System Change

Chapter 370: Prepare for the Worst

The flight from capital to capital was long, to say the least. Without the ability to teleport from city to city throughout the kingdoms because of the massive dragonkin, they had to fly the entire way. Just as planned, Blitz met the group before they even left the Cydaria border, and Edgar moved to his own companion from Edwards, leaving the king and crown prince to take care of babysitting the Duke of Astrus.

Even with the straight line speed that the dragonkin all flew, it took over a day and a half to get to the elven capitalonce again proving how good Void Travel could be. When they arrived, the Indrian retinue was already waiting for them.

It would have been a bit faster and easier if Derek would have used Void Travel to bring Indrias party to Cydaria for them all to leave from there, but, the decision was made that it would look better to the Indrian people of the capital to see their own leaving side by side with Cydaria. On top of that, the royal family had much to do in the two days leading to the departurespecifically, dealing with the combined army that was mostly still located in their borders.

Derek and Alanah stayed circling in the air on her contracted wyvern, and Avery and Tara did the same on Lyra, while Blitz and Volt took the royal family and Duke Terrin down to the palace. It seemed that the Indrian royal family had called for a gathering for the event, as there were many more peoplemostly elvesgathered around.

There was another speechthis one a combination of Edward and Osianfor the people of Indria. Derek tuned most of it out, as he had already heard the gist of it before when they left Cydaria. The group did a little show with Duke Terrin and, though the cheers were more subdued than those of the Cydarian citizens, the people of Indria eventually got behind everything.

Finally, a handful of Indrias peopleincluding the king and dukejoined Edward, Edwin, and Edgar on the backs of their bonded beasts and they lifted off to scores of applause and cheers from the crowd.

Derek waited for a bituntil they all got a decent distance away from the citythen looked over at Alanah. Ill be back in a few. Seeing her slight nod, he looked over to Voltwhere the Indrian royals, Edward, and Edwin were gatheredand, after having Silvi hop off his shoulder and onto the back of the wyvern, he used Active Void Shift and appeared just a few inches above the flying beast, then landed on its back.

Ryven winced, and the crown prince jumped away before panicking and trying not to lose his balance on the back of Volt. Osian, to his credit, only turned his head slightly to look Derek in the eyes. Edward and Edwin seemed to be becoming immune to Dereks antics, and did not show much of a reaction to him appearing out of nowhere without any warning.

So, Derek said to Osian. Did you bring enough people? he asked as he ignored everyone elses stares. He was talking about the five elves who had boarded the back of Blitz instead of Volt. One of which he recognized as the female general, Nira, who was in the meeting the other day. All in all, there were nine people from Indria and eight people from Cydariaif he counted himselfgoing to Astrus. That was if he wasnt counting the dragonkin and Silvi. If he did that, Cydaria massively outnumbered Indria.

The King of Indria looked around at Edwin, Edward, and the others.

Im talking to you, not them, Derek said. You know more about whats going on with your side than either they or I do. I want to know what we should expect once we get there.Gét latest novel chapters on nov(e)lbj/n(.)c/om

Finally, Osian glanced over at the other flying dragonkin, specifically Blitz, and all the people on his back, and nodded. We had to make a good showing, he said. After our announcements, we had to show that we were in complete support of one another.

Announcements? Derek asked. What did you tell everyone?

Not much, yet, Osian replied. Mostly that we have withdrawn our support from Astrus and joined forces with Cydaria. The rest will be announced in due time. For now, they know everything they need to know. There was less pushback from some of our elders than I thought there would have been, too. So, that is good.

Elders? Derek asked.

She is known to be, Osian replied. Not as strong as Tevarian, but from what Ive heard, shes no pushover.

So, you think these two will be able to convince everyone to fight us?

I cant imagine why or how they wouldnt, the Indrian King replied. Almost all the witnesses to your battle with the army, then Tevarian, have been captured and are being held here in Indria. That is what my brother and I have been doing since you left the palace that and speaking to the elders.

They will only have what rumors have spread there from Cydaria and previous battles. With the lockdown of my kingdom, it is not easy for information to spread outside of Indria currently. So, its possible they may not even know that you are back. Even if rumors did manage to find their way out, they arent that believableespecially when it comes to your companion.

You seemed to believe them easily enough, Derek said. Osian was quick to recognize Derek when they invaded the palace and act accordingly.

I had reports from my brother about your companion already, and Ryven wouldnt lie to me. And when your son dies in a battle, you tend to take it seriously. Even if it was against a horned rabbit. The king clenched his fists, then unclenched them with a sigh. Plus, like I said, everything that happened when you joined the war happened inside my kingdoms borders. So, I doubt they have any first-hand accounts of what actually happened.

I see, Derek said. The communication lock that Indria had over their kingdom really could end up being helpful to their current situation. Just because Tevarian and his brother were so high up politically didnt mean that they were the strongest in Astrus. The prime example of this were Edwin and Edward. The father and son duo were most definitely stronger than the average person in the kingdom, but there were many others who were stronger than the two of them. Though, from what Osian said, it does seem like Tevarian was up there.

So, with all that in mind, Derek didnt expect to just go in and have everyone roll over for them. He expected a fightand not an easy one. He would allow the leaders of the two kingdoms and their people to take action first, as it would be more impactful that way, but if he was neededwhich he was sure he would behe wouldnt hesitate to jump in.

So, we go in hoping for the best, but expecting the worst, Derek said.

Yes, Osian replied. That pretty much explains the situation and life in general.

Yup, Derek thought.It was an idiom that Derek had heard his whole life back on Earth. And it never applied more back then than it had ever since the system came. Derek had specd into vitality and endurance back then because he was prepared for the worst, and it had helped and saved him countless times.

Good chat, Derek said, then turned and looked at Edwin and the others, who had been listening in, but hadnt interrupted their conversation. Did you all hear that? he asked.

We did, Edwin spoke up. It is as we expected.

Good, Derek said. Im going to head back over to the less crowded wyvern. I look forward to seeing you all fight. He laughed and disappeared with Active Void Shift before they could say anything. The next second, he was standing next to Alanah.

Learn anything new? she asked from her seated meditation position.

Just that we should be able to watch a pretty good fight between senior citizens, he replied with a laugh. And hopefully, there will be a good fight for us as well. With that, he sat down and slipped into his own meditation. They didnt have long to go, and he wanted to be as fresh as possible just in case.