Chapter 57: 55 – Blooming

A few  days of moving north after Zahra distributed goods, I found something while on patrol with Talon. It was a couple miles away. The noon break wasn't too far off, so I descended down and called the break a little early. Zahra came up, recognizing it was out of the ordinary. Dharma wasn't far behind her.

"Is something wrong, Lia?" Zahra asked.

"Nothing's wrong, I just spotted your next task as a leader," I said. "About two miles ahead and a bit east, there's a camp of about forty Gnolls. You're going to form up a team, investigate them, make a plan to exterminate them, and execute it."

A pair of widened eyes greeted me.

"But… I've never done that," Zahra said. "This is already much deeper than we've ever gone when training, and we only ever attacked monsters when they were alone or in very small groups."

"Exactly," I said. "This is a perfect opportunity for you to get experience leading a military operation."

"Are you coming too?" she hesitantly asked.

"Of course not," I lightly flick her forehead. "This is your assault. From start to finish, the success or failure is up to you, as well as if your soldiers live or die. You'll report to me the results afterwards. Now get to it!"

"A-ah! Uh, um. Yes!"

As Zahra runs off, Dharma comes up to me. With a wry smile.

"You're going to hide in the shadows and watch, am I right?" the old elf cheekily says, barely above a whisper.

"Definitely," I say back. "I'll stay out of her skill's detection range and only join in if she's in trouble. She needs the experience of lives being on the line for her decisions, and leading a military force."

"You know, she has grown more on this trip than she has in years."

"That's just because I'm taking her out of her comfort zone. She needs adversity to grow."

Dharma smiles wider. "Her life was too orderly and needed some chaos. You're a good example of balance, Lia."

"Maybe. Maybe not." I shrug. "I just do what I want to."

Dharma continues to smile at me. Dammit, don't look at me like a grandma proud of their grandkid. Stupid old people, giving me the feels.

Now then. Show me what you can do, Zahra.

=====

POV - Zahra

Shoot! What am I going to do? I haven't done anything like this before! Attacking a settlement? Argh! Okay. Calm down, Zahra. You can do this. Take a deep breath… Alright. Where to start. I need people and information. Who can I ask… My leaders! Yes!

I ran over to the group of elves gathered around the bags Lia took out.

"Faizah!" I called out.

"Yes, Princess?" she replied.

Faizah is my military leader that I appointed. She should be able to help gather people.

"There is a settlement of Gnolls. We're going to attack them. Gather the soldiers and get prepared for combat."

"Yes, Princess!"

She goes off to gather the soldiers. Next, I need to find Burvis, my magic leader. Let's see. He normally hangs around… There!

I jogged up to him. "Burvis!"

"Oh? Hello, Princess. What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Gather the mages that can use magic for combat. There is a settlement of Gnolls we will be attacking."

"Gnolls? Understood. I'll gather them."

Now for the hunters… I reluctantly walked over to my hunting leader, Tuguslar. He's truly insufferable, and the most annoying man I know.

I said his name when I was coming up behind him. "Tuguslar."

"Hmm? Oh, if it isn't the Princess!" He gets down on one knee and pulls out a flower from who-knows-where and presents it to me. "What a beautiful day you are making this! The sun always shines brighter when you are under it. Oh, how blessed am I to hear my name come from your beautiful lips!" 

This man… I'll slap him one of these days. He always has some sort of flowery words or comments. Unfortunately, even though he is only a year or two older than me, he excels at what he does. In hunting, tracking, and archery, he outmatches the other elves of our group.

"Not now, Tuguslar." My eye twitched as his smile grew when I accidentally said his name again. "A group of gnolls is two miles north and a bit east. I need you to investigate the settlement and get the information we need to attack it. Any hunters that can join the assault should also be gathered.

"At your command, my Princess!"

He runs off to do as I asked. Alright then. Now that I have people and information being gathered, what next? I guess organizing the teams once that damn bast—I mean Tuguslar, returns. We should probably meet in a single area to plan. Just you wait, Lia. I'll show you I can do this and earn your praise!

After almost an hour, Tuguslar comes back. I'm already together with Faizah and Burvis so we clear some space. Alright, Zahra. Channel your inner Lia for this, and make sound decisions. Lead this group. You can do this!

"I have returned, my friends! I come bearing news and good cheer!" Tuguslar said with his arms stretched wide and an obnoxious smile on his stupidly handsome face.

"Yes, welcome back," I say in a monotone voice. "Here's a stick. Draw and explain what you saw."

"But of course! Anything for my lovely princess." With an exaggerated bow, he begins his report. "There's certainly a Gnoll camp north-northeast of here by a little over two miles. I counted thirty-eight Gnolls, and all minimally armed and armored. Clubs, stone spears, and a few bows. 

"The settlement doesn't have a wall, and is in a clearing next to a creek with about a ten foot drop to water level. Buildings consist of lean-to shelters. A large campfire is in the center of it. I noticed a few guards on the edges of the camp, but none patrolling the general area. It's unknown if they have any hunting parties out."

"Good work," I unwillingly said, looking at the drawing he made. "With the creek there, I think attacking from three points and backing them against it may be good. Other ideas?... Yes, Faizah?"

Putting her hand down, Faizah says, "I think that would be best as well. Counting myself, there are fourteen soldiers that are at a level to fight gnolls."

I nod. "Then if we do five on both sides, I can go with four in the center. Burvis, how many mages were you able to gather?"

"Those with decent combat capabilities, we have seven. Two fire, two air, three earth," He said.

"Then let's have an earth in each group, fires in the center, and an air on each side," I said. "...Tuguslar?" I ask, nearly vomiting his name.

He smiles with his excessively perfect teeth after hearing me say his name. "I have eighteen archers at your command, my Princess!"

"Six in each then," I said. "I'll lead the center group, Tuguslar and Burvis on my right flank, and Faizah on my left. We'll attempt to approach quietly, but if we're spotted, all groups engage. Try to stay together with your group. Let's aim for their archers first with ours and have the soldiers with shields defend them. Anyone have anything else to add?... Then let's gather our teams and set out!"

"""Yes!"""

=====

POV - Dalia

Hiding in the shadows, I watch as Zahra has a team meeting. 

Good. She had the leaders gather her troops and is planning with them and delegating the deployment orders. Now then. Let's eavesdrop what you'll do.

I secretly listen as they form their plan.

Alright, so three balanced groups for a three-pronged attack with the creek backing. Not a bad plan, and taking the environment into consideration. Keeps the Gnolls from running. Then how will you perform? I'll go find a tall tree outside her detection range and watch. 

I silently run off into the forest. Keeping ahead of her groups, I find a tall tree and scale to a suitable perch, overlooking the future battleground. After some time, I observe as their groups approach.

Okay… oh, a group was spotted and the gnolls are preparing. The other two groups are pushing in… Relying on archers while shields block fire. Good... Gnoll archers are dead... Fire mages are launching fireballs at structures. They're not good enough to set it completely on fire, but it's flushing out the gnolls… Alright, gnolls fighters are pushing into melee range through some arrows and magic.

I just realized. This is my first time watching normal people fight monsters. Usually it's just been me and my team in the dungeon, or OP fairies launching magic from above. I've never watched others from the different races in an actual battle. Watching the elves fight, I'm… Not satisfied. 

Is this what I looked like in the Tutorial Dungeon? Probably. They're uncoordinated, lacking precision and strength in their attacks. Footwork is all over the place. Did he just… Yes he did. An elf just used his spear like a club. 

Fuck. These elves need to learn magic and combat techniques, like, yesterday. Their movements are quick, but their swordsmanship and spearmanship sucks, and their mages are too weak. I wonder if most of their good fighters have all died to the other elves? Probably. These elves never seemed like fighters. More like hiders, which is whatever, since they survived. They survived at the very least. If these elves weren't at least a couple levels over the gnolls, this would probably end badly. 

Fucking hell. Looking at both sides of this fight, it's like I'm watching a football game with elementary school kids. This… I don't want to watch this anymore. At least Zahra and her military leader are doing alright. It looks like both of them have a similar style. Maybe the woman taught Zahra swordsmanship? Zahra is just using a normal steel sword. I'm glad she didn't try to use her Godsword in a real fight, since she can barely lift the damn thing.

Oh well. The fight is finally coming to an end. Let's see… No casualties on our side. Well, as bad as the fighting was, they accomplished the goal and didn't lose anyone, so that's a win. Oh! Generic raised-arms-shout echoed by all the others! Yup, this was like watching a pee-wee football game.

Well, time to head back. They'll be collecting cores and any usable items for a little while.

Arriving back at camp, Dharma sees me and comes up. "I take it that they won?"

"They did," I said. "No casualties, and she did a good job overall. However, I have a question. What happened to all of your fighters? To be honest, I wasn't impressed with their combat skills."

She sighs and looks down. "I assume when you went to the camp of the other group, you saw many more elves ready for a fight?"

"I did. The camp was much more militaristic."

She smiled sadly. "That's where most went. Some stayed behind, but their numbers were whittled down over the centuries, with the last of our great fighters dying when Zahra's parents were killed. Her military leader, Faizah, was just a standard soldier at the time, and was one of the most skilled to survive that attack. She has tried hard to teach Zahra and the others how to fight, but she is no master swordswoman."

"Wow. I really didn't realize just how close your entire group was to dying to the General."

She forces a smile. "That's why we've just been hiding, constantly moving from place to place to avoid them finding us as best we could."

I think for a moment. "Well, when we get to Midnight, I'll have them train with my guard captain. James taught me how to fight better, and I'm sure he'll do a good job with them."

"That would be helpful. They're all trying their best. They just need the opportunity to grow," Dharma said.

"I can see that." I remember a certain incident. "Well, maybe not the elf that used a spear as a club. He should either change jobs or find a different weapon. Maybe an actual club or a mace. Regardless, I'll give them all the opportunity to grow. It's ultimately up to them how much they embrace it."

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"And that's more than I can ask."

After changing the topic to more mundane things to pass the time, we finally heard Zahra and the others come back. Looking at the group covered in blood, sweat, and dirt, makes me incredibly happy I can use arcane magic. The couple crappy arcane mages they have don't have nearly enough mana to get this entire group presentable. Still, looking at the big smiles they all have, including the weird archer guy blowing kisses to everyone he sees with the punchable face, I can't help but smile as well. 

"So, Zahra. I take it that it went well?" I asked when she came up to Dharma and me.

Zahra looked incredibly proud. "Yes, Lia! You should have seen it! First, we—"

She spent the next twenty minutes telling Dharma and me all about the fight and what led up to it in detail. Her strategy, what she did, her thought process, everything. Also, what the fuck is up with her saying that she tried to 'channel her inner Lia?' The way she spoke so enthusiastically, and talked about her strategy and execution, you would think she just fucking planned and won the Battle of Midway or some other major military battle. She reminded me of a high schooler excitedly showing off their report card. 

When she finally got to the end, I nodded and smiled. "Good work. You accomplished the goal and didn't lose any of your own. That's a good thing and you should be proud of your first victory. Now, here." I reach out and channel cleaning magic through her clothes and her. After a few seconds, it's like she just came out of a shower, yet her hair is still a mess. "Go decide when or if we're marching on or staying. I'll be around the area and will catch up if you decide to move on."

"Yes, Lia!"

She happily hurried off. Such a large change from the first couple days. Is it because she's starting to gain some confidence in herself? It's good if she is, but I need to make sure she doesn't become overconfident, or I'll be forced to create a situation she'll surely fail at. For the time being, it's good that she's growing bit by bit. 

In the meantime, I run back to the gnolls. Using my magic, I gather the blood into a couple barrels and toss the bodies in a bag for hippogryph snacks or use as fertilizer. A lot of blood was gone, but with that many bodies, I can still get a decent amount out of them. Waste not, want not, and all that shit.

For the next few days after this encounter, we continued to jog in the direction of Midnight. I decided to wait to do any magic training with the elves until we got home. The last thing I need is an elf overdoing it and passing out. They all just need to focus on getting to the city, then they can get trained so they can eventually leave and rebuild their own city.

We should be getting closer. We made better time than I imagined since there weren't any small kids and Dharma is a bad ass old lady. How the hell did she get to level 36 being cooped up in that jungle? Well, I guess she is hundreds of years old. She probably has some old battle stories if I had to guess.

I asked her why she didn't train the other elves in combat. She said she tried a long time ago, but is terrible as a teacher and not as skilled as her level would suggest. I wonder if she got to her current level from something more similar to power leveling of if she got some lucky kills? Similar to how Anastasia is high level but doesn't know how to fight well. Who knows. 

When we got closer to Midnight, I stop us a bit early for the day and motion over the elven pair.

"Zahra, Dharma, now that we're in the monster lands, I think it's about time to tell everyone about the other elves. These are your people, so I'll let you handle how to tell them. I'll keep the surroundings clear so everyone can be there."

Dharma looks like she has gathered her resolve. "Understood, Lia. ZaZa, are you ready?"

"Yes, Granny."

With determined looks, they both begin gathering everyone. I leave them be and go around the area. After a few minutes, in the distance I can hear the elves yelling, sad crying, happy crying, shouts of joy, and everything between. 

As expected, this was tough news to break. The fact that they had been hunted for most of their lives, lost friends and family, and are now asked to welcome the culprits, is a hard pill to swallow. 

If this had happened centuries ago, it may have been better. Like the Christmas of 1914 during World War I where mass unofficial truces were called, and enemies exchanged gifts and greetings outside their trenches. Even a year later, there were multiple reasons, but feelings were too heated to ever do the same again. With the elves, hundreds of years have gone by as they have hidden away, ran, and been hunted. Their animosity must run deep. 

Honestly, if I was placed in the same position, I'm not sure if I could do it. If someone killed someone I loved, I would do anything and everything I could to kill the ones responsible. Fuck what anyone said. I feel like a parent saying 'do as I say, not as I do,' to the elves. I'll tell these elves to all play nice and get over their grudges, while judging and killing any that lash out and cause problems, even though that's exactly what I would do. 

This is partly why I killed all of the leaders of the other group. It gives the separatists the ability to blame it all on the dead, and then there isn't anyone living to blame… Yeah, that wouldn't work completely. Following orders is an age-old excuse. Even so, every group that is defeated or caught doing something always tries to find a scapegoat.

At this point, all I can do is try to create an environment where they can come together, and hope those that want to kill someone specific do it discreetly and in a way that looks natural. If they're stupid and lash out in public, yeah, there's nothing I can do but punish them. If an elf or two die of natural causes and nobody is any the wiser? It's no skin off my back. If someone suspects a murder, bring it up with the guards and they'll investigate. I'm not going to babysit the elves.

When I returned that night, the mood was generally somber. Some were quietly celebrating, some brewing in anger, but most were just relieved that it was over and saddened that it ever happened. 

I went up to Dharma. "How did it go?"

"About as expected." She forces her lips into a fake smile. "I hate lying or bending the truth. I originally tried to avoid saying it was information from an oracle, telling them that the civil war is over and our kin would be rejoining us. However, seeing the anger and hatred building in their eyes, just like you said, it wouldn't have worked.

"Thus, I did it. To keep as many of them as possible from retaliating and potentially continuing this stupid, stupid, conflict. For the greater good of the elves. To keep as many as possible from doing something idiotic. I did it, and told them it was from an oracle. And you know what? It worked tremendously. Not for everyone, but by having the endorsement of the gods, most started to accept it."

I reached out and patted the dejected priestess on the shoulder. "Religion and faith is a powerful tool. It can bring people together or tear them apart. You did good, Dharma. You prevented more pointless deaths today."

"Maybe. I hope you're right, Lia. I really hope you're right."

More time passed with little difference as we made our way towards Midnight. After two months of total travel, I saw a fairy fly down as we moved along. The elves tensed and some readied bows, but I stopped them.

Raising my hands to the elves, I shouted, "Easy, everyone! This is one of my nieces! Tsuki, the Second Princess of the Fairies!"

With them relaxing, Tsuki flies up to me.

"Sup, Aunt Lia!" she energetically says.

"Hello, Tsuki. Good to see you. Why didn't you message me you spotted us?" I ask.

"Ehehehe I wanted to surprise you! I spotted a lot of things moving towards the city from way up high and thought I should check it out. Then I saw you and Talon! Sup, Talon!"

"Pii!"

I chuckle. "Well it's good to see you, and you definitely surprised me. How far do you think we are? Two days out?"

"I'd say so. These the elves?" she says, looking at the elves who have all eyes on us.

"Yeah. You'll get to talk to more of them later, but let me introduce you to a couple."

Hopping off of Talon, I go over to Zahra and Dharma. Both of them are still surprised to see the little fairy.

I put a hand out to Tsuki who lands on it. "This is Princess Zahra Zarate and Priestess Dharma. Like I said before, this is Princess Tsuki Nikita."

"Hello there! I'm Tsuki Nikita. Fairy Princess. Nice to meet 'cha!" She does a cute little curtsy. 

"I-I'm Princess Zahra Zarate. N-nice to meet you, too."

I think Zahra might be a little shocked. Is meeting a fairy that odd? 

I lean over and whisper to Dharma. "Is she alright?"

Dharma whispers back, "She always adored dolls as a child. Now, a cute, foot tall princess with wings flies down. I'm pretty sure she's just restraining herself."

That makes sense. My nieces are like adorable little dolls. No wonder Navi likes dressing them up so much.

The two princesses chat for a little, but we all have things to do.

"Alright, Tsuki. Shouldn't you be getting back to your patrol?" I say as I pat her head with a finger.

Her tiny eyes go wide. "Oof! Yup! See ya later, Aunt Lia!"

Just as quickly as she arrived, she flew off to continue her own business. Like a spell has been broken, Zahra comes back to her senses and shakes her head.

"Queen Midnight? How many fairies did you say there were?" She asks.

"Right now there is Queen Navi Nikita and her three daughters, Princesses Lala, Tsuki, and Carmen."

"Four cute fairies. I wonder if they'll let me touch their wings or pat their heads."

I could barely hear that quietly mumbled sentence with my heightened senses. Oh gods, if Navi schedules another cosplay day, I doubt even I could keep Zahra from it. Zahra and dolls, huh? Well, you learn something new everyday. Anastasia has a pretty big doll and stuffed animal collection in her room. In fact, when she doesn't sleep with us, she usually has a large stuffed rabbit she sleeps with now that Mitena is too big for the bed. 

We continue onwards with our energy renewed knowing we were so close. Just a little more.

=====

POV - Head Priestess Alienor

Marquis Whitewater calls out to me inside of the church. "Head Priestess, it's time to gather at the gate."

"Yes, Marquis! I'm coming!" I answered. "Colin, watch over the church while I'm gone!"

"Yes, Head Priestess." the young dwarf slightly bows as I leave the church.

What a wonderful day! As I follow the nice Marquis to the gate, I can't wait to meet the first group of elves! The past two months have been so very fulfilling! Even with Princess Carmen helping with the longhouses for the elves, she was still able to work on the church at night and we were able to finish it just last week! What a hard worker she is. Praise the gods for making such a wonderful race!

It's such a spectacular building! It has become everything I could have hoped for. This entire trip to Midnight has been more than I could have hoped for! Praise the God of Order! Praise the Goddess of Chaos! Thank you both so very much for the opportunity to serve your will here!

Thankfully, there haven't been any orphans that need a home, but many of our other programs have been going wonderfully! The soups we serve each day are hearty and filling. Thanks to the belt pouch that Queen Midnight gave me, we're able to make more and waste less!

I was even able to select eight people that I am teaching how to be priests and priestesses of the Church of Balance! Over half of these are humans that had been abused by other humans. Such strong souls to be able to stand tall once again. One priestess is even a vampire that wants to live in town and help those that were in her situation. Being able to include the different races has been wonderful.

Our counseling sessions are our most used service. From Queen Midnight's urging, many of the women, and even some of the men, that Ms. Sara brought back have been coming regularly. It breaks my heart to hear some of their stories, but I'm so thankful that they made it to Midnight. To a place that cares and can help them. If the Church of Balance can give them the boost they need to move their lives forward, then I'm even more thankful to have been guided here.

Today, I was requested for the initial introductions with the elves. One of the elves is a priestess, and even received her own divine oracle! I'm looking forward to meeting her and talking about our experiences with the God of Order! Queen Midnight is truly doing the Gods' work! 

Arriving at the gate, I see the small group of the leaders of Midnight. What a wonderful community we have here. Some days I want to just stay here forever! Yet, I'll go wherever the gods lead me. After waiting for under half an hour, I see Queen Midnight riding Talon off in the distance with the elves close behind. Ah! This is just so exciting! Once they get closer, Princess Anastasia can't wait any longer. She rushes off in her adorable cloak with the cute Mitena close behind. 

What an adorable dragon she is. Since she was a special existence created by the gods, dare I say she is a divine beast? Yes! From henceforth she must be classified as a divine beast! And Talon has to be classified as a Holy Steed! Carrying the one chosen by the Gods! How marvelous! Praise be to the God of Order and the Goddess of Chaos!

"Mommy Lia! Welcome home!" the princess says as she rushes up to Queen Midnight, who dismounted Talon when she saw her daughter rush forward.

"I'm home, Anastasia." she says while embracing her daughter.

"Groewell!"

"Pii!"

They all greet each other and Lia brings the princess back sitting on her arm. Right here at the gates of Midnight will be the first meeting of the original four races in a thousand years! Humans, dwarves, elves, vampires, and now fairies. Queen Midnight might not realize how significant this moment is. Whatever the Gods have in store for the Vampire Queen, one thing is certain. She has accomplished the impossible and brought the races of the world to the same stage as friends. 

This is definitely going into the memoir I'm writing about Queen Midnight! When this first volume is finished, I'll make copies with their new printing press and spread the greatness of the one chosen by the Gods to everyone in the world!

What a wonderful time to be alive! Praise be to the God of Order and the Goddess of Chaos!

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