Mean while in Isotora...

"Your highness, the Queen of Lesteros is on her way here." The Kings hand approaches the throne.

His eyes grow wide in fear, fear for what is to come with her. He has heard the rumors of an undead army, he has heard the rumors of a frozen storm that lays waste to the land, he has heard of her treachery and pact with Thanatos. Isotora is no match for what she brings or what she is now. His heart pounds painfully.

"Why is she coming?" He asks, in a voice so adolescent it cracks as he speaks.

"Sh...she wants to speak with you about an alliance." He replies with just as much terror in his eyes.

"She knows my answer!" The King snaps. Cursing himself for not allying with the Dragon summoner sooner. At least then he wouldn't be dealing with the dead.

"She isn't taking no for an answer my King." He replies sheepishly.

He swallows hard, this can't be happening.
"What is she bringing with her?" He asks in a darker tone.

"Our mage projections tell us she brings, a small army of things we have never seen before, not human. She has a mage by her side as well and she rides a black Ox."

"Damnit! How much time do we have?"

"Five or six days and they will be on our doorstep bringing the frozen storm and dead with them."

"Gather our army, I want all civilians in the keep. Innocent lives must be protected at all costs. We will stand our ground...as long as we can."

"Yes your highness." He bows and turns away hastily.

"Richard!"

"Yes?"

"Send a raven out to Brianna Nobile, summoner of dragons. Tell her we will ally with her if she can help us fight off the undead and their queen."

"Yes my King."

"Let's pray she can make it here in time."

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After filling our bellies, we convoy through the desert heat once again, across the sandy planes towards the rebel camp. It was Kit, Jed and myself leading. Brianna, Harold and grim shadowing us, then Revish and Gogo. Our morning started well, Kit had everything packed and prepared before anyone had gotten up. It would seem he had trouble sleeping last night, and decided to be productive.

"We should be there by night fall." Jed assures us.

He takes a swig of water from his canister and passes it along to me. I take a sip and pass it to Kit. The air was getting thicker with magic, I could feel it, although I'm not sure if the others could. The sand was beginning to get rough, and fade away into rocky cracked earth with various desert foliage sprouting between the crevices.

"Just through that canyon beyond." Jed points straight ahead to a large chasm lined with towering cliffs on either side. "Water used to flow here, but a sinkhole further down has dried this place up. Who knows where the water went. It was what destroyed the realm of Laria, which is now just dry decaying ruins. The perfect place for a rebel camp." He looks to me and winks.

I smirk back. "They are wise to be hidden in ruins. But how are they surviving without water?"

"Everyday their mages summon a rain storm. The one we passed through was the remnants of their recent storm. That is how I know we are on the right path." He pulls out is sundial from his saddle pack reading the time of day.

"We arrive at midnight." He says.

"Alright, do you have a plan of action?" I ask.

He rolls his eyes. "Of course I do! We're sending Brianna and Gogo in." He says so casually.

And both Kit and gasp.
"No we are not!" We say simultaneously.

Jed bursts out laughing.
"Oh yes we are, I will have you know that the entire rebel camp is under the command of the strongest women I've ever met. There are no men in their ranks, there for men going first is not the greatest idea."

"Don't they know you?" Kit asks.

"Not all do, I'm sure there are new recruits by now. I've been gone for quite some time. But Brianna can do this and we will council her on what to do and say. if it all goes down hill? Well...she can summon a beast to get their attention." Jed replies confidently.

I shake my head.
"You would put your own daughter in danger first?"

He reaches over and slaps me on the back hard then grabs the back of my neck hard leaning in closer.
"Don't take me for a fool boy, I know what I'm saying. Have faith in me. We will be right behind her, I promise you."

I can feel my anger rise inside, as much as I would like to trust what he says, I have a hard time putting Bri and Gogo in the first line of danger.
"Alright, you better be right." I snarl back at him.

"Vance, Brianna can do this." Kit reassures me.

"Yeah I know, I just don't like the idea of her getting hurt." I reply.

"None of us do." Jed says.

I sigh.

"We need to talk about something." Kit replies.

I glance at him, he looks back at me with a straight face. I know this look, he means business right now.

"What's wrong, Kit?" I ask.

"I think we have all gotten off track lately. I mean...we need to focus on our battles ahead. I doubt Brianna has given one thought to leading an army to victory. We should be guiding her through all of this, I don't believe any of us has had a conversation about it. Some of us have had too much distraction lately..." he takes his eyes away from me.

What does he mean by that? If anything "he" has had too many distractions lately.
"What do you mean by distractions?"

"I mean, instead of guiding the poor girl through this, we've all just expected her to take control and lead, while indulging in things that are not even close to battle related. Not giving it one thought that maybe she has no idea on what to do." Kit replies sharply.

His tone is testing my patience.
"And what's gotten you so distracted?" I take a stab at his feelings, wondering if he will actually admit to them.

He rolls his eyes at me. Which pisses me off even more. "I think everyone's distracted by her Vance, you would be blind if you weren't." He replies.

I chuckle. He was right about that.

"Yeah, Jed you must have had a hard time with her growing up." I reply.

He bursts out laughing.
"You know how many asses I had to kick? She's been proposed to at least six or seven times. She stopped going out socializing in the city once she hit the age of fifteen."

"My god, we'll I guess luck is on my side." I reply.

He chuckles. "Yeah, who would have thought she would end up with a prince! Here I thought she would end up with some farm boy nobody."

I can feel Kit wince at that remark.

"Huh, well fate takes its twists and turns. Who would have thought she would be queen of the realms." I wisp a mystical hand across the sky.

Everyone laughs and the tension between us quickly subsides.

"Yeah. And she's perfect for it." Kit replies and we all agree.

"So battle tactics from now on, she needs training on this. I've been through a few wars myself. I actually led the war of the Vale, when my father and Unoilla were fighting over the mystical lake it held. It's ours now, apparently I'm pretty good at strategy. I can help Bri with this." I say.

They both nod.

Jed leans forwards on his horse.
"Kit I want you to train Bri and train her hard. You are far beyond the best fighter I've ever seen. I hate to admit it but you are even better than I am. You are the greatest fighter I've ever sparred with, I want you to teach her all you know." He says.

My breath hitches and I stare blankly at Jed. How is it possible Kit has surpassed Sir Jedrek the Great? He was good, but was he really "that" good?

"Jed, you are too kind. But I am not as good as you." Kit replies, playing it off.

Jed shakes his head and looks at him sternly.

"No Kit, you have had me on my back many times, and I was giving it my all. You have a knack for mimicking technique and improving it. You are THE greatest fighter in all of the realms don't second guess yourself." Jed leans back in his saddle and looks straight ahead. A sign as not to challenge his compliment any further.

I look at Kit who is a ghostly white, his brows furrow as he thinks to himself.

"Well how about that Kit. Looks like I've made the right choice with you after all..."

"I guess you did... Alright I will train Brianna as best as I can. You have my word." He replies.

"Good! She's a great student, up for anything, so don't be afraid to go hard on her, she excels in grappling and knife throwing. But she is very efficient with almost any weapon you hand her. You'll have some fun." He smirks.

"I don't doubt that. And what about the others? What do they bring to the table?" Kit asks.

"Well, Harold and Grim are great soldiers they can council her in battle as well as the more social aspects of war. Gogo is the best in stealth, and agility she can keep her..."

Jed interrupts.
"Ahhh...no...Brianna is the greatest thief I've ever seen." He chuckles.

Kit and I both stare at him.
"Theif?" Kit gasps.

"Yes! I've watched her outrun ten castle guards at the age of eleven. She has been a handful since she was just a child." He complains.

And we both laugh at that.
"Yes she confessed to "borrowing" things, as she put it, in Kaleda." I reply.

And  everyone howls with laughter.

"Well let's see if Gogo has any tips. Now Revish, he is a whole different type of animal. I don't even know what he is let alone his strengths." I say glancing back at the raven perched on Brianna's shoulder.

"Well, why don't we ask him? He's not that unapproachable." Jed states.

I sigh.
"Alright." I turn back towards Brianna and the rest of our gang, then whistle. Everyone looks at me.

"REV! COME JOIN THE BOYS UP HERE FOR A CHAT!" I call to him. He twitches his black head towards Brianna for approval. She nods and he flaps his wings gaining air. He soars in towards us then lands on the top of my horses head staring directly at me.

"You called?" He asks slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, us guys were wondering what the hell you can do?" I ask smiling slyly.

He twitches his head at all of us.

"What do you mean?"

"We are wondering what you can do to help Brianna in this war?." Kit asks. "I am training her in battle." He places a hand over his heart. Then sweeps it across to me. "Vance is teaching her battle tactics." Then he leans forwards looking at Jed. "And Jed is....wait what the hell are you helping with Jed?"

"I'm gaining her an army and I'm her father, I made her, there is nothing better than that!." He grins.

"Are you sure about that?" I ask in monotone.

He sighs. "I'll be her hand, the one who keeps her grounded. With all these hormones being thrown around, she's going to need someone to keep her on track."

He always has to say the most embarrassing things, causing all of us to turn a deep shade of red.

"Fine, you can be her "emotional guidance". I say making quotation marks with my hands.

He chuckles to himself.

"Back to you Rev. What can you help with?" I ask.

"Well, I am her familiar, we share a bond that cannot be broken by anything but death. I am her knight as well, and I led the Red Army through the first war of the realms. I was commander of the Black Dragon Brigade."

And everyone's jaw drops. There were no sounds for what seemed like minutes. If this was true, he was The Iron Heart of Lesteros. The strongest man in all the realms who led a small army of highly trained soldiers. Although they were defeated, giving their lives for their Queen, they killed nearly triple the amount of men compared to their numbers and slaughtered Centaurs if they were nothing but ponies. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for them.

"You are The Iron Heart. It is an honor." We all place a fist to our hearts and bow our heads.

"Yes, I was, but I am Brianna's Knight now and I lead no army. My job is to gain her victory in this war. In return she will set me free, just like she will Andai." He replies. "You must listen to me now, we all need to put our emotions aside if we are going to win this war. I ask you to please guide her with your experiences, and be mindful of your actions. Emotions can cause many problems in battle." And before we can say anything else he flaps his wings once more and soars into the air back to his Queen.

We sit on our horses stunned, waiting for the first person to speak.

"Well I'll be damned." Jed speaks up.

"Yeah...wasn't expecting that. I feel slightly inadequate now." I reply.

"Yeah me too." Kit says.

"Let's just be happy he's on our side, he will be one of our greatest assets... Now that we have that settled, we have a large canyon to get through." He stops as we approach its entrance. "Keep an eye for rattlers and scorpions. If you see a white fox at anytime you tell me immediately!" Jed says sternly.

A white fox?" Kit asks.

"Yes, a white fox in the desert is a sign of illusion. Meant to lead you astray, do not follow it and do not look into its eyes. If you do, you will be lost to its tantalizing spells." He whispers looking around.

"Sounds as if you've fallen for this trap before." Kit chuckles.

"Once, yes...I'd rather not talk about it." He replies.

And we leave it at that, I'm not sure if I want details on what a man does alone in the desert while under tantalizing spells.

"The white fox is a ploy for the rebels, it's mages work." He says lastly.

And we all stopped, staring at the largest canyon I've ever seen, like the entire earth has split into two jagged pieces of rock. It was not dark inside, but it will be soon and we will have to be on our guard as the sun peaks midday.

"Are we going to stare at it? Or should be carry on?" Brianna snickers behind us.

"I was thinking we would go around it." Jed says back.

"You're kidding!" She scoffs.

"Of course I am! Vance here will lead the way." Jed leans over and slaps the back of my horse, causing it to jump and begin trotting through into the chasm with everyone else following behind.

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