Myra's Point of View

The news rung through her ears. There would be no going home with Kestra this summer. Maybe not the summer after, or the summer after that. A general did not go back to the palace when a war was raging. Nor did a War-Queen.

But she had known it would come. The calm never lasted, even if they had fought for so very, very long, through the darkest depths of the earth, through war camps and the pestilence that spread through them, through arcane magic all of it for her country. Even if she had already gone through hell and back; now hell was beckoning to her again, stealing her daughter and that glimpse of a life with her away.

---------------

Three hours earlier, the messenger had torn through the mountains, demanding to see Viktoria.They had both been woken, bleary-eyed, Viktoria making burlesque yawning noises. The anxious look in the eyes of the officers that had woken them had Myra worried by instinct, her green eyes quickly snapping between her queen and the officers.

They barely had time to change into something a little more official than nightgowns before they had to rush into the council room.

A fatigued messenger stood in front of the thrones that the War-Queen and her heir sat. It was clear she had been riding all through the night. Seeing the two of them seemed to wake her up enough for the frantic herald to bow respectfully, watching the two of them with something that might have been awe and wonderment if not for the exhaustion that lurked in her eyes.

"Kallias has declared war, your majesty." The courier coughed out. "An officer of their army came to the border patrol and told us that...that their justice would be upon us," The unspoken words hung in the air. The messenger was likely already dead at the hands of the valkyries. "Us and the other God-born." The herald completed. Myra couldn't breathe, processing the words.

Why on earth would the Empress want to fight both of them at once?

"The God-born?" Myra rasped. "The God-Born?"Her fists clenched, and blood roared in her ears.

"Let us burn them all!" shouted Diaz, one of Myra's lower Generals. "Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I say we respond to their cries of war with the pure, unbreakable force of the valkyries. Let us wipe humanity off the map entirely."

"Silence, Diaz. You cannot destroy humanity for it."

Diaz almost opened her mouth to disagree, but then she nodded her head at Viktoria in deference, a soldier to a queen. Viktoria stood at Myra moved with her, the old instincts of a protector and heir locking into place. An heir's most important duty was the protection of their queen.

Viktoria turned to address her three generals, one for each of the three units: cavalry, aerial riders and the warriors who fought on foot. One for each daughter of Sarai.

Diaz, of the calvary, firm and unyielding as the harshest steel.

Calais, of the foot soldiers, the greatest warrior of the three lower Generals.

Ruby, of the Gryphon and Wyvern Riders, the girl she had been shaping to lead them to a new future.

"Today, we must set the war in motion. By noon, we will inform the entirety of the army of what is to come. In the hours before that, spread the word of the meeting to come, but nothing of the war itself.

"Inform your Right Hands of the news and do what you can to prepare. I want couriers heading to the Warlords of the other three Mountains, Falcon, Eagle and Osprey and to the host in front of the Bird of Prey Mountains. We will convene on the Plain of the Peregrine in five days. Be ready. Myra?"

"Yes?"

"We find Vera. Now." Of course. With war on the horizon, her guards would need to be doubled, along with Kestra's. The two of them practically ran up the mountain path, thankful for the valkyrie endurance that helped them hike up it. It might take an hour or two for the most experienced human, but they navigated it quickly, Viktoria in eagle form and Myra as a snow leopard.

The chill of Hawk Mountain had never felt sharper.

"Vera?" Viktoria called out, and in the same instant, Myra called for Kestra. The two emerged seconds afterwards, bleary-eyed as they had been a few hours ago.

"Vicky?" Vera asked, worry in her tone. "The guards told me it was urgent. What's happened?"

"War. The Kallian Empire have declared war," Viktoria answered. "We'll need to order more guards and send Kestra home. Now."

"Not just against us," Myra interrupted. "But against the elves, too."

"But...but that's foolish, isn't it? We will win this war, right, Myra-kat?"

"Whilst our army is smaller, our skill and experience should outnumber theirs. We could, however, be pushed back against the mountains, but with the proper strategic planning, we should be able to use them to protect us, not to hurt us. Presumably, we will win, but the powers of the Crimson line could tip the balance and then there's the-"

"We'll win this, Ve." Viktoria interrupted, shooting her a look that said they didn't need the long answer. "Send couriers to the Keeper cities. We'll need-"

"Medics." Vera finished. "Medical supplies, and a large number of healers who can cope with the battle."

"-and diplomats.The politicians and diplomats from the Keeper cities to negotiate any relations with the elves. Given we'll both be under attack by the human forces, we'll probably have to communicate at some point. I'll be speaking with the guards to heighten security. Some of your own Defenders may very well come to the front for war, so they'll need to be prepared to march." Vera nodded, and she slipped back to fulfil the orders-Viktoria held a higher rank in matters of war-with Kestra looking longingly at her as she left.

The queen and her heir walked across the stone bridge to the mountains besides them.All the mountains were linked with stone bridges, making it easier to travel across the various peaks. They were walking quickly towards the Mountain of the Royal Shield, the guard tower.

As they made their way across harsh rock, Viktoria began to speak.

"We will win this, Myra. And soon. I am sorry you cannot go home with Kestra yet." Myra nodded, silently.

"It's our duty to shield them. To serve the Keepers," she said. "And a mother's duty to protect her daughter." Even if she wasn't there to tuck her into bed at night.

"This will be an easy war to win, if an alliance can be formed between the God-born." Viktoria counselled. "I trust you will lead us to victory. But if one of us falls..." Myra flinched."I have named my successor. One of us would rule as regent for Kestra. Have you named the one to take your position?"

"Ruby will one day be worthy of my place. But she may not yet be ready. If one of us falls...that will be very grim indeed. Diaz would serve us best, but I fear for what would happen if she became War-Queen..." Viktoria nodded.

"And whilst Calais is talented, she could not rule either. She is not a leader." The queen completed.

"Ruby, then." Myra said at last. "She's the best option."

"Ruby, then." Viktoria replied, eyes distant.

The next three hours passed in a blur, until at last midday came, and Myra found herself staring out at a crowd of valkyrie warriors.

The war was here. There would be no time for individual loves, individual sorrow and loss of family. All the thousands of warriors in front of her were relying on her. They would have to trump all her love, all her family. This was her oath: duty above love, all her sisters above one, her kingdom above her. Fighting for something greater than herself.

There had been thousands before her who had done the same. There would be thousands afterwards. She would fulfil her oath to her sisters. But it had never felt like such a burden before.

Myra watched the crowd, armour and swords glinting, and she slid back into the person she had been thirty years ago, fighting through the darkest depths of hell and death for her people. She became the Dragon, the Great General, the Heir to the War-Crown.

Standing in front of Viktoria, breathless in front of the army that was a force of nature, Myra roared. Next was the lower Generals, their roars shaking the earth. Then Viktoria, the loudest of them all, as she raised her sword to the air.

Then it came. The unyielding scream from across the whole army, shaking the mountains around them. The roar hit her like a wave, making her shiver. The pure intensity of it-thousands of immortal warriors screaming their triumph, their strength as one. The Dragon was here. It had not been in her, but in the thousands that stood in front of the magnificent stone stage.

"Today is the day that the Dragon rears its head once more. Today is the day that we march again, under the name of the God-Born. The Kallian Empire has challenged us, dared us to bring forth an army to crush them. The Empress believes that her army has the numbers to destroy ours, that because her people are larger, that she will conquer our gods-given home. She is wrong. Her soldiers are conscripted, forced into an army they did not choose. Their ancestors were not chosen by our gods, not touched by the Goddess of War to become her greatest soldiers. One of our valkyrie warriors could stand against a thousand of their soldiers, and they would still come out alive." Viktoria cried to the army.

"Perhaps she believes her magic, given to her by the cursed Witches, could bring about our fall. She is wrong." Myra continued. "For we have duelled against magic for centuries, sisters, and our borders still stand."

"We have something greater than magic." The Queen continued.

"Something greater than enchantment, or numbers." Myra cried.

"Inside each of your hearts is determination. Loyalty." Viktoria declared.

"True loyalty. And an oath lies in each of your souls."

"An oath to sisters, to fight with and for until the end." Myra declared.

"An oath to the Keepers, to protect the Children of Belle. The truths they hold, the art they spread. The light they protect, in a world of darkness."

"We are the Children of Sarai, the sisters of her three daughters, the faces of the moon. They asked to face Gryphon claw and to it they will fall!" Viktoria yelled to the crowd. "

"They asked to hear the Dragon roar, and roar it will," Myra vowed to the the warriors.No matter the personal cost, she added in her own head.

"Sisters in soul," Myra began.

"Sisters of the sea." The crowd roared back.

"We will march in five days, to meet the rest of our army, on the Plain of the Peregrine." Myra finished.

The crowd applauded in confirmation, raising their swords in the air. Closing her eyes, Myra trailed behind Viktoria as they went to meet with the Generals and their Right Hands, planning the war ahead. The general looked back at the army before her, their blood set aflame by the speech she and her queen had just given. Slowly, Myra Isidore, friend and mother shed her skin and became somebody else-the Dragon. The woman who would do anything to protect her Queens, the Keepers and her army. Myra was not born for battle, but this girl-this girl was.

---------------

A half hour later, Myra, Viktoria, Diaz, Calais and Ruby bent over a faded map, planning the war ahead.

"The sea isn't an option for us," Myra thought out loud. "Our armada was decimated back in the wars with the elves and we still haven't rebuilt it.

"The Empress does have an armada, however." Calais sighed. "Which is why cooperation with the elves may be very necessary."

"Her armada is weak, though." Myra replied. "Hers is a desert people, which means it's made out of trading ships along the coast seized by the empire. The soldiers aren't experienced either and if their ships sink, then they'll likely drown.

"It doesn't matter," Calais argued. "Her armada is an armada. We, on the other hand, have nothing."

"Even an armada must arrive on land at some point, especially if there's no one for it to battle on the seas. With mountains in the south and mountains in the north, she'd be foolish to go that way." Myra replied. "At the west coast are the swamplands, and it would be stupid for her to go that way either. Even she won't be able to come out of that place alone. The Gods wouldn't touch it."

"So, the east coast is most under threat," Ruby sighed, eliminating the one unprotected side. "No mountains, no swampland..."

"No army." Viktoria finished. "And given our attempts to avoid the swamplands and the fact that's where the children crawl out from the sea..."

"All our Keeper cities are there." Myra finished. "If they land there, they could hold the Cradle hostage...all those children would die. We need to station defences there. Immediately."

"But all of this would be quite unnecessary if we could gain an armada." Ruby interrupted. Viktoria stared at her.

"There's no time, Ruby."

"Are we the only ones that the Kallian Empire is after?" Ruby argued. "We can't continue this meeting as though there won't be elves fighting right alongside us. Position defences there for now...move the whole city guard to the east coast, along with the cannons...but the elfin armada could easily stop them in their tracks, whilst we handled the war on land." Myra beamed at Ruby; suddenly glad she was her successor after all.

"She's right," she supported, appealing to her queen.

"The elves are not trustworthy." Diaz argued, fierce as her tiger form.

"It would work perfectly in the war," Viktoria mused, ignoring the general. "Separating two sides who are highly likely to bicker throughout. If the elves didn't lose ground, then the two sides wouldn't have to be far split. I'll send the missive out to the Archipelago."

"Your Majesty-" Diaz interrupted, and Myra's temper flared.

"How about you send the message to the City Guards, Diaz. In the meanwhile." She snapped.

"Cisi, send the-"

"No," Myra pounced. "You disrespected your Queen and doubted her decision-making. You will send the errand, and your Right-Hand will stay right here until you learn to be less stubborn." 

The Dragon could tell Diaz was about to come out in all her fury, but a look reminded her that Myra outranked her. Diaz scampered out, a kicked dog.

"Let's move onto the war on land." Viktoria said at last. "We cannot allow the Empire to push us back to the mountains, where we'll be cornered. However, we don't want to face them in the desert either..."

"How about the Isthmus?" Myra queried.

"The Isthmus is a ruin." Viktoria said, confused.

"A ruin we all know very well," Ruby added. "A ruin that the elves and valkyries can fight on far better than the humans can."

"If we can break the back of their army then, we can face them in the desert to come." Myra continued, looking up at her queen, who went silent. Finally, Viktoria nodded her approval.

"From there, the elves can attack from both sides..."

"The Western and Eastern Isles." Myra smiled.

"Of course, we're ignoring one of our biggest problems," Calais murmured, and she was surprised the silent, solemn warrior was speaking. "The Crimsons themselves."

"We survived the elves, and all of their thousands were magic-wielders," Myra frowned. "Surely we can best the Empress and her five sons."

"Really?" Calais raised an eyebrow. "Even the Empress must know she can't beat us with simply numbers. And whilst the elves are quick to boast their abilities...nothing from the Crimson Empress. Or her five sons. Makes you think she's waiting for something."

"We won't know her abilities until we meet her on the battlefield. And I agree, the elves' powers were devastating...but this time we have them on our side. There are plenty of elfin soldiers fighting on land. Bring some with our forces." Viktoria reasoned. "Even the Crimsons couldn't compete with a couple of hundred elfin enchanters...right?"

"All of this relies heavily on the elves." Myra pointed out. "And whilst, unlike dear Diaz, I know what it means to trust...we all know how elfin politics is. If they had been a united front, we may very well have lost the war." They all reflected soberly on this.

"We can't hold a war meeting without knowing where our allies stand," Viktoria said at last. "Prepare everyone to march out, but we can't debate strategy just yet. One thing, though:" she turned to her. "Do you believe we can trust the elves not to turn on us?"

"I think so." Myra sighed. "We all know what happened last time we went to war. The destruction became too much that last twenty years, with the advanced weapons coming from both sides. I don't think they would risk that again. We all know deep down that not all the elves are corrupt. I doubt they would plunge both our sides back into a war that took hundreds of thousands, no millions, of lives, destroyed a whole isthmus and almost ended both of our kingdoms."

Viktoria began to nod, followed by Ruby and Calais.

"We'll meet again tomorrow morning," Viktoria decided. "Until then, we wait."