“So you want me to go look for rocks?” Leander, the siren, looked at Livia curiously.

  “These are not just any rocks.” Livia replied as she tried to contain her excitement. “They are ores that contain a metal that has never been seen before, with fascinating properties! The ore should be naturally hot as if being heated internally. And when this metal is placed near like metals it should get hotter!”

  Leander heard what Livia was saying, yet despite her explanation he could not find the same excitement.

  “And you said this was in Amone’s domain?” Leander asked her.

  “That is what the submitted report said.” Livia replied. “This was the artifact you brought back.”

  She showed him the metal plate that Jaco had shown her earlier. She had taken it as she kept reading it. Leander gave the plate a quick glance.

  “I pick up so many of these things that I have a hard time telling them apart.” Leander replied.

  Livia did not reply, Leander knew that it was going to take more than that for her to be satisfied.

  “But I will go back and look through the region.” Leander relented. “I’ll bring a team with me to bring back as many of these ores as possible.”

  As soon as he finished the door opened, Zhi walked in and sat opposite to Livia and Leander. There were still five empty chairs remaining.

  “Thank you so much! I look forward to seeing you return!” Livia said.

  “Ah, I see Livia has a project for you.” Zhi smiled as she spoke to Leander.

  “If the Lady asks for help, I am more than happy to help.” The siren replied with a grin.

  “I think it's more that it's impossible to say no to Livia.” Zhi added as she laughed.

  Shortly thereafter two more walked in, Kadus and the gesherin Habres.

  Livia stared at Habres intently.

  “Oh no.” The gesherin said quickly as he stopped in his tracks. “What was it this time?”

  “A rifle being used by Sergeant Huron!” Livia began. “He dropped it and it fired! It nearly took me out!”

  “What? No it can't be! It fired from the impact? That shouldn't have happened! Are you sure you're not confused about what happened?” Habres asked Livia.

  Livia did not even need to say anything. From her face Habres knew there was only one choice he had.

  “No, nevermind. I'll address it right after this meeting!” Habres began. “I'll make sure that it doesn't happen again!”

  The last to enter was Artesh. He was still mostly covered in snow. He had just finished overseeing the drilling furtives.

  “Habres did you hear about your rifle almost killing Lady Livia?” The long haired Artesh spoke as he approached the table.

  Habres looked down. “I did.”

  “I see.” Artesh said as he turned to Livia.

  “Lady Livia, my personal apologies for what occurred earlier.” Artesh said as he addressed Livia. “When I heard of what had transpired I was mortified! I personally led more drills with the Sixth to ensure that those mistakes are not repeated again. It would have been a tragedy had anything happened to you.”

  Livia did not doubt Artesh's concern. The main thing that Jokasta's hand picked cadre of leaders shared was devotion to the cause. They all knew how key they all were to the cause. This endeavor could not be accomplished by any of them alone.

  “I appreciate your concern Artesh,” she replied, “I truly believe the furtives are giving it their all in their training. But I can't help and worry about how they will fare when they face Titans.”

  “We have already led two successful battles against two Giants Lady Livia.” Artesh replied.

  “I know.” Livia replied.

  Barad and Bordt, two of the weakest Giants they had found. They were caught by surprise and the furtives had come out victorious, but not unscathed.

  How will we fare when we face stronger enemies that know we are targeting them.

  Livia repressed the urge to continue the conversation. She was already doing all she could to address her concerns.

  “Is Celtes joining us?” Livia asked.

  Everyone around the room went quiet as they stared at each other.

  “What you see here is just old Kadus!” Kadus broke the silence.

  “Celtes is away on a personal task.” A new voice spoke.

  Suddenly all the occupants of the room stood up.

  “Goddess Jokasta.” They all said in unison.

  Jokasta as always had appeared at the head of the table where they had been sitting. With a touch of her finger the smooth stone surface of the table changed.

  In front of them a small landscape grew, mountains took shape, bodies of water were filled in, landmasses grew out of the stone. Near her finger stood unique structures that were arranged in a rectangular pattern. These structures were covered in blankets of snow and surrounded on all sides by steep mountains. Around the mountains all that connected this specific land mass to any other were large sheets of ice.

  “Lady Zhi.’ Jokasta spoke.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Goddess Jokasta, all the Onsiels have met with the various squadrons they will support.” Zhi began. “All have begun preparations for the trip to the continent.”

  Jokasta was silent as she listened to Zhi’s update.

  “Casim?” Jokasta asked.

  Zhi paused.

  “Goddess Jokasta we were not able to recover his body.” Zhi replied. “We're afraid he drowned when he fell into the water.”

  “Hmm.” Jokasta mused.

  “Goddess Jokasta, if someone is to blame for what happened to Casim it is I.” Artesh spoke up. “I should have seen his demeanor change after the conflict with Barad. I did not realize how deeply the action had affected him.”

  Jokasta thought for a second.

  “When hostilities begin we will have to keep a close eye on our soldiers.” She spoke. “What happened to Casim cannot happen again, is that understood?”

  “Yes Goddess Jokasta!” All responded in unison.

  “Lord Kadus.” She beckoned him.

  “Goddess Jokasta, we have scouted three different routes which we believe prove suitable for our forces to march on.” Kadus now touched the table and three different spots near Jokasta's hand lit up.

  “They all have their benefits and their drawbacks.” Kadus continued. “The first route to consider goes along the interior of the continent. The main benefit for this route is that supply lines along this route would have the shortest distance to cover. The main concern here is that this route is known to intersect territories belonging to the more dangerous Giants.”

  “Another route would be closer to the coast. Here we know that the Giants are weaker, but of course the possibility of encountering Leviathans must be considered. Another thing that would be of importance would be the ability to send supplies via the sea to our army if need be. We have emergency sea steeds and vessels in case supplies need to be routed.” Kadus continued.

  As he did so Livia could not help but look at the sprawled out map. She knew that somewhere on the surface the map represented was Corin. She had a strong inkling that Jokasta would know where he was at any moment. But she also knew that Jokasta would never speak of it. One of the first acts from her was to ban Livia, Zhi and Kadus from speaking of anything that had happened between them before arriving at the fortress.

  Thus Livia was left only with her feelings on Corin which changed from day to day. Some days she felt sad that she didn't have her husband by her side, whom she had known for the majority of her life. On other days she was angry that he didn't accept Jokasta's proposal. She felt like Corin had reneged on their promise, that he should have accepted her offer despite the cost.

  Maybe then Simeon would still be alive.

  “Lady Livia.” Jokasta spoke. “What do you think is our best option.”

  Livia shot from her chair.

  “Goddess Jokasta, I think our best choice is the first one.” She spoke fast. “Despite the fact that we might encounter strong foes early on, we need to be aware of other things as well. The abundance of available food should be highest along the interior of the continent, and the dubious nature of the Leviathans movements give me pause on how to approach any route that nears the sea. When I consider our biggest obstacle I have estimated that access to food will be our biggest challenge and I think we will find enough to feed the troops as we move along the central route.”

  Livia had heard Kadus’ plan several times. Thankfully she remembered the specifics. Jokasta eyed Livia with a grin. She knew Livia had stopped paying attention. Calling out her top advisors was one of the many ways Jokasta ensured they were focused on the task at hand.

  “Hmm.” Jokasta spoke. “I agree with Lady Livia.”

  “May we all be as wise to provide sage advice even when our mind is not present here.” She added.

  “Thank you Goddess Jokasta.” Livia said, still standing.

  “You may sit.” Jokasta mentioned, without looking at her.

  “Lord Habres.” Jokasta spoke.

  “Goddess Jokasta.” Habres spoke. “We have been manufacturing weapons and ammunition with almost no interruptions now for the last several two weeks. At this rate we will have one rifle per soldier and around a hundred rounds of ammunition.”

  “Good.” Jokasta interjected.

  “Thank you Goddess.” Habres quickly added and continued. “You may have heard of an incident at the production line for the cannons where one of my workers, Laikos, was hurt. He has been healed thanks to Lady Zhi and the line is back up and running. We should have met our goals before the start of the campaign.”

  Jokasta looked at the relief on the table as Habres spoke. He always seemed scared when speaking to Jokasta. She never did anything to put his mind at ease.

  “Lord Leander.” She continued.

  “Goddess Jokasta.” The siren began. “Our scouts have been patrolling the waters underneath the ice bridge. We have not seen any Leviathan activity now for several weeks. The nearest known Leviathan, Abreu, has not been spotted since the start of the winter .”

  “Hmm.” Jokasta mused. “It seems our presence is becoming well known.”

  “Within forty days we will begin our march across the ice.” Jokasta announced. She put her finger on the sheet of ice that connected their small island to the much larger continent.

  A knot formed in Livia’s stomach. She knew the conflict would soon begin in earnest, but now there was an actual date.

  I need to make as much progress as I can before then.

  “We will make our way to the encampment that Lady Livia identified.” She continued. “Lords Leander and Kadus watch over the seas and skies and inform us of any changes. Lord Habres ramp up the pace of production. We need as many weapons as we can get before we leave. Lady Livia, ensure the weapons work as intended. I do not want any misfires occurring. Lady Zhi prepare your Onsiels and ensure they spend two weeks drilling with their assigned squadrons. Lord Artesh you are to go to the Ririo rainforest. I have recently learned of a tribe of furtives we have yet to contact. These furtives are small in stature and may be better suited to manufacturing tasks. Lady Livia, another task for you. You raised the issue of food availability for our soldiers. I would like for you to procure as much foodstuffs as possible before the march. You are all dismissed.”

  With that Jokasta vanished into thin air.

  No request for information from me?

  Try as she could, Livia could not understand Jokasta. Perhaps Jokasta already knew what Livia was up to? Or perhaps Jokasta had more pressing concerns? All that Livia was left with was an order.

  Procuring foodstuffs. Should be easy enough.

  ***

  The day neared the end. Livia was tired but could not sleep. Ever since she had come to the fortress her sleep had been infrequent at best. Whenever she struggled to sleep she would wander to the central garden in her building.

  Livia's new home had been a square room in a building that had existed prior to their arrival here. Livia did not know how this place came into being, or how long it had been here. All she knew is that Jokasta had brought them here after her awakening and most of the buildings here were already in place.

  The building she occupied housed a large indoor garden. This space would serve as one of Livia’s few areas of comfort in the fortress. It was one of the few places where she could pretend she was not in a frozen desert.

  Livia remembered her first time walking these gardens. She had just arrived at the fortress. Back then there was nothing inside this space. Just a large empty space. Shortly after they arrived, a garden seemed to come to life. One of the many mysteries within the fortress. As she thought of the past a sudden noise caught her attention. The sound of footsteps near her. Her eyes met those of the other inhabitant of the garden.

  “Zhi!” Livia exclaimed.

  Zhi walked over to Livia and embraced her. Despite their proximity to each other in their living arrangements the two had seen less of each other as time had passed in the fortress. They were always under one task or another from Jokasta and rarely had any time to themselves.

  “Having a hard time falling asleep?” Zhi asked Livia with a smirk.

  “No, not really. It's not like we're about to launch a war against the Titans.” Livia replied her delivery deadpan.

  “Same here!” Zhi said matching Livia’s energy. “It's not like I haven't been able to eat anything for the past week or so.”

  They laughed at their remarks but were soon quiet again. Without a word the two began to walk around the garden in lockstep observing their surroundings.

  “I remember when we first met each other.” Livia said, breaking the silence.

  “Two of us were either unconscious or on the verge of consciousness. A small drake had nearly killed me and you still struggled with the aftereffects of bringing down the dragon temple.” Livia mentioned. “We were all in various stages of incapacitation. Yet you looked at me and you said one of the wildest things I had ever heard another furtive say. Do you remember what it was?”

  “Scavenger we are not your enemies! The Titans are! We are here because we have found the means to fight against the Titans. Join us and help us bring an end to the tyranny of the Titans!” Zhi said quickly and without pause.

  “Wow I didn't think you would remember it that well.” Livia replied.

  “Well I had been practicing what to say to any furtives I would run into.” She replied as she laughed. “I said that to myself so many times that it is hard for me to forget it.”

  “What did you think when you saw us?” Livia replied.

  “If there are furtives out there crazy enough to come into a crumbled massive dragon temple and fight a Kishtro and win, then these are exactly the furtives I need to help us.” Zhi said.

  “And you know what?” Zhi followed up.

  “What?” Livia replied.

  “I was right.” She stated. “Without your help I don't think we would have even made it off that tiny island we landed on.”

  “Aubea.” Livia added. Livia felt melancholic at uttering the name. Memories of Trinixo flooded.

  That was then. What matters is what is ahead of us.

  Livia focused herself on the topic.

  “Well it wasn't just me. We had a lot of help along the way just to get here.” Livia stated. “You saved our lives countless times.”

  “True, but you were the first to believe in what I had to say. And for that I will forever be grateful.” Zhi said. “You are more than a trusted ally, you are a good friend.”

  Livia’s spirits rose from Zhi’s statement. She had spent so long ruminating on worries about the impending conflict that she had forgotten about how it was she got here. But beside the joy there was another feeling. Deep within her a fear stirred, a fear that had been eating away at her since the raids started. But she steeled herself.

  “Thank you.” Livia said in soft tone. All she could think about was Denis, Obo, the others. “But as your friend I have to remind you that although we have made it far, the real conflict lies ahead of us.

  “I know this.” Zhi said, an unmistakeable frown of worry appearing across her face. “This is just the beginning.”

  The two were quiet once more.

  “I promise that when we face the Titans they'll know to fear furtives!” Zhi replied, putting on a face of bravado. “They'll know they cannot trample us any longer.”

  Livia smiled. She could see through the facade that Zhi put on. She could see that Zhi was terrified of what lay before them. And Livia was too. Despite Zhi's words being full of reassurances, they were not what Livia wanted to hear. What she needed to hear. Livia wanted a different promise, but it was something she could not ask.

  Please promise me you won't die. Please promise me you won't leave me.