Chapter Seventy-Five: Futile Resistance

"...And there were never any sightings again after that, so that was probably the last one."

"Wow... I know that dragons were dangerous, but I still wish I could see one."

"They did have a kind of powerful grace to them, though I only ever saw them in the distance."

"Well my first personal experience with them was when one sent its kids into a town to hunt down homeless people. So fuck 'em."

"They never actually attacked us. We had our ways of dealing with them, and they knew it."

"I'm not surprised, we would've too if we had magic. Or funding."

"Yes, but if everyone had the capability of fending them off you wouldn't have had the pleasure of dealing with them yourself."

"True."

Tim, Meg and Princess Cristina were in her carriage, heading for her home at the capital. It was taking longer than expected because they had to move at a slower pace to match the aging horse Holly. The majority of the group assumed they would split up, allow Cristina to speak to her father in order to prepare him for what was to come, and then the other two would join them.

This plan was not one the princess approved of however, since she wished to hear all the tales the two had to tell, and insisted they travel together. Begrudgingly, the guard captain agreed, as the princess pointed out that since there had already been one attempt on her life, it wasn't impossible that there would be another, and Tim would make a fine bodyguard.

Neither Tim nor the guard captain believed there would be another attack, but Tim wasn't about to argue, and the captain knew better than to bother trying.

"So what did you do after that?" Cristina asked, not bothering to conceal her excitement.

"Well, after that there were a couple of skirmishes I got involved with. Probably would've led to wars honestly, but they always got cold feet."

"Having your entire army slaughtered by a cackling maniac with a ponytail would probably do that to people."

"You're just jealous my hair's better than yours."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Anyway, other than those, there was just the problem with the monsters in the South, then it was pretty boring afterwards."

"Monsters?"

"You had a go at me when I called them monsters." Meg said, confronting Tim.

"Nah I'm talking about the ones that used to be there. They actually were monsters, nothing but fur, claws and fangs. Until I killed them all of course, now there's only the nice ones left."

"How many times have you committed genocide anyway?"

"Only twice, unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?"

"Well I tried to get rid of the wolves, but the bastards keep popping back up."

"Why would you want to get rid of the wolves? As far as I'm aware they don't tend to attack humans directly right? They usually go for livestock, and that's only when food's scarce. They're more of a pest than an actual problem."

"Oh I know. I'm not doing this to help people, I'm doing it for me."

"Why?"

"Because while they don't tend to attack groups of living people, they'll happily chow down on dead ones. And that was something I absolutely did not need to see."

There was an awkward silence for a moment as the women glanced at each other, before ultimately deciding that they weren't going to ask about that particular incident.

"So what about the monsters?" Cristina asked, the awkward atmosphere not deterring her from her entertainment.

"Hm? Oh, well since the God of War was gone, and the nations' armies were thinned out, the monsters started getting brave. So-"

Tim stopped, as the carriage they were in came to a halt. He shrugged to the women, and stuck his head out of the window to see what was happening.

"What's up?" He asked the driver as he looked ahead. He could see a wagon in front of them, with the guard captain talking to its driver.

"The captain sent off for a wagon to carry your horse." The driver told him. "Since you wouldn't let him send word of why there was a delay, he wants to speed up, so we're putting her on a wagon."

"I did wonder why he stopped pestering me to leave her behind." Tim said, and after watching for a second, pulled back inside.

"Looks like we'll be back sooner than expected." He said, settling in. "Now, my second act of genocide..."

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King Harold of Spara, along with his son Edgar, stood outside the palace entrance as the princess' carriage pulled up. They had been informed of her arrival once she was spotted approaching the city, and had come out to greet her. The king was especially interested in hearing how her meeting with the new ruler of Athene had gone, and Edgar was currently in the process of learning how his father conducted business, and thus acted as his shadow for such things.

The carriage pulled up, and the guards stood to attention as the door opened. The princess emerged, helped down by one of her aides, and began to walk towards her father.

The king smiled as she came closer, and welcomed her back.

"Welcome ho..." His face froze, and he trailed off, as he saw another woman exit the carriage, and recognised her. As Meg looked at him with a pursed lipped grimace, he began to groan, and turned his attention back to the carriage door, where another figure was emerging.

"Harooooooooold!" Tim shouted, like a child sheepishly making a request.

"...What?" He asked, thoroughly displeased, and dreading whatever fiasco he was about to be subjected to.

"I need your heeeeeeeeelp!"

The king let out an angry groan as his son looked upon the situation with pity for his father, and himself. His daughter, on the other hand, was enjoying her father's frustration, and appeared to be looking forward to whatever painful interactions ensued.

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"So the being you summoned was a man, who has since then taken control of Athene, killing all other viable rulers in the process, and may have attempted to kidnap or kill my daughter?"

"That about sums it up, yeah."

"Understood. Now get out."

The king, his children, Tim, and Meg were within the conference chamber of the king. The only servant allowed within was the head butler, who remained behind the king in case he needed anything. Harold and Tim had carried the conversation themselves, with Cristina watching her father grow increasingly annoyed with amusement, Edgar ponderously thinking of any possible solutions to the situation, and Meg staring off into the ceaseless void of boredom.

"Why?" Tim asked incredulously.

"Because even if everything you just said is true, I have absolutely no intention of working with you, regardless of how I decide to handle the matter."

"You need my help."

"No I don't. In fact, judging from how you've handled the situation up to this point, I can only imagine your involvement would hinder any attempts at a resolution."

"What? How come?"

"You told me that you were visiting every noble family to ask for their aid in searching back when the incident happened."

"I did, and?"

"And the man was adopted by a baron, yet you did not know."

"It's not my fault I don't know the family tree of every noble in existence."

"Don't you fucking lie." Meg confronted Tim, pulled from her ennui by her strong conviction to tear into him whenever the opportunity presented itself.

"He was taken in by the Baron of Themil, and you hate that place so I bet you never even went."

The room stared at Tim, and he scanned the expressions of those who judged him. He sat straight in his chair, held his head high in defiance, and folded his arms.

"Prove it."

Meg shook her head and resumed her previous activity of staring into the distance.

"Are you even taking this seriously!?" Harold yelled, since unlike Meg, who was somewhat indifferent to the meeting itself, he had a vested interest in its outcome.

"Of course I am, it's just hard to pretend to be thinking about how this is going to go when I already know what the conclusion will be."

"How could you possibly know what I'm going to do?"

"Because I am hundreds of years old and I've been in enough wars to know how the politics of conflict plays out."

"Is that so? Then what, pray tell, am I planning to do?"

The king glared at Tim, daring him to speak. And speak he did.

"During the last internal takeover of Athene part of their royal lineage was within Spara, the descendants of whom now have a young woman about the age of Edgar within their household. You're going to launch a campaign against Spara under the justification that they attempted to kill Crissy, saying that upon your revenge, you'll return the original royal family to the head of state. You will provide this honour to the girl on the condition that she marry your son, Crissy will become the heir to Spara, and you'll have doubled the area, resources and manpower under your family's control."

Harold and Edgar sat with eyes wide, and the king looked to his daughter, who was greatly enjoying his expression.

"...You two planned this on the way here." He said, pointing at his daughter and Tim.

"We may have done." Tim said with a nod.

"The woman's name is Phoebe." Cristina added. "She's a friend of mine."

The king looked at his daughter as she smiled at him, and felt a sense of apprehension at how calmly she was taking the situation. He wondered for a moment who had more input into the plan Tim had laid out, and decided that once this was over, he would spend more time with the girl. For the sake of making sure she didn't plan anything disruptive, if nothing else.

"Well, if you know all that, then you know that our plan doesn't need you to work." The king said, still wishing to keep Tim out of his and his family's lives.

"The guy's got the country's elite in his pocket, he has advanced his hometown's infrastructure, the quality of its produced goods and arms, and became the ruler of the nation, all in less than a decade. Even if it wasn't him who sent the ambush, he clearly has aspirations of power, and considering the ease with which he took over Athene, he will probably be seeking to expand his borders. He will be leading an army with whatever knowledge he has from his previous world, which probably doesn't have an asshole crushing ever war before it begins, whilst you've never seen active combat in your life. They have the combat experience of the takeover but your troops have none. Despite this you think that you should decline the help of the most experienced man there is. Not to mention you appear to be of the opinion that the man who, amongst other things, is well-known for inserting himself into every single major conflict for centuries and massacring entire armies, would just sit on his ass and not participate if you did. Am I understanding you correctly?"

Tim looked down his nose at the king, who glared back in return.

"I am the king of Spara, a proud nation that has lasted for centuries since before you were ever around, and home to the Goddess of Fire. We do not need your help to defeat a madman from that backwards, godless land."

Tim sighed, and his previously loose expression hardened.

"Harold." He said, his voice indicating his seriousness. "I don't mind if you want to pretend to be a big boy and act like you don't need any help. But if you carry on like this, I'm going to get annoyed."

The king and his children felt a shiver down their spines, they couldn't peel their eyes away from the man, who as far as they knew, had crushed their spirits merely with a change of attitude.

"I'm not asking. Do you understand?" Tim said, and the feeling in the royal family intensified. It was all the king could do just to keep his composure, as he felt true fear in his heart for the first time.

"So can I go home?" Meg asked, breaking the silence.

The atmosphere shattered, and everyone turned to look at her.

"...What?" Tim asked, slightly thrown off-kilter.

"Wars take time to sort out, and I have things to do. You're done here, so I want to go home."

"But, we aren't done..."

"Yes you are, this argument is a farce and everyone here knows it."

Tim looked at the others, who looked back at him, and no-one said a word for a moment.

"Alright then." Tim said. "Hey creepy, do us a favour."

"Of course sir." The butler said, stepping forward.

"Can you find two stone slabs big enough to comfortably stand a horse and another person on?"

"Will they be required to move?"

"At least one of them will."

"Very good sir, I shall be back soon."

"Thanks."

"And how does that help me get home exactly?"

"You'll see." Tim turned to the king. "I guess we should break this up for now, is there a guest room or something we can wait in?"

"...West wing, first door on the left from the entrance hall."

"Ta."

Tim and Meg got up to leave, and as they made their way to the door Cristina rose to follow them.

"Sit down." The king said in a low voice, and she reluctantly returned to her seat.

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A short while later, Tim and Meg were stood outside, joined by the head butler, with the royal family attending to see what it was they were up to. Before them lay two large stone slabs plenty big enough for their purpose.

"Right then." Tim said, clapping his hands. "Butler, bring our horse over. Meg, draw transport circles on the slabs so you can move between the two."

"Yes sir."

"Ohhh... Yeah, that would be faster."

"Saves me running there and back too."

Meg got to work, and quickly drew up one of the circles.

"That's all very well and good." The king said. "But I hope you aren't expecting us to transport that for you."

Tim gave the king a look of muted scorn, then ignored him. He squatted down, and prised his fingers beneath the slab. Lifting it up, he grabbed the edge and pulled the slab over his head. He then stood up with the slab as a small roof over him.

"See you in a bit." He said, and then shot off out of the palace grounds, to the apparent surprise of everyone watching, barring Meg, the princess, and the ever unaffected butler.

Meg finished up the second circle as Holly was brought over. A short while of waiting later, the circle began to glow, culminating in a flash of light, and Tim's return.

"Sweet." He said. "That solves that, on you get."

Tim led the horse onto the slab, with Meg stood next to her. With a wave to the princess, Tim sent her off, and the slab was relocated to an area where no-one would accidentally stand on it, in case it should be used from the other end. Tim stayed behind to help plan out the method of taking Athene, and was given a room for the time being in the palace.

Cristina would take up most of his free time, pestering him for tales of his past. She also asked what he did to instill fear in them while they were in the conference room. Upon hearing his answer, she asked him if he could do it again, at which Tim decided it would probably be better for his already strained relations with the king if he wasn't around her so much.

Meg on the other hand continued her research, whilst occasionally receiving food parcels through the transport circle from Tim. He would also come through every now and again to clean out Holly's barn and make sure Meg had been feeding her properly. This usually lead to Tim being disturbed by the lack of full meals Meg herself had been eating, whereupon he would take it upon himself to do some cooking.

Meg didn't like being treated like a child, but she also really liked having a proper meal, so she cut her losses and just kept quiet through his admonishing of her.

And in another palace, in another city, two men were discussing their own plans.

"The team sent to assassinate Princess Cristina was butchered. Looks like losing sight of those two was worse than you thought. Now what are we going to do?"

"Our people on the border roads haven't reported them coming back."

"So?"

"So, why don't we drop by their home, and prepare a little something for them. The magic research group have had a breakthrough recently, and the subject should be able to do some damage."

"I highly doubt anything we have will be able to beat that man directly."

"Maybe not, but I've had an idea. All we need is time, and even if we don't win, we'll never lose."

"What are you planning now?"

"A defensive spear, to sit upon this city's shield."

Constans sighed, and with downtrodden spirits, left his friend to his plans.