"

The chamber fell silent for a moment. General Amber cleared his throat, rested both hands on the table, and spoke. "There is a small chance, Princess. If we hold them off from over the wall, we may last till dawn. But we must not forget their numbers. Hundreds of thousands. The dead will pile up at the foot of the walls, and soon enough, they will use the bodies as a bridge. They will march right up to the gates. When that happens, there is little chance luck will be on our side."

Aeron leaned forward. "Are you saying dragonfire cannot kill enough of them to hold them back until dawn?"

Amber shook his head. "We do not know if fire truly destroys them. Some say it burns them to ash, others say it only delays them. We cannot put our hopes only on dragonfire. What if it fails?"

’Then all of us would perish for believing too much in it. And even if it works, the fire itself will leave behind charred bones and ashes that will pile up against the wall, which would make it easier for the rest of them to climb the wall. For this reason, the dragon must not fight too close to the walls."

The king, who had been quiet all along, finally spoke. "There is an old story in our kingdom, a memory I hold close. Long ago, we defeated the nomads. They came at us in their thousands, crawling and swarming against our gates, determined to take our home. I was only a young prince then, but I was chosen to lead the war. Do you know what strategy we used?" He paused and looked at each face around the table.

"We used the strength of numbers. We called even the common folk to the walls and the gates, pushing the nomads back with everything they had, while our armies fought on the front lines. That day, we gave them the greatest defeat of their lives. To this day, the nomads have not grown to such numbers again, nor have they dared to disturb our peace. That was also the battle that earned me my kingship."

He straightened himself. "What I am saying is this: if we want to hold them off, we must use the strategy of numbers once more. We must gather more soldiers at the walls. That alone can give us a chance to last the night. But the question is, how do we gather such numbers?"

Devic stepped forward. "That was the first task our king gave us, to go south and call for allies. But we failed as we found no armies, only a handful of villagers. As I told the princess before, the king’s at the south do not believe the threat is real. They didn’t care to listen to more of our statements as they claimed they had personal issues themselves."

King Rollo nodded slowly. "That is true. It is difficult to convince someone of a danger they have never seen. To them, such creatures are nothing but myths."

Then Aeron, who had been silent for a while, lifted his head. "If they do not believe in such creatures, we must show them something greater. That is how they will believe."

General Amber turned to him and furrowed his brows. "And what do you mean by that?"

Aeron let the silence stretch for a moment, then he looked around the table and spoke. "They may not believe in the Hydra. But they will believe when they see a dragon. If Draco appears before their eyes, they will no longer doubt. Once they believe, they will listen to us. If we then tell them of the Hydra, they will have no choice but to send their soldiers."

"So we take Draco to them."