Heroine On Strike

She wasn’t sure what she was feeling. It wasn’t anger or a sense of righteousness. All she knew was her desire to solve this problem and that she had to act now. Although things had changed and she could do things alone, she still needed her family’s support. Ella nodded and spoke to Evan in a firm voice. 

“No, the drought has already begun. It won’t rain anytime soon in the near distant future. Can you imagine that? It’s not like it’ll rain for a bit. It won’t rain at all. We might be able to make it through this season with what we have in store, but it won’t last till this upcoming fall. This drought might still be here the season after that.”

Evan’s face became pale as he listened to Ella’s words. It was a terrifying assumption to make. If what she said was true, then it would be a national disaster. It wasn’t a simple thing to say. But there was a sense of eerie feeling in Ella claiming such terrifying words without a single doubt.

‘What made her so certain of this?’ Evan couldn’t find any evidence that what she said was true. Last year the Fruit of the Holy Tree was harvested and presented to the emperor. ‘Wait. What happened to the fruit this year?’ questioned Evan. By now the fruit should have been harvested and within these two months brought to the palace. Evan looked at his sister.

“If you find my words hard to believe, then send someone to the Dollan Mountain and check the fruit. Also, I sent Smila to collect some Stones of Water. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to collect a lot without people noticing. Can you gather some for me?” asked Ella.

“Stone of Water? Why do you want such a thing?”

The Stone of Water contained powerful water energy in it. Duke Winsrolls’s family produced it. They produced a limited amount of them. As a result, they were difficult to obtain and very expensive. Even if Ella had the money to purchase them, there wasn’t much to buy. What was making her go as far as asking her family to buy them? The drought? Stones of Water weren’t enough to solve the drought problem. It wasn’t enough, even with the help of the legendary Great Wizard. Not only that, the stones didn’t have enough power to summon rain. Besides, a magician with that much power was long gone from this world.

“I’ll be giving it to a man who can stop the drought,” said Ella.

“Who’s that man?” asked Evan.

“I don’t know yet,” replied Ella.

“Ella!”

“I’ve read it in a book. Three empires will experience a drought once it is time for the changing of the next dragon generation. Do you remember that drought in Toiken last year? The next one will occur at Martin or Duffspe. Because we haven’t seen rain in the last two months, I suspect our empire is next. We have to be ready.”

While Ella spoke urgently, Evan still found it hard to believe her. The changing of the dragon generation happened maybe once in a few centuries. Besides, droughts happen a few times a year in every country. Saying that the upcoming drought in the Toiken empire was a sign that the changing of the dragon generation was going to happen was a bit too much. Evan, however, couldn’t entirely deny the possibility of it happening because of his sister’s certainty. 

Of course, Evan’s reaction was very normal. Ella knew that she also wouldn’t have believed such claims, if someone were to tell her that. As such, she wasn’t surprised or angry at Evan. Instead, she was thankful that Evan didn’t brush her off for thinking nonsensically. Even when they were talking about a possible tragedy, Ella couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. She knew her brother cared about what she said. On the other hand, Evan was wondering why his sister was smiling.

“I know it’s hard to believe.”

Evan coughed and looked away. He claimed that he would always trust her no matter what, but in this situation, he found it hard to believe her. He was not worthy to be her brother. There was no other way to put it.

“I understand. I wouldn’t have believed it either. I was actually going to be worried if you believed me that easily. I would even have thought I should not talk to you anymore if you become the Chancellor.” 

Ella said those words to comfort him but soon realized she might have reacted that way if Evan trusted her words so easily. She would have worried that he would be decent enough to not pursue his own profit. That seemed impossible.

“What are you talking about? I am always your brother. There is no reason in the world that you need to stop talking to me.” 

“Of course. I find it fortunate that you’re not the type of brother who believes in nonsense from his sister.”

“Ella…”

Ella laughed at Evan’s troubled expression. After a long laugh, Ella, with a serious look on her face, glanced at him. He who was troubled by Ella’s smiles read the changed atmosphere of Ella and became serious. Although it was fortunate, he didn’t believe in her so easily, a part of her wished that he would understand the logic behind her words by reading the book. If it wasn’t possible to persuade him with the book, then Ella was given no choice but to speak differently. And she was hesitant that it might put a bind on herself.

“I’m serious about this. You have to believe me. Everything that I just told you was the proof I had. But…”

Ella bit her lip as she hesitated. She asked herself if this was her only choice. After pondering for a moment, she decided she needed to do this. While Ella was deliberating, Evan was starting to become nervous as he noticed the hesitation in her voice. 

After a moment of silence, Ella said, “I saw it in a dream. It was a terrible dream. I don’t want to see it happening. You have to help me. Even if I’m wrong, we still need to be prepared for this.”