68 — Strategic alliance

The fairy king had come a long way on such a short notice but a war was on the brink of time and he had no choice. It was a mystery that he could find the crowd in the forest as they made their way towards their mission.
A whole lot of his soldiers were just in front of him, guiding him from any attack that was peonw to happen if they were not careful enough. Lily and the others had stopped walking and waited for their arrival as the priestess had already told her that they were not far away from where they were nestled.
It didn't take long before a buzzing sound was heard followed by a gentle sweet breeze. A signature entrance by the fairies.
Everyone was on their feet, alert as always and anxious, Lily didn't know about anybody else but she was anxious. The soldiers all lined up, their fingers in a twist position for defense and their king at their center. He walks out as graciously as he could manage, it was a wonder still tahg he could still think of grace in this position and at this time.
The priestess walked towards him, an inch taller than her, she embraced him like a long lost friend, Lily stepped forward for an introduction.
"It's been so long my friend. It's been far too long" the fairy king said with a mouthful of the priestess's locs. She left the embrace, drew back and looked at him in a way that suggested it must have been a terribly long time, with a heavy sigh she looked at Lily who was now standing just inches away and looks back at the fairy king.
"This is the commander and our child of victory" she gave a copy smile, one that was equally matched with hers.
"I believe we have urgent matters to discuss? Shall we look for a place?" He asked moving his eyes to and fro. The priestess nodded and began to lead the way to a secluded part of the forest, two guards followed the fairy king, while Lily strayed along long enough.
Nicolas felt relived that he had spoken about everything that had happened, he hadn't expected to feel the weight that had him pressed to the wall to go with the wind. Who knew that by talking about it, it would ease him from all the pain and suffering he had entitled himself to?
Now that he looked at it, he realized how much manipulation his father had done with him, he had seen the cruelty and his need to please, all too sickening. It wasn't right what his father did, it wasn't right that he did what he did and no matter how many people he talked to about it, no matter how many times he talked about it, he had done a devil's thing. He had played a part in the things he had orchestrated and made to come to pass, it wasn't just about his open confession, he knew that no matter how many wars he fought for the werekingdom, he was never going to forget and neither woukd the people and somehow he found a tiny bit of solace in that. He would pay for his crimes, no matter how they came about, he would accept each and every one because he deserved it, wholeheartedly.
****
They had found a stone, Lily was suddenly realizing how Stony everything was in this long accursed journey.
The king sat and so did the priestess, Lily preferred to stand because it made her seem bold and sure and she would be able to know his facial expressions and judge him on that. To be honest, she wasn't quite believing when the priestess told her privately that they were going to have allies. She could remember it as though it had happened yesterday. Everyone had been talking behind her back, slicing her with murmurs until they couldn't hold it back any longer, the priestess had to talk to her first. She had been panicking and feeling more and more inferior, every minute a murmur came forth from their lips. She was trying so hard to keep up the macho bravado, if not for their sake but for hers because any slip up would earn her a downbeat and even though she so wanted to roll on the ground and weep and do something else other than be here, in their midst hearing her name slashed and slandered, she needed to be here. She understood that wars being out the best and worst in people and despite knowing fully well that you needed trust to win a war, she couldn't blame them. Imagine training for a war of takeover and then reapplying those training skills to go to a war of save, the same war you wanted to wage against the same kingdom that you were now about to save. It was absurd and she had taken her fears to the priestess, she didn't know if she was worthy enough to even lead and the priestess looked at her straight in the eyes and said " I sent word to our allies, they've agreed to help us. They'd be coming here shortly, I sent them a mind map of our location. Don't worry about how we're going to win the war, you're a child of victory and we're going to help you fight! Be strong leader, don't forget your title" she couldn't believe that help was coming, she felt rejuvenated and freed. It boosted her morale, she couldn't believe her ears and now it was happening. She still couldn't believe her eyes. It all looked so unreal, she didn't want to believe the priestess when she told her but now, what was there not to believe? The fairy king was here and she was sure that he was one out of many that would suffice before they crept out of this woods and made their attack on the vampire king, with whom his spoilt brat of a son was here with them.
"I got your message priestess" he began
"I know, you wouldn't be here if it was otherwise" she countered.
He sighed and smiled at her " still witty, good. We need some form of humour because this war isn't any any of us had ever fought. It's a whole different kind, as I'm sure you've heard because it should be no news that the vampire king had stumbled on some forbidden information, it has been kept hidden from them for a thousand years but now that the truth of it has surfaced, it's good you know. The vampire king may be this close — he gestured with his fingers — to actually making a hybrid, he may be closer than we realize and he may be doing it... Naturally" Lily cringed at the thought of it.
" We know about the hybrid but we didn't know about the natural form it was going to be made, the king is one hell of a disgusting man" Lily spoke, earning stares from both of them. The fairy king nodded his head in agreement.
"But we can stop it, it may seem impossible but I believe and the moon goddess has given all of the signs, I interpreted a vision I had a few days ago" the priestess said.
Again, the fairy king nodded in agreement and gestured to one of the soldiers that still held his fingers in a twist, it was rumoured that thief powers were held in their fingers and that didn't seem untrue been that they twisted their fingers in that way, like they were constantly trying to avoid a jinx, a thing that kids do nowadays.
One of them released himself from the constant posture, it must have been pretty demanding because he momentarily breathed a sigh, bringing out an usually well folded and an impossible length of paper from his pocket, Lily was nearly tempted to ask how he had done so. The king looked at her there and then as the thought crossed her mind and was shocked to see a smirk play across his face as he took the paper from his hands, clearly avoiding the tips of his fingers.
Confusion played on the faces of the priestess and Lily, they both couldn't comprehend what the paper meant aside from it's disproportionate and mind blowing size and measurement.
"Here, this is a map. Sort of..." The king began and carefully stood to spread the paper properly and making both Lily and the priestess to move closer to get a look, as they all hunched over the absurd paper, it lit up and some obtuse shapes began to form right above the paper. It startled Lily but not the priestess as she had already seen this before.
"Still have tricks in your sleeve" the priestess chuckled and that gave Lily quite a horror of just how much had she seen in her life time.
The king smirked " this is where we believe that there would be a second mating, as the first didn't quite yield as much results as was intended" he touched a shape that seemed to form a solid upon his touch, which further freaked Lily out.
"A second mating..." Anger crossed Lily's face, at this point there was never supposed to be a first and killing Nicolas seemed all the while more interesting to carry out as the thought passed and left Mark's that sunk deeper into a part of her mind that only carried anger.
"Do not weaken your mind commander, you would need it. Anger never fixed a thing, neither does your plotting. We have a plan, if you'd let me finish?" She hadn't realized that her thoughts had swerved the king of his tracks. She apologized and he looked back to the paper.
"How long before the second mating occurs?" She finally asked a good question.
" We're not so sure yet but it's always best that we are prepared. The mating would start here, an open field because the vampire king is that cruel and disgusting. It is rumored that this mating ritual would take longer and so he would naturally have to protect the borders and the entrance points of the open fields while leaving a loop hole at the entrance of the kingdom, he won't bother about who comes into the kingdom, he wouldn't even care if the palace was looted. He would pour all his resources to this place — he gestured at the now solid object that kept floating and on further inspection, it was a piece from the map— he is that proud and arrogant and what better way to fell a man than his own pride?" He finished and the map rolled in itself, again making Lily undergo a little fright.
She wasn't paid any attention.
"Very true, but we can't do it all alone, your forces alone can't just remove him, even as our forces are aligned, it still can't help us. We need a bigger army if we're to ever win this war" Lily said. The king looked intently at Lily.
" My child we are not alone. Every force you can ever imagine, every kingdom you can ever think of, everyone has their faith in you and they are on their way as we speak" it shocked Lily to know that there were more on their way.
Suddenly a gentler breeze began to rustle the woods and the trees began to shake a bit, sway from side to side and the trees began to shrink and Lily rooted to the spot and seeing how the trees began to shrink and somehow form into a creature, she held the priestess hand in fear, as people began to emerge from the crevices of trees and appear out of the air, she wore a mystified look that gradually changed to gratitude.
"They're here" the king said aloud, his voice holding happiness.
Everyone started to bow their heads at her direction, it started small from the fairy king, but it spread suddenly as people kept appearing, heads kept bowing to her and in one voice, they all screamed.
" We pledge our allegiance to you!"
Lily was at a loss of words but her morale was at it's fullest. They were going to win this war, she was sure of it, now more than ever.