Revin waited for Shifra and Kaiato in the garden. It had various exotic plants in a wild variety of colors, some sprouting with jagged leaves. Or were those petals? Others twisted around each other with multicolored vines. He sat on a stone bench, nibbling a slice of bread he had snagged from the dinner table.

He jumped when a small bird landed next to him.

He blinked. It wasn’t a bird; it was another saurian. Its snout was scaly, and it had teeth, like a lizard, but it had feathers sprouting all over its back and limbs.

These saurians keep getting stranger and stranger, Revin thought.

It glanced at the food, then cocked its head at Revin.

He broke off a small piece and held it out to the creature. It sniffed, approaching slowly.

“Come here.”

It waited, hesitant.

Revin held still.

It scuttled forward in a quick rush, snatching the bread.

He grabbed its body. It squirmed until his mind-lassoes leaped forward, wrapping around the creature’s will. Once the connection was established, it relaxed. He fed it another bite of bread, which it gobbled appreciatively. It was a clever little creature, intrigued at the connection it now shared with Revin.

Shifra stepped out from inside the building. “Found a new friend?”

Revin smiled. “That I have. I think I’ll call him… Birdy.”

“Birdy?” Shifra shook her head, “Your naming abilities leave something to be desired.”

Revin chuckled.

Kaiato stepped out the same door, a rifle on his back and a short sword at his side.

Revin looked at him. “I thought we were going to a library?”

“I never leave them behind.” Kaiato looked dead serious. “Now, let’s go find your books so I can go to bed.”

Shifra raised an eyebrow. “You think we’re just going to walk in and walk out? We could be there for a while.”

“Checking an index and grabbing a book shouldn’t be that hard,” Revin said, remembering the well-organized libraries of the Hiriv.

Shifra cocked her head, “Have you ever been in a library?”

“Yes!” Revin said, offended. “A hundred times!”

“And how big were they?”

“Hundreds of books full!”

Shifra laughed. “Revin, our libraries have tens of thousands of books.”

Revin’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Please tell me they have good indexes.”

“Better, we have good librarians,” she said, “Come on, let’s go.”

Revin’s brain was still twitching at the mention of tens of thousands.

✦✦✦

Omrai sat in his war room and massaged his pounding temples.

On the map sprawled out over the table, many cities in the east were marked with red x’s and dates. He still couldn’t believe them. Jebuthar’s armies moved far faster than any army in known history . A new red x marked the location of his great defeat at the hand of Jebuthar. The greatest defeat he’d ever experienced. To the side were written the number of combatants lost. Over half of Omrai’s force was now dead.

More than half. This wasn’t a defeat; it was a massacre. His father had defeated Omrai in a duel, long ago. Omrai had fancied himself an excellent fighter, but his father made quick work of him. It was a significant blow to his pride.

This was a hundred times worse.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

He looked around the room. Several of his generals sat around the table and note takers stood at the edges. Some frowned, others bore wide-eyed looks of hope. All waited silently for his words. I should really expand this room, give the assistants somewhere to sit…

He let out a calming breath. “As you have likely heard, I’ve just returned from our first battle with the forces of Jebuthar. He and his metal warriors have powers which far surpass our own. Until we can understand our enemy further, open war is too risky an option.”

“What do we do? Retreat?” General Tonnin said. It wasn’t a challenge. It was fear.

“We must fall back. Send word to every city. All should prepare to flee at the first sign of a ship in the sky. Soldiers should be scattered through the city, not stationed at a single barrack. We won’t win if we fight the way our ancestors have. We must find new ways.” He thought of Revin and his powers.

He turned to General Etos, “What news do your spies bring from the east?” The man bore a look of frustration. He was from the east as well.

“They’re doing better than expected,” General Etos said, “despite Jebuthar leaving the Sendevalians in control of conquered territory.”

General Tonnin frowned, “How are they doing better than expected? Sendeval has never shown mercy.”

“Oh, there is certainly no kindness , materials and money have been taken, but there is a lack of the atrocities which usually come with an invasion.”

“When I spoke with Jebuthar,” Omrai said, “It seemed he had a strict moral code. A moral code which drives him to protect the lives of noncombatants. But he will slaughter to a man the armies of his enemies.”

General Etos nodded urgently. “We must attack, who knows when Jebuthar will strike again, we must regain those lands.”

Omrai didn’t like the man’s demanding tone. “General, I am fully aware of my responsibility to regain control of the east. But you were not there, you didn’t watch as men and saurians were crushed by invisible weights, bleeding and stomped into the earth. You didn’t have to retreat with half an army, chased by a flood of metal.”

General Etos frowned.

“Go see the wounded, many permanently disabled. And tell me if you think open warfare is an option. As soon as I rejected Jebuthar’s terms, he attacked without hesitation. If we fight openly against him, he will destroy us with a mere wave of his hand.”

Omrai stood. “I won’t pretend this isn’t bleak, I’ve given you orders to retreat and evacuate if an enemy invades a city under your protection. I’ve asked you to prepare every city for this. I’ve asked you to do things generals shouldn’t have to do.”

Omrai placed his hands on the table, “But we must find another way to win, if we cannot defend against these warriors, their weapons, and their flying machines, then we may as well surrender now, and save the lives of our men.”

General Etos shook his head. “The eastern tribes will not willingly lay down.”

“I’m not asking them to,” Omrai said firmly, though he felt the man’s frustration. “I’m asking them to wait . I will be joining them soon.”

The men gave him confused stares. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I am traveling to the east with a small group,” Omrai said, the details forming in his mind, “To learn more. Your most important duty is to keep our people alive . To fight, as we are now, is certain death.”

“Better to die than be ruled by Sendevalians,” one general said.

“This is not a surrender, this war isn’t over, but until we can fight him on equal ground, our only choice is not to fight.”

He looked around the room, some looked incredulous. “Some of you don’t believe we are so greatly outmatched.” He met each man’s gaze in turn. “Some of you don’t understand. I command you, after this meeting, to see the wounded. Listen to their stories. See the horror in their eyes. We are little more than insects. We must find our sting.”

The men nodded. They would obey, and hopefully the hundreds of eyewitness testimony would convince them of the truth. So many of them still thought of Omrai as the unconquerable commander.

“Gather as much intel as you can about those following Jebuthar. If you must engage the enemy, focus on polearms, picks, and maces. Getting in their joints and breaking the clockwork of their limbs is the only remotest chance you have of disabling them. I’ll be using pteros to communicate while I’m behind enemy lines.”

“Won’t he capture them?” one general said, “He controls the air.”

Omrai shook his head, “Not if I can help it. My new friend will be of great assistance there.”

“So, he really is a wizard?” General Tonnin said, “I was skeptical when I heard.”

“His powers are very real,” Omrai said, “And Jebuthar has a monk of his own, one who uses the same powers to control his metal warriors.”

General Etos jumped at this, leaning forward, “Can the monk control his own army?”

“Apparently, these monks are only supposed to be able to control beasts. Somehow Narazoth can control metal warriors too.”

The room went quiet.

“We must resist the impulse to fight. For now, our best hope will come with knowledge. Trust me. We will be successful. I pray to Shevidaro that we will be.”