全城危机

Alexander took a quick look around Biruz\'s command tent and came to an identical conclusion as Commander Shriak all those weeks ago. Austere and functional. The mark of an efficient and capable commander.

There was only a large table in the middle of the tent and some sort of a bunk at the corner. There was nothing else, not even an armor stand. The troll probably slept with his armor on. And apparently he took his meetings standing up.

Alexander gave Biruz a friendly and confident smile. Only Dubaza, who was frowning and rather disgruntled, had joined him in the tent. Biruz only had his trusted Lieutenant with him as well. So all things considered, Alexander monopolized 99% of the strength in the tent. Pretty good, Alexander thought cheerfully.

However, looking at the bigger picture, they were 11, no 10 mages (Alexander could barely be considered as a mage since he was a black robe) surrounded by 20,000 ferocious trolls who excelled at close combat. Ferocious trolls who, by merit of Alexander\'s piss-poor decision to accept Biruz\'s invitation to \'join him in his command tent\', were only seconds away from getting into melee range of the mages. Pretty dumb, Dubaza thought darkly.

But Alexander was the King, and dumb as he was, Dubaza was duty and honor-bound to follow him and protect him. Dubaza sighed, quietly revising his opinion of Alexander. Definitely not a Demon Tiger, he thought. Maybe a normal tiger? Alas! Even a normal tiger wouldn\'t jump into a pride of lions trying to make them join its gang! I need an animal outside of the big cat family. A herbivore, maybe? Herbivores are rather dumb. Dubaza glared at Biruz and his lieutenant who was glowering rather magnificently. Looking sullenly at his sharp tusks, claws and elbow blades, Dubaza changed his mind. Not even herbivores are that dumb, Dubaza finally decided. He sighed again.

Alexander heard Dubaza\'s sighs and grinned internally. Outwardly, he still maintained his confident and friendly smile. Yes, he knew he was taking a big risk. His own life, as well as those of his bodyguards, were at stake. Maybe even the lives of the citizens of Rin-Turah, considering that the death of its newly-crowned King would probably destabilize the Kingdom and cause more deaths. But the prize was too juicy for Alexander to ignore. An entire Zantroll Regiment! Possibly even the entire nation of Zan! No King would pass by such an excellent opportunity. Afterall, the best victories were the ones you didn\'t need to fight for.

"If King Dirz\'On is dead, Campaign Commander Shriak would be the effective leader of Zan." Biruz finally broke the silence.

"And if Campaign Commander Shriak is dead?" Alexander asked, his heart beating slightly faster in surprise at the direction the conversation was going.

"The Regimental Commanders would fight for leadership." Biruz said.

"And if there is only 1 Regimental Commander left?" Alexander asked again.

"Then he would be King of Zan." Biruz said softly.

Alexander nodded, his brain whirring extremely quickly, considering all possible angles and scenarios. He was rather surprised at Biruz\'s intellect and political maneuvering. But it worked very well to his benefit, so he played along.

"Well then, King Biruz of Zan, what do you think of my proposal?" Alexander asked pleasantly. Next to him, Alexander could hear Dubaza take a deep breath. How\'s that, old fart? I just saved you from fighting an entire war with Zan. Alexander thought with a smile.

"Pretty good move." Buccephalas said approvingly. "Like a weasel sniffing around for food and somehow finding a chicken coop full of chicken. You\'re pretty good."

"Of course. I\'m always on the lookout for good men to add to my team. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Hey, that sounded really smart!" Alexander exclaimed.

Buccephalas snorted.

King Biruz stared at Alexander quietly for a minute. He then nodded in acknowledgement of Alexander\'s acknowledgement of his Kingship.

"I am a pragmatic troll." King Biruz said. He smiled at Alexander\'s raised eyebrow and continued. "A rather uncommon trait in my race. But not an outlier by any measure. Campaign Commander Shriak was pragmatic as well. He was also very shrewd. He would have made a great King for Zan." He paused for a moment.

"But I digress. With the destruction of our main army, Zan no longer holds any hope of conquering Rin-Turah."

Dubaza snorted derisively. Beside Biruz, his lieutenant growled.

King Biruz smiled and motioned to his lieutenant to calm down.

"Even with our army intact, we didn\'t stand a chance. I know that, but our misguided king and his ministers didn\'t. Now that it\'s gone, our ruling council would be content with peace - "

"I think you mistake my intention, King Biruz." Alexander interrupted. "I acknowledge you as the King of Zan. And I will strengthen your hold upon the throne. The ruling council and everyone else can all go to hell. You will be King and you will have full authority over Zan. I will make that happen. But one thing must be clear. You. Answer. To me."

Alexander paused for effect.

"Now that we\'re clear. What do you think of my proposal, King Biruz of Zan?"

King Biruz remained silent and stared emotionlessly at Alexander. Next to him, his Lieutenant fidgeted slightly.

Dubaza had resumed his sighs. Thinking dark thoughts about fighting angry 20,000 trolls while trying to keep the most idiot king alive, alive, presumably.

"I agree. With one condition." King Biruz finally said after a long silence. As a King, his first decision was to surrender his entire country to another King\'s will. To say that it was not an easy decision would be a gross understatement.

But it was a necessary decision to make. The alternative was unthinkable.

"Speak."

"You must station a battalion of mages permanently at Zan, at the city of Zar\'Ator to fight and keep Zan safe." King Biruz placed his claws on the map and pointed at a city near the North-Eastern border of Zan. A massive forest more than twice the size of Zan and Rin-Turah combined stretched beyond Zan\'s Northern and Eastern border.

"Why?" Alexander frowned.

"Beast tide." King Biruz said simply.

"Beast tide?" Alexander searched his memories and found pieces of information regarding it. Apparently the Forest of Elgar was teeming with life and magical energy. Many beasts had mutated and became Beast Lords, commanding hundreds of thousands of other beasts. A Beast Lord was almost as strong as a Red Robe.

"Every few years, once the beast population of the Forest of Elgar reached an overwhelming level, a massive beast tide would emerge from the forest and ravage our northern and eastern lands." King Biruz explained. "Initially, they would simply attack the countryside and eat whatever they could find. Various villages, lifestock and so forth. Ever since King Dirz\'On became King though, he started building fortresses and cities all over the country. We were able to use those fortresses and cities to resist the beast tide. Our casualties had dropped massively. But just last year, everything changed. Wyverns began attacking our cities."

"Wyverns!?" Alexander asked in shock.

"Yes, wyverns." King Biruz repeated.. "Dragonkin."