Maid Aegirine looked at Worthan as if he had gone insane, but Mani knew what he meant. “Isle of Watt has been attacked?” He stood up and Maid Aegirine followed, her expression turning to shock as realization set in.

“Indeed! Lord Brerttin just landed with dispatches and reports of the siege.”

“Brerttin?” Mani paused. “Rodgardae’s cousin, Lord Brerttin?”

“Aye, a green-tint swooper, from his mother’s side. Fastest dragon on the Isle. The prince sent him straight over as soon as the coastal battles engaged.”

Mani nodded. “The admiral is in counsel with Lord Brerttin right now?”

“Yes. He sent for you, no one knew where you were, so I came straight here.”

“Damnation. Yes, I’m going.” He turned to Maid Aegirine. “Thank you. I must take my leave.”

She nodded, then gave him a short bow. “No apology needed, Guardian Roki. The news cannot be good and I am certain Admiral Leonteinparre requires your presence.”

He walked out of the small office, heading for the map room, which Rodgardae had already indicated would be his “war room” when the time came. Mani entered and the first thing he saw was a man stretched out in exhaustion on a bench, wearing the simple tunic and breaches provided to a recently transformed dragon. His long lines and swarthy complexion marked him as a member of Rodgardae’s family, and his profile was not unfamiliar either. They could have been brothers, as opposed to cousins. Rodgardae sat in a chair near Lord Brerttin, reading a missive intently. He glanced up sharply when Mani entered.

“War.”

“Dr. Worthan said as much,” Mani answered softly, approaching the men. Captain Wildt was next to the large map table with a couple of other dragon officers, who all ignored Mani’s presence. “Lord Brerttin.” Mani bowed.

The man glanced over at him, smiling broadly in an unaffected, open way that was definitely not like his reserved cousin, who was still frowning at the correspondence in his hands. “Guardian Roki, I presume? Would that our first meeting happen in better circumstances. Forgive my rudeness, but the flight was fast and hard, and I only returned to walking form within the last hour.”

“Understandable. Most of my family are dragons, I know the stresses of flight and transformation well, even if only by proxy.”

“Ah, of course. Thank you.” He smiled then closed his eyes.

Mani looked directly at Rodgardae, who finally looked up again. “Emperor Rhezv is directly attacking the coast of Ouien, but holding some of his forces back, drifting southerly toward the Peveillin Cliffs.”

“As much as we expected, if sooner,” Captain Wildt spoke up, giving Mani a confused shrug. “The tactics are unsurprising, but the timing is. We expected to have a couple of years, at least.”

Mani nodded. “Something to do with the empire’s dragons, perhaps?”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Rodgardae snorted, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “What we know of the dragons of Iskaryyva is precious little, but I cannot imagine they are altogether different from us. Makes no sense.”

Mani walked over to the map, which had little pieces scattered over the coast of Kaaltendt, and massive groupings on and around the Isle of Watt. “This war makes no sense. I think Emperor Rhezv must be insane, to believe he can stage an attack on Kaaltendt from Watt. He’d do as well to take over the Western Lands from a perch in Akanata.”

Wildt laughed, shaking his head. “No argument from me.”

“He’s insane or he has other plans, makes no difference in the meantime,” Rodgardae snapped, folding up the letter and thwapping it down on his cousin’s chest. “My brother continues to be vague in some important details.”

“In His Highness’s defense, he sent me out within the hour of the attack. There simply wasn’t much to report.” Lord Brerttin grabbed at the papers before they slid off of him, but he did not move otherwise or open his eyes. Mani assumed the flight over had been particularly hard.

“The weather is bad too?” he asked, earning a surprised glance from Wildt and a few others.

Lord Brerttin nodded slowly. “Wretched. Wet and windy and unforgiving. We are going into winter. There will be icebergs in the ocean around us, that is, around Watt. Nothing smart about such a move.”

“Unless you intend to use the icebergs as floating fortresses. They do not melt quickly, even until they reach Akanata sometimes.” Mani tapped the empty area of the ocean between Watt and Iskaryyva.

“Damnation.” Wildt pinched the bridge of his nose.

Rodgardae stood up, speaking to Lord Brerttin. “Sentie, have we heard anything of the giants of Khzern?”

“A few reportings, nothing…no, they couldn’t.” Lord Brerttin’s eyes flew open, wide and shocked.

Mani shook his head. “The tales of giant dragons are just rumors. We’ve chased them for years ourselves, sent long-range wingmen out to search the southernmost mountains of Iskaryyva, the ones that slip into the Low Sea. No giants.”

Rodgardae shook his finger at him. “But if they did, if they found them and recruited them somehow, they could use such beasts to carry man and supplies without worrying about boats being wrecked in the winter trade winds—”

“If they have them, they are staying to the back, close to the coast. Our patrols would have seen them at some point, surely.” Lord Brerttin sat up slowly, still pained from his efforts but interested in the speculation. “And there were ships, all over the place.”

“Too many ships?” Wildt asked.

There was a long silence before Rodgardae spoke up, voicing the conclusion that Mani had come to as well. “If the whole of the fleet was flung at the coast, it could wear us out while the main thrust of the attack is sitting with the giants back in Iskaryyva. The Imperial Navy will wage war on us mercilessly, if the numbers my brother speaks of are true. They can take a beating, great losses no doubt, but worth the price for softening us up and damaging our front lines.”

Mani nodded. “A feint. It’s an old dragon tactic, after all.”

Rodgardae and the other dragons present nodded. Wildt frowned. “No one has seen or heard about any giants. We can’t risk strategy on pure speculation.”

“Surely His Highness or the dukes have considered this?” Lord Brerttin said plaintively.

“He has,” Rodgardae admitted. “In fact, I suspect his conclusions are similar to ours, given his orders,” he said, stopping there with a frown. Mani knew that meant there was something to those orders that he did not like but was not yet sharing. Rodgardae took a deep breath before continuing. “In the meantime, there is no choice but to fight off the naval incursion with everything we have, and pray there is enough left over for what might come next if we do.” He stared at the map, worrying his lower lip. “If these speculations are even halfway right, then my brother is correct: this has simply become a matter of whether we will lose the war on the first wave of attack, or the second.”

For the first time since the possibility of war was mentioned, a heavy chill ran down Mani’s spine.