I'd Give Up The World For You

Rukelion didn't want to fight people who were only defending themselves on the behalf of his worst enemy. He had no doubt that Mirea had started the conflict that led to the crown prince heading toward Zel in the first place.

Even if they didn't, he didn't want to be complicit in destroying an innocent nation for someone as despicable as the Mirean king. Yet he found himself unwillingly on the battlefield.

He purposely didn't kill anyone since he was still trying to make diplomatic relations work out somehow. All he did was dart around the battlefield protecting the precious few people who were involved in his treasonous plan. He did this for over a week and was certain the Zelish soldiers had noticed.

Gaining their goodwill was paramount. He needed to do that before he tried bringing them over to his side.

Rukelion purposely injured a wind mage in a way that looked much more serious than it actually was and hissed at him to stay down and play dead. He was bewildered but did as his opponent said and was later able to sneak away from the battlefield when no one was looking.

He found that out later that night when he decided to finally make his move and sneak into the Zelish camp. He wasn't about to lay all of his cards on the table at once but at the very least he needed to make some sort of contact.

He wore a cloak with the hood up when he broke in and managed to silently glide through the camp until he found the medical tent. He assumed that whoever he had spared today would be in there and he was right. But he wasn't the only one. The injured wind mage was talking to someone else while the rest were asleep.

"…I don't understand it, Kové. Why would a Mirean officer do something like that? I know he was one because his uniform is different than the rest. I heard some of them talking too; people called him a major."

"How am I supposed to know? Mireans are all beasts. I don't even know why they decided to attack us in the first place."

"None of us do but I don't think this particular officer is like the rest of them. I've been watching him and he hasn't killed anyone though I'm certain he is capable of doing so. They call him the Lone Wolf and apparently he almost singlehandedly took out all of Aveleen's water mages. Why wouldn't he do the same to us given the chance?"

Rukelion took advantage of this chance to make his presence known and removed his hood. "I had a score to settle with the Aveleenians but bear no such grudge against you."

"Kové, that's him!" the injured wind mage said urgently. "The Lone Wolf!"

Kové squinted at him suspiciously, immediately assuming a defensive stance in front of the cot where his friend lay. "What are you doing here? More importantly, why did you save Arete?"

The wind mages looked a lot alike. Rukelion had never met any before coming to Zel but had noticed they all had either white or gray hair and the same tan skin the rest of the Zelish soldiers did. These two in particular also shared stormy gray eyes and similar facial features. They had to be related.

"As I said, I bear no grudge against any of you. I've come to bargain," he said simply.

Arete tilted his head curiously. "What power do you have to bargain with? You snuck in here alone in the middle of the night. Your people can't know you're here."

Rukelion bristled at the very thought of the Mireans being 'his people.' He couldn't bring that up so soon though. He had to act like he was a disgruntled Mirean himself.

"I don't agree with the Mirean king's policies and I'm far from the only one. He won't rest until you're destroyed and I don't want to see that happen."

Kové didn't relax his defensive stance. He clearly didn't believe him.

"This has to be some sort of trick. Why would a Mirean officer do anything to help us? You have absolutely no reason to."

"But he did save my life!" Arete interjected with a pleading look at his companion. "Hear him out at least, will you? I believe he is sincere in his desire to help. Otherwise he wouldn't have done what he did."

Rukelion knew that saving him had been the right choice! Relieved, he pressed on. "I don't want to see any more countries destroyed because of the whims of the king of Mirea. Please listen to me. I have an idea that might end this war without further bloodshed."

"…and what do you want in return for this idea?" Kové asked, cutting straight through to the heart of things.

"Manpower. Your wind mages are strong. When the time comes I would need to call on you for help but that is all. Isn't that worth the lives of your people?"

"Help with what?"

It wouldn't do for him to lie here. This could majorly backfire on him but… "Overthrowing the king of Mirea."

"What?!" they both shrieked before immediately lowering their voices, looking around to be sure no one had woken up. All of the other injured soldiers were far too worn out for that, thankfully.

"You truly want to overthrow the king of Mirea? Why?" Arete asked in disbelief.

"I told you, I don't agree with his policies and I'm not the only one. Someone with a complete disregard for his people and life in general shouldn't be in charge of such a large nation with a powerful military. Once we are in charge we plan to leave everyone else alone as much as possible," Rukelion explained.

"If you go along with my plan not only will you be able to protect your people, you'll be able to get revenge on the person behind all of this suffering. Doesn't that make this a win-win for you?"

Arete and Kové exchanged a glance. "He does have a point. We should try and convince the other clan leaders."

Kové let out a heavy sigh. "I suppose. At the very least our clan will survive if we do this. You are quite reckless for coming here and proposing such a plan, Lone Wolf, but fortune is smiling down on you today. You saved my brother's life and I am the leader of our clan so the decision is in my hands.

"I cannot guarantee that I can persuade any of the others to go along with this but if you tell me your plan in its entirety that may help. I assume you wouldn't have come all the way here if you didn't know what you were going to do in order to save us from the Mireans."

Rukelion nodded. "I have enough soldiers in my faction that I can tell to only fake fight against you. I could tell you which ones they are so your men would know to play dead after supposedly losing to them.

"Make it seem like the Mireans are winning and send those who have faked their deaths away from the border to safety. If the king believes he has won he should leave you alone. He has no true interest in Zel."

Kové eyed him skeptically. "And what of the men who aren't in your faction? They are going to continue trying to kill us."

"Not if I can help it. My men and I are all fast and good fighters. You've seen me take over other soldiers' fights to let my opponents off, haven't you, Arete? I can instruct all of them to do that for as many people as possible."

Arete looked to his brother. "It's true, like I was telling you about earlier. I believe he will be able to do it. At the very least we should propose the idea to the rest of the clan leaders involved."

He sighed. "Fine. I will speak to them in the morning. In the meantime you need to rest and the Lone Wolf should return to his camp. I'm sure people will be missing him if he stays away too long."

Rukelion reached his hand out to shake Kové's. "I look forward to working with you."

"I don't but I will change my mind if you achieve us the results you have promised. Until we meet again."

He left feeling rather accomplished. Even if he only had one clan's worth of wind mages on his side that would make a huge difference. His plan was still moving forward! And all without having to reveal his true identity since that was far too risky to do at this point.

The Zelish soldiers had no reason to rat him out to their shared enemy but even if they did he could deny everything. Who were they going to believe? A war hero or the people they had been ordered to kill?

Rukelion returned to his tent with the intention of telling Conrad everything in the morning before everyone else was up. He would be able to pass on the message much more easily.

He sighed and rolled over on his cot. He hoped all of this would be resolved soon. Then he could return home to his wife with a bunch of powerful new allies in his arsenal. At that point all that would be left was tracking down the mercenaries and figuring out the layout of the castle so they could make their battle plan.

Even one wind mage was worth five regular soldiers. With a handful of them on their side it would be so, so much easier to accomplish his goal.

Rukelion was confident Kové would be able to convince at least one other clan to join them. With any luck they could end this quickly without any more unnecessary bloodshed.. After so many years things were finally coming together. His revenge couldn't be too much further away now!